by Anna Hackett
And they were safe now.
As they moved toward the heart of the caravan, people appeared, calling out greetings and smiling.
Corsair had been sold off by his family as a child, and he barely remembered his parents. Old pain moved through him. Being abandoned and sold was not something you ever fully came to terms with.
But since then, he’d made his own family. And he vowed that any child he brought into this world would be loved, cherished, and protected.
He pulled the tarnid to a stop, and slid off. He gripped Neve’s waist and lifted her down. He saw her try to hide a wince.
A young girl raced out of the shadows. “Corsair!”
“Hey, Tilli.” He handed over the reins to the girl who was training to be a beast master. “He’s done a great job. Give him some extra feed tonight.”
The young girl’s head bobbed and she shot Neve a curious glance.
“And tell Serge the grina is all his for butchering,” Corsair added.
Tilli nodded again before leading the tarnid away.
“You made it.” Mersi appeared, the big silhouette of Bren behind her.
“Yeah. Had a run-in with a grina.”
Mersi frowned. “Before dark?”
“I suspect the desert witch had something to do with it. Neve, you didn’t hang around long enough the last time for me to introduce my seconds-in-command, Mersi and Bren. Guys, you remember Neve.”
Mersi’s bright blue eyes danced, before her gaze slid down to where Corsair was holding Neve close to him. “How could I forget? Welcome to the Corsair Caravan.” The woman looked at Corsair. “I had some hot water sent to your tent.”
Corsair moaned. “You’re a desert jewel. Knew there was a reason I keep you around.”
“You keep me around because I keep this caravan running smoothly.” Mersi winked at Neve.
“How are our guests?” Corsair said.
“Settling in. The…friends that Galen asked you to transport are a little skittish, but they are slowly warming up to us.”
That was to be expected. “Thanks, Mersi.”
“Just doing my job.” She waved them off. “Wash the sand and blood off, and we’ll see both of you for dinner.”
“Keep an eye out for Rogue. He kept us from becoming grina fodder today.”
Mersi nodded. “Some extra desert rats for him, then.”
Corsair grabbed Neve’s hand and tugged her toward his tent.
“Friends of Galen?” Neve asked.
Of course she would have picked up on that. “Some slaves that the House of Galen liberated from some of the other gladiatorial houses.”
Neve nodded. “I heard that they do that a lot.”
“Many of the other Houses don’t have the same integrity as Galen. They don’t mind hiring the sick, weak, and downtrodden. People who shouldn’t be in the arena.” Sandsuckers like the Thraxians and the Srinar didn’t blink at buying cheap slaves. “Even with Raiden and the others busy rescuing humans left and right, Galen’s had people freeing other slaves.”
“And you transport them into the desert.”
“I have the space, and there are desert towns—good, safe ones—desperate for workers.”
Corsair fielded more hellos and smiles on the way. He also took the time to check everything was in order and the sentries were where they should be. One small thing could spell disaster in the desert. The caravan was only on a short run this trip, but he never took any chances.
“They like you,” Neve said.
“Don’t sound so surprised.” He lifted the flap on his tent, and gestured her inside.
The fabric ceiling draped low over their heads, and pillows were scattered over the rugs on the ground. A handful of lamps cast a mellow, golden glow. He liked his creature comforts. After he’d been sold, he’d spent several years as a slave to some desert traders, before they’d set him free. He’d had simple clothes and only a ragged blanket to sleep on, and had worked from dawn to dusk. He didn’t mind the work, if it was for himself, but nowadays, he liked some luxury to go with it.
This was his own private domain.
Neve studied her surroundings, curiosity on her face.
“Sit.” He touched her shoulders and urged her down onto some pillows. “I want to take a look at your leg.”
“I can clean it—”
“I’ll do it.”
She scowled. “I’m not a child.”
Getting her to accept any help was an exercise in extreme frustration. “I am very, very aware of that.”
He moved over to the corner of the tent, where a steaming jug of water sat. He pulled out his med kit, and moved back to Neve.
“Trousers off,” he said.
She didn’t complain like he’d expected. Instead, she lifted her hips and skimmed the tan trousers off.
Drak. Corsair stilled. She was perfectly formed. Sleekly built with lean muscles and her legs looked endless.
One calf had angry red scratches on it. He blew out a breath, and wet a cloth. Kneeling down, he lifted her leg and cleaned the blood off her skin, and tried very hard not to notice the tiny black panties she wore.
Corsair knew he could touch her right now. That he could stroke that smooth skin, and they’d attack each other in a frenzy of hot, angry desire.
But she still didn’t trust him. Not fully. And he wanted that more than anything.
You are such a fool, Corsair.
“Is your family here?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts. “On the caravan?”
“No.” Thankfully, the slashes on her leg weren’t as bad as he’d thought. “I have no idea where my family is. They sold me to desert traders when I was eight.”
Neve sucked in a harsh breath.
He picked up a tube of med gel that he’d purchased from the House of Galen. Regan’s new, enhanced version could heal small wounds in hours. He started gently spreading the gel along Neve’s leg.
“I came from a small, desert village. There were lots of kids, and too many mouths to feed. It’s a common story in the desert.”
“So they sold their child? That’s terrible!”
“It’s the way of the desert. Your family on Earth must miss you and your sister.”
She hunched her shoulders. “There’s only my aunt. And she won’t miss us one bit.”
Corsair waited. He could be patient when it suited him.
Neve’s fingers rubbed against the pillow beneath her. “My parents were killed when I was ten and my sister was eight.” Her lip trembled for a second before she firmed it. “It was a car accident—uh…something like the transports you have here. My father’s sister took us in, although they’d been estranged for many years.”
“Estranged?”
Neve’s nose wrinkled. “My mother was mixed race and my aunt didn’t approve. We never knew her growing up.”
Now Corsair frowned. “Mixed race?”
“Mom was a melting pot. A dash of African-American, Lebanese, even some Korean. All people from Earth with very different skin colors, hair, and features.”
“And your aunt didn’t like this?”
“Nope. She was a bitter, old alcoholic, and she couldn’t have cared less about two grieving little girls. She liked our inheritance far more than us.”
Sympathy washed through him. He pressed a bandage to her leg, keeping his moves gentle. “That must have been hard.”
“Ever cried all the time.” A shaky breath. “Long before I was old enough, I use to sneak out to work. Our aunt had already drunk most of our money, but I saved what I could. The day I was old enough to leave, I got us out. I had to fight the authorities to get Ever, but I sure as hell wasn’t leaving her there. I needed a good job to pay the rent and feed us.”
He could picture a young, stubborn Neve fighting to protect her sister. But who had protected Neve? Who’d held her, reassured her, loved her? No wonder his woman from Earth was so wary.
“What did you do?”
“I ended
up working for a big corporation.” She grimaced. “I was a corporate spy. Not a very admirable job, but I was good at sneaking around, and it paid well.”
He reached out and tucked one of her curls behind her ear. Big, pale-green eyes looked up at him. “What you did for your sister…that was very admirable.” He dropped his hand back to her leg, stroking the smooth skin beside her bandage.
Her gaze dropped to where his hand was stroking against her skin, and so many emotions skittered over her face he lost count.
Corsair leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. Her body vibrated with tension and he forced his desire down.
“Come on.” He stood and held out a hand to pull her up. “Use the water while it’s still warm, and get some clothes on, so you don’t drive the men of my caravan crazy. Then we’ll have some dinner.”
She watched him a moment longer, before she moved to her backpack.
Corsair poured water into two bowls and moved the hanging curtain so it provided a small amount of privacy. He waved a hand and she ducked behind the curtain.
As he stripped off and used his own bowl of water to wash, he could hear every sound from her side—the tantalizing whisper of clothes being removed, the splash of water. He stared at the curtain and saw her dark silhouette. He watched her slide the wet cloth down her body.
Blood surged to his cock and he swallowed a moan. As he dragged the cloth over his own body, hot, dirty fantasies ran through his head.
He saw her turn, so her body was perfectly silhouetted behind the curtain—the shape of her high breasts, her slim waist, her long legs.
“Enjoying the show?” she murmured.
He figured she could see his silhouette as well. He slid his own cloth over his chest and downward. He circled his cock. “Yes.”
Drak. They had a dangerous journey to set out on in the morning. As much as he wanted to push her back into the pillows and sink inside her, another part of him wanted to take care of the woman.
He was pretty sure she’d let a man fuck her, but after, she’d slip through his fingers like desert sand. For some reason he didn’t fully understand, he wasn’t going to let that happen. Something told him no man had ever taken their time with Neve Haynes.
“Come on, let’s get to dinner.” He grabbed his clean shirt and pulled it on.
Once they were both in fresh clothes, he led her outside. There was a crowd of people sitting around the fire, eating, drinking, and talking. They were a mix of his people, travelers and traders. Corsair introduced Neve around, and took two plates of food that were shoved at them. They sat by the fire, plates balanced in their laps.
He’d snagged a bottle of juice from his private collection. He opened it and poured some of the pale, gold liquid into a cup. He held it out to her.
“What’s this?” She looked at the drink with suspicion.
“Desert nectar. It’s made by some desert insects in the hills to the north of here.” He didn’t tell her that a single bottle sold for a small fortune in Kor Magna.
She took a hesitant sip, then her eyes widened. “God, that’s amazing.”
He smiled and took a sip of his own nectar.
It wasn’t long before Mersi appeared, her goggles around her neck, and a plate loaded far higher than Corsair’s in her hand.
“Much better, now that you’ve both washed the desert off.” She sat beside Corsair. “It’s a pleasure to have you here, Neve. Any woman who can give Corsair a challenge and bring him to his knees is one I want to know.”
Neve kept eating her food. “Thanks. I think.”
“You’re from Earth, yes? I’ve heard so many things about that planet.” Mersi started peppering Neve with questions.
Corsair leaned back, enjoying the way Neve slowly relaxed under Mersi’s enthusiasm. The woman was insatiable when it came to learning new things.
The firelight glinted on Neve’s face. She was so gorgeous, in her own unique way. Soon, a few other caravan women appeared, all crowding around and asking about Earth. Several wanted to know about the men of Earth, although Mersi was more interested in asking about Earth technology. At one point, Neve laughed, and for a second, she looked surprised.
Corsair smiled to himself and continued eating.
Mersi finally extricated herself from the group, and moved closer to him. “I like your Earth woman, Corsair.”
“She’s not mine.” Yet.
“But you want her to be.”
He smiled. Mersi was a good friend who’d known him a long time. “Maybe.”
“You deserve happiness.” She reached over and patted his shoulder. “You take care of everyone else.”
“You deserve it, too,” he murmured quietly.
Her gaze shifted to the other side of the fire. To where Bren sat quietly on his own.
“Some people are just too drakking stubborn.” Annoyance and weariness filled her voice.
“And add another stubborn person to the mix, and things get messy fast.”
She grinned. “Are you calling me stubborn?”
“Yep.” He took some meat off his plate and popped it into his mouth.
“That’s pretty rich, coming from you. And especially since you’ve found yourself a woman as equally stubborn as you are.”
He looked at Neve’s profile as she chatted with the women. Or rather, as she sat quietly, while the women chatted around her.
He met Mersi’s gaze. “She doesn’t trust me yet, but I’m working on it.”
“And my stubborn-as-a-rock man trusts me, but keeps treating me like a sister.”
“He has his reasons, Mersi.”
A gusty sigh. “I know. But my girl bits are shriveling up drier than the desert.”
Corsair held up a hand. “Stop there. You’re one of my best friends, and I love you. But I do not want to know about your girl bits.”
He looked back at Neve and realized she was no longer sitting by the fire. His heart knocked in his chest. He glanced around and couldn’t see her anywhere.
“I’ll see you later, Mersi.” He pushed to his feet and moved through the camp. The rising moon cast gentle, silver light over the desert. A moment later, he spotted her lean silhouette, standing at the edge of the caravan. She was looking out into the desert.
Corsair’s pulse settled. She hadn’t run off.
He stepped up beside her. “Thinking about making a run for it?”
She turned her head. “No. I know better than to face the desert in the dark.” She pulled in a breath. “And…I need your help to find the desert witch and get this map.” Her pale eyes were luminous in the moonlight. “Will you help me, Corsair?”
Drak, she’d finally asked him for his help and really meant it.
And just like that, she sliced in under his skin, digging deep beneath his heart. “Yes, Neve. I’ll help you.”
Chapter 5
Neve lay on the pillows in the tent she was sharing with Mersi. The woman had finally fallen asleep after asking Neve about a thousand more questions about Earth.
Rolling over, Neve thumped her pillow. She couldn’t get to sleep. All she could think about was the fact that Corsair was in the tent next door. Probably lying back among those big pillows, his golden-skinned body naked…
She pressed her thighs together and looked up at the shadowed tent above. She could go to him. She knew he wouldn’t turn her away. She was so tempted to go and find the heat and pleasure, and not to think for one night.
But she didn’t move. Corsair was far more complicated than his desert adventurer persona. Something about him…threw her off balance. Her heart thumped against her ribs. He saw through her and got under her skin the way no one ever had before.
Suddenly, she heard noises outside the tent. Voices in hushed, tense conversation.
She jumped up and pulled her trousers on. When she glanced over, Mersi was sitting up, looking alert.
“Trouble,” the woman murmured, pushing out of her bed.
When N
eve flicked the tent flap back, she saw a small group huddled together, everyone clutching lights and torches. A young boy, maybe twelve years old, stood in the center, his face a mask of misery and worry.
“She’d been asleep,” he said. “I don’t know when she snuck out.”
Corsair stood beside the boy, his shirt unbuttoned. Neve caught the hint of dark ink on one of his hard pecs.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Corsair’s golden eyes met hers. “Danan’s eight-year-old sister, Aura, is missing.”
Neve’s chest went tight and she looked back at the boy.
“She’s the only family I have.” Danan’s eyes were pleading. “I have to find her.”
Neve stared, seeing another long-ago pair of siblings who had no one but each other.
Corsair gripped the boy’s thin shoulder. “She’s not your only family anymore, Danan. We’ll find her. Together.” He raised his voice. “Everyone spread out and find her.”
Mersi leaned in to Neve. “Corsair found Danan and Aura alone in the desert. Their parents had been killed by desert raiders. They’ve been with us for a few months now.”
Neve watched Corsair talking quietly with several men and women, sending them out to search. At the edges of the torch-light, she saw people watching. Mothers hugged children, women pulled robes tight to their necks, and a few young kids watched on with concern.
She studied those kids and spotted Tilli, the girl who’d cared for their tarnid. Neve realized she’d seen quite a few kids without parents at dinner. “How many abandoned kids has he taken in?”
Mersi shot her a smile. “All of us are abandoned kids. Even the adults like me, he took in years ago.”
“Really?”
Mersi nodded, fiddling with the end of her dark ponytail. “When I was a teen, I was sold off to a desert warlord as a concubine. I escaped and ran off into the desert. Corsair and Bren found me—sunburned, dehydrated, and half dead. They saved me.”
Like Corsair had saved so many others. Neve found him, her gaze running over that rugged face that hid so many angles.
Then her gaze dropped to Danan beside him. The boy’s hands were clutching his trousers and he was trying to hold it together. Drawn to him, she moved closer.
