Fox and Dragon
Page 13
“I know that. But I had to try. He couldn’t just get away with it.”
“He will get away with it.”
“But now people might at least think about it.”
“Is that worth your life?”
She sighed. “I had to do it. I had to put that part of my life behind me. That was the only closure I could get.”
“You’re damn lucky that Hannah called me.”
“I know. Thank you.” Her voice dropped, and he very nearly felt the warmth seeping through the comm link. “Thank you for rescuing me. Again.”
He snorted, tamping down the lust that made his cock push at the cup of his suit. “This is getting to be a habit.”
“I noticed.”
Aware of the third party listening, Drake let the conversation trail off then.
Soon afterward, he was standing in the narrow walkway behind the cockpit, reaching up to open the hatch above his head. He let the heavy oval fall open, pulled down the short ladder so it hung halfway to the floor, then stepped back. “All clear,” he called up.
He heard her before he saw her. The rungs embedded in the short passage clanged softly underneath the weight of her steps. Her scuffed brown boots had thick rubber soles. They extended up to her knees, where a snug, plain navy-blue flightsuit began. The suit hugged sleek, muscular thighs and a magnificent tight, round ass. A belt circled the dip of her waist before it flared out to the smooth curves of her back. Her neck was bare. Her hair was shorter, shorn close to her head in the back and around her ears. Longer waves rested atop her head, bouncing as she dropped the last meter to the floor. When she turned, he had to catch his breath. Her face was the same beautiful oval, her smooth brown skin clear and healthy. Her glorious black eyes sparkled with mirth that had previously been absent from any expression of hers.
“Hey there, Dragon,” she said, smiling widely. “How’s it going?”
He had to match her smile. It was impossible not to. He’d never seen her look so ... well, happy. “Hey there, Fox.” He reached around her to the ladder. She stepped aside as he pushed the ladder back up into the ceiling. “Bortrel?”
“She in?” came a voice from above.
“She is. Thanks.”
“You paid me well. Good luck with her.”
Glancing at her smiling face, Drake had to laugh again. “Thanks. I might need that.”
She grinned and winked at him, turning toward the cockpit.
She’d winked at him?
He made himself not watch her go, instead closing the hatch. When he did reach the cockpit, he found her in the pilot’s seat, busy at the controls. He watched, recognizing the commands that would allow the flighter to dismount. “All set, Bortrel,” she said when she was done and the reverse compression had started. After brief thanks on both sides, she shut the communication link.
She sat back in the seat, with a sigh. “It’s been ages since I sat here.” Lovingly, she ran her palms over the edges of the console and caressed the worn leather of the sides of the seat.
When he didn’t reply, she twisted to look at him. Her grin melted into a curious frown. “What?”
He leaned a shoulder against the framed entrance to the cockpit. “I suppose I should thank you for trying to clear my name.”
Her smile returned, a wry twist to it. “I tried.”
“I could have told you that none of that was going to work.”
“Hannah told me.” She shrugged. “I knew. But I had to try.”
“Do you feel better now?”
“Strangely enough --” She laughed. “-- I do.”
She was positively radiant, happiness showing in the glitter of those black eyes and the healthy flush to her round cheeks.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile so wide.”
“I don’t think I have in years. I feel free.”
“So what now?”
Her gaze riveted on him. “That depends on you.”
His heart stopped. She rarely stopped talking about you, you know, Hannah had told him when she’d contacted him with the news that Fox was in trouble. She’s obviously in love with you. Trust me. I’m a woman. I know these things. Could he believe her?
“On me?”
Fox nodded, standing. “I know you don’t need a pilot, but I’m offering my services anyway.”
“Why?”
She took a deep breath, then let it out, never letting her gaze leave his. “I want to be with you.”
He shook his head. “Life as a pirate isn’t that terrific.”
“I know. I spent time with Hannah. But she told me that you don’t take as many jobs anymore.”
He shrugged. “It was getting dangerous. There was this fox on my trail.”
She smiled and took a step toward him. Her hands landed on his chest, dark and hot against the thin blue cotton of his shirt. “Now I’ve caught you.”
He raised a brow, keeping his arms crossed over his chest so that he didn’t grab at her. “I think I caught you.”
She shrugged, gently pressing forward so that her breasts cushioned his forearms. “Whatever. End result’s the same.”
He had to turn so that his back was against the framed opening. His legs parted slightly, and she stepped right into them. “My, my, Fox, your attitude has changed.”
Her smile melted as she turned a serious expression up at him. “It has. My life as I knew it was stolen away from me, and I finally realized that I didn’t care.”
“You cared enough to try to go back.”
She shook her head, smoothing spread palms up his chest to his shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to go back. I didn’t want to go back. I just wanted Werner to pay for what he’d done to me. To you. To however many others.”
“You didn’t want to go back?” He snorted, aware of the goose prickles rising on his skin at her touch. “Did pirating agree with you?”
One corner of her mouth curved up. “Hannah’s not a pirate. She’s a smart businesswoman who doesn’t live by everyone else’s rules.”
“She sold you that line, did she?”
She laughed. “I like her.”
“She likes you too.”
“She called you about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did she also tell you that I told her that I thought I was in love with you?”
Stunned, he stared down at her.
Laughing, she squeezed his shoulders. “I gather she didn’t.”
He swallowed. “No.”
Hands slid up his shoulders to the sides of his neck. “It’s true.”
“What happened to my being a criminal?”
“My definition of such things has altered.”
“What happened to my raping you?”
She licked her lips, distracting him. “We both know that you didn’t do any such thing.”
“Fox ...”
Fingernails lightly scratched the back of his neck. “Beth.”
“Beth.”
“You’re the only one who’s given me exactly what I needed, even when I didn’t want it. You’re the only one whose very presence makes me feel warm and, dare I say, safe.” She reached behind his head and pulled at the band holding his hair in a tail.
Drake untucked his arms from across his chest and dropped them so he could circle her and pull her flush up against him. “Beth ...”
Fingers brought his hair forward to drape his shoulders, and black eyes watched them do it. “I’m in love with you, Drake. Won’t you let me stay with you?”
Groaning, he ducked his head toward her upturned face, taking the kiss she willingly offered. He held her in his arms, devouring her mouth, inhaling the flavor he had keenly missed over the past few months.
She laughed when he finally let them up for breath. “Can I take that as a yes?”
His hand slid up her back to cup the nape of her neck. He smiled. “Careful, Beth. I let you go once. I’m not going to do it again.”
Without warning, she jumped, and he cau
ght her by reflex as she wound her legs around his waist. Strong arms slid more solidly around his shoulders, the entire move bringing her face on level with his. “I won’t let you let me go again.”
Jet Mykles
Jet’s been writing sex stories back as far as junior high. Back then, the stories involved her favorite pop icons of the time but she soon extended beyond that realm into making up characters of her own. To this day, she hasn’t stopped writing sex, although her knowledge on the subject has vastly improved.
An ardent fan of fantasy and science fiction sagas, Jet prefers to live in a world of imagination where dragons are real, elves are commonplace, vampires are just people with special diets and lycanthropes live next door In her own mind, she’s the spunky heroine who gets the best of everyone and always attracts the lean, muscular lads. She aids this fantasy with visuals created through her other obsession: 3D graphic art. In this area, as in writing, Jet’s self-taught and thoroughly entranced, and now occasionally uses this art to illustrate her stories or her stories to expand upon her art.
In real life, Jet is a self-proclaimed hermit, living in southern California with her life partner. She has a bachelor’s degree in acting, but her loathing of auditions has kept her out of the limelight. So she turned to computers and currently works in product management for a software company, because even in real life, she can’t help but want to create something out of nothing.