by Marie Harte
If only she hadn’t drugged him. Gathering his wits on board her ship, he’d found the large Raggas hard to defeat. The added strength of the Mardu had been his undoing. Lurin’s gift didn’t work on males, so if he couldn’t defeat them physically, he had to resort to weaponry. On the troublesome females he encountered, he employed his most valuable skill. Usually with little effort, he could make them mere slaves in both mind and body. But the captain’s reaction baffled him.
He’d lost precious strength due to the drug’s effects, and he still hadn’t fully recovered. Perhaps that explained the captain’s resistance. The notion pleased him. Yes, that made sense. The woman was nothing more than a typical human, unaware of the magic around her.
He blazed with excitement. He had only to grab a hold of her mind, to tie her to him, and then wait to make his next move. Sooner or later, she would have to sleep. And then, he thought with a small chuckle, then he would set the lure.
Lurin waited until the darkness had enveloped him completely, his mind calm and at peace. He recalled the captain’s essence—her soft scent, her captivating face, her luscious body outlined in the masculine garb she tried to hide behind.
He released his mortal flesh and drifted through time and space, seeking Captain Mara. He moved through the walls and rooms separating them until he hovered just over her body. She lay fully clothed on her bed, her breathing deep and even.
“Mara,” he whispered, his mind reaching out to hers. He watched as her eyes drifted open, her mind still ensconced in the world of sleep while she heeded his mental call. Perfect, he thought with satisfaction. She couldn’t resist him after all. “Remove your clothing, Mara.”
He hovered over her and stared hungrily at the body she revealed. She slowly stripped off her boots, trousers and space jacket to reveal a shapely form in stark underclothes. Lurin felt far more than he should have. Even distanced in his astral state, he sensed his physical flesh harden, his cock fully aroused.
“Remove the rest,” he ordered in a voice harsher than he’d intended. Mara’s hands stilled on the base of her undershirt before moving to accommodate his next, more softly given command.
“Take it off, slowly.”
Lurin watched restlessly as Mara stripped herself bare. Lust pulsed in waves of energy between them. He stared at her soft face, lingering on her lips. He could all too easily imagine those fleshy petals parting to accommodate his cock, and he had to stifle a groan, surprised that she had such an effect on him.
His gaze travelled farther down, past her graceful neck to her shoulders lightly sculpted with muscle. Captain Mara was no stranger to physical labour.
Unable to resist the lure of her breasts, he watched with hungry satisfaction when her perfectly shaped, golden breasts shuddered in response to his mental touch.
Finally, the woman reacted as she should. Her mind and body sank under his thrall. Mara could not hide her obvious arousal. Her nipples pebbled into tight little buds, rosy sweets ripe for a taste. His mouth watered and his cock felt heavy, on the point of pain. He didn’t understand how she could affect his physical state, when by rights he commanded her compliance.
His gaze moved over her taut stomach, down to the smooth mound protecting her deepest secrets. Her legs were long and supple, and he knew a sudden urge to taste every inch of her, starting with the warm juices hidden behind her swollen folds.
Lurin shivered, dismayed at his burning body clamouring for attention as it waited and throbbed for completion. This was all wrong, and potentially dangerous.
In this precarious state, Lurin had to do more than mentally tie Mara to him, as he normally would have. He needed to ease his lust lest he waste such a valuable build-up of energy and weaken himself further. He couldn’t afford the energy loss, not when he needed to escape.
Lurin smiled in anticipation. He felt no remorse for what he was about to do. She should have succumbed earlier to make it easier on him. Now he could do no less than satisfy them both.
“Know me, Mara. See the truth in my innocence and in my joyful touch.”
He hovered over the unclad female, his energy touching her soft skin like a breath of warm air. She sighed and stretched, enhancing his hunger. He lowered his mouth and kissed her on the lips, feeling her mouth on his even though they touched through thought alone. In his room, his body responded, an electric rush of desire flowing through him.
Lurin enclosed her body in his warm aura and proceeded to claim Mara’s subconscious. He kissed her, slid his tongue into her mouth, and groaned at the glorious taste of her warm lips and tongue as she mimicked his actions. He found it hard to think, the taste of Mara bursting upon his tongue.
An echo of his erection rubbed against her body, and her full breasts pressed against his chest in the dream state. He wanted nothing more than to thrust into her wet, hot sheath and come deep inside her.
Unusually close to orgasm, he tore his mouth from hers and trailed his lips down her throat, amazed at the heat she wrought. Though separated from his body, he could sense his physical self straining, milky dew leaking from his ready cock. The ferocious need to copulate with Mara astounded him. This bond between them felt far too strong to be normal.
His thoughts fled when her hands moved between them. In her mind, her fingers curled around his shaft, squeezing and pumping. When her fingers grazed his sac, he moaned and pressed deeper into her touch. He reached down to stroke her dewy softness, searching out the hard nub of her arousal. She writhed in her sleep and spread her thighs to better accommodate him.
Lurin released his need, sharing his extreme desire. His fingers increased their demand, sliding through her wetness, stroking her clit to a hardened pitch. He regained control, mentally commanding Mara to pump his straining cock until he could no longer hold back.
All too soon, she cried out in orgasm even as he came in her pleasuring hand. That fast, his astral self flew back into his flesh, his cry of ecstasy a groan of pleasure-pain as his body jerked and his seed left him, spreading a mess over his belly.
The emptiness of his orgasm left him both sated and strangely unfulfilled. Though his body now lay flushed and replete, his mind and soul hungered for another taste of Mara. He had given her fulfilment, had strengthened himself from the outburst of climactic energy, but at what cost?
He needed her again, right now, and the urgency to take her unnerved him. Instead of making things better, he’d made them worse. Now more than ever, he needed to escape this imprisonment. And more importantly, from Captain Mara Seni.
Mara awakened the next day feeling strangely refreshed. She heard Catam call for her over the intercom and had just reached for the vidlink when she realised she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. Memories of her erotic dream returned, and she flushed. Must have undressed in my sleep. Good night, wouldn’t that have surprised Catam?
“I’ll be there soon,” she told him through the link, thankful she hadn’t activated the vidscreen. “Waken one of the Fas brothers to relieve you.”
“Aye, aye. Catam, out.” He cut the communications.
As she took a solar bath and quickly dressed, Mara’s thoughts turned to her dreams. She didn’t understand why her mind had become so fixated on her prisoner. She’d seen attractive men before, men who didn’t have an execution awaiting them. But in her dreams, Lurin Vez made her tremble, made her ache with desire. Even now, her body warmed at memories of his heated mouth and stirring caresses.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, needing to control her hormones before she dealt with him again. For some reason, she wanted to hear his side of the story about his crimes. And, she admitted to herself, she needed to see him again, to reconcile her dream lover with the prisoner jailed in the small cell down the hall.
Chapter Three
Mara found Lurin—captive Vez, she reminded herself with a stern rebuke—lying as she’d left him on his narrow bed. He had removed his shirt, and his muscular chest looked maddeningly familiar. She eyed his tall
frame critically, thinking he couldn’t possibly be sleeping in that condition, hanging half off the bed.
She entered the room accompanied by Nu. The Ragga nodded to her and set a tray of food on the table by Vez’s bed. Nu positioned himself protectively behind her, his massive arms crossed and awaiting trouble.
Vez stared at the ceiling and didn’t move until Mara kicked the bed. He shifted slowly, contradicting the quick reflexes he’d shown the night prior.
“Yes, Mara?” He sneered and sat up. Mara could only stare at the hard planes of his broad chest and taut abdomen. Physically, at least, he seemed the perfect male.
“That’s Captain Mara to you, captive Vez,” she reminded him. Today the word ‘captive’ didn’t make him angry. Rather, he gave her a sly smile, as if he knew of the desire she tried to suppress.
“My mistake, Captain.”
Mara couldn’t help thinking that he seemed most content. Nu apparently noticed as well because he moved beside her and eyed Vez with a puzzled frown.
Vez had lost the drug-induced haze he’d worn in the bar. His skin seemed almost…glowing? She blinked and his skin again looked normal. Puzzled, she stared at the floor illuminations. Perhaps the lighting in the room had affected his appearance.
Not knowing why but needing to learn more about her prisoner, Mara sat across from him and waited until he looked at her before she spoke. “Tell me your accounting of what occurred on Jaron two lunar cycles past. What led you to rape a young nobless and kill her mate?” Mara asked with true bewilderment.
Vez frowned. “Very well. But I’d like to be allowed to speak freely, without interruption.” He eyed Nu with a healthy wariness.
“Go ahead.” Mara felt an overwhelming eagerness to hear his tale and wondered at her motives. Why was it so important Vez be innocent of his crimes?
“I was invited to attend Nobless Cari’s birth celebration at the behest of my good friend, Denal Donateral, Lady Sara’s betrothed.”
Mara blinked in surprise. She hadn’t been given that information, only that Lurin Vez had somehow gotten access to the grounds before perpetrating his ruthless crimes.
“I teased Denal about the age difference between him and his young betrothed, but he laughed it away, falling on the old adage that true love conquers all. Well, it certainly conquered him,” he said bitterly. “While he and I were walking through the nobless’s grounds, we stumbled upon the virginal Sara engaged in a bit of sexual roughhousing.”
“Sara?” Mara’s voice rose in surprise, but she quickly tempered her reaction, determined not to react to his story. Still, she heard a ring of truth in what he said, something in his voice that correlated with her own earlier speculations on the girl. “You’re sure it was Sara?”
He stared directly into her eyes. “I’m positive. Sara faced us while a man fucked her roughly from behind. If that wasn’t enough, another man joined her intimate party and quickly blocked our view.” He paused, as if gauging Mara’s response. “He shoved his cock in her mouth.”
“Maybe they forced her into it,” Nu offered.
“Denal and I thought the same until she laughed and moaned, begging for more, for pain and—” His face twisted with revulsion, and he shook his head. “The things she had them do… We stood there for quite some time. Suffice it to say, the girl was insatiable.”
Staring into Vez’s bright eyes, Mara saw the truth for herself. She didn’t understand how, but she pictured the reprehensible scene clearly in her mind’s eye. After a moment, she glanced at Nu but could see nothing in his expressionless face.
“That wasn’t the worst of it,” Vez continued, his voice rough. “After we watched it all in silence, we returned to the palace. Denal demanded an immediate dialogue with Nobless Cari. I was not privy to the conversation, but I know Denal’s intent was to break the engagement.
“Unfortunately, I never saw him again. The next day, I heard along with everyone else that his body had been found in the woods, at the very site where he and I had come upon Sara the day before.”
“So you have no idea of what Denal actually said to Nobless Cari?”
“None. Denal was like a brother to me.” His eyes softened, and Mara found herself drawn into his pain. “I hadn’t liked Sara prior to their betrothal, but she made him happy; so I was happy for him. But when they found him dead, I knew Sara and her mother had killed him.
“Sara’s seemingly overwhelming grief felt contrived. I cast my suspicions to the local law, and soon after found myself under house arrest. I barely managed to escape. And now, here I am.” He sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair.
Mara desperately wanted to side with him, and that in itself made her cautious. That blasted dream had skewed her judgment. A prisoner declares an unbelievable story to be true, and I’m falling for it. Instead of remaining unbiased, Mara couldn’t help remembering the taste of his mouth, the feel of his shaft pulsing in her hands.
He’d shot her impartiality all to hell. And she didn’t like it.
“A pretty story, captive Vez,” Mara murmured.
He shot to his feet and his eyes gleamed with frustration. Sensing that he was not in control of himself, she stood and stepped back out of reach.
Nu inserted himself between them, a stun phaser suddenly in his hand directed at the prisoner’s chest. Vez’s sapphire gaze met the Ragga’s at eye level, an odd occurrence for Nu, who normally towered over their prisoners.
Needing to defuse the situation, Mara tried the truth. “I’m not sure I believe you. I admit I don’t completely believe Nobless Cari’s story, but I’m not the law. I’m just a bounty hunter.”
Though she didn’t often delve into the details of her captives’ crimes, Mara had faith in the legitimacy of the law’s claims. Her other jobs had felt right. This one didn’t. And it bothered her. But no need to let her prisoner know he’d succeeded in raising her suspicions.
“You don’t care that you’re sending an innocent man to his death?” Vez crossed his arms, his biceps clenched as if he held himself back through sheer will alone.
“Come what may.” Mara shrugged. She refrained from shrinking under the force behind his scowl. “I didn’t say I’m not interested in what really happened. I might look into things, for my own satisfaction and nothing more.”
Instead of settling him, her words seemed to aggravate him more. “I don’t think that wise, Captain. You don’t know what trouble you’d be courting. Nobless Cari’s influence knows no bounds,” he warned. He must not have liked the look on her face for he cursed. Then the tension seemed to leave him and he sat back on his bed with a sigh.
Mara frowned down at him, wondering what game he played now. He’d tried to convince her of his innocence, but he hadn’t succeeded completely. She said she’d look into it. The man wanted complete absolution or nothing? The hell with that. She hadn’t lived twenty-five years in the System without a shell of caution to keep her alive.
“Nu, take our captive to the lav. Get him cleaned up and exercised,” she ordered.
Nu yanked Vez to his feet.
In the blink of an eye, Vez stood before her. He reached out and grazed her cheek. The contact had her heart racing, the feeling of intimacy between them strong. Then Nu was cursing, shoving her prisoner to the floor onto his stomach and reapplying the shackles.
“Oh, Captain Mara, you do please me,” Vez whispered in a voice that should have been too soft to be heard, but Mara heard it all the same.
She watched Nu take Vez away and tried to rid herself of the odd sensations coursing through her body. The mere touch of his hand on her cheek had sent her blood pounding, her sex throbbing with need. She didn’t understand. Never before had Mara fallen prey to the odd lustfulness that plagued her men. So why now? And why with him?
She contemplated her new feelings as she returned to the bridge. Set sat at the controls and nodded a greeting.
“Confirm course for the nearest pleasure point,” she ordered, aware of the an
ticipation blooming on his face. Like Nu, Set didn’t practise much in the art of subtlety. The brothers possessed insatiable sexual appetites, or so had been alleged in the many pleasure clubs where she’d waited for her crew. The Fas brothers were close to legend.
“Almost Thesha,” she murmured.
“Captain?” Set’s concern irritated her.
“Talking to myself. Damn. Ignore me, Set. It’s been a long trip.” And getting longer each day. Turning to the current news on the info sector, she concentrated on future bounties, determined to relegate Lurin Vez to ‘mission complete’ status.
Lurin closed his eyes and relaxed as the solar bath cleaned him of grime, a conglomeration of dirt, sweat and semen that had accumulated on his body over the past two days. The semen he hadn’t minded so much, he thought, remembering Mara’s naked body.
After a few moments, he stepped out of the bath. The large man watching him hadn’t stopped frowning since they’d left Mara’s company.
“The captain is to be respected,” Nu said firmly, his disapproval apparent. Nu’s phaser didn’t waver from Lurin’s chest, the weapon an effective deterrent to the escape plans Lurin had concocted.
He looked around for his clothes but couldn’t find them. Then his large guard threw a pair of rough trousers and a shirt at him, an outfit similar to the one Nu wore.
“It will fit, though you’re not as large in your upper body as a Ragga.” Nu grunted and flexed his behemoth shoulders as he noted Lurin’s form. Lurin could only hope the Ragga hadn’t paid too much attention to the area above his groin, where an oddly shaped mark resided. To Lurin’s relief, Nu didn’t appear overly interested in his body.
Thanking his stars that, for all their roughness, Mara’s crew had been decidedly decent about his captivity, Lurin finished dressing and turned to Nu with a question.
“Your captain,” he began and watched the man tense. “How does a woman who looks like that run two Raggas and a Mardu?”
