“I can lend you Lena for a while, she could help train her,” the other man offered.
Garret sat up, but his arm remained around her shoulders and she was thankful for his touch.
“That’s very generous,” Garret replied. “But I prefer to train her myself, that way I get exactly what I want.” He leered down at her.
The other man chuckled. “Don’t blame you. That’s right, Lena, right there, girl. Oh yeah.” He grunted. “Drink it all down.”
Oh Gods, had he just come? A few minutes later, the woman rose from between his legs and sat beside him, wiping delicately at her mouth. She was gorgeous—thin and elegant with long, dark-red hair, pale skin and a luscious mouth. Her top had holes cut out where her breasts were, putting them on full display. Her nipples were pierced with gold rings. Kalia wondered how painful that had been.
“Lena, this is Garret.”
The other woman smiled, her gaze practically eating Garret up. Kalia felt herself bristling. Why the hell she should feel jealous she had no idea, but she felt like scratching the other woman’s eyes out.
“Hello,” Lena said in a smoky voice. “Nice to meet you.”
“And this is his new friend…”
“Kalia,” Garret told him. “Kaila, this is Mikael.” She nodded at them both politely.
“So does your wolf know about your little friend?” Mikael asked.
“Of course, who do you think introduced us?” Garret replied smoothly.
Kalia barely managed to hide her frown. What did a wolf have to do with anything?
“So, you have a job for me?” Garret finally asked.
“Yes, I believe it’s right up your alley and it pays well.” He held up his hand and the man standing to his right handed him a tablet.
“A contact of mine has had a shipment stolen by some Zurans. This shipment was on its way to Ariana, where some buyers are now growing very impatient.”
“What was the shipment?” Garret asked.
“Nearly five thousand Takilian firestones.”
Garret whistled. “That’s worth quite a bit.”
“Why would Zurans steal Takilian firestones?” she asked.
Garret and Mikael turned to look at her. Garret’s face was furious, Mikael’s was cold. Even Lena, who’d looked completely bored with the conversation, turned to stare at her.
Oh crap.
“Did I give you permission to speak?” Garret asked in a low voice.
“No, Sir, I’m sorry.” She guessed some groveling wouldn’t hurt right now. Her throat was parched as she swallowed. “I just meant that it seems strange the Zurans would steal firestones. Are you sure about this?” she asked Mikael.
“Are you calling me a liar?” he said in low voice. Was it her imagination or did everyone stop what they were doing to look at them? Kalia shrunk back in her seat as Garret placed his hand on her thigh, squeezing heavily. She didn’t need the hint, she was shutting up.
“She didn’t mean that,” Garret soothed.
“She doesn’t know her place,” Mikael commented, his gaze so cold she shivered. “She needs to be punished.”
“She will be.” Garret sent her a quelling look. Kalia bit her lip.
Mikael leaned back, folding his arms. “I like doing business with you, Garret. It would be a shame if that had to stop because of your choice of companion.”
Bastard.
“She will be thoroughly punished, have no doubt. She won’t sit comfortably for a long time. The next time you see her, she won’t even breathe without permission, will you, pet?” Garret said in a silky, dark voice.
Kalia gulped and nodded hastily.
She was vaguely aware of Mikael and Garret talking before Garret stood. Glancing up, she noticed him shaking Mikael’s hand before he held his hand out to her. Much as she’d like to slap his hand away, she simply wanted out of here. Now.
Taking his hand, she let him help her stand. He let go of her hand and as she walked past him, he gave her two heavy smacks on the ass, making her jump and Mikael laugh. Creep. Garret grabbed her hand again. Keeping her gaze down, she let him lead her out of the bar. Kalia blinked, momentarily blinded by the bright sunshine. She attempted to pull away from Garret as soon as they were outside, but he tightened his hold, turning around to glare at her.
“Behave yourself,” he told her in a harsh whisper. “There could be eyes on us.”
“I don’t care,” she whispered back, as he led them through the marketplace.
Garret turned and pushed her into an alley, maneuvering her so her back was against the wall and he was looming over her.
Kalia straightened her shoulders, determined not to cower in front of him. “Get away from me.”
“Listen to me, little girl,” he drawled, placing his hands on either side of her, trapping her in. His scent surrounded her, his body so close she could feel the heat coming from her body. Arousal heated her, her nipples hardening, her pussy gushing with cream. “If you had just stayed on the ship as you were supposed to, you wouldn’t have ended up in that bar with me. Right now, you’re going to be quiet and do as you are told, understand?”
“You smacked my ass in front of everyone.”
“Mikael would have stripped you bare and whipped you. Be grateful he didn’t insist on more. Mikael isn’t a nice guy and you do not want to push him. He could have his goons pull you into an alley and slit your throat and he would still sleep well at night.”
“That’s terrible, why doesn’t anyone report him to the authorities?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Sweetheart, you need a keeper.”
“That’s so sexist.”
“It’s not because you’re female. It’s because you’re naïve and out of your depth. Half a day here and you’d be dead or in a whorehouse.”
“Well, I’m sure that would make you happy, you haven’t wanted me around from day one.”
“No, I haven’t. I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you. But Talon cares about you. And you betrayed him by sneaking off.”
“I don’t like being treated like I’m an idiot,” she said.
“Then I guess you’ll have to learn how to follow orders, won’t you?”
“I’m a grown woman—”
“Oh, believe me, princess, I know.” He ran his hand down her side, following her curves.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Caressing you.” He moved his hand back up over her stomach, brushing it over her breast.
“Y-you can’t do that.”
“Why not? Aren’t you enjoying it?”
“What about T-talon?”
“Talon has been pushing us together since the day he brought you on board. If he was here right now, he’d be cheering us on.”
Leaning in, he took her mouth in a deep kiss that had her gasping for breath. He nipped her lower lip before pulling back.
“Come on, we need to get back to the ship.”
Kalia followed Garret through the market. She wished he would walk slower so she could browse some of the stalls, but he was a man on a mission. Suddenly he veered off the path, pulling her with him as they ducked between two stalls and into another row. He tugged her behind a large cabinet that held a variety of clay and ceramic figurines and tucked her between his body and the cabinet.
“Garret, what are you doing?” she asked as he pressed his body against hers. Her body instantly reacted to his, her nipples tightening beneath the suit she wore. Heat simmered, bubbled and she very nearly tilted her mouth up to his for a kiss. She barely managed to pull herself back.
“Shh,” he whispered in her ear, leaning into her. She shivered as his breath brushed against her skin, sending goose bumps over her body. “I just saw Roxan and some of his men.”
His words slowly penetrated the haze of arousal surrounding her. “What?”
He peered around the cabinet, his face intense.
“Garret?”
He swooped back around and took her mouth wit
h his. His kiss was hard, almost brutal, but after a few minutes he softened his lips against her, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Her legs weakened and she would have fallen had he not slipped a leg between hers, supporting her. His hard thigh rubbed against her pussy. Kalia moved slightly, groaning as her clit came into direct contract with his thigh.
Garret took a step back, holding onto her arms as she swayed unsteadily. “Looks like they’ve gone. Let’s go, we need to go back to the ship before he heads back this way.”
“What?” she asked, still dazed as he took her hand and tugged her along behind him. Her mind was still fuzzy with arousal.
“Just do as I say,” he growled. “Move.”
She had to jog just to keep up with his stride. “Garret, can we slow down a bit?”
He glanced behind him impatiently. “Roxan and four of his men are prowling through the market. Looked to me like they were searching for someone, what’s the bet they were looking for you?”
“They could have been searching for anyone. Hell, they could have been hungry and looking for a good moon dog.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “He was not after a moon dog. He was looking for someone.”
“Doesn’t mean it was me.”
“Too much of a coincidence, princess,” he said. “But I know how we can find out for sure.” He stopped and looked around then headed off down another alleyway. She jogged after him for as they searched down another two alleys.
“What are we doing?” she asked, exhausted.
“Looking for an old friend. Ahh, there he is.”
She glanced down to where he was looking. There was a group of scruffy-looking boys in the alley, playing with a ball.
“Where? Behind those boys?”
Garret stopped and let out a low whistle. One of the boys turned around, looking over at them.
“Hey, Captain Garret,” he called out and ran toward them, waving at the other boys.
“An old friend?” she said incredulously. The boy couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen. He had piercing blue eyes and a round face that was smeared with dirt. His clothes were ripped and filthy.
Garret ignored her. “Hi, Johnny. How are you?”
“Can’t complain. What can I do for you?”
“Got a job for you. There are some slavers wandering the market.” The kid’s eyes widened at the news. “I need to know what they’re doing here. If they’re searching for someone, I want to know why. You need a description?”
“Nah, everyone will know who they are. They rarely come into the market. Should be easy enough to find.”
“Good, I need an answer quick. See what you can find out and then come to the Orion.” Garret handed something over some credits and Johnny grabbed them before taking off.
“Let’s go,” he said to Kalia, leading her out of the alley.
When they arrived back at the ship, they found Talon standing by the open cargo bay door, looking worried. She felt a stab of guilt. As soon as he saw them he ran forward.
“Are you guys okay?”
He ran his gaze over both of them.
“Kalia, are you okay? Why did you leave the ship? I was about to go looking for you.”
“Talon, she’s fine,” Garret told him. “Let’s get inside and out of this blistering sun.”
Talon followed behind them, his face screwed up in a frown as Garret led them into the dining area. Kalia sat with a sigh.
“Kalia? Are you all right?” Talon took a seat beside her, looking concerned.
Garret placed a glass of water in front of her, as well as a piece of limel, her favorite fruit. She took both gratefully, drinking the water down quickly.
Talon glanced between them both as Garret sat on her other side. “What’s going on? How did you know she’d taken off, Garret?”
“I didn’t. I found her wandering through the markets on her own,” Garret said.
Talon frowned. “I thought you were going to stay on the ship. Did you decide you wanted something? I would have gotten it for you. It’s not safe to walk around the markets alone.”
Her guilt grew. He was going to be angry with her once he knew the full truth.
“I’m sorry, it was a stupid decision.”
“I’m sure next time she’ll think twice before going off on her own,” Garret said. “Luckily, I came across Kalia before she could get into any trouble. I didn’t have time to bring her back to the ship before my meeting with Mikael.”
Talon grimaced. “Gods, you took her to see Mikael?” He ran his hand over her hair.
“Yes, and unfortunately our princess doesn’t take orders well. She was supposed to remain quiet—instead she basically accused Mikael of being a liar.”
Talon paled. “Fuck. What did he do?”
“Demanded that I put her in her place. You know what Mikael is like; he hates it when his pretty little ornaments prove they have a brain. I had to tell her off and promise him that she would be suitably punished.”
“I am not an ornament,” she protested.
“No,” Talon agreed. “But that’s not how Mikael sees women. They’re to be seen and not heard. They are there to adorn his arm; the more beautiful they are the more important he feels. He’s all about appearances.”
“He’s a slimy little man who was lying.”
“He could have had us killed with a flick of his hand,” Garret told her. “Half the men in that bar were his.”
Kalia bit her lip.
With a sigh, Talon pulled her against his chest. She buried her face against him as he kissed the top of her head.
“Unfortunately, we need Mikael. I hope you realize that Garret did what he had to.”
“I suppose. I still didn’t like it,” she mumbled.
“No,” he replied with a chuckle. “I don’t suppose you did.”
“There’s something else,” Garret said and told him how he’d seen Roxan and his men. He left out the part about their kiss.
“You sent Johnny to collect information?”
Garret nodded.
“He’s just a kid,” she protested.
“If anyone can find out what’s going on its Johnny,” Talon said. “He knows everything that’s going on in those markets. Believe me, Johnny will get an answer for us.”
There was the sound of footsteps approaching and Kalia glanced up as Tripp, Lucan, Siren and Griz strode in. They laughed and joked as they grabbed some drinks then sat around the dining table. Ace and Doc came in a few minutes later.
Once they were all sitting, Garret began to talk. “All right, let’s talk about this job Mikael has for us. He wants us to retrieve some Takilian firestones that were stolen by a group of Zurans.”
Tripp frowned. “Did he give us any idea about where the firestones are now and how we’re supposed to retrieve them?”
“Yes, he said they’re in a warehouse in Goran.”
“Goran?” Ace said. “Crap, I hate that city.”
Kalia was starting to figure out that Ace liked very few places.
“Wouldn’t be my choice, either,” Tripp added. “Last time we were there we almost lost our lives.”
Garret nodded. “There’s more. Kalia, you want to explain?”
“He was lying,” Kalia said. She took a deep breath. “Do you know much about Zurans?” They all shook their heads. “This isn’t common knowledge but the Zurans have a treaty with Takilian. They have no need to steal firestones and I don’t see why they would take them and put the treaty at risk. This all smells off to me. It’s more likely the Zurans were transporting them for the Takilians, who don’t like to leave their planet. Although how they ended up in a warehouse in Goran, I have no idea.”
The rest of them sat in silence for a moment.
“We don’t know for sure that Mikael is lying,” Siren said. “He’s offering a lot of credits and he’s not someone to piss off. If we don’t take this job then he may not send any others our way. We can’t afford to lose those j
obs.”
“We also don’t want to be doing his dirty work,” Talon said. “If what Kalia says is true then we’d be stealing the firestones for Mikael. Do we really want to start doing illegal things for Mikael? If we get caught he’s not going to ride to our rescue.”
“We’re short on credits, though,” Siren said. “We had weeks without earning any credits. This is a big job.”
“We need to find out whether it’s on the up and up,” Garret said finally. “I don’t want to lose this job, either, but it’s a slippery slope, once we start taking criminal jobs it will be hard to turn back. Mikael will ask us again. We might have stretched some laws, but we’ve never knowingly stolen anything, well, not from anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
She frowned at that distinction but didn’t say anything. They were listening to her and that’s what counted.
“There’s only one way to find out what’s going on,” Garret said, looking around at them. “We go to Goran.”
***
“You were leaving for good weren’t you? Why?” Talon asked her as he entered her room.
Kalia looked up guiltily from where she sat on the bed. Then she sighed.
“Because I thought you’d be better off without me around. All I’ve done is cause you guys problems. I nearly got us blown up by the slavers. Garret doesn’t trust me, he doesn’t want me here. I’ve heard you both arguing. I just don’t want to come between the two of you.”
Would Talon be angry if he learned that Garret had kissed her? She couldn’t blame him if he was. She should tell him, but she was too much of a coward to do it.
Talon sighed, sitting beside her on the bed. “So you just left? Do you know how frantic I was? I was terrified that something had happened to you. You have no credits; Roxan is looking for you. You wouldn’t know how to take care of yourself out there.”
“I know,” she said. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t know I’m as helpless as a child, dependent on you all? I hate that. I hate being a burden.”
“I don’t see you as a burden,” he told her fiercely.
She reached out and grabbed his hand. “I know, and I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful for everything you’ve done for me. You’re my friend, Talon. I just didn’t want to cause problems for you anymore.”
Worlds Apart (Men of Orion Book 1) Page 7
