“James,” she murmured, her thoughts half distracted with her desire to watch Alex in his element. “Were you able to receive deep space relays while in stasis? We haven’t missed any more demands, have we?”
“I have been monitoring the news, but no further demands have been made through your private channels. Your sister sent her grateful regards and said she is enjoying her vacation with her husband. The networks have been reporting illness as the reason for your absence from the House floor, just as you’d stated in your press release. That excuse should continue to work for another few days at least, perhaps even longer.”
“Excellent. Keep one eye on that for me. Adjust the reports from my office as necessary to keep the impression going. Also at the end of every session, I want the minutes downloaded and ready for my review. My absence will create an opportunity for one of my opponents to present their agenda. I want to know the minute they make an attempt.”
“Of course.” He caught her arm as she stepped away. “Do you think it is wise to distract the captain at this moment?”
She looked over her shoulder at him with a frown, still trying to get used to having her thoughts spoken out loud. “I won’t distract him, I just want to observe.”
With that absolutely delicious thought in mind, she left James in her room and went to ogle a very sexy vampire.
* * * * *
Alex was grinning like an idiot. He knew it and couldn’t stop it.
Briana’s lust and admiration saturated the air around him, coursing over his skin like warm water and causing his breathing to quicken. Anticipation thrummed through his veins, just as it did in hers. She’d been watching him for the last hour, completely silent except for the strength of her thoughts, which were powerful. Watching him at the controls had turned her on and her desire had ignited his.
Over the last two centuries, he’d been desired for a great many things—his vampirism, his wicked reputation, his looks. Never could he recall being wanted because he was talented at something. Never had a woman grow soft and wet simply because he knew how to fly and knew how to do it very well.
“We’re in the clear,” he called softly, leaning back in his chair. “You can come closer, if you like.”
As she approached, the tart scent of her skin grew stronger and Alex took a deep breath, absorbing her arousal into his blood.
The hunger inside him stirred in response. Flying through the Ligerian Ice Fields was always a rush, but it had never been as exciting as when Bree watched him do it.
“That was awesome,” she breathed, her voice low and throaty. “I’m so damn impressed I don’t know what to say.” Coming around his chair, she came to a halt directly in front on him.
Alex gripped the armrests to prevent himself from snatching her close. This time, the first move had to be hers. “Thank you.”
Her eyes sparkled with appreciation and then warmed as she raked him from head to toe. He almost purred with delight. Dressed in short shorts and a tight combat tee, Briana looked ready to take on the world. He’d settle for her just taking on him. And when her lips curved in a slow inviting smile, he knew she was prepared to do just that.
She leaned her hip against the console, showing off her long, lithe legs. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Ask me anything.” Ask me to take you to bed, to make love to you for days, to…
“You are the most amazingly gifted pilot I’ve ever seen. Why are you smuggling?”
He sighed. “Why don’t I have a respectable job, you mean? Why am I a criminal?” Alex ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got nowhere to go.” She arched her brow and when she did that, he couldn’t deny her anything. Damn, he loved it when she looked like that. That light touch of haughty arrogance made him want to fuck her so hard she wouldn’t be able walk. It was such a sham, that cool disdain. She was all fire and passion under that façade, as he knew firsthand.
“I grew up poor,” he began. “Very poor. My father ran off when I was a kid and my mother could barely scrape a couple of credits together. We were hungry most of the time, and my brother and I couldn’t do the things other kids got to do. It was miserable and I spent a lot of time dreaming about escaping that life. All I wanted to do was be a pilot. Getting out of there, seeing the universe… I would have done anything for that.
“At the time, two hundred years ago, the cost of flight academy was so high it made it an unattainable goal for me and the military wanted advanced schooling that we couldn’t afford. When my older brother said he knew of a way I could make enough credits to support our mother and learn how to fly at the same time, I leapt at the chance.” His lips twisted ruefully. “Of course, there was a price.”
“Uh-oh.” Bree’s lips made a moue in sympathy. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Depends on how you look at, sweetheart. My brother introduced me to the leader of a local gang called The Crew. They were very successful smugglers. The money was good and steady, and all new recruits were sent to flight academy. The Crew only wanted the very best pilots. In return for the job, the money and the schooling, I had to accept the virus and give up my mortality. I had to dedicate myself to The Crew for eternity.”
“Wow.” She stared at him with wide eyes. “That’s steep for hazing.”
“At the time, it seemed like a dream come true—become a pilot, build up my credits and take care of my mom. Not to be crude, but the women were plentiful and the thought of living forever in the prime of my life sounded pretty good.” He shrugged. “As you said last night, what’s not to like?”
She blushed and Alex laughed. Briana was lovelier today than she’d been yesterday. There was glow to her and a sweet familiarity brought on by their intimacy of the night before.
“And so you’re in this trade forever then?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment and failing.
“No.” He smiled at her sudden hopeful interest. “I got caught.”
“How?” Her obvious surprise was very flattering.
“My brother sold me out. Evan brought me into The Crew to get out of one scrape and then sacrificed me to worm his way out of another.”
Briana gaped. “How could anyone do that to a family member?”
“Not everyone has the sense of familial loyalty you do. It’s one of the many things I admire about you.”
Pushing away from the console, Bree came over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. The small gesture of comfort hit him with such force, he was glad to be seated.
He swallowed hard and looked away, staring out the bridge window at the endless space beyond. “Evan tapped into my cargo droid and downloaded all of my routes. Then he asked me to switch runs with him. He said he had a girlfriend on Rashier 6 who was getting upset that he was visiting so infrequently. His route paid more than mine so I traded without question and considered myself lucky. But he was under investigation and I was taken into custody in his place. I spent three years on Hazin Prime.”
Standing, Alex moved to the window and put distance between them. There was too much he couldn’t say and his attachment to her was strong enough that she would sense his turmoil if he stayed too close.
He couldn’t tell her how Derek Atkinson had come to the vamp penal colony and offered him a second chance to live a worthy life. He couldn’t tell her that he worked on the same side of the law as she did. He couldn’t tell her that his interest in her went far beyond money, blood or carnal pleasure. The most he could do was take a deep breath and pray that she would want him anyway.
“Why didn’t you start over when you got out?” she asked behind him and he could feel her despondency. She didn’t know that he’d begun his life anew. And he couldn’t tell her.
“It’s hard to find gainful employment when you have a record. No one trusts you.”
“By all accounts, you have enough credits to quit.”
“I couldn’t quit flying. It’s in my blood. It’s as much a par
t of me as my vampirism.”
“What about the tourist trade?”
“I don’t qualify for a permit.” Alex turned around and his heart clenched at the sight of her distress. It took everything he had to hold his tongue when all he wanted in the universe was to tell her that he was the type of man she wished he was. “Is it that important to you to that I fall into the status quo?”
Briana held out her hands to him. “I want you to work for me. I could use a private transport and—”
“Are you insane?” he asked with wide eyes.
“It was just a bit of smuggling, not—”
“It wasn’t ‘just a bit of smuggling’, Bree. Those blasters you mentioned? I had those on board plus half a hold full of photon torpedoes.” Of course, The Crew had led him to believe he was helping the Gorans fight ethnic cleansing, but then he hadn’t done the research to verify that. In truth, he hadn’t wanted to know. He’d just wanted to believe.
“Oh.” She sank into his captain’s chair.
Mentally kicking himself for saying the words that would push her away, Alex turned his back to her, his fists clenching with frustration.
“I don’t understand,” she said softly behind him. “I just can’t picture you doing those things without a qualm.”
“Why not?” he bit out.
“Because I just can’t.”
“You don’t know what I’m capable of. You don’t know me.”
“I know you had enough honor not to have sex with me last night, even though I begged you to, just because you didn’t want me to regret it.” Her voice drew closer. “I know you put yourself in harm’s way for me yesterday, for no good reason at all.”
“Don’t you think you might be rationalizing goodness in me when there isn’t any, just so you feel comfortable wanting to fuck me?”
“Hmmm…” Her fingers brushed along his wrist, instantly turning his ire into heated lust. “So we’re at an impasse. You can’t sleep with me because you want to earn my trust and I can’t sleep with you because if I do, my trust becomes questionable. Either way we’re screwed, but only in the figurative sense.”
Bree started to move away and the loss of her presence caused a physical ache. Alex spun quickly, clutching her slight form to his chest. “You have to want me for who I am, Briana. Record, career and all.”
“I do.” She stared up at him with an earnest gaze. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t wish for our situations to be different.”
He searched her face with its determined chin and carnal mouth, features that no vid unit could do justice to. In person, she was stunningly perfect. “Why? How will that affect what happens over the next two weeks? You wanted a fantasy. Let me give it to you.”
Her hands stroked the length of his spine. “Maybe I want the fantasy to be real.”
Stiffening in her embrace, he began to pull away. That was his fantasy, too. Damn, how he wished he could keep her! But that would never become a reality.
“I’m sorry.” She released him without protest. “I shouldn’t have said that. No pressure or anything. I just—”
Alex dropped to his knees before her, unable to fight his attraction when she looked so forlorn. “I want you.” He raised his gaze to lock with hers.
“Wow.” Stunned green eyes stared down into his. “This is…totally unexpected. And really hot.”
“You’re really hot. For the first time in my life, I’m pretty sure having sex with a beautiful woman is a bad idea.” He kissed the inside of her thigh. “But I can’t resist doing it anyway.”
Her fingers drifted into his hair and kneaded his scalp. He purred in pleasure. “That was actually a pretty romantic thing to say, Alexei. In a fucked-up kind of way.”
“Who knew it was in me,” he teased.
“You’re not normally so charming?” she asked with a dubious arch of her brow.
“I don’t usually have to use charm at all.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, just whip out that cock and they probably stampede. It must be pretty wonderful for a guy to be so gorgeous that women just fall into bed with him.”
“It’s pretty wonderful if the woman he wants does that. Otherwise, it can be annoying.”
Briana laughed. “Now you see why I wanted you to beg for it.”
“You’ve got me on my knees, sweetness.” Cupping her ankles, he slid his hands up, following the graceful curves of her legs. “You’re in great shape.”
“Yeah. With all the sitting around I do, you would think I’d be fat.”
“You keep fit on purpose and you carry a blaster with obvious skill. When we ran through Thieves’ Cove you moved with me—”
“That was amazing,” she interrupted with a smile that would have brought him to his knees, if he hadn’t already been there.
Standing slowly, Alex tugged her body against his. Whatever he’d felt for her last night was nothing compared to what he felt for her today. And they were about to have sex—full on sex with his cock buried deep inside her. He knew when they were done he’d be in a lot worse shape. “How much trouble are you in, Bree?”
She swallowed hard and pulled back a little. “Who says I’m in trouble?”
“You trust me with your body.” His hands cupped her breasts, squeezing the firm flesh gently. “But not your secrets?”
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle it,” she breathed, her eyes drifting closed as his thumbs brushed across her nipples.
His palms tingled, then burned as her skin warmed to his touch even through her tee. “Perhaps I want to help you handle it.”
“Perhaps I want you to stop talking and just handle me.”
Alex fought the urge to bare his fangs, to exert his dominance and stake his claim. There wasn’t any need to do that. There were other, less frightening ways to make her his. He could inundate her with pleasure. He could join their bodies so completely she wouldn’t be able to tell where she ended and he began. “Undress.”
Bree’s eyes flew open. “What?”
“Take. Off. Your. Clothes.”
She snorted. “Shouldn’t you do that?”
“Certainly.” He shrugged out of his flight vest.
“I meant, shouldn’t you do that to me?”
“If you want to wear that sexy outfit again,” he said gruffly, dropping his trousers, “I suggest you do it. If I touch you, I’ll shred it.”
“Oh.” Her gaze dropped to his cock like a magnet to metal. She licked her lips. “You think I look sexy?”
Damn. It drove him crazy when her tongue darted out like that. Pretty soon he was going to feel that lush mouth slick and hot around him. “Hurry,” he ordered. “And I’ll show you what I think.”
He’d never seen a woman strip so fast in his life.
“You know,” Bree grumbled, hopping on one leg to get out of her shorts. “In romance novels, the hero slowly undresses the heroine and it’s totally erotic.”
“Then they fuck and the heavens open up and stars explode and galaxies collide.” He snorted and stepped closer. “The real thing is better.”
Her voice was muffled by her tank as she pulled it over her head. “For men, maybe.” She tossed the shirt aside and shook out her curls. “You guys always get off.”
Alex gripped her by the waist and stepped forward until he’d pinned her to window. He paused a moment, taking in the view of her naked upon the backdrop of black space and sparkling stars. Then he spun her around so she could see too.
Briana squirmed between his body and the glass until he bent his knees and slipped his cock between her legs. “Oh hell…” Her voice was a breathless gasp. “I think a star just exploded.”
Inclined to agree, he nuzzled her ear and breathed in her scent. “Let’s see how much damage we can do.”
Chapter Four
Bree shivered as Alex’s voice, low and seductive as sin, brushed across her ear and echoed in her mind. Behind her, the heat and hardness of his cock burned between her thighs. Th
e feel of his muscled chest pressed to her back made her wet. The chill of the glass, in stark contrast to his warmth, made her nipples hard. “You feel awesome,” she told him, thinking he should know that.
His hands slipped upward and cradled the curve of her breasts. “You know,” he said, his voice husky, “I don’t have any jobs lined up after this run.” He pulled her away from the glass and fondled her nipples. Rolling them with his fingers, he pinched and tugged until she whimpered with pleasure. “I could stick around and help you out.”
“Oh my God. How can you think at a time like this?” She was having trouble even breathing.
“I’m thinking about you. Everything I do is about you. Trust me.”
Leaning her flushed cheek against the glass, Bree closed her eyes and willed away the emotion she had no business feeling. “You’re being romantic again, damn it.”
Alex’s chuckle made her ache all over.
“Let me turn around.” She wanted desperately to get her hands on him.
“Lesson Number Two in patience—when a vamp has a hard-on like I do, you don’t want to incite him further.”
The softly menacing tone to his voice made her so hot, she writhed against him. “Why not? I’d love to see you lose control, get a little wild, turn things—”
Bree gasped as two sharp points scraped along the top of her shoulder. She stared at his reflection in the glass and saw the deadly glint of his fangs and the laser brightness of his gaze.
“That’s why,” he said softly, staring back at her. “One hunger feeds the other. Left unchecked, the man you know will give way to the animal you don’t. I won’t risk hurting you.”