Forbidden World: Ambrax

by Bernadette Gardner

  Beyond the tree line, the brilliant orange sun lit the barren expanse of the protected zone. In the distance the Citadel rested in shimmering splendor on the horizon, its spires glittering like jewels in a deceptively lovely crown.

  "Can you see any ships?" Damen asked. He put his hand on her shoulder and her body tensed at the gentle touch.

  "There!" Troy pointed to a small, snub-nosed patrol ship gliding along the perimeter of the zone. "It's coming this way."

  Lea and Alor took up their assigned positions and waited. Damen would signal them to run out of the jungle at just the right moment, so the pilot would see them and draw closer, but they would still have enough time to gain cover before he attacked with the tranquilizing weapons his ship carried.

  The sunlight glittering off the crystalline sand blinded Lea. She cringed and thought how much worse it must be for Alor, with her pale eyes, having lived in near darkness for so many weeks.

  Determined, despite her discomfort, she sprinted out into the open, forcing herself not to search the sky for the patrol ship. She had to appear as though her only goal was to escape the jungle and that nothing but primitive instinct guided her.

  * * * *

  Just as Damen predicted, the border patrol skiff swooped in low so its pilot could get a better look at the anomalous sight before him.

  Two female converts striding purposefully out of the jungle had to be a rare thing. Damen only hoped the element of surprise would stay the pilot's hand long enough for him to attack the skiff.

  Troy tapped Damen on the shoulder and pointed out across the blinding expanse of barren sand. With sheer force of will, he kept his hand steady. He drew his own Sparthan blade along his forearm to line up the shot, and when the patrol skiff dipped down to just above the tree line, he launched his attack.

  The dagger lodged in the air exchange intake valve of the skiff's tiny engine. The fan blades within the casing ground to a halt with an earsplitting screech. The ship had come so close to the ground that Damen could see the pilot's expression morph into a rictus of panic. He smiled in grim satisfaction, and he and Troy raced forward to claim their prize the moment the little ship make its bumpy emergency landing.

  "They'll send another immediately," Troy whispered before he and Damen rushed the patrol ship's open cockpit.

  The pilot screamed once, before the blade Damen had given Troy silenced him. Together they rolled his body out of the ship, and Troy dragged him beyond the tree line while Damen retrieved his blade from the intake valve. With his bare hands, he straightened the bent fan blade and stepped back to survey his handiwork.

  "Will it fly?" Lea asked. She'd come up behind him and now stood within arm's reach. The adrenaline in his system already had his heart beating wildly and her proximity only heightened his arousal. If their means of escape hadn't been at hand, he might have taken her--

  "Come on, get in," Troy yelled from the cockpit. Alor had squeezed in behind him and was motioning for Damen and Lea to follow.

  "This ship is made to hold one person," he said as he helped Lea slither into the small space behind the pilot's seat. There was just enough room for the two of them to stand. Alor crouched next to the pilot's seat and stared adoringly at Troy.

  "We'll have to fly low, but I think we can make it. It looks like it holds enough fuel for a complete circuit of the protected zone." Troy's skill with the little ship impressed Damen. Perhaps his survival skills were nil, but the former bailer tech certainly knew his way around a ship.

  With a mild protest from the hastily repaired intake fan, the patrol skiff careened above the sand, barreling on a straight course for the Citadel.

  Damen scanned the horizon through the wraparound wind screen and caught sight of another patrol ship breaking its circular course to intercept them. Strained by the added weight, the skiff's engine sputtered and its nose dipped low. Instinctively Damen wrapped an arm around Lea's waist. From this height they might survive a crash, but nothing would protect them from the wrath of the Braxan border guards.

  "I see it. I see the landing field." Lea pointed to the black expanse where, thankfully, her skimmer still waited. It seemed so far away and the overloaded patrol ship threatened with each passing meter to betray them to their enemies.

  Damen had never believed in prayer, or the powers of the mind, but now he willed the ship to remain airborne just long enough to get them to safety.

  "Centurion guards." Troy cursed under his breath and banked toward the skimmer. In the distance, a bright rectangle became visible in the Citadel's lowest level. The break in the dark, copper-colored wall disgorged a fast-moving ground transport.

  "How much faster can we go?" Damen asked. His hand slid to his blade, but the weapon would do little good against a dozen armed guards.

  "If I push it, we'll end up walking. Just hold on."

  The first volley of weapon fire came from the ground transport. Miraculously, Troy dodged it and set them down with a bone-jarring thud on the edge of the landing field. They spilled out of the little ship and raced for the skimmer with Lea in the lead.

  * * * *

  She'd never done a pre-flight check so quickly in her life. While Damen and Troy secured the outer hatch and Alor found herself a seat, Lea activated every control within reach. The skimmer wailed to life beneath her hands, engines chortling, atmo exchangers squealing.

  A plasma blast from the approaching ground transport impacted the hull and added to their rocky liftoff, but they made it off the ground before the centurion guards reached the landing field.

  Two patrol ships fell away beneath them as they rocketed into the lavender-blue sky.

  Lea didn't breathe until they reached lunar orbit and passed the quarantine satellite. Once again in free space, no one from Ambrax could touch them.

  Still shaking, she sank back into the cushions of the pilot's seat and stretched her aching muscles. Beyond the forward viewport the pristine globe of Ambrax fell away, replaced by the peaceful void of space and endless freedom that she'd never been truly able to appreciate before.

  "Nice work, Miss Vargas." Damen swung into the co-pilot's seat and leveled an admiring gaze at her. "If I didn't know better, I'd believe you'd flown combat."

  She shook her head and allowed herself a sly grin. "I've chased ore thieves beyond Denara's rings. Does that count?"

  "Not compared to this." His own grin faded and his tone sobered. Lea's body tingled at the deep resonance of it. "Are you all right?"

  "I will be, after a hot shower. I can't wait to put some pants on. Long pants, and a shirt that isn't open down to my navel."

  "Ah. I guess all the fun is over then." Their gazes locked and held, and deep in Lea's core an ember of desire ignited.

  She quickly set the auto-pilot, hauled herself out of the seat and let her fingers trail over Damen's naked shoulder as the sauntered out of the cockpit. "I wouldn't say that just yet."

  * * * *

  Damen followed Lea to his cabin where she shut the door and dimmed the lights. Silently, she pulled off the shirt he'd given her, revealing herself to his inspection. A tangle of emotions he'd long ago trained himself to ignore washed over him when she strode toward him. The primitive itch of the transformation stirred in his gut, urging him to claim her right there in the middle of the floor. He'd had to wait too long to do what he wanted, and now, he could barely control his lust.

  He'd have been satisfied with feeling only that. Unbridled sexual desire he understood, and he knew how to cure it. It was the other feelings that troubled him, that kept him still when she ran her fingers up over the ridges of his abdomen and placed her palms flat over his pectorals. Her touch teased his nipples to attention, along with his cock. Besides lust, he felt something more--relief not only that they'd escaped the forbidden world with their lives, but that he'd done what she'd asked of him. Relief that she was in one piece and still breathing--panting in fact, in his ear.

  In addition to relief, some formerly dark part of his
soul seemed to have opened now. An empty spot in the middle of his chest was full...

  Good God, he needed the shock stick to rid his mind of this nonsense. She was not his mate or his prize. She was his employer, and his job was complete, or it would be as soon as he obeyed her last command.

  "Fuck me, Damen," she breathed across his lips. She rubbed her taut nipples over his chest and closed a hand around his balls. "One more time."

  He couldn't have refused if he'd wanted to. His tongue didn't work that way any more. In fact, all he could do with it was lick her lips, her tongue, thrust into her mouth and claim it, just as he'd wanted to do since that first moment he'd laid his greedy hands on her.

  While their tongues battled, he hoisted her up, urging her to wrap her legs around him. In two swift strides he brought her to the bed, placed her gently on the edge and let go just long enough to free his erection.

  She sighed when he stroked her belly and her thighs, and gasped when he plunged eager fingers into her pussy. The scent of her had pre-cum dripping from the tip of his cock. The sight of her spread before him, begging him to claim her, had his knees shaking.

  This would be the last time. He knew that, and he knew neither of them would ever forget it.

  Her purr of pleasure became a moan, then a sharp inhalation when he put himself in her. Hot and wet, she accepted him fully, and arched her hips to take his shaft deep. With her perfect breasts filling his hands, he began to move, slow at first, then deliberate, letting her feel every inch of his desire.

  He watched her eyes widen when he thrust a finger in alongside his cock and circled her rigid clit with his thumb. She reached for him, panting, her eyes glazed. "Damen, come here..."

  "No. I want to watch you. I want to see what happens to you when I come in you."

  She whimpered and her body flexed with his next quick thrust. The beast in him howled for more, something harder and more primal, but he held himself back. He wouldn't take her like an animal, no matter how badly he wanted to.

  He increased his rhythm, working her with his hand and his cock simultaneously. She shuddered beneath him and her head lolled.

  A heat rose along her skin, pinking her breasts and her belly. Sweat gleamed on her chest and ran in rivulets down to the depression of her navel. Around his waist her thighs clenched while he teased her mercilessly.

  "That's it, you're close," he told her. His own voice wavered. So was he, but he had to see her finish first before he lost himself in his own climax. "I can feel you tightening up. Don't fight it, Cherry. Let it happen."

  She let out a feral sound, half growl, half sob, and her body convulsed around his finger and his cock. Her muscles closed hard and fast and her eyes went wide with the sensation.

  "That's it, pull me in, Lea. All of me. Take everything I've got."

  She nodded and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Her body shook beneath him and when she cried out his name once more, he let loose. Pain and pleasure collided and Damen closed his eyes to shut out everything but the feel of her around him.

  He held still until every drop of his essence spilled, then he sank down at the edge of the bed, panting, her feet on his shoulders.

  After a moment, she pulled her legs up onto the bed, rolled over and crawled to the edge of the mattress to face him. Her eyes were bright, her face flushed and glowing. "Are you ready for that shower now?"

  Damen laughed out of sheer surprise. She amazed him, inspired him and apparently, just for a little while longer, she belonged to him. He planned to enjoy every minute of it.

  * * * *

  Hours later Lea met Troy and Alor in the galley. Dressed now in one of the few outfits Damen hadn't "fixed," she felt much more like herself, though not quite. The person she'd been when she'd left home in search of Troy didn't exist anymore and she wasn't sure how she felt about that quite yet.

  Alor still wore nothing but the cut-off pants Lea had given her. She sat next to Troy, her thin arms wrapped around his the way a strangling vine clings to a young tree. Lea made a note to give the girl some proper clothes as soon as possible. Though the caged feeling brought on by the transformation seemed to be fading, she had no idea how the men would react after several days of watching the lithe little healer strut around the decks half naked.

  "Look, the pelt is shedding," Alor said when Lea sat down. Her loving gaze barely left Troy. "He'll be back to normal soon."

  "I hope so. It looks like you both need some medical attention," Lea said. "I can't do much on board, but we can start with some vitamin supplements at least."

  Troy nodded and bit into a protein cube he'd snagged from the open ration pack on the table before them. "God, it feels good to eat real food again."

  Lea glanced at the off-white lump of super-compressed dietary supplement. "If you call that real food, you've got much bigger problems than I thought."

  Troy laughed but his smile faded quickly. "You were telling the truth about Darya, weren't you? She's still all right?"

  "For now, yes. We have time, and if Alor will agree to help her..."

  Alor nodded. "I had always wished to help Troy's woman. I know the therapies that will cure Lorcan."

  Relief made Lea's knees weak. Her gaze traveled to Damen as he entered the galley and she fought not to blush. Their shared shower had been vigorous and...well, she had no doubt that Troy and Alor could guess what they'd been doing for the last hour and a half.

  Alor smiled up at her. "Your master is a generous and brave man. You are very lucky."

  "I'm not her master," Damen replied, his voice suddenly tight. He took a bottle of water from the cold storage unit and popped the top. "But, yes, I am rather generous and brave."

  Lea dismissed him with a wave. "He's also very modest, but we all owe him our lives. I could never have rescued Troy without his help."

  "We are in your debt," Alor said and Lea didn't like the look she gave Damen. She knew how debts were paid on Ambrax, and she had no wish to see him collect whatever Alor thought she owed him.

  "Alor, I don't know what you'll want to do now, but I assure you, I will help you find a place to live and some work, maybe at the medical center on Denara if you choose to continue to practice healing. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to learn some of your Braxan therapies."

  Alor's own smile faltered and she glanced uncertainly at Troy. Lea wondered if the girl's slender fingers would have to be surgically removed from her brother-in-law's bicep. "I will go only where Troy wishes. I am his now and forever."

  "Um...that may pose a problem for his wife."

  Alor nodded solemnly and set her lips in a determined line. "I will go where he wishes and do as he says. If he does not want me, he may give me to another."

  Troy let out a long breath. "I...uh...we can discuss this later, can't we?"

  Lea glared at him until Damen motioned her to join him outside the galley. "Why don't we let them have something to eat and get some rest and you can teach Alor about monogamy later?"

  She rose reluctantly, and Troy gave an innocent shrug as she passed him. "Yes, later. I will do that."

  "I am monogamous," Alor called as Lea strolled out of the galley on Damen's heels. "I will be with only one master unless Troy wishes it otherwise."

  Outside the galley, Lea sighed and leaned against the bulkhead. "All I care about is saving my sister's life. I'm not going to get involved in Troy's personal...affairs."

  Damen smiled. "Keep telling yourself that, Cherry. Keep telling yourself that."

  Chapter 8

  * * *

  Lea found Damen pacing the pristine corridors of the medical center just outside of the suite of rooms where Alor was treating Darya. She hadn't expected him to hang around, but he seemed just as anxious to find out if Darya would survive as she was. His concern warmed her and added to the strange euphoria that had overtaken her when she'd found out her sister could be cured.

  He looked out of place here. His broad shoulders and brooding gaze didn't see
m to fit in the clean, brightly lit medical center. In her mind, she'd always picture him in a more rugged setting, his Sparthan blades drawn, ready for combat.

  When he saw her strolling down the corridor, he gave her a familiar smile and met her halfway. "You look happy."

  "Alor's treatments are working. Darya's regaining some of the higher brain functions she'd begun to lose and her doctors think she'll make a complete recovery."

  "Good. Then she'll be in prime shape to kick Troy's ass all over the system."

  Lea laughed. "Yeah. Things are going to be a little sticky once she's back on her feet. Darya hadn't told Troy before he left, but she's pregnant. The doctors wanted to terminate the pregnancy as soon as she was diagnosed, but I convinced them to wait until I returned. She's going to be okay and she's going to get to see her baby, too. Alor is overjoyed. Apparently only certain people are allowed to breed on Ambrax and she wasn't one of them."

  Damen rocked back on his heels and gave a low whistle. "Wow. Well, tell them both...or all three of them, congratulations. I'm glad it all worked out."

  Lea lowered her eyes. "I have to admit, when I left here, I really wasn't sure it would. I just felt like I had to do something even if I died trying. It was better than sitting here watching my sister fade away to nothing. Thank you for...making it all turn out all right, against the odds."

  Damen nodded. He seemed uncomfortable, and Lea figured he wasn't the type of man to accept heartfelt praise.

  "Just doing my job," he said.

  The words made her heart beat a little faster. A subtle reminder that there was still the matter of business between them. Feeling awkward now and unsure of what else to say, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a credit chip. "Here you go. It's all there," she said when she pushed the chip into his palm. "Double your standard rate."