He’d gotten used to drifting about the galaxy alone.
“You’re the one who’s daydreaming.” She vaulted into the open-air all-terrain vehicle and stared pointedly at the driver’s seat. “Coming?”
“I thought you’d jump at the chance to be in command.” He slid behind the wheel, pushed the ignition button and backed the contraption out of the hold.
“Usually, I would, but you had such a tantrum regarding the ship, I didn’t want to harsh your mellow.” She pressed a few buttons on her datapad. “Looks like our first marker is somewhere near the Arms of Aga, which I assume is a hotel.”
“It is, and it’s unique. You’ll not see another structure like it in this galaxy.” He jammed his right foot on the accelerator, and the quad rover lurched forward, the huge grooved tires crunching on the terrain. “Hang on. It won’t be a smooth ride.”
As soon as they left the moonport, dappled sunlight streamed over them. Aga’s surface was comprised of lava rocks from long-dormant volcanoes and hardened clay mud which turned the whole mess a sickly greenish-black color. Because the moon’s atmosphere couldn’t sustain life, the government of Isolinee, the planet that Aga rotated around, built a protective shield around the moon and piped in the appropriate environment to support humanoid existence. As long as the shield remained in place, life on Aga would be safe.
Willa gripped a metal bar built into the dash. “You’re driving too fast.”
“Kinda have to if you want that first-place spot.” The quad rover hit a bank of rocks and went airborne for a few seconds. “Besides, you had your chance to drive. You turned it down. I’m in charge. Learn to live with it.”
“It would serve you right if you fell on your face one of these days. Arrogance isn’t sexy.”
“Depends on who you ask. I’ve never had anyone complain.” When she snorted her disbelief, he narrowed his eyes. “I’d caution you to watch your back. You’re too stubborn and annoying.” He spared a few seconds to glance at her face, taken aback by the pensive expression. “What, you think I’m too hard on you?”
“No. I just really want to win.” She twisted in her seat until she fully faced him, her datapad wedged between her thighs. “And I’m not sure we’ll get the job done if you insist on talking. Are you a man or a lady taking tea?”
“You just berated me for going too fast. Which is it, woman?”
“Figure it out, if you can. I refuse to help you.”
The smug challenge pissed him off. Who the hell did she think she was? She wasn’t the only person in this galaxy who could operate vehicles. “Oh, I’ll show you exactly how much of a man I am.” His boot connected solidly with the floorboards. The quad rover flew over the choppy terrain, sending them diving over slight hills and some of the bigger rocks. “Hope you don’t have a weak stomach.”
“If I did, I’d have already thrown up on your feet.”
The insult burned, but he forced a small grin. The woman had a mouth on her. Few females of his acquaintance could back up the swagger with action. He had a feeling Willa wouldn’t be one of those. She had enough sass in both word and deed that she’d give any man the chase of his life.
Strike that. She’d probably be the one doing the pursuing.
The thought sent a jolt a hundred times stronger than lightning straight to his groin. What kind of man did she prefer—a guy like him, or was it Chaf that got her hot and bothered?
“Hey, Ace, stay with me.” Willa waved a hand in front of his face, effectively dropping him back into the rover. “There’s traffic up ahead.”
He peered into the distance. Gray-green dust hazed the horizon from the passage of other motorized terrain vehicles. “Can you get an energy reading or signature?” He gripped the wheel with both hands until his palms felt fused to the leather.
Willa tapped her datapad’s screen. “Too much interference from the dust. Guess if you want to know so badly, you’ll just have to do some fancy driving.”
He gritted his teeth. “Fine.” When he threw the transmission into hypergear, the vehicle surged forward, propelled by the extra afterburners. “Get whatever the hell you need to input the info at the marker, because I don’t intend to slow down if it’s not on the course.”
“You worry about your business. I’ll be fine.” She scrambled into a standing position with her feet on her seat as she gripped the top roll bar with one hand. “Hurry! I can see them!”
Stratton bit off the curse sitting on the tip of his tongue. Obviously, if he had the power to go faster, he would.
“Oh, I can see them.” Willa leaned forward on her toes. “And look, one of them is Chaf! Wouldn’t it be funny if we tied with him?”
Yeah, I’ll wet my pants laughing. He refused to acknowledge the comment. Instead, he gunned the quad rover for all it was worth. A few strained minutes later, they caught up to the other all-terrain vehicles. Sure enough, one of them contained Chaf and his partner, a six-armed Caringa. The sun highlighted the dusty sheen on its yellow, scale-covered skin. Chills trickled down Stratton’s spine. If there was anything he hated in this world or the next, it was the Caringa nation. He’d seen enough of their merciless kind; he’d rather not deal with them again.
The three vehicles rode side by side, blocking every approach he made. This would be tricky.
“Just ram it through the opening, Stratton.” Willa’s order preempted everything else he thought about, just as her fingers digging into this shoulder swamped his system with desire. “It’s a close fit, but you can get it in.”
Stratton shifted in his seat as he imagined a whole different scenario for the conversation. He concentrated on anticipating how the vehicles moved. It might be feasible to wedge between them.
“Come on, get your tip in there. Don’t be shy.” Willa bounced again. She twisted one arm around the roll bar as she clutched the datapad, and the other gripped his shoulder. “Do it!”
Sweat broke out on his forehead. Wanting to please her, but conscious of the uneven terrain, he rammed the nose of the quad rover into one of the vehicles. Its back end fishtailed as the driver wildly tried to correct the skid. Eventually, it tapped the side of one of the other vehicles, hard enough that the opening widened.
“Oh, that’s the way. Thrust it in again!” She accompanied the command with a jerk of her hips.
Shit. Not only was he soaked in sweat, but he also was as hard as the clay surface of the damned moon. Every word she uttered, he envisioned doing the action to her, seeing her naked body in his mind’s eye, mirroring every moment of her pleasure with his own.
“Come on, come on. You can do better than that—harder!”
Practically standing on the fuel pedal, Stratton willed the rover forward. He nudged Chaf’s back end, grinning when his quarry’s vehicle spit dirt clods and edged to the right. Finally, a break. Ramming the quad into the tight space between Chaf and another racer, he snuck a glance at Willa. A flush stained her cheeks, strands of black hair flew about her face free of the restraint, and she clung to the roll bar. Damn his luck. He was way too aware of her.
He had to keep his promise and win this leg—if only to keep his sanity.
Willa’s fingers once again dug into his shoulder. “Doesn’t Chaf look great in his uniform?”
“I hadn’t noticed.” If he ground his teeth any harder, they’d be reduced to stumps. Damned Chaf. He’d rather eat a hundred giant Aga slugs than let Chaf have the satisfaction of coming in first or gaining Willa’s regard. At the moment, he didn’t know which thought he hated more.
“We’re almost there.” Willa dug in her nails. “One more powerful drive and you’ll break through the barrier.”
Heat from the sun burned into his head. Sweat trickled down his scalp. All he could think about was burying his cock deep inside Willa’s pussy. Wiping a forearm across his brow, Stratton glued his attention to the road.
A quick tug on the steering wheel brought his quad rover careening into Chaf’s vehicle. It was enough to
allow Stratton to pull abreast of his quarry. Beside him, Willa’s breath became labored, and she squealed with mounting excitement.
“Almost there, Sin. Give me something!”
“Working on it.” A look past Willa’s rounded hips gained him a glare from Chaf, his pebbled skin ruddier with rage. Stratton grinned and pushed the rover to its limit.
“Faster, faster!”
He could imagine her eyes sparkling, but he tried his best to ignore her.
One of the vehicles to his left dropped off while the other swung wide, preparing to crash into Stratton’s rover. “Hang on.” He rammed into Chaf’s rover, then sped away. The crunch and grind of metal from behind them let him know the two had crashed. Not having the time to check, he gripped the wheel as his rover plowed over the rocks and hillocks, threatening to spill them both from the vehicle.
Willa’s scream of victory nearly became his undoing. He willed his arousal to settle as he kept his focus. Two minutes later, he roared over the manicured blue lawn of the hotel. The gears ground as he slammed the rover into a sloppy park and yelled, “Get out and search for the marker, fast. Hopefully it’ll be around here somewhere.”
“Yeah, like I’d go this far to sit on my butt now.” She vaulted from the rover, and he thought he heard her say “idiot” as she ran toward the hotel’s jade double doors.
Allowing himself a few seconds to breathe and regroup, he rubbed a hand over his damp head. The woman was flat-out crazy, and damn if she hadn’t kept his competitive nature revved with that overtly sexual performance. This whole race had “no good” stamped all over it.
As Chaf and the other teams blew up the drive, Stratton exited the rover and loped to the door, gaining the entrance at the same time Chaf did. He shoved at the other man and said, “Get out of my way, fugitive.” In this moment, the whole of his being depended on checking in at the marker instead of on capturing Chaf. Grappling for the handle, he won out over his mark, silently vowing that as soon as Willa was settled in for the night, he’d seek Chaf out and take him down.
Stratton had taken a few long strides through the lobby when Willa ran across the black limestone floor and skidded to a halt before him. He stopped as well. “What’s wrong?” He fumbled for his HEPP, only to realize he’d left it on the Anomaly.
Her eyes twinkled, and a huge grin animated her features, transforming her from the always-in-control ice maiden into a warm, almost-wanton woman. “We’re first!” She pressed a golden card into his hand. “They’ve given us a suite with a free dinner!”
Before he could respond, a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, and the most hated man of the moment said, “How interesting. My old partner and my new enemy, together in this race. I can’t wait to bury you both.”
Willa’s high from nabbing the top slot deflated as she stared at the two very different men before her. Stratton stiffened in Chaf’s presence, one hand curled into a fist, the epitome of pride and arrogance. Shifting her gaze to her former partner, she frowned. The mandatory slick gear fit like a second skin, royal blue with a red stripe down each leg. His shock of green hair stood on end while he glared at Stratton, the personification of mockery.
Interesting. Would Stratton haul Chaf in right now? And if he did, where did that leave the race? She gnawed at her bottom lip, then shoved her way between them. “Obviously, you two already know each other. Chaf, nice to see you again.”
“I hope this piece of space trash is treating you well, Willa.” Chaf circled around her and Stratton. “He’ll use everyone around him to get what he wants, and he’ll talk a good game to make you do it.”
“Oh, and like you don’t?” Stratton shoved forward, coming toe to toe with Chaf, easily standing a few inches taller than his foe. “How about all the charges against you, or better yet, did you forget you conned a certain pit boss on Elba 9? The Planetary Alliance is very interested in your capture, seeing as how you swindled them out of millions of Earth dollars and killed a few of their people on Elba.”
Willa gasped. Chaf was a murderer? Stratton she could see, but Chaf?
He laughed, and his broad shoulders shook from the effort. “I think the Alliance would be just as happy if I turned you in, don’t you think? Your record is much longer than mine, decorated by every crime imaginable. Maybe I’ll turn the tables and bring you in first. They’ll pardon me, I think.”
“You’d have to have help, Chaf.” Stratton snickered. “I know the guys you’d hire and guess what? I pay better. They know it too. Second, I’ll best you, count on it.”
“And lose the Trike for Willa? Is she still racing for some misguided hope her family might notice her?”
Willa choked down a horrified protest. How dare he bring up such a private issue?
When both she and Stratton remained silent, Chaf shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She’ll be no help to you. No one gets on her good side, and I’ve tried. The woman’s incapable of feeling anything.”
Stratton bristled again, his jaw working. “Don’t disrespect her.”
“I’ll do what I want, bounty hunter. I always do.”
A wash of warmth went through Willa at Stratton’s defense, even as she questioned what he could hope to gain from the act. Chaf snapped his fingers, and a being with six arms came forward. She tried not to stare, yet she couldn’t look away.
Never before had she glimpsed a member of the Caringa nation, but she’d heard plenty. They usually kept to themselves unless provoked and had never made it as far as Lingoria. At a height of seven feet, the Caringa was an unfortunate mix of humanoid and a few other races put together in a jumble of parts all covered by brown-spotted yellow skin. Coarse, brown hairs covered the harsh head. His bulging yellow eyes followed her every movement. She extended a hand. “Hello, I’m Wi—” Her introduction fell short as Stratton gripped her waist and hauled her in front of him. She twisted around to glare at him. “Are you afraid of him?”
“In case it’s escaped your notice, he has a gun—in each hand.”
She focused on the weaponry pointed at her. “Then I’m your living shield? That’s low, Stratton, even for you.” Wrenching away, Willa planted her hands on her hips.
“What can I say? If someone can take a bullet for me, I’m all for it.” Yet his eyes were hooded, barely concealing the anger within their dark depths. A cold grin slid over his face. “Why don’t you go ahead to our room? I have business with Chaf and his…friend.”
Where did he get off thinking he owned her? She’d handled her own battles longer than he’d been racing. “You’re not my boss.” She eyed the Caringa again. Although, it really was stupid to stick around and potentially be vaporized.
He lifted a dark eyebrow as his eyes smoldered with forbidden promise. “I could be.”
Willa’s panties dampened, despite the urge to throttle him. She stepped closer to Stratton, and in a lowered voice asked, “You’re really going to make trouble now? If Chaf doesn’t kill you, that Caringa will. I’ll bet his kind don’t mess around, unless the guns are just for show.”
“Aw, little Willa’s worried about me. Don’t go developing a crush.” He chucked her under the chin as if she were a child. “The guns aren’t for show, but I can handle myself.”
“Fine.” Her gaze skittered from his while her brain whirled in too many directions to follow. “At least I get first call on the shower.” Without looking back, she stuck her chin in the air and stalked out the jade doors.
Stupid men. Males across the galaxy were all boorish oafs who never grew up and apparently had some hidden compulsion to beat the tar out of each other in a display of power. Too bad they both knew the Caringa wouldn’t kill him in such a public place. Sure, he might get roughed-up, but that was his problem. She didn’t care if he came back bloodied and broken. It would be his own damned fault. There was nothing in the rules that compelled her to play nursemaid. She’d drag his lacerated carcass into the hold. At least then he’d be on board, which would loosely comply with the handbo
ok.
Thrusting Stratton from her mind, she gazed at the façade of the Arms of Aga. Truly, it was one of the greatest sights she’d ever seen. Made in the image of a naked woman, the jade structure boasted four pairs of arms. From the little information she’d gleaned from a brochure at the front desk, the statue was said to represent a once-worshipped deity from one of the first settlements on Aga. With the religion now defunct and the religious followers extinct, the government had decided to remodel the statue into a luxury hotel. Each outstretched hand held a suite module with standard rooms filling the woman’s body. Private, glass turbolifts ran from the ground to each of the suites.
Willa grinned even as her shoulders ached with fatigue. Racing always keyed her up, locked her muscles with tension, and dealing with Stratton had exacerbated her anxiety. The first-place finish was great, but a tiny niggle of doubt wedged itself into her heart. It wasn’t good enough. They could have made better time, could have done a better job of utilizing the wormhole. She blew out a defeated breath. Why can’t I just be happy in the moment? A hot shower and dinner was all she needed. After that, she’d take the bed. Stratton could sleep outside for all she cared.
Two hours later, Willa stepped out of the pleasantly warm and steamy bathing area only to encounter the second most beautiful sight of the afternoon—now evening. Stratton stood in the center of the room, contemplating the large bed. A frown pulled at his sensual lips while his slick-gear top hung loose about his waist, baring his chest.
“Uh, I didn’t hear you come in.” She pulled the sash of a plush robe tighter around her waist, very conscious of her naked state.
“The shower was on when I got here. I intended to go straight to bed, but then became distracted by the remains of dinner.” His gaze flicked down her body in such a leisurely fashion, she felt every inch of the inspection. “I assume you enjoyed yourself in my absence? From the looks of things, you had a hearty appetite.”
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