Ryder stood gazing out the window, unusually stoic.
“What’s going on?” Dillon asked, standing in the doorway.
Ryder turned from the window. “I need a favor. I would request that you allow me to handle the entire interrogation process of the prisoner.”
Hand over complete control? Dillon’s brows drew together. Never in the ten years they’d worked together had Ryder ever made such a request.
“I see.” He considered the request. Ryder wouldn’t ask if he didn’t have a good reason. “All right. I’m available should you need backup, though.”
“I know. And I thank you for that.” Ryder’s jaw clenched. “If you could follow up on those leads about the attack, in the off chance she doesn’t talk.”
“Will do.”
Ryder nodded again. “Thank you, Dillon. For not asking too many questions.”
“You’d do the same for me.” He already was doing the same. He guessed Ryder suspected his feelings for Krystal, but had never brought it up.
He turned to leave and then remembered Krystal’s request. “By the way, your sister wants to have a word with you later.”
Ryder waited until his friend had left the room and then jerked a hand through his hair.
Talia was the key to preventing the attack on Belton. She likely had all the information inside that pretty head, of when and how the attack was to take place.
How he’d get her to talk was the question of the hour. She’d made it clear that she wouldn’t tell him, and torture was outlawed on the planet. Not that he’d torture a woman. Hell, even the thought of using it on a man made him uncomfortable.
If she didn’t respond to his questioning he would move on to other means. Means he’d find quite enjoyable. He was well aware of her response to his touch, though she continued to fight it and him.
But damn it, they didn’t have long. Word on the street was the attack on Belton was planned sometime in the next few weeks.
One thing he couldn’t afford was to lose control tonight. He went to the door and pressed in the code to lock it.
Walking back through his office, he headed straight toward the small shower. Turning on the spray, he stripped out of his clothes, dusty from the escape from the Council’s building, and stepped under the water.
He would send for Talia in an hour to begin the questioning, and he would need a clear head.
Closing his eyes, he wrapped his fingers around his cock and visualized the scene in her bedding unit in her home early this morning.
Her breasts had been large and crowned with fat pouting nipples. His mouth watered as he recalled the sweet taste of her through the cotton. Oh gods. He stroked the length of his cock, thrusting his hips forward.
Then there was her pussy. Smooth and soft, with perfectly formed labia lips that protected a responsive little clit.
The urge to suck on it made his dick grow even harder. He groaned and moved his hand faster. In his head she thrashed on the bed, calling out his name as he sucked her clit, fucking her sweet cunt with two fingers.
Then the vision changed. She now kneeled at his feet, her lips wrapped around the head of his cock. Deeper she brought him, and harder she sucked on him. He pressed his free hand against the wall of the shower and pumped his cock faster.
“Fuck.” His sac tightened and a second later sticky cum shot out under the stream of the shower. Again and again, until he was spent and his erection began to subside.
Now he had a clear head.
He reached for the shampoo and washed his hair, then ran a bar of soap over his body. After ensuring he was thoroughly clean, he turned off the shower and stepped out.
He walked straight to the intercom and pressed a button.
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Please prepare the prisoner in the clothes I’ve instructed, and have her brought to my office.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
He released the button on the intercom and went back into his office to find some extra clothes.
The knock on the door jerked her out of a deep sleep. Talia sat up, her heart thudding as she blinked in confusion. Oh yes. She was a prisoner. How could she have forgotten?
The door swung open and another unfamiliar woman came inside. Unlike Krystal, she was more severe in appearance. Brown hair hung down her back in a braid and she wore the same military uniform Ryder had been wearing earlier.
“Get out of bed,” the woman snapped. “Your presence is requested by Colonel Jacobs.”
Talia covered her mouth to hide a yawn and swung her legs out of bed.
“Colonel Jacobs?”
The woman’s smile was condescending, as if she were talking to a toddler. “Yes, the man who brought you here.”
“Oh, you mean Ryder.”
The smile disappeared, her eyes flashed. “You should not address him so informally.”
“Well, perhaps he should not have abducted me.” She looked around. Where were her shoes?
“You’ll need to change.”
Talia glanced back up. “Excuse me?”
The woman’s mouth tightened, and her gaze held something…. Resentment?
“He wants you to wear this.”
Talia lowered her gaze to the small red fabric in the woman’s hands.
“What is it?”
The woman’s face reddened and she suddenly looked more annoyed.
“You cannot be serious. You need me to explain what it is?” She shook out the fabric revealing just a short tube of fabric. “It is a dress. A night dress, to be exact.”
“You wear such things to bed?” Talia’s eyes widened, the horror in her voice apparent.
“You really are from another planet, aren’t you?” The woman rolled her eyes. “Night dresses like these are worn not for practical reasons, but when one is going to have sex.”
Talia’s jaw clenched. “I am not having sex with him.”
The woman’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “Well, apparently he feels differently. Put it on.” She tossed the dress at her and it slapped across Talia’s cheek before sliding to the floor.
Talia bit back a groan of frustration and leaned over to pick up the dress. There would be no avoiding it. She looked back at the other woman.
“Will you at least give me the privacy to change?”
The woman’s mouth pursed. “No. I am to watch you the entire time I am here.”
“Surely not while I change?”
The woman just stared at her and made no move to even look away. What a bizarre person .
Talia sighed and pulled the cotton dress she’d been issued over her head. The cool air hardened her nipples and she gratefully tugged on the thin red fabric. When she looked down at herself, she groaned.
Nothing was hidden. The dress only began just above her nipples, which could be seen clearly through the fabric, and then ended just below her sex. The cleft of her cunt was just a shadow. Should she bend over, the dress would be above her ass cheeks. As it was, the fabric only came down just below the curve of her buttocks.
“All right. I am dressed. Somewhat.” She grimaced and looked up at the other woman. “What else…”
The blatant hatred on the oth
er woman’s face took the rest of the words from her mouth.
“Follow me. I’ll take you to him.” The woman turned on her heel and walked through the door.
Talia paled. She had to walk through the halls in this dress? Taking a deep breath, she followed her through the door and into the hall. She kept her head high, her gaze straight ahead.
They passed a few people in the walk to his office, and she knew her face was burning with humiliation. Never before had her body been on such obvious display in public. The Council had always kept her covered unless she was in the chamber with them.
The woman paused outside a door near the end of the hall and gave a sharp rap.
“You may enter.”
A tremble moved through Talia’s body at the sound of his voice beyond the door.
The woman opened the door and walked in, not bothering to look back to ensure Talia followed.
Talia hesitated and then stepped inside after the woman.
Ryder stood silhouetted against the window. He turned as they entered the room. His gaze honed in on her, hot and intimate even across the thirty feet or so that still separated them.
Her heart pounded harder in her chest. She wanted to lower her gaze, or look away, but it was impossible. Her throat went dry and her nipples tightened under the thin fabric.
“Here is the prisoner, sir. Would you like me to get you something to drink?”
The other woman’s voice had taken on a much more sexual tone, adding fuel to Talia’s suspicion that she had feelings for Ryder.
“No.” His gaze never left Talia. “We need nothing else at this time.”
“All right…. Well, you just let me know if you would like me to arrange to have food sent—”
“Leave us, Ines.”
The woman went quiet and then she nodded. “Of course, sir. Thank you.”
She turned and headed for the door, her gaze sending hateful darts at Talia.
The door clicked shut behind her and Talia licked her lips, her heart beating at a furious pace now.
“I suspect that woman doesn’t like me.”
“Ines?” He quirked an eyebrow and crossed the floor toward her. “Why do you care?”
Her pulse quickened at the intent she saw in his gaze. “I don’t, I suppose.”
“Do you like the dress that I had sent to you?”
He stood just inches away from her now. His woodsy scent swirled in her head, making her dizzy.
She closed her eyes. “To call it a dress is a mockery.”
“Perhaps.” His hands settled on her waist, his thumbs smoothing up and down the fabric. “Your body hides no secrets in that dress. I like it.”
Flames licked through her body at his touch and she opened her eyes, meeting his gaze again. “Did you also like having me paraded down the hall so everyone passing might see all my secrets?”
His mouth curled into a half smile and his hand slid up her stomach to cover one of her breasts possessively. Her nipples tightened further, pressing into his palm as liquid heat filled her pussy.
“Am I not just showing off my spoils of war?”
“Bastard.” Her cheeks warmed and she grabbed his wrist, attempting to pull his hand away from her breast. “Leave me be.”
“Princess, we’re just getting started.” He released her and then reached up to touch the knot on her head. “This will not do.”
He had the knot freed before she could attempt to stop him. Her hair spilled heavily down her back and his fingers threaded through it, tightening around the strands.
“Beautiful. So beautiful, Talia.” He tugged, jerking her head back. His lips nuzzled the pulse on the curve of her neck. “From now on you will always leave your hair down when you are in my presence.”
She closed her eyes as her knees weakened and cream gathered between the folds of her cunt. Was this the part where he seduced her? Convinced her to tell him everything about the Council? And if she did, then what?
He may kill you . The thought sent a new stream of terror through her, dousing her desire for him. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but what reason would he have to keep her around? There was certainly no shortage of women on this planet. And from all she’d heard about Belton from the Council, the humans on this planet were uncivilized heathens. There would be no reason not to terminate her life.
“You may as well kill me now,” she ground out, tears pricking behind her eyelids. “As I have said before, I refuse to tell you anything.”
“Kill you, Talia?” He laughed, and the cold sound sent chills through her. His hand tightened in her hair. “What gives you the idea that I want to kill you? That would bring me very little…pleasure.”
He stepped away from her and she opened her eyes, watching as he moved back into the room. He went to the cabinet behind his desk and brought out a bottle of wine, followed by two glasses.
“How long have you been the Council’s little sex slave, Natalia?”
Her teeth snapped together. He’d called her Natalia. Only the Council had called her by that name. Obviously he was trying to put her back in the mind-set of her Rosabelle status.
“Answer me.” His voice sharpened.
“Four years. Since I turned eighteen.”
“Hmm.” His gaze narrowed. “You are younger than I originally thought.”
She looked away and outside, to where people—women as well—walked freely through a courtyard.
“Come, sit beside me on the couch.”
Her throat tightened and she glanced toward the door. She could always try to escape, but she’d be lucky to reach the hall.
“It was not a request, Natalia.”
She closed her eyes and then nodded, crossing the room to sit next to him. He handed her the glass of wine and she took a hesitant sip.
“That’s better.” He touched a strand of hair and held her gaze. “When was the first time you heard them discuss attacking Belton?”
She glanced away. “I don’t recall them ever speaking of such things.”
He twisted a strand of hair around his finger and tugged. “You’re lying, Talia.”
Of course she was. They both knew it. “Perhaps. But how can you know for sure?”
“I don’t understand. Why do you protect them?”
Irritation sparked in her blood. “I am loyal by nature. If you knew me well enough, you would know this line of questioning is pointless.”
“They treated you like shit. Worse than shit. And yet you cover up for them.” He took her glass of wine and set it on the table next to his, then grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His gaze sparked fire. “Did you fancy that they loved you, Natalia? That they loved their Rosabelle? Or perhaps that you were in love with them?”
Images flitted through her head. Of all the times she’d been forced to tolerate their touch, forced to pleasure them. How brutal they’d been the first time they’d taken her when she’d been a terrified virgin.
No. Love was not an emotion that came to mind when she thought of the Council. She clenched her teeth, refusing to answer Ryder. Her heart pounded heavy beneath her breast.
Something else flickered in his gaze. Something hard. “Or maybe you got off on it. Three men taking turns fucking you.”
Her stomach churned, bile rose in her throat. “Stop. You know nothing about my life.”
He gripped her shoulders and leaned over her, heat and anger in his eyes now. “Did you like it, Talia?”
“Why are you asking me these questions? You have no right,” she ground out and shoved her hands against his chest to try and push him away.
“I have every right. Answer me. Did you enjoy being their personal whore?”
She freed her hand and brought it hard across his cheek. “No! I hated it. You fucking bastard, I hated it!”
Relief flashed in his eyes, before his mouth crushed down on hers. He grabbed her wrists, pinning them behind her back in one of his hands.
She groaned, tried to turn her head but his mouth followed. His tongue slid past her lips and beyond her emotional defenses. Everything inside her melted. Nothing mattered but his touch and the resulting fire that raged inside her body.
6
H e leaned her back on the couch, transferring her wrists above her head. Using his free hand, he jerked the thin nylon dress off of her breasts. His mouth covered one rigid nipple and he sucked hard. Pleasure arrowed from her breasts to her pussy, and the ache between her thighs built.
His teeth caught the nipple and he bit just enough to make her cry out. He soothed his tongue over the tip and then began to suck again.
A moan tore from her throat and she arched her back, pressing her breast farther into his mouth.
“Talia.” He turned his attention to the other nipple, blowing a stream of warm air against the pink tip before wrapping his lips around it and suckling.
He released her hands and pushed the dress over her hips until the fabric just covered her stomach. His massive hands closed over her thighs, spreading them wide as his thumb honed in on her swollen clit.
She dug her fingers into his hair, clutching the short strands, and pressed herself against his hand.
Take Me Page 7
