Hunters

by Michelle Marquis; Lindsey Bayer

  Of course Buck and Harmony had only met briefly a number of years ago on a case, but her obsessive attention to detail, coupled with the fact she was a woman and an alien one at that, didn’t endear her to the rugged bounty hunter. After catching the last skip with Buck, Tanner had been forced to listen to his friend’s drunken tirade about what an aggravating kook Harmony was. Showing up at Buck’s with Harmony in tow was going to be an issue. That was for damn sure.

  For her part, Harmony seemed to have no idea how Buck felt about her. Tanner had told her they were going to have to get help from Platinum but she’d never responded, so he figured she was okay with it. Now he wasn’t so sure. Harmony busied herself electronically filing away any and all information she could unearth about Prime.

  Tanner tilted his chair back, watching her. “We have to stop by Platinum Bonds to get some leads on Marz.”

  Harmony looked up at him with those lovely copper eyes and blew a lock of hair off her forehead. “I already downloaded everything we need from the crime database and a few outside sources.”

  A carnal knot tightened in his gut and he had to resist the urge to drag her out of the chair and seduce her. Even the most innocent actions, like blowing away a lock of her hair or stroking her hand down her thigh, turned him on. He shifted his gaze outside to distract himself. There, situated in the inky blackness of space rotating slowly in a circle, was the space port. It looked like an octopus with its arms outstretched, each tentacle housing a few dozen docking bays. “Buck can tell us stuff that isn’t in the database.”

  “We don’t need him and I don’t want to go there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Buck and I don’t get along,” she replied coolly.

  A rush of aggression sent his pulse pounding in his temples. “We still need his help to find Marz quickly. Without Buck we could be floundering around this planet for weeks looking for this skip’s hangouts. We have a deadline here, remember? What the hell is the problem between you two anyway?”

  “We had a disagreement.”

  Tanner frowned. “What kind of disagreement?”

  “I kicked him in the groin once and I don’t think he’s gotten over it.”

  His squinted at her. “You kicked him in the balls?” If Buck refused to help them because of her, this hunt was going to take a lot longer than a week.

  “I told you. We had a disagreement.”

  “Kicking him in the balls is more than just a disagreement, Harmony. That’s a fucking assault.”

  Harmony’s brow wrinkled. “I didn’t just do it for the fun of it. I had a damn good reason.”

  “Oh yeah? What was that?”

  “Not that I have to justify my actions to you but I’ll tell you so you stop bothering me. He threatened to rape me.”

  “Did he actually touch you?”

  “No. I wasn’t aware that was a criterion for self-defense.”

  “Do you think that you might have overreacted?”

  “No. Why should I wait around for him to put his hands on me? He said he was going to do it and I took him at his word. If someone threatens to shoot you do you wait until his blaster is pointed at your head?”

  Tanner sighed. “Did he do anything else to you?”

  “Like?”

  “Come on, Harmony. Don’t be coy with me. You know exactly what I mean.”

  “No, he didn’t do anything else. He couldn’t do anything else because he was too busy twitching on the floor in a fetal position. He’s lucky I didn’t blast him into oblivion.” A cold silence passed between them. “Why are you defending him?”

  “I’m not defending him. But unfortunately we need him and since he never actually touched you, maybe the two of you can make peace.”

  “I certainly hope you don’t expect me to apologize to him because I’m not going to.”

  “I expect you to be civil and do what’s in the best interest of Galaxy Recovery.”

  “Oh, I see. Now suddenly you give a shit about what’s in the best interest of the agency. On the pleasure barge you couldn’t ignore their policies fast enough.”

  He was about to tell her that was different when the comm. crackled to life. “Aries,” a sultry woman’s voice said, “You are free to dock at station fourteen-A.”

  Tanner depressed the transmission button. “Thanks, Cyprus Four.” He piloted the ship to the assigned dock and eased her in. When they were safely docked, he turned to Harmony. “Just try to get along with him, okay?”

  She gave him an anemic smile and grumbled something nasty in her native Kirillian. He wasn’t super-fluent in Kirillian but her tone and the few words he could make out told him this trip was going to be a complete disaster.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Jesus Christ, Tanner!” Buck Ransom charged at Tanner and pumped his hand warmly. “I haven’t seen you in over two years! How the hell have you been?”

  Harmony hung back, not surprised Buck made it a point to ignore her. She didn’t really care. If dealing with him was necessary to get this assignment over with quickly then she would just suck it up and keep her mouth shut.

  Tanner smiled. “I’m good, things are good.” He turned around and gestured to her. She resisted the urge to glare at Buck. “You know Harmony Knox, don’t you?”

  Buck ran his gaze up and down her. His eyes turned small and piggy. “Yeah. We know each other.”

  Platinum Bonds was just as Harmony remembered it, a large first-floor office filled with data consoles, desks piled high with paperwork, and a huge transparent digital bulletin board with scrolling images of various fugitives in this sector. The two men started talking shop and Harmony tuned them out. Being around Buck made her skin crawl so instead she walked slowly toward the bulletin board and watched for any update on Prime.

  After what seemed like an hour, Buck finally stalked off to get them an image map of the city and keys to a cruiser. Tanner came over and stood next to her. He watched the board and didn’t say anything for a while.

  “Any information on Prime?” he asked.

  Just as he spoke a picture and description of Prime came up on the screen. The bounty had gone up another five hundred thousand. Damn! A few visiting bounty hunters took notice and scanned the hydrocore’s name into their portable data consoles. She heard some of them talking in low whispers and glancing her way. Prime was hers, damn it. She needed to wrap this stupid assignment up as soon as possible or she was going to lose him to one of these idiots.

  Harmony turned to Tanner. “How long is he going to take? We need to hurry up and find Marz so we can get the heck off this rock. We’re wasting daylight.”

  “Last I checked that was the plan. And how the hell should I know how long it’s going to take? What’s bitten you in the ass?”

  “I want to capture him today, tomorrow at the latest.”

  Tanner smiled up at the bulletin board. The image of Prime had disappeared and another fugitive was in his place. “Oh, you’re worried about your roach, aren’t you? Getting nervous someone else is going to collar your hydrocore?”

  Harmony clenched her jaw. “No one can catch Prime but me.”

  “You seem pretty confident of that.”

  She shrugged. “I’m not trying to sound arrogant but no one managed to nab him in the year I was locked up. Do you know why? Because I’m the one who’s done the research. I can guarantee the rest of these monkeys haven’t dug up the detailed information I have.”

  “You’re probably right about that.”

  Buck came back with some black metallic cards and a small silver disk. He gave them a perverted smile as though he had a private joke he wasn’t willing to share.

  What a total ass you are, Buck. How could any woman in her right mind sleep with a jerk-off like you?

  Buck handed the disk to Tanner who put it in his jacket pocket. “Cruiser’s out back with the skip’s hot spots already programmed in the tracker. Ken Marz is a hopeless loser but his brother Bill is a well-known d
rug lord on the planet, so watch your back. The first place I’d look is Bill’s sex club Teacher’s Pet.” He licked his lips and leered at Harmony. “To get in, you’ll have to pose as a couple.”

  “That’s no problem,” Tanner said. “We are a couple.”

  “Well,” she said. “Not exactly.”

  Buck raised his eyebrows at her. “Why him and not me?”

  Harmony gave him an acid smile and glanced at his groin. Buck took an instinctive step back. “Come on, Mister Ransom, it’s not really so hard to figure out, is it? He’s bigger, better looking and he plays nicer than you do.”

  Buck shook his head and a tense moment passed between him and Tanner. Harmony could almost read Buck’s mind, wondering what Tanner saw in her.

  “She’s as crazy as they come. I hope she’s worth all the trouble she’ll give you,” Buck said to Tanner.

  “Oh, she’s worth it,” Tanner said with a devilish smile.

  Harmony had had enough. Being around Tanner often tried her patience. Being around Tanner and Buck was almost unbearable. They had a long day ahead of them and a lot of work to do. “I’m going,” she said to Tanner as she walked off toward the back exit.

  She heard his heavy boots fall into a leisurely gait behind her. “I’m right behind you, baby.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Out,” Harmony barked angrily.

  Tanner melted a little more into the driver’s seat. “No way.”

  “I’m driving.”

  “Forget it. Sit down and strap yourself in or I’ll take off and you can peel yourself off the rear seat when we stop.”

  “Tanner, I’ve picked up more than my share of bounties on this shit hole of a planet and I know my way around. I can get us to the Teacher’s Pet in the time it takes you to read Buck’s poorly programmed map, which I don’t trust by the way. Now let me drive!”

  “Screw off! I’m not placing any bets on your memory. You haven’t been here in at least a year. Or did you forget that? Besides, I’m already in the driver’s seat. I’m driving this puppy and that’s that.”

  A fireball of rage scorched the inside of her gut. No one could make her mad like Tanner. But this wasn’t over yet, oh no, not by a long shot.

  Harmony leaned down to him, stopping when her lips were only a few inches from his. “Your insistence on driving is making me very unhorny. In fact, right now, I’m not sure when I’m going to like you again. You have upset me so much, it may take me weeks to get over this and regain my passion.” She didn’t retreat, staying right there while waiting for him to make a decision. A hot masculine exhale caressed her lips and she felt confident the decision would be the right one.

  “Fine, you drive.” He got up, stealing a hard kiss from her.

  She knew she had him. Tanner was very simple like that. All access to him was usually through his cock. He settled into the passenger seat and dared to look pleased that he’d managed to aggravate her.

  Tanner watched a group of attractive women coming out of a clothing store. “Buck sure hates you.”

  She kept her attention on the congested road ahead. “He’s just an immature bully.” Tanner was now going to punish her by saying things he knew would irritate her. She didn’t bother giving him a disapproving look. It never did any good and besides, the last thing they needed was her wrecking that bastard Buck’s cruiser.

  Tanner smiled at her. “Maybe he has good reason to dislike you. Have you ever thought of that? I mean you did kick him in the nuts.”

  Here we go.

  “I already told you why I did that, besides, it was a long time ago. Why are you harping on this? You act as though I did it to you. I can’t believe you, of all people, are personally affronted by my method of self-defense.”

  He laughed and there was every black sin threaded into its rich, dark fabric. Harmony felt a momentary thrill as images of him making love to her flashed through her mind. She shook it off and tried not to be annoyed that he was so amused by all this.

  He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “It’s not really self-defense if he didn’t even touch you. Anyway, I thought you handled him well enough this time.”

  Harmony drove through the crowded streets, taking aerial jumps wherever she could. They might have to split up once inside the club. She wondered if he was going to get tense about the prospect of her having sex with other men. He had become very possessive since they’d started sleeping together. Maybe it was better to get this argument out of the way now, before they got there. “How do you want to handle the club?”

  Tanner didn’t open his eyes. “We stick together.”

  Harmony tried the diplomatic approach. “We’d cover more ground if we split up.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  He lifted his head and fixed her with those wolf-gray eyes. “Because it’s a sex club, Harmony. You’re going to get pressured into hooking up to keep your cover. If you’re with me, I can play the jealous boyfriend.”

  Harmony slowed the cruiser down and pulled into a parking spot next to a five-story bank building. This disagreement was going to take her full attention. “That’s idiotic. You’re not going to play the jealous boyfriend. You are the jealous boyfriend who isn’t my boyfriend.”

  “I’m not your boyfriend?” His flat tone made her instantly regret what she’d just said.

  “Well,” she stammered as she attempted some damage control. “What does that term mean, anyway? That you’re going to get furious if I talk to other men? I need some clarification.”

  “It means we are in an exclusive, monogamous relationship.”

  “Does that apply to me or you?”

  “It applies to both of us.”

  Harmony was confused. On Kirillia, men and women were often in relationships but they were rarely exclusive. Sex wasn’t a big deal among her people even if you did have a mate. “Why do you want that? I mean I don’t really understand the point of this monogamy thing.”

  Tanner stretched his arm across the seat and placed his hand on the back of her neck. He caressed the flesh under her hairline, making gooseflesh come up on her arms. “I want it because you make me hotter than any woman I’ve ever had and I love the way you fuck me. I don’t want to sleep with anyone else and thinking about you sleeping with someone else makes me crazy. In case you haven’t noticed I prefer to be happy and not furious.”

  Harmony’s mouth went dry. This conversation was much too raw and made her intensely uncomfortable. She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Okay. You’re my boyfriend. Can we just focus on catching the bounty?”

  He settled back into the seat. “Sure. I’m not the one who stopped the cruiser to work my jaw. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Harmony walked into Teacher’s Pet and immediately felt a throbbing in her temple accompanied by a dull ache in her ears. The club was a kaleidoscope of lights and sound. There were three main stages, one elevated central one where three couples danced naked and two smaller side ones where a group danced together wearing only what looked like shiny bathing suits. Several bars were set up in each dark corner, offering everything from alcohol to narcotics. Most had lines stretching four or five people long.

  As Harmony moved deeper into the club, she was blasted by cool air from the large ventilation ducts above. They did little to chase away the potent musk of sex and sweat.

  A warm hand rested on her elbow. Harmony turned to see a large Kirillian warrior standing next to her, smiling. He was a handsome man with long dirty-blond hair and dark brown eyes. He wore only a pair of loose-fitting pants and nothing else. “Nice to see a fellow Kirillian, and quite a lovely one at that,” he said.

  Harmony took a step back, breaking his contact with her elbow. “I’m sorry,” she said, spotting Tanner muscling through the crowd as he made his way toward her. “I’m not here for a date.” She held up a holographic image of Ken Marz. “You seen this guy in here?”

  The Kirillian’s br
ow furrowed. He didn’t even glance at the picture. “No. You a cop? No police are allowed in here.”

  Harmony tried to diffuse his suspicion with an anemic smile. “I’m not a cop. The guy just owes me money.”

  “No collectors either. Get out.” The Kirillian grabbed her arm and escorted her toward the exit.

  Tanner stalked up and intercepted them. He gave the warrior a nasty stare. “Get your fucking hands off my girlfriend.”

  “She said she wasn’t here for a date.”

  The thick muscles in Tanner’s shoulders tensed. “She’s not because she’s with me. We came to be watched.”

  Harmony’s glanced at Tanner and her cheeks grew hot.

  “If she’s really your girl, why’s she asking me a bunch of stupid questions like a collector? We don’t allow our customers to be harassed in here. This is strictly a sex club.” He glared down at Harmony, “You got business with Marz other than sex? You catch up with him on your own time outside the club.”

  Harmony yanked her arm out of the Kirillian’s grip. “I’m not a collector. I just asked you a simple question.” She gestured to Tanner. “This is my boyfriend and we are here for sex.”

  The Kirillian gave her a skeptical nod like he wasn’t buying a word of it. “That sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me.”

  “It’s not,” Tanner said with a wicked grin. “I won an argument and she promised me a kinky fuck anytime and anywhere I wanted. It’s payback time and I picked Teacher’s Pet.”

  The Kirillian stared at them for a full minute. Then he finally said, “Oh really? Well then, how about a private show for my boss?” He turned and gestured to another older warrior sitting watching the stage. “It would be just the two of you in a private room. My boss doesn’t want to join in, he just likes to watch and offer suggestions.”

  Harmony’s nipples stiffened and rubbed against the fabric of her shirt. She glanced at Tanner. His features had become all naked lust and predatory need. The prospect seemed to excite him as much as it did her.