Forced Compliance (The Galactic Outlaws Book 1)

by Bradford Bates

  I twirled the card in my hand around my fingers before presenting it to the bouncer. He scanned the card and must have received the proper confirmation because he handed it back and moved out of the way. He said something into his earpiece I couldn’t hear and the doors opened.

  “Enjoy your evening.”

  We walked past him and into the club. The doors closed behind us, and I couldn’t help but feeling like we had been sealed inside. So far, we hadn’t gone through a scanner unless they used a discreet system at the door. If I knew it was going to be this easy getting inside, I would have brought a real gun to the party. Maze kept her arm wrapped around me, and I was conscious of her body pressed against mine. She felt good, almost too good. That might have been the last of my painkillers talking, but I wasn’t so sure.

  A second set of heavily draped doors opened in front of us and this time I could hear the music. It had a deep guttural bass sound to it, but the rest of it was light enough so that it didn’t assault you. It wasn’t to my taste. I preferred something with guitar, and a little more rock, but the electronic nature of what was playing fit in with the club. The floors throughout were the same black stone with muted red lighting. Dark red lights shined down from the ceiling bathing the club in a mist of red. The furniture all looked to be made out of suede or velvet.

  Alcoves lined one wall and couches had been set in front of them. I could only see into the room directly in front of us, but I was already starting to see why people told the stories that they did. From my vantage point, I could make out a man getting part of his anatomy pierced that I would have killed someone for even approaching with a needle. A hiss of air escaped through Maze’s teeth as the man cried out in pleasure when the needle slipped in. I pulled her forward hoping to never see anything like that again. I told myself I was doing it so we could get a better lay of the land, but really I didn’t want to see what got pierced next.

  Outside of the alcoves set in the wall for shows there were several semi-private areas set up. I say semi-private because they were covered in black gossamer netting that hung from the roof. You could still see hints of what was happening inside, but not enough to make out faces. The one closest to us seemed to have an orgy of some kind happening. All of it was pretty pedestrian considering what I expected after reading on the Dnet. That meant we were missing something. No one would pay the kind of membership fee I had seen for a little sex and self-mutilation. You could get that with a bottle of whiskey and a knife.

  We took a seat off to the side of one of the alcoves. So far the show happening in this one wasn’t totally unpleasant, but I had the feeling things were just getting started. It wouldn’t be long before the leather cat of nine tails was replaced with something a little more vicious. Maze continued to scan the room until a waiter appeared.

  “Is there anything I can get for you?” The waiter asked after making a small bow.

  I looked at Maze trying to gauge how soon it would be before we were forced into action. She just raised one eyebrow in the flirty kind of way that let me know she had everything under control and I should just sit back and relax. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

  We were on the clock, and I felt every second slipping away, but I had to count on my partner. She would be able to learn more with a glance around the room then I could searching it by hand. We couldn’t afford to raise any eyebrows with security so I did what any other patron would, I ordered us drinks. “How about a bottle of champagne, my good man? Something on the higher end of things.”

  He gave me a look as if I was crazy to insinuate they carried any kind of cheap champagne. “Of course sir.”

  The waiter retreated behind one of the velvet curtains, and I was alone with Maze again. “Any clue where we need to go?” Maze was always better at casing a place then I was.

  “Several,” she said with a cocky grin.

  Maze scooted in closer to me, so that our legs were touching, and then she leaned back giving me a glimpse of tan skin and a plunging neckline. I still wasn’t sure where she had put her weapons, but the list of probable places was shrinking rapidly. Then she nestled against my arm and looked up into my eyes. My first instinct was to tilt my head down to kiss her. I started the movement and then jerked to a stop. What in the hell was I doing?

  Maze had no such problem with the idea. She laced her fingers into my hair and pulled my mouth down to hers. Her tongue darted into my mouth, and it was all I could do to remember to kiss her back. This wasn’t the kind of place that would have turned her on, so why was she doing this? Not that I was complaining. I mean the fabric of my pants was starting to feel awfully snug so I was warming up to the idea rapidly.

  We broke apart, and Maze hit me with that mischievous grin that let me know I was in all kinds of trouble. If it had been any other woman and any other time, I would have braced myself to wake up hung over with a drained bank account.

  Something else was going on here, there was no way Maze would be this callous while we were looking for Kyra. I moved my eyes away from her trying to pull myself together. Just because she had a plan of attack didn’t mean that my body wasn’t trying to betray me. Maybe I could bring this back on track, before I made a complete ass out of myself. “So you were saying you had several clues?”

  The looks she gave me now could have curdled freeze dried milk. “Really, Captain.”

  Uh, oh. She called me Captain, that was never a good thing.

  “Just sit back and let me do the heavy lifting, you’re obviously distracted.” She looked down at my lower half, and then gave me a little shake of the head as if she were disappointed in me.

  As if I had choice with what happened below the belt when a beautiful woman was kissing me like the world was about to end. The damn thing didn’t care that Kyra’s life was in the balance, it just responded to stimulation. Now that I was cooling off, it sunk in just what Maze was trying to do. Looking around revealed several sets of eyes on us. Most of them were other patrons, but a few of them were members of the staff.

  “Just tell me what to do next.”

  “You might just find a way to redeem yourself yet, Captain.”

  The waiter appeared with our champagne. He popped the cork filled up two glasses and then placed the bottle in a bucket of ice before leaving. Maze handed me a glass.

  “Drink up. I’m going to need someone that can be a little less awkward in fake social situations on my arm. Kyra is counting on us to pull this off, so get your head in the game.”

  Maze spoke with an intensity I hadn’t heard from her before and she was right. Kyra’s life was on the line and I was still thinking about how good she tasted. What in the hell was wrong with me? Maybe playing this part hit a little too close to home, for me to wrap my mind around it. What I needed now was a cold shower, and maybe a little distance between us.

  The champagne bubbled as it trickled down my throat. The small sip tasted good, so damn good, I started to wonder how much that bottle was going to set me back. It dawned on me that the champagne didn’t matter, I just had to sit back and pretend to enjoy it while Maze finished scanning the room with her cybernetics. My mind tried to drag me back to the kiss we had just shared, but I was able to stop that thought from going further. A captain wasn’t supposed to feel that way about the women on his crew. It was my job to protect them, and to make sure all of us had work. That was it. There was no kissing in the employee handbook, trust me, I checked.

  Maze ran her fingers through my hair again, and I almost dropped my glass.

  “Man up, Drake,” she whispered as she pressed herself against me.

  That was exactly what I was afraid of, manning up had a whole different meaning when the woman next to you started to flick her tongue against your neck. Damn, she really knew how to push my buttons. It was a good thing she was still working because my mind was all over the damn place. I kind of missed when things were simple. It used to be you could walk into a place and just shoot a few people to get what t
hey stole from you. Now you had to almost act like a secret agent.

  I looked at Maze and she smiled, her eyes sparkled, and I knew she was enjoying tormenting me. Fuck it, if this is how she wanted to play, then I could do the same thing. I turned away from watching the two women in front of us playing bondage games and pulled her in for another kiss. It was just as good the second time if not better. Her tongue tasted like the champagne. The kiss was fresh and sweet with just a hint of urgency and need behind it.

  We broke apart. “Now that’s more like it.” She murmured in my ear before sucking the bottom of my lobe into her mouth. “I need to get a look behind us.”

  Damn, so it was still all business for her. It should have been for me too, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted more. Jesus, as if I couldn’t have been more disgusted with myself for losing Kyra in the first place, now my mind was fully stuck on sex when I should be doing whatever it took to get her back.

  Maze slid off my lap and poured another glass of champagne for herself. Mine had already hit me hard. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the leftover narcotics mixing with the champagne in my system, but I was good to go. We needed to get this done before I completely fell apart.

  She leaned in close again and covered her lips with her glass. “Good, they stopped watching us.”

  I put my hand on the back of her neck pulling her closer. As my lips brushed against hers, I said. “So all of that,” I pulled back just a fraction of an inch, “was just an act?”

  Her eyes met mine, and they were sparkling with amusement. “Maybe not all of it, Captain.”

  Well thank God for small favors. I’d hate to think she was just kissing me for work. I’d had enough of that in the military. At least I wouldn’t have to figure out how to deal with any emotional bullshit. Maze had her head on straight it was only me that I was worried about. She was right, I just needed to sit back and let her lead the show.

  I crushed the part of me that wanted to pull her in for another kiss. Her plan had already worked. It was time for me to get my shit together. “So what’s the plan?”

  She leaned back against the couch and slapped me on the shoulder, and the most beautiful laughter I had ever heard erupted from her lips. She was still playing the part, but all I could do was smile and try and wipe the hungry expression off of my face.

  She stood up, poured another glass of champagne and then climbed on top of my lap. My first thought was oh shit here we go again. Her eyebrow went up in question as she settled against me. Maze’s eyes continued to sparkle with amusement. At least I knew she wasn’t completely disgusted with me. Although she probably wondered how I ever got anything done when I used the wrong head for thinking.

  She tilted the glass of champagne above my mouth and poured some in before coming in for another kiss. This was starting to get a little ridiculous, but even as we kissed, I could tell Maze was still scanning the room. She ended our kiss abruptly and worked her way off of my lap. She leaned into me resting her head on my shoulder.

  “There are two armed guards on the other side of the room. Behind them is a door. It’s the only thing that doesn’t seem to add up that I can find. My eye can’t get a read on anything behind the door so we are going to have to go in for a closer look,” Maze whispered into my ear.

  It took a moment for her words to sink in. Shit, it took more than a moment for me to snap myself out of the memory of how great she felt on my lap. My body was all tangled up with my brain, and each of them were pulling me in different directions. I felt Maze stiffen beside me, she was ready to get to work.

  “I’m ready.”

  “I’m sure you are.” She smiled. “But we’ve got a girl to save.”

  Well damn if that didn’t cut right to the heart of the matter. That was Maze, she always told me what I needed to hear to pull my shit back together. I let out a little sigh and focused on what needed to be done. Step one: getting up from the couch. Step two: save the fucking day.

  Saving Kyra would always come before any of my own desires. The fact that we were so close, and she was in danger should have been enough to get me moving. Instead I kept drifting back to those kisses. I was disgusted with myself, maybe I was a little broken. I hated to admit it but if we weren’t here to rescue one of my crew I probably would have found time to indulge myself with another one, if Maze was willing.

  I ran my hand down Maze’s back keeping it just shy of completely inappropriate. It was the hardest thing I had done in my life, and she wasn’t making it any easier. Maze arched her back into my touch and rose slowly up from the couch. My hand slipped to her ass, and I snapped it away like it had been electrocuted before catching myself. I hoped no one had noticed my sudden movement, but it had done just enough to pull my mind back onto the job.

  I felt a little bit more in control as I replaced my hand on the small of Maze’s back and started to guide her out of our little alcove. “I guess it’s time find out if those fancy little cards Ice made us are going to work.”

  Maze leaned into me. “Are you sure you don’t need a minute?” She looked down. “You’re not going to be able to hide that.”

  I hate to admit that more than a little blush had crept into my cheeks. I tried to cover my embarrassment with bravado. “Then I’ll fit right in.”

  With more confidence than I felt I started to move forward, then I stopped and turned back towards the bottle of champagne. I filled my glass, and then drank it. My head went fuzzy for a moment and then I snapped back into the moment with more clarity than I had any right too. It didn’t stop me from noticing the way the light sparkled against Maze’s hair as we started walking towards the guards.

  I was more than a little buzzed, but my adrenaline was trying to clear that little problem up for me. Why was it that sex and violence always seemed to go hand in hand in our line of work? I told myself this was going to be easy. These men either had what we wanted, or I’d hurt them until they could point me towards someone that did.

  Chapter 5

  Captain Drake

  Trying to come up with witty banter while walking across a room towards two people you’ll most likely have to kill isn’t exactly easy. Maze helped me keep our conversation fast and light. The champagne and the left over pain meds, made it easier for me to keep up my end of the conversation. Still she had her body glued to mine, but my attention was wholly focused on the two men in front of us. There would be time to figure out why she could spin me about so easily later.

  One of the guards moved forward to stop us from coming any closer. “I’m sorry sir, but this area is reserved for specific members.”

  “I think you will find this will do the trick.” I pulled out the card Ice had cloned for me and handed it to the man. If the scan didn’t get us in then we would have to act quickly. I kept my eyes glued to his as he looked down at his system. I felt Maze stiffen beside me. She was ready for a fight.

  The guard looked back up from his datapad and his eyes hardened. “I’m sorry sir, but you don’t have the required access to enter this part of the club.”

  He started to hand my card back to me, and I fumbled it to the ground. The guard gave me a look that he must have reserved for when he was killing cockroaches before bending to pick the fallen card up. I took a step away from Maze and then brought my knee up into the guard's face. I saw Maze’s arm move forward and knew she had used one of her knives.

  The other guard looked shocked, which bought me just enough time to bring him down before he could react. He blocked my first punch but didn’t expect me to follow up with my left hand. The knife sank into his stomach. He started to scream, and Maze was there in an instant. She shoved the blade through the back of his neck cutting off the scream before it truly got started. His body slumped to the ground, and I bent down to move his body.

  Maze pushed me out of the way. “I’ve got this one, the other one is too big for me to drag.”

  “On it,” I said, turning towards the first b
ody. There was already a growing stain on the floor. We were going to have to move fast now, or whatever additional security this place had would be on us quickly. The only thing working in our favor was that places like this tended not to have cameras. The last thing the wealthy patrons that frequented this place wanted was to have their deranged little fantasy coming out on the Dnet.

  Dragging a dead body isn’t as easy as they make it look like in the vids. It took a lot more effort to move the dead weight around. This guy had to be pushing two hundred and fifty pounds and was awkward as hell to carry while trying to keep the blood off of my tux.

  On the other side of the small corridor they had been guarding was a little workstation with a third man in it. Maze had already taken care of him but was having a little trouble moving his body around in the closet-sized space. She managed to cram the second body inside just as I made it to the door. Maze ducked out of the way and helped me tuck the last man’s legs into the little office.

  Turning away from the office I looked back down at the stained carpet. If anyone came this way they wouldn’t be able to avoid the blood. If they saw the office we were in real trouble. There was no way to tell how much security they had inside of the building, but it was probably enough to overwhelm the two of us. There was nothing we could do about it now, but keep moving.

  Maze’s dress was covered in blood. None of the guards would be able to ignore us now. I let out a little laugh when I imagined her as one of the scream queens from my horror vids. Mostly because if a serial killer tried to hunt Maze down, he would have been the one making a deadly mistake. Maze grabbed my arm, stirring me out of my musing.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “I guess we just go room to room until we find our girl.”