Hunters

by Michelle Marquis; Lindsey Bayer

  Chapter Two

  Of all the rotten luck! Why did Edna have to send Bart “the Barracuda” Tanner to pick her up? Harmony sat in the copilot seat of the Aries, trying not to look annoyed that she was at Tanner’s mercy. Edna knew how much she hated this arrogant bully of a human. She’d talked trash about his methods often enough. Surely there had to have been someone else available among Edna’s lazy band of misfit hunters at Galaxy Recovery. This was her boss’s idea of revenge against Harmony for having wasted a year incarcerated on lizard-world. Some people were so petty that way.

  Tanner kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and she knew he loved being the one in control. Tanner might be human but that was in name only. Notorious for his savage temper and fierce brutality, he was really more beast than man. Standing an impressive six four, heavily muscled, and covered in monster tattoos, he was the only person she’d ever heard of to survive a recovery assignment on the maximum security prison planet of Ackron-Nine.

  But Tanner had trouble controlling his dark side and never took his job very seriously. His success was rocky at best. Who else would dare bring back a dead skip who should have been recovered alive? Only him. She wondered why Edna used him at all.

  He turned his chair around and caressed his index finger across his bottom lip. “So,” he said in a condescending tone, “how was your stay on AEssyria?”

  Harmony sighed. “Oh, just what you’d expect. Sun bathing, massages, room service. I was getting a little tired of all the pampering, as I’m sure you can guess. Thank goodness I only had to spend a year there.” She lifted her boots and propped them up on the control panel.

  Tanner’s eyes narrowed like a dog about to bite. He got up and stalked over, pausing behind her to stare at her boots. Harmony could feel the energy of his fury like the sun on her back but didn’t remove them. Tanner leaned over, making a point to exhale softly in her ear. It made her nipples hard and brought gooseflesh up on her arms. Then he placed his hand on her thigh and ran his palm down to her boot. The contact left behind a mild but lingering heat. He shoved her feet off the panel then continued his journey to the food replicator. “They work you hard?”

  “They refer to it as exercise and recreation,” she said, unfazed by his rudeness. She’d annoyed him. It was enough.

  He returned with a small cup of coffee without offering her any. Sooo typical. “They beat you?”

  Harmony struggled to keep her temper under wraps and spoke in a cool, detached voice. “No, they did not. As you may be aware, the AEssyrian prisons are controlled by the military. Officers exercise complete control over their males through violence and intimidation. Since the soldiers aren’t allowed to assault people at any of their other duty stations, it makes no sense that they would be allowed to do so at this one. It would have cost the offender his hard-earned career. The general takes that stuff very seriously.”

  “You sound like you have a crush on him.” With a flip of a switch, Tanner put the ship on autopilot.

  “No, I don’t, but I’m indebted for his help.”

  He wasn’t as interested in her jail time as he was having some fun. Normally she would have been more game but she was drained and her eyes were burning from the harsh cabin lights. The prison had been dark. She was finding the continuous glow of the overhead lights hard to adjust to.

  A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Did you ever sleep with him?”

  “The general? A few times but it was long ago.”

  “Why did you stop?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Is this titillating you?”

  He stroked the back of his hand along the stubble covering his jaw. “Maybe.”

  “We were too different. We didn’t work that way. Anyway, he’s happily married now.”

  “Was there a problem with him being AEssyrian?”

  Harmony tapped her tongue against her top lip, remembering their brief relationship. “No. We didn’t work because of his sexual appetite. AEssyrians are a very sensual people. My profession kept me away too much. I wasn’t around to keep up with his needs.”

  “Do you miss fucking him?”

  Harmony stared out at the sea of stars. “Sometimes,” she said, distracted. She didn’t want to talk about the general anymore. It made her kind of lonely. Outside the window were the twin suns, Arelia and Astor, named for the Draconian gods of light and power. One was larger than the other but both were the source of heat and light for all three planets. Beyond them was a vast array of stars scattered among three large green-and-blue planets, Kirillia, Draconia, and AEssyria. Scientists called them the magic three, all approximately the same distance from the suns but each in a different orbit and with thriving civilizations as different from one another as they were from Earth half a galaxy away.

  It was good to be back among the stars where she belonged. She had really missed that view. She lifted her arms and stretched. “Tanner, I’m a little tired. How many stupid questions are you planning to ask me?”

  “As many as you’re willing to answer.”

  “Well,” Harmony said, getting up and walking over to the food replicator, “I’m not answering any more.” She was starving for anything that didn’t have meat in it. The AEssyrians were a carnivorous people and every meager offering had been whatever the soldiers left on their plates from the day before. Rolling her neck, she cringed and pushed the memory to the back of her mind. The food storage menu glowed before her from the galley panel. “Don’t you have anything organic like a fruit or vegetable?”

  “Nope, those vile weeds are not permitted on my ship. I have meat, bread and beer. What about some toast? That’s pretty close to organic.”

  “Hardly.” She punched in her selection. Nothing happened. “How do you work this damn thing?”

  Tanner put his coffee down and came over. His body moved with a potent, restrained power that suggested he was much more dangerous than he looked. He depressed two buttons together then had her input her order. Two pieces of toast appeared in the containment window. The window lifted and Harmony removed them. She paused to sniff the toast then returned to her seat. She stared at Tanner for a moment and he met her gaze with wolfish gray eyes.

  Harmony didn’t exactly dislike him, but she was wary and just wished they didn’t have to keep bumping into each other. She was certainly no virgin but Tanner’s raw sexuality made her hopelessly self-conscious. His gaze was sharp and fierce, as though speculating on what kind of dinner you’d make. There was another element to it too, a lively passion that moved over and through her like a sudden gust of hot wind. His look was a summoning, a mating call, that awoke a sincere but unexpected passion deep within. She fidgeted with the toast as her neck burned and heat crept into her cheeks. She imagined the delicate taste of salt on his skin as she traced the lines of his many tattoos with her tongue.

  Tanner leaned back in his chair and stared out the window. A tiny grin played at the corner of his mouth. “I like the thought of you and the general fucking,” he said in an intimate whisper. “Too bad I wasn’t around to watch. That scene would have made me so fucking hard I’d have had to beat off twice before going to sleep at night.”

  Most women would have been angry and shocked by his words, but this was typical harassment from male hunters like Tanner. This was their idea of fun and Harmony was used to it. She took a bite of her toast and chewed. “That’s funny. I heard you had upgraded to a synthi-doll for all of your nocturnal activities.”

  “And what do you use for yours?”

  “I have plenty of dates, Tanner. I don’t need to imagine pathetic voyeur scenes to get myself off.”

  “I heard your last date had a twelve-speed motor.”

  Harmony frowned at the toast but finished the piece she started. She tossed the other in the trash and flushed it into space. “At least I come every time I get laid.”

  “I could make you come.”

  There was a thread of danger in his voice, an unraveling passion that unnerved her
. Her breath grew shallow and her heart sped up.

  “Save it for the women you pay. When will we arrive at the storage facility?”

  “A few more hours.”

  Harmony rubbed her eyes. “Do you mind if I go in the back and take a nap?”

  Tanner grinned. “Help yourself. But don’t let me catch you doing anything naughty. I know you’ve been in stir a long time.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “If I did feel the urge, I’d be sure to secure the hatch.”

  His eyes darkened to gunmetal gray. “Don’t bother. I already disabled the security code before you came on board.”

  Chapter Three

  Tanner’s sleeping compartment was much larger than the one on her ship. It housed a medium-sized platform cot with dark blue cotton sheets. He probably picked a dark color to hide the stains. A rumpled black velvet blanket lay on top, warm and inviting.

  Harmony walked around and was enveloped with his rich masculine scent. It was everywhere and had a surprising effect on her despite its human origins. The aroma’s magic filled her with a lazy sensuality and she found herself thinking of sex for the first time in a long time. She pushed those thoughts down and yanked off her boots and socks. She climbed into the bed and turned on her side, facing the bulkhead. Random thoughts tumbled through her mind as she closed her eyes trying to shut them out.

  But just as she was drifting in the peaceful zone between wake and sleep, an irksome hunger filled her. It came over her gradually, like a building breeze off the ocean, but once it had her, she was lost. She shifted, trying to get more comfortable, and noticed her clit was plump and achy, swelling with a need she knew all too well. It had been more than a year since she’d been laid but it felt like much longer. She was debating whether or not to bring herself to climax when she heard Tanner’s heavy boots approaching.

  The bounty hunter stomped into the compartment, not bothering to be quiet. She kept her back to him, pretending to sleep, hoping he would get what he wanted and leave. But Tanner didn’t leave. From the sound of what was going on behind her, he was getting undressed. Tanner obviously had plans for the evening. The question was did she want to allow him to entertain her? His scent was richer now that he was so close, and she began to find him more alluring. Her body responded immediately, growing slick and needy as he climbed into the bed behind her.

  What the hell? I’ve slept with worse men and he’s taking me to my ship. Why not let him take the edge off my lust?

  Moving up over her, he turned her face toward him and seized her jaw with his thick callused hand. His grip didn’t hurt but it was firm and insistent. It was the grip of a man used to getting what he wanted. Other women might have been intimidated into submission by the pass but Harmony wasn’t. She knew without question she could take him out if he got too unpleasant.

  Tanner’s mouth moved down over hers, claiming her lips with a fierce, lusty kiss. But then the kiss turned sweeter than she expected, softening and pulling back several times to tickle and tease her lips and tongue.

  Harmony was stunned by the savage fire he kindled inside her. He’s such a brute, who would have guessed he’d know what he’s doing? Wrapping her arms around his neck, she returned his kiss with a few delicate kisses of her own.

  He pushed his body closer and groaned into her mouth, excited by her response. His big hands glided under her shirt, finding the swollen mounds of her breasts. With each one, he took his time, pausing to massage his palm against the nipple, encouraging each one to tighten into a dark pink marble. Harmony worked to quiet her frantic heart as it pounded. Her skin came alive under his touch, rippling with sweet delight. His touch meandered down, across the flat plain of her belly until he reached the border of her pants. There he worked the buttons, unfastening them with surprising speed and skill.

  From somewhere deep inside her, an alarm was sounding. It reminded her that this man was unsuitable, certainly not the kind of man to get romantically involved with. But if her heart wasn’t at stake, what did it matter? She didn’t even like the guy, for mercy’s sake.

  Tanner must have sensed her conflict because he turned up the heat by squeezing his brawny chest against her. It worked. Reason fled, burned from her mind like a raging brush fire. His scorching lips found her throat and nibbled kisses along the tender flesh. The sensation created a delicate agony of want all through her. Harmony gasped and ran her fingers up into his thick brown hair, cradling his head in her palms as his kisses worked their magic over her flesh.

  Suddenly his desire turned, growing heated and angry. Tanner pushed his lips into her skin, raking his teeth against her a few times as if he meant to eat her. His savage kisses burned down her neck to her collarbone until she had enough. She grabbed a handful of hair from the top and pulled hard.

  Tanner stopped. He glanced up and Harmony’s belly thrilled to his feverish gaze. “What?”

  “Play nicely.”

  His pupils dilated, making his gray eyes turn black. Then his features softened. A long exhale escaped his chest as if he was exorcising something buried deep within. “Okay.”

  Tanner pulled one breast into his mouth and rolled his tongue around the tender areola. Harmony opened her mouth but no sound came out. She arched her back as Tanner worked with an interesting mixture of kindness and brutality. His mouth explored, teased, nipped and licked, finding new ways to arouse her with every inch he consumed. Powerful arms wrapped around her waist, crushing her against him as if she were going to disappear at any moment. Then his trembling hands wrestled with her pants until he was finally able to glide them off her body.

  His aggression was both erotic and annoying, and Harmony hated how raw and out of control she felt. Relentless hunger gnawed at her, defying any attempt to contain it. Determined to slow him down, Harmony hauled off and slapped him several times as hard as she could. He barely registered the blows but looked up to give her a questioning look. The gaze that met hers was no longer human. Something primal and dangerous had taken up residence in Tanner’s soul, and the simple act of keeping still was making his chest heave. Sweat trickled down his face and throat and dripped onto her quivering belly.

  Harmony pushed him off her and sat up. This was good but she wanted to slow things down a bit and make sure her needs were met first. She had little doubt that as soon as Tanner climaxed, he’d be done. He just seemed like that guy.

  He watched her like an eagle about to dive and her sex grew wetter, pulsing with renewed excitement. Harmony hooked her thumbs into her underwear and slid them off her hips. Then she eased her body over Tanner’s mouth. He welcomed her on top of him, wrapping his burly arms around her thighs and pulling her down toward his eager tongue. The sudden contact of his lips against her clit made her back arch and she let out a sharp gasp.

  Nuzzling past her plump labia, he flattened his tongue against her clit and massaged it with quick, expert strokes. The sensation was divine and Harmony couldn’t stop her hips from thrusting to match his rhythm. His tongue tickled and teased, finding all the private places that made her body sing. A bonfire of desire consumed her as the enjoyment built in her sex. The discomfort of the past year drifted away as her whole body became a temple of pleasure. Unable to contain herself, she tossed her head back and let out a long, gratified moan.

  Tanner became feverish with lust, driven to aggression by her lusty response and his feral hunger. Manhandling her off him, he positioned her on all fours and mounted her from behind. He pushed the swollen tip of his cock against the threshold of her sex. The effect was intoxicating and brought gooseflesh up all over.

  Harmony swallowed as the ache in her body verged on overwhelming. He penetrated her with the slick tip but allowed only an inch inside. Digging her fingers into the sheets, Harmony clenched her teeth and pushed her hips back, longing for him to drive deeper.

  Caresses moved over her lower back, circling around her sides and smoothing along her belly. Then he moved all the way inside, pushing his cock home. The fee
l of him so deep inside made her moan his name.

  With trembling hands, he massaged her breasts, pulling and twisting the nipples until they were stiff and bright pink. Harmony was delirious with ecstasy, driven to the very edge of sanity with the explosion of pleasures dueling inside her. Tanner pumped into her again, breaching and conquering her slick core, shoving his cock to the root and pounding his passionate lust out in a dizzying cadence.

  Harmony braced her hand against the bulkhead to prevent him slamming her head into it. Another climax was building. His cock worked in and out, massaging the drenched walls and sending shockwaves of bliss through every nerve in her body. Her whole being narrowed down to her happy sex and the delicious pounding it was getting. A scream echoed off the walls and she was amused when she realized it was her own.

  Tanner rested his cheek between her shoulder blades, his sweat mingling with hers. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Harmony,” he panted. “So deliciously wet.”

  Harmony opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out except an animal cry of pure pleasure. Then, like a sudden avalanche, the orgasm cascaded over her, sending a flash of lust to every nerve and fiber. As the last spasm of her climax ebbed away, Tanner roared as his own peak climbed, bucking his hips into her with such carnal fervor she had to use both hands to brace herself against the wall. Then he froze as the climax took him.

  If Harmony had been tired before, she was definitely done now. Unable to hold herself up any longer, she let herself collapse onto her elbows. Tanner stroked her hair and lay down next to her.

  Harmony fought to catch her breath as every muscle twitched in fatigue. But boy, did she feel good. No, she felt fucking great. But why oh why did this have to be so good with him? An instant wave of regret came over her. “This doesn’t change anything between us, Tanner,” she managed, still panting. “Got that?”

  The bounty hunter was silent. She looked into his face and frowned. He was already asleep, just as she suspected he’d be.