Ajos reached down the length of himself, palming his erection, thriving on the understanding she was unaware of his presence. There were times before, when she was his, that he would view her through the surveillance feeds during which he either masturbated or fucked another woman, all the while watching her.
He tugged on his covered cock, wanting it to be her hand on him.
Soon.
He could easily take her now, force her to submit and have her sucking his cock off in seconds. She excelled at the task and he often found himself likening other women to her, forcing their mouths down and his cock to the back of their throats, waiting for their gag reflexes to kick in and loving the feeling of their bodies’ involuntary reaction to the size of him.
She’d always had a way about her. A certain stare that told him exactly how much she loathed him, yet she served him. It was as close to euphoria as he’d ever encountered and he wanted it back.
Grab her. Take her now.
He stiffened, fighting his own impulses. Giving in now would mean he’d forfeit his chance at collecting the man she’d been with. She was certainly something he desired to have back in his grasp, but the praise and the purse from a successful capture of the man was too tempting. Ajos would end up a very wealthy man indeed. All he had to do was hold off on taking her until the other target could be obtained as well.
Ajos’s will was tested as she emerged from a stall, glancing in his direction, her gaze meeting his for a nanosecond. Those beautifully haunted eyes used to reflect hate. Now they showed a hint fear.
Even better.
She looked away and he retreated quickly with the knowledge he wouldn’t have to wait much longer to reclaim what was rightfully his.
To the victor goes the spoils.
Kiwi entered the bathroom, her body still strumming with sensuality. Her cunt ached sweetly, missing the feel of Conell within her. She glanced into the mirror, shocked she’d given up so easily to the pull and offer of him. She wanted to blame it on the drink and its ability to influence the Vanos side of her but it wasn’t completely at fault. She wanted Conell and had from the moment she’d met him. The combined juices coating her pussy were affirmation enough of just how much she craved him.
She entered a waste-management stall and cleaned herself before walking back out and using the hand-decontamination unit.
Turning, she froze, positive for the briefest of moments that she’d seen the face of a man who had spent a year and half of her life terrorizing her. Her body stiff, her movements jerky, she took a deep, unhurried breath, trying to calm herself. Nothing was there. It was her, alone in the restroom. Shaken, she rubbed her neck, glancing around once more just to be sure.
Nothing.
Kiwi stepped out and made her way back to the table. There was no sign of Conell. The newest act on stage consisted of a man and a gatarian farm animal. Her stomach twisted. No part of her wanted to stick around to witness what would transpire on the stage.
“Ballou?”
Apparently, Conell didn’t want to watch the sick show either.
Kiwi headed towards the entrance and stopped as she heard the sounds of arguing. She knew the language well since she’d been forced to learn it or forever remain ignorant to what was being said around her while she was held captive in a Vanos prison camp.
The second she heard Conell speaking in Vanos, she rushed out. He was surrounded by at least eight of them, all huge and all wearing the insignia branding them as military though they weren’t in their uniforms.
“This human is mine,” Conell said in Vanos as he pointed towards a fellow crewmember. “Good slave labor is hard to come by.”
Kiwi didn’t dare correct Conell. She knew he was lying to keep the others safe. She also knew she’d be a liability if she dared enter the equation now. She kept to the back, making her way around, hoping to find the rest of the crewmembers they’d brought down. She spotted two, doing much the same thing she was. They were full Vanos but had been defectors among their own kind, ashamed of the brutality their people inflicted on anyone different than them. If they stepped forth, they’d risk one of the Vanos enemy knowing one of them and that they were no longer playing for the same side.
She nodded to the men and tried to walk past them. They caught her around the waist and jerked her back, just as two more Vanos guards walked out from a bar. They hid her from view and she patted each on the chest as a means of a silent thank you. Once the coast was clear, Kiwi ducked under her friends and slipped behind a pillar, needing to be closer to Conell in the event assistance was required.
He continued to talk, seemingly having everything under control. When she glanced across the courtyard and thought she caught another glimpse of the man who had made her life a living hell—Captain Ajos—Kiwi gasped, accidentally drawing attention to herself.
Focus. He’s not there. It’s your mind playing tricks on you.
The guards faced her, as did Conell. Concern flashed through his green eyes. She grinned and waved at him, doing what she’d seen so many Vanos females do to their mates. She walked straight for him and spoke fluently in their native language. “Delicatico, you left without telling me. That is a very good way to find your bed cold on this fine evening.”
The Vanos guards exchanged looks before stepping back and letting her through. Kiwi glanced back towards her friends and nodded. They knew what to do—be ready for an escape.
Conell yanked her to him, making her breath catch. He splayed his large hand over her abdomen and chuckled, still speaking in Vanos. “If you dared to try to keep me from your bed, I’d be left with no choice but to punish you. Sadly, you’d enjoy that too much. You make a man proud, so long as he’s smart enough to hide the weapons before he closes his eyes at night.”
The Vanos guards grinned and laughed.
One looked familiar to her and Kiwi’s mind raced with where she might have seen him before. When it hit her, she froze. Her spine tingled as remembered pain and fear flooded over her.
Conell must have sensed the change in her because he tugged her even closer and put his lips to her ear. “I won’t let any of them hurt you.”
She knew he believed his words. The problem was, if she was correct and the guard was who she thought him to be, no one could protect her from his boss.
Captain Ajos.
Bile rose and Kiwi found herself grasping desperately to Conell’s hand. She’d wanted to believe it was all her imagination. That Ajos couldn’t be there. It appeared she was wrong. Dead wrong if Ajos had anything to do with it.
Just touching Conell made some of the fear and pain of the past disappear. She swayed and Conell kept hold of her. The guards opened the circle slightly and then stopped, looking past Conell at someone Kiwi couldn’t see.
The minute the Vanos began to close ranks, the crewmembers Conell had brought with them launched into action, attacking from all sides. The guards found themselves outnumbered but it didn’t stop them from putting up a good fight.
Kiwi gasped as Conell thrust her to his side, protecting her with his massive body as he punched a guard in the face. He turned quickly, striking another. She thrust one away from Conell’s blind side a second before he would have leveled Conell. Her rebuilt arm twitched uncontrollably and she grabbed it to her, shrieking in pain. Whatever she’d done, the arm didn’t care for.
Conell slowed at the sound of Kiwi’s cry of pain. The distraction cost him greatly, leaving him staring down the barrel of a pulse weapon. His concern was for Kiwi, not himself as he knocked the weapon to the side. It went off, striking the dome covering the courtyard. The hologram fizzed out, sparks flying in every direction. The sound of it cracking warned Conell the structure would indeed go. When it did, it would suck the oxygen out with it. The planet’s normal atmosphere was toxic to any and all species reliant upon oxygen.
Snatching a hold of Kiwi, he shouted to his men, alerting them of the danger. The Vanos guards heard as well and although they generally we
ren’t ones to back down from a fight, they too knew the repercussions of remaining in the courtyards. Alarms sounded as bay doors to the varying bars began to close, assuring oxygen remained within each establishment. It was standard operating procedure for any planets maintaining artificial atmospheres. Conell knew they could easily make it to a bar but he also knew the Vanos would be in the watering station, awaiting the repair to the dome, ready and willing to kill them the minute they could.
“We need to get to the landing hanger!” he shouted.
Kiwi held her rebuilt arm to her tiny body and nodded, following close behind him. The other crewmembers moved in around them, forming a protective barrier as they made a mad dash to the hanger. The beta droids converged on them again, once more trying to solicit services. Two of the men with the group gave up trying to move the droids out of the way and lifted them, running with them.
They made it through the landing-hanger bay doors a nanosecond prior to them closing. While that was a good thing, it wasn’t great. The landing hanger was the first place the facility would pump viable air from to support life within each bar.
Conell motioned to the shuttle vessel and the crewmembers filed in, taking the beta droids with them. Conell spun, lifted Kiwi and ran with her, boarding the vessel as fast as he could. The door shut behind him and he looked to find a trusted member of the team piloting the vessel. Nodding his appreciation, Conell carried Kiwi to the back and sat with her, holding her close, knowing she was in pain and that he was powerless to help her until they were back aboard the main ship.
The ship rocked to the left and Conell knew the dome had given way, causing a force of pressure to rush through the facility. He held Kiwi to him, keeping her steady and safe. The effects of the drinks he’d downed had long since worn off and he was thankful for the added layer of control. Pressing his lips to her forehead, Conell put his hand lightly over her injured arm. The fingers on the hand twitched and he closed his eyes, praying she would be all right. It was documented that not all persons’ bionics remained active. Some bodies rejected the additions as far out as a year after introduction. The problem was, Kiwi wouldn’t just lose use of her arm, she would lose her life because the rest of her organs had been strengthened with the introduction of the synthetic parts as well—becoming reliant on them.
A soft caress to his cheek left him opening his eyes to find Kiwi watching him. She offered a soft smile. “You really need to stay armed at all times, Ballou. They could have killed you. Do you think talking your way out of everything is the answer? It’s not. You could have been…”
He pressed his lips to hers, quieting her. When he was done, he grinned. “Yes, dear, I’ll start carrying a weapon at all times. Thank you for worrying about me.”
She huffed and he laughed.
Kiwi shook her head and surrendered against him.
Ajos roared, pounding on the locked bay doors of the hole-in-the-ground bar he’d been forced to dive into when the dome shattered. He’d been so close to having not only her but others as well. Arriving back at the base with a ship full of possible slave labor, a wanted man and the woman he’d staked claim on would seal his position as a leader among his people.
Now he had no choice but to wait out the repairs to the dome. No living thing could survive the planet’s atmosphere. It made for a preferred watering hole and weight station for vagabonds on the outer quadrants. No one other than criminals and those seeking the darker side of life would bother stopping at such an inhospitable planet. Well, aside from him and his men.
One of his men neared him. “Sir, we should have taken the shot on them straightaway. Our hesitation and diversion assisted them in escaping.”
Ajos turned to face the man. A sick smile spread slowly over his face and the man took a step back. Ajos filled the gap between them. “You dare to question my orders?”
“N-no, sir. I just… I only wanted to… No, sir.”
“You only wanted to what, soldier?” He slipped a hand down and fingered his weapon.
The guard’s gaze followed the movement and he swallowed hard, the veins in his neck popping. “I only wanted to tell you that you…you made the right call, sir. Your leadership skills have never been in question.”
A crowd had gathered around them but Ajos cared little. He nodded to the guard and watched as the man began to relax.
Ajos drew his weapon fast and pressed it to the guard’s head. He pulled the trigger without hesitation and then watched the body fall to the floor. He stared down at it. “And they never will be in question, soldier.”
He looked towards his other men, the ones who had scattered into this establishment rather than the neighboring ones. They each wore blank expressions. As they should.
He grinned. “Anyone else care to question me?”
A round of “noes” followed.
“Very well, then clear an area for us to work. We have much planning to do. They may have slipped through our fingers this time but they won’t again. No. Next time we will meet them when they are least expecting it. First things first. I need three men to volunteer to observer them, gather details and the like once we’ve located them again.”
Reluctantly, three of his men stepped forth.
“Good.” He lifted a hand. “One more thing. Should any harm come to the female, I will personally handle your punishment.”
The men paled.
Chapter Three
Kiwi put her set of wrenches down and backed away from her ship. Finally, its repairs were done. Unable to sleep after the debriefing, she’d returned to her ship and worked well through the night, doing what needed done to keep her mind off what had taken place almost a week prior. She’d been good about avoiding Conell, wanting to give him the distance he seemed to need. The only problem with that was how much she missed seeing him. Honestly, she missed touching him as well. Each night since they’d been together she’d lain awake, rubbing her clit, thinking of how he felt buried in her and wishing he didn’t regret what had passed between them.
The sound of the bay doors opening and then closing alerted her that she was no longer alone. The hot sensation on her ass told her exactly who was with her.
“Ballou,” she said with a puff of air. Excitement mixed with a hefty dose of trepidation moved over her. He hadn’t so much as glanced in her direction for over a week, now he was showing up in her hanger.
“You didn’t make it in to see Aeron this morning to check more on that arm,” he said, his voice even.
She faced him with a level gaze. “I was busy. Sorry.”
“Kiwi, I don’t want things between us to be awkward. What happened was right…it was natural.”
She lifted a brow in objection. “Fucking in a bar full of people and then not saying so much as two words to one another once we got back is natural? Maybe for you. Not for me, Ballou.”
He stepped closer. “That’s not what I meant, Kiwi. Don’t twist my words.”
She huffed. “How can I twist them when you hardly say anything?” Putting her hand up, she motioned for him to go. “Just leave. I’ll keep clear of you and I’ll be sure to check in with Aeron about my arm later. There, wipe your conscience clear now?”
Conell jerked and stared at the floor. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about you say nothing and just leave?”
“How about you shut up and let me think a minute, woman? You’ve got my thoughts all jumbled into a tangled mess. I’m worried about you to the point I’m bordering on stalking you all the while I’m afraid you’re going to find me and tell me how much of a mistake what happened between us was.” He covered his eyes with a hand. “Kiwi, I swore to myself that I’d never let anything happen to you and the first time trouble comes up, I fail. I’m not proud of that fact and I’m sure not proud of how I took you.”
She stared at him, watching as he swept his hands out in a dramatic fashion as he spoke.
“I wanted more for us…for you actually. I wanted everyt
hing to be perfect. To be right. Not to be in some seedy sex bar with people catching glimpses of us.”
He continued on and Kiwi simply stood quietly, letting him. Conell was a passionate man and it was interesting to see a romantic side of him poking through. Aeron, on more than one occasion, had hinted that Conell had been that way prior to the Vanos invasion but this was the first glimpse Kiwi had of it.
Conell dragged his hands through his shaggy hair, looking tired. “Kiwi, what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry.”
The edges of her mouth drew upwards and she blinked at him. “Ballou, shut up.”
He froze.
She moved closer to him. “And kiss me.”
Fire lit in his green gaze as he bent, lifting her into the air, putting them eye to eye. “You’re not upset with me?”
She touched his jaw. “For a super genius, you sure don’t know what shut up and kiss me means.”
His mouth clamped down on hers and everything else faded away. Their tongues met and Kiwi moaned, pulling harder on him, needing to be closer to him. Conell had her spun around, her back to the outer part of her ship in no time flat. She ate at his mouth, tugging at his shirt, her entire body tight with need.
Conell bit at her lower lip, driving Kiwi wild. Her nails dug into his muscular shoulders as he pressed his lower half to hers, pushing her hard against the ship. He broke the kiss momentarily and opened his mouth to talk.
“No,” she said. “Just be with me, Ballou.”
“I want to but we have to talk.” He stalled their kisses. “I don’t want whatever is between us to be something you do in passing. I want to know there is a future to this.”
Closing her eyes a second, she sighed. “I can’t promise you that. Especially not after seeing him last week.”
“Him who?” Conell asked, his entire body tight.
Kiwi silently cursed herself for slipping up about Captain Ajos. “No one. You should go now. I have work to do.”
Droid Wars II: Magnetic Attraction Page 3
