Hunters

by Michelle Marquis; Lindsey Bayer

  “What do you say, Harmony?” Tanner said.

  Harmony wasn’t a prude but they were supposed to be finding Marz, not putting on a sex show for some old voyeur. She wrapped her arms around Tanner’s neck and moved her lips up to his ear. “It’s intriguing but we really don’t have time.”

  He gently kissed the hairline right behind her ear and whispered back, “It won’t take that long. And you do owe me. Remember? Any time and place I ask for.”

  She frowned. “Is that supposed to entice me into doing it? Because if it is, it’s not working.”

  Tanner nuzzled her neck, sending an erotic chill down her spine. A quiet, sexual hunger fired her passion. “Come on, baby,” he whispered. “Let’s try it. We’re supposed to be blending in.”

  Harmony closed her eyes and let her mind wander to a fantasy of her and Tanner making love in front of the strange, quiet Kirillian man. She opened her eyes and stared at the blond warrior. “How much is he going to pay us?”

  She didn’t really care about the money but she did care about blowing their cover. She’d been a little too eager back there and she needed to do some damage control. All they needed was for someone to figure out they were bounty hunters on the trail of a skip and things could get dangerous fast.

  “The going rate is one hundred credits,” the blond man said.

  A nervous flutter tickled Harmony’s stomach. “Okay. Tell him we’ll do it.”

  The private room was cool, dark and welcoming. There were several chairs lining the walls around a king-sized bed covered in crisp white sheets and a purple blanket. Tanner pulled back the bedding and Harmony was grateful she didn’t see any stains. The older Kirillian man took a seat near the head of the bed and crossed his long, thin legs.

  “What’s your name?” Harmony lowered herself down onto the edge of the mattress awkwardly.

  A tiny grin lifted the corner of the man’s mouth. “Does it matter?”

  “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

  “I would prefer we all remain strangers to one another,” the man said.

  Tanner stood at the end of the bed. “Where’s the money?”

  The man unfolded his legs, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a shiny card with a holographic 100 embossed on it in several alien symbols. Tanner came over to get it and slid the card into his hip pocket.

  “What would you like to see?” Tanner said.

  “Try to act natural. Do whatever you might do if I weren’t here.” The Kirillian unbuttoned his blazer and a tiny grin lifted his lips. “Perhaps you would prefer I direct you?” His voice had taken on a hypnotist’s smooth tone and Harmony found herself becoming more and more relaxed as he spoke.

  “Sure, you can call the shots,” Tanner said. “It’s your dime.”

  “Okay then,” the man said. “Why don’t we start with you taking off all your clothes?”

  Harmony stood up, figuring the voyeur would probably want her to undress too.

  “No,” the man said, holding his hand up to stop her. “Not you. Not yet.” He gestured to Tanner. “Let him go first.”

  Tanner peeled his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. His heavily muscled torso was a canvas of perfect form and troubling art. Glaring at the voyeur, he unbuttoned the top of his pants and hesitated. But the Kirillian didn’t seem interested in Tanner’s cock as much as his body art.

  The voyeur squinted. “I know you from somewhere.”

  Tanner rolled his shoulders and flexed his chest. “I was a Kirillian cage fighter for a while.”

  “I remember seeing you. The infamous Barracuda Tanner. You were very good. Why stop?”

  “I moved on to better things.”

  The Kirillian’s gaze drifted over to Harmony. He nodded slowly. “Evidently.” After Tanner had spent a little too much time glaring at him, he said, “Well, don’t focus so much on me, young man. You have a beautiful woman in the room. I want you to seduce her. I bring very little to this encounter.”

  With a smooth, predatory grace, Tanner moved up to Harmony and stood before her. His stunning eyes were a fierce shark-hide gray that made her breath catch in her throat. Reaching down to where she sat on the bed, he ran his fingers through her hair and pulled it back from her face. “You okay?”

  Harmony’s sex was slick and plump with her hunger. She grinned. “I’m surprisingly turned on. You?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered as if trying not to be heard by the man in the corner of the room. Tanner licked his lips and placed her hands on the outside of his jeans. “Take it out.”

  Pinching the tab of his zipper with her fingertips, Harmony glided it down. The huge bulge of his erection was confined by his underwear, so she reached in and eased it out. Already fully erect, Tanner was a very impressive sight. She placed her hand around the muscled shaft and pumped it twice. A tiny drop of fluid glistened at the tip and Harmony leaned down to lick it off. Tanner tilted his head back and groaned. It was a deep, primal growl that bounced off the walls and sent erotic thrills tumbling down her spine.

  With her hand firmly on his rod, Harmony let the head slip past her lips and glide into her mouth. Lost in the music of Tanner’s passion, she sucked and licked him, pleasuring the glossy staff with one hand while easing her other hand between his legs to rub and cup his balls. Tanner’s trousers dropped around his ankles as he thrust his hips forward. “Harmony.”

  “Don’t let him come,” the voyeur said just loud enough to be heard. Obediently, she pulled Tanner’s engorged member out of her mouth and licked her lips.

  Tanner’s hand went immediately to his cock. With a force Harmony would have thought painful, he squeezed the base of his sex, trying to fend off his approaching climax. After a few moments, his muscles slacked but his cock remained fiercely erect.

  Moving onto the bed, Tanner slowly peeled Harmony’s clothes off, one item at a time. When he had removed her T-shirt and bra, he paused to toy with her erect nipples. His callused fingers pinched and twisted them, pulling one then the other into his mouth to suckle and rake them with his teeth.

  Harmony cradled his head and gasped as waves of breathtaking delight rippled through every nerve in her body. She felt remarkably alive, resurrected from a lifetime of loneliness by a man she never thought she could care for.

  The rest of her clothes came away in a desperate grappling until Harmony could finally feel her naked flesh against his. “Hmmm, I love the way you touch me.”

  He grabbed her under the jaw and savaged kisses down her throat. “Are you wet, baby?”

  She raked her fingers through his hair. “Yes…so wet.”

  “I want to fuck that tight little pussy of yours, baby. I’m gonna make you so sore you’ll have to be carried out of this room.”

  The voyeur was talking but neither Tanner nor Harmony was listening. All Harmony knew, all she cared about, was getting Tanner inside her.

  His mouth conquered hers, devouring her with kisses of pure liquid fire until Harmony had to break the kiss to draw breath. She was burning up, engulfed in a passion she could have never imagined and never wanted to end.

  “Oh, Tanner,” she gasped against his moist cheek. “I need your big cock inside me. Fuck me, fuck me now.”

  Like a violent tempest brewing in a turbulent sea, Tanner’s blinding lust enveloped her. His shaft slipped beyond the threshold of her hungry flesh to penetrate her scalding center. Harmony’s mind melted into a song of impossible pleasure. Overcome, she leaned her head back and cried out so loudly she even startled herself.

  Tanner forced himself to stop. His breath came hot and fast in her ear. “You okay, babe?”

  Harmony scratched her nails down his back. “Don’t stop…please don’t stop…keep going…go faster or I’ll lose it.”

  Tanner picked up the pace, impaling her over and over again onto his enormous throbbing cock. “Is that good? That feed your sweet little pussy?”

  Harmony gasped. “Yes, it’s great…but please shut up.”

 
Hot sweat dripped from Tanner’s face onto her neck. He chuckled then grunted once. “You’re so fucking wet…I think I’m gonna come first.”

  “Don’t you dare, Tanner.”

  “I’m coming. I don’t think I can hold it.”

  “Don’t!”

  Tanner stopped thrusting. “I’m losing it, babe. I gotta stop for a sec.” He panted as his cock pulsed inside her, swollen and ready to purge.

  Harmony bucked and squirmed. “Tanner!” Gently biting her jaw line, he picked up the rhythm again. Her orgasm was immediate and overwhelming. An explosion of lust climaxed inside her, rushing her into sweet oblivion. Her pleasure came in waves, the first one locking up her body and sending tender joy all through her senses just as the next one rocked her to her very foundation. The final one tumbled through her sex to the erotic music of Tanner’s primal roar, as if her body refused to let him come without her.

  Lying side by side panting like marathon runners, it took them a while before they realized the voyeur was still in the room. The man stood up, looking stricken. “That,” he said with a quiet reverence, “was the most sincere expression of love I’ve ever seen and I’ve witnessed a lot of couples make love. Watching the two of you was a rare treat. I thank you both for allowing me to be a part of something so special. Good night.” Then he slipped out the door and left them to a nervous, tender and uncomfortable silence.

  Harmony got dressed, more confused than ever. Was there something about her and Tanner she was missing? There was no denying she had feelings for the brute, but could she really be in love with him? It just didn’t seem possible. She’d never felt so close to anyone but she hesitated to call what she felt for Tanner love. She dismissed the voyeur’s comments as the rambling of a crazy pervert.

  She came over and gave Tanner a small kiss on the cheek. “Come on, muscle man. Let’s get out there and get Marz, or Edna will have our hides.”

  “Okay,” he grumbled. “Maybe one of the bouncers can give us some information. Just remember, stick close.”

  Harmony tossed him his clothes and grinned. “I thought that’s what I was doing.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Back in the throng of the club, the heavy dance music continued to pound its tribal rhythm into her head. Even though it was midafternoon, the place was wall-to-wall bodies and all of them were jumping. The central dance stage, which moved up and down with each number, was raised five feet above the floor and sported an elaborate platform bordered by several rows of flashing lights. Like the rest of the room it was crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with sweating bodies illuminated occasionally by the flashing strobe lights. Every time the spotlights moved over the dancers, Harmony got a glimpse of people kissing, groping and doing everything short of having sex right there on the floor. The air was charged with savage energy and wanton sexuality, and she was beginning to feel better about Tanner wanting them to stick together. She wasn’t much in the mood to fend off any aggressive advances.

  Tanner slipped a few feet away to engage in a loud but garbled conversation with one of the bouncers. Seconds later, Tanner paid him. Unfortunately she didn’t catch one word they said. After glancing at the bribe, the bouncer gestured to the back of the club and Tanner nodded.

  “Follow me to the back where the quiet rooms are,” Tanner said when he returned to her. Harmony fell into step behind him. He reached behind his back and took her right hand, leading her along. It was a quiet, possessive gesture that left her feeling cared for and content. His hand was very warm and so large it completely dwarfed hers. A heated desire roared to life inside her, fanned higher by the vivid memories of their recent encounter. Harmony was surprised by the intensity of it but allowed herself to savor the hunger as liquid lust pooled between her legs.

  The quiet rooms were behind two frosted sliding glass doors that filtered out the dance floor music as soon as they shut behind them. The silence gave her some welcome peace. She could feel the muscles in her shoulders relax once they were away from all that noise. How could people dance to that deafening racket?

  The hallway stretched out before them lined with a series of closed doors on either side. There was a set of large double doors at the end. Tanner let go of her hand and leaned against the wall. He pulled out his blaster and set it to a low, non-lethal setting. Harmony did the same. Tanner pointed down the end of the hall with the muzzle of his weapon. “Marz is in there having a foursome. We bust in, arrest him, and drag him out the emergency exit. That sound good to you?”

  Harmony nodded, pleased. “Sounds good to me.”

  Tanner stalked over and kicked the doors open. A woman screamed in surprise.

  Before them was Ken Marz standing naked as two women licked and sucked his cock and a third sat on the floor masturbating. The skip was just as ugly as his mug shot. He had straight, greasy hair parted down the middle, thick pink lips and a nose much too large for his face. His skin was fish-belly white with red friction marks over his stomach and legs. His rather modest erection drooped at the sight of them. Harmony didn’t even want to imagine what manner of activity caused the friction marks.

  He stared at them in stunned silence. Then in a flash of movement he kicked into gear and grabbed his pants. Harmony squeezed off two stun bolts but Marz grabbed one of the women by the hair and flung her in front of him. The energy pulses hit her mid-sternum and were soundlessly absorbed. All the woman’s muscles contracted at once and she fell to the floor with a thud. Tanner circled around the two remaining women, who were now hysterical, trying to get a clear shot. But just as he was taking aim, one of the women grabbed his leg and sank her teeth into his calf. Luckily Tanner’s leather boots offered some protection from the bite. He swore viciously and shook her off.

  In all the confusion, Marz lunged for the back door and crashed out the emergency exit, triggering the fire alarm. Harmony sprinted in pursuit. She burst through the exit right into the arms of two burly Kirillian security guards. Harmony ducked under one of the men, turned and slammed her boot into the back of his knee hard. He snarled and made another attempt to grab her as she backed away and took aim with her blaster. Before she could squeeze off a shot the second guard came out of nowhere and pounded his fist into the middle of her back. Harmony went down, sprawled on the ground. Then she was punched in the face, and in that moment of pain, one of the guards grabbed her blaster. The first guard stepped on her chest and pointed the blaster at her head. He squeezed the trigger. “Good night, bitch.”

  There was a flash, an instant of numbness, and then there was nothing.

  Harmony woke to someone shouting. She blinked and tried to move but couldn’t. That really woke her up. She tried one more time to move her arms and discovered they were bound in front of her. She looked around the room, trying to get her bearings. It appeared to be a boxer’s dressing room. The walls were white brick and there was a deep sink in the corner. From some distant place above she could make out the steady beat of the dance music. The angry voice was shouting again, only this time the noise was accompanied by a loud thud. Across the room, Tanner was bound to a chair, being beaten senseless by two Kirillian thugs.

  Dark blood ran in a thick river from his nose, and one of his eyes was almost swollen shut. Harmony’s stomach twisted in knots as her heart ached with pity. Her first instinct was to tell them in her native tongue to back off but she resisted. She was short for her race and had probably been mistaken for a human. If they knew she was Kirillian, they’d probably tie her up better and maybe even beat her as badly as Tanner. It was much better to let them think she was Tanner’s harmless human girlfriend.

  “I’ve heard stories about you, Barracuda Tanner,” the darker-haired Kirillian said. “But looking at you in the flesh I can’t believe any of them. You don’t look like a killer to me, just some poor, stupid human slob who can’t get a decent job. Just another fucking scab bounty hunter. I can’t wait to see what kind of cage fighter you are. You don’t look like much of a legend.”

/>   Harmony tried to slide her hands out of the cuffs but failed. Twisting her wrists from side to side, she worked harder, applying just enough pressure to ease the lower part of her palm past the steel cuff. She continued to struggle, making progress by millimeters, until she was interrupted by an older man with a large round body poking his head in through the side door. “They’re ready for him,” he said.

  The dark-haired Kirillian grabbed Tanner by his torn and bloody shirt and dragged him out of his chair. They disappeared out the door and the other Kirillian man came for her. Praying she didn’t get caught with her palm half out of the restraint, she averted her gaze from his in a show of submission. She hoped he wouldn’t take a real close look at her. If this man recognized her as a fellow Kirillian, they’d know she was stronger than she looked.

  “Come on, sweetie,” he said. “Let’s go watch your boyfriend get beat to death. Then you and I can have some real fun.”

  Harmony blinked at him, innocently running her gaze down him for weapons. He had a Kirillian Disrupter strapped to his hip and two knives folded on his utility belt. The Disrupter was her best target. She could blast a hole in someone ten inches wide with that thing.

  The Kirillian pushed her toward the door where Tanner had been taken. They emerged into an auditorium with over two thousand elevated seats. A current of fear ran through her and her stomach contorted, making her feel momentarily nauseated. A sudden rush of noise came from the crowd. It was so deafening that the surrounding world seemed to dissolve into the din for a moment.

  In the center was a circular fight cage, its canvas spattered with fresh blood. Harmony watched in horror as Tanner was thrust into the cage with a huge bald Kirillian warrior. The man had to be seven feet tall with scars and fight tattoos displayed like colorful graffiti all over his flesh—just like the ones Tanner had.

  The blond Kirillian led Harmony to an observation box and sat her next to a well-dressed stocky man she recognized as Ken Marz’s brother, Bill. She’d seen his picture enough from Ken’s file, and then there was that unfortunate family resemblance.