by K. D. Austin
“How did your virus do this?” Lance asked.
“No idea. This shouldn’t be possible.” Hanna tried to stand. The sudden pain in her left ankle almost forced her to collapse, but Lance caught her.
“Here. I got you.”
“I think my ankle’s broken, but if we don’t get out of here, that’ll be the least of my problems.”
“We can’t get through the complex fast enough even if I carried you.” Lance scooped up Hanna and pressed them both farther back into the small alcove cut into the glassy black rock. Hanna felt her pulse quicken as his hard, muscled body pressed against her bare flesh. “We’ll be protected in this little hole. When the building finishes collapsing, we’ll climb over it and find a way out of here and back to the spaceport.”
“What if the collapse blocks us in?”
“We’ll deal with that if we have to,” Lance said confidently.
Horrible screeches that sounded somewhat human echoed off the cliffside, followed by screams that definitely were. The Hairy Hand complex collapsed in one final, horrible spasm. What a few minutes before had been a fantastic hand stretching from the cliff face was now just a shapeless lump that resembled used gum.
“Guess we were lucky,” Hanna said, looking at the shapeless mess strewn out across the landscape. Then emotion overwhelmed her. Too much had happened too fast. She began sobbing uncontrollably. Lance hugged her tight against his body. His left hand stroked her hair as he whispered quietly into her ear. After a few minutes, Hanna regained control of herself. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The permaplast blob covered only the lower third of the opening to the anchor hole. Lance and Hanna could easily climb over it and get out—at least Lance could. With her ankle at least badly sprained, if not broken, Hanna was stuck. Lance lifted her up, though, and the pair stood atop the ruin.
“It’s horrible,” Hanna said, scanning the area.
“It’s completely unrecognizable for what it was.”
Hanna scanned the scene for several long seconds. No one else could be seen in the wreckage. “You think we’re the only ones who escaped?” she asked, fearing she already knew the answer.
Lance surveyed the devastation and nodded. “I don’t know how we survived, Hanna.”
Hanna had to agree with that.
They slowly worked their way over the uneven terrain of the ruined building, trying not to think about the bodies that lay below them. Lance supported Hanna as she hobbled along.
“I’ve got to ask, Hanna. What happened? This wasn’t the plan.”
Hanna looked over at Lance, but he wasn’t accusing her.
“I’m not sure. I had a virus that was supposed to disrupt the templast systems for about five minutes. Enough time to escape if we were lucky, but not enough time for the antivirus systems to recover. When I dropped it in, though…”
Lance stopped and looked at Hanna. She had no choice but to stop with him. The large man was very close, his arm wrapped around her waist, his emerald eyes staring at her hard. Hanna could smell his hot, masculine sweat, which held a trace of sex and triggered an involuntary longing response in her, even in these circumstances and in the pain she was in.
She continued on after a few seconds. “Something went wrong. It mutated, and attacked the permaplast instead.”
“Well, whatever went wrong just now, I bet Arden had something to do with it. Why else did he want in on the hack?”
“I don’t know.”
“I do. I saw the excitement in his eyes right before he knocked me over. This was all him, Hanna. He clearly wanted revenge.”
Hanna wanted to believe that. But it wasn’t true. Nothing Arden had done since Hanna had been with him had been all Arden. Hanna had helped him. Helped him destroy the Galactic Marines. Helped him mind-hack Lance. And now helped him destroy The Hairy Hand and everyone in it, almost killing herself and Lance in the process.
They crossed the devastation in silence for a while.
“Why didn’t you go with him, Hanna?”
“I couldn’t just leave you to die,” Hanna said quietly.
“Why not? Arden was right. From what you told me after we crawled out of the river, I already tried to kill you twice. And the only reason I haven’t tried again is because you reprogrammed me.”
Hanna stopped walking, forcing Lance to stop with her, and looked at him.
“Right or wrong, I’ve been in your mind, Lance. I know you better than I know anyone else. Much better than I know Arden. Maybe you will try to kill me again now. I don’t know. But if you do, it will be because you believe I am a dangerous criminal and that you have a duty to stop me. You won’t kill me because you enjoy killing. I know you don’t. And you won’t kill me just to hide some inconvenient facts.
“Arden, on the other hand, I can’t trust at all. I don’t know what he’s after. I thought he was trying to help me, but he has his own agenda. What I do know about him is that he’s willing to kill anyone and everyone who gets in his way. He may sincerely believe he’s doing the right thing, but I can’t accept that. I’m a pirate, but I’m not a cold-blooded killer. He is. And no matter what happens to me, I don’t want to be like him.”
Lance was just staring at her, but Hanna couldn’t meet his eyes anymore, so she looked down at her feet and finished in a quiet voice.
“Anyway, I couldn’t just leave you there. You’ve saved my life so many times now, I’ve lost count. There’s no way I could’ve turned my back on you and left you in there to die. It just wouldn’t have been right. I…I…” Hanna trailed off, unable to put her burgeoning feelings into words.
* * * *
Lance didn’t say anything. He turned Hanna around, lifted her face with a gentle hand, stared at her with his now-dark-green eyes, and leaned down and kissed her deeply.
Her body relaxed, melting against his touch. He ran his left hand down her back, enjoying the feel of her soft bare skin beneath the illusion of clothing. His lips continued to cover hers with kisses. Her tongue darted out to lick the inner edge of his lower lip.
As he slid his hand around her body and up her ribs to her breast, Hanna gasped with pleasure. Lance pushed her sports bra up, freeing her perfect handfuls. Hanna’s hands now twined themselves into his thick hair. Lance nibbled her bottom lip and then moved his mouth down, kissing her along her chin and then her neck. He could feel the rapid flutter of her pulse as he ran his tongue down the curve of her neck and into the hollow between her collarbones. As his mouth gave attention to her neck and shoulders, his hands massaged her breasts. When he captured a nipple between his forefinger and thumb and squeezed, Hanna cried out with pleasure, and Lance watched her bite her lip, her eyes rolling back in her head.
“Don’t stop,” she said breathlessly.
“Don’t worry,” Lance said. Then he dropped his head and circled her now-erect nipples with his hot, wet tongue, lapping at one side and then the other. Hanna quivered with each pass. She moaned quietly as he slid his hands up her body to her hair and then all the way back down her sides, stopping at the edge of her body shorts.
As he hooked his fingers into the waistband, he ran his tongue around her left nipple and then the right and then traced a line down her stomach, slowing to circle her navel. Then his tongue followed her shorts down past the slight bump above her pussy, and then he plunged his tongue greedily into her slit. Even though he had only just tasted it, Lance already found himself craving Hanna’s juice. He wondered if she had programmed him that way, but decided he didn’t care. He’d eaten plenty of pussy in his day, but none as addictive as this. He wanted more. He wanted to lap up those sweet juices until Hanna came. He doubted that would be enough, honestly.
* * * *
“Mmmm,” Hanna said as Lance’s tongue made intricate designs across her pussy lips, occasionally teasing her clit. Each subtle movement sent bolts of pleasure through her body. Earlier, when Arden had caused her to come un
controllably, she’d felt that nothing would ever be able to compare to that sensation. Now she understood how wrong she had been. The feel of Lance’s hands alternately pushing against her breasts and sliding over her ass while his tongue worked wonders in her pussy exceeded that solo experience in the way that a good lover always beat masturbation. A part of her knew that if she combined the two experiences, she could discover true ecstasy, but right now she didn’t care. She reveled in the sensation that was Lance’s muscular body against hers. She still marveled how much this man, who only a couple of days ago had tried to kill her, could elicit such strong desire in her.
“You eat me so good,” she said, looking down and enjoying the view of his square jaw between her legs.
“That’s because you’re so delicious,” he said and sucked hard at her clit, causing her to moan and push her hips up so his face buried into her wet cunt.
“Eat me out, Lance. Make me come. Make me come hard.”
* * * *
The mixture of pleading and command in Hanna’s voice excited Lance even more than the tangy taste of her pussy. As reply, he ran his hands down her body and grabbed her butt tightly, holding her pussy firm against the gyrations of his tongue. He began lapping at her clit, first licking up and then licking down. He knew he could make her come with his tongue alone, and from the way her breathing now hitched, he knew he could do it quickly. But quickly wasn’t his goal. He also knew that that wouldn’t be a good-enough orgasm for her or him. He wanted her to come hard. Very hard. His fingers dug into the flesh of her ass. Then he slid his right hand down and between her legs.
“Fuck yes!” Hanna said as Lance slid first one finger and then two more into her wet pussy.
He moved them in and out slowly at first, curling them up slightly with every outward stroke. Hanna’s breathing quickened, and Lance watched her abs flex into a tight raised mound. He increased the tempo of his thrusts and at the same time the pace of his tongue on her clit. He brought his left hand around and pushed up gently right above her clit to fully expose it to his tongue.
“Oh fuck! I’m going to come, Lance. Make me come. Tell me to come.”
Immediately, Lance slowed the pace of his fingers and let his tongue move down across her pussy lips, which were now dripping with the combination of her juices and his saliva.
Hanna groaned. “No. I want to come.”
“Not yet,” Lance said, barely raising his mouth from that delicious cunt.
Her breathing slowed somewhat, and the muscles in her stomach relaxed. That’s what Lance had been waiting for. He began thrusting his fingers as deeply as possible into her pussy even faster than before. Her body shook with his finger fucking, and her boobs bounced up and down. He gripped the right one and began squeezing and lightly twisting her nipple.
“Yes. Yes!”
He flicked his tongue across her clit, and Hanna gasped and jerked. Again Lance stopped quickly and completely.
“Uhhh. Please let me come.”
Now there was no command, only pleading. Lance’s cock stiffened considerably. He wanted her to want it badly. The more she wanted it, the stronger it would be.
“I don’t think so,” he said, teasing her.
“Yes. Please.” Hanna’s head lolled back and forth across the soft grass. She tried to grab his head and push him back into her pussy.
“Do you want to come?”
She moaned. “Yes. I need to come. Please let me come. I need it. Oh, Lance, I need to come now.”
“Don’t beg. Tell me to make you come. Tell me how you want me to make you come.”
“Yes. Make me come. Make me come hard. Fuck me with your fingers and your tongue and make me come. Make me come now.”
Lance couldn’t control himself any longer. He needed that pussy as much as she wanted him to have it. He dove back in and began rapidly licking and sucking her clit. Hanna’s stomach clenched at once. Then he began fucking her with his fingers even faster than before, pushing against the back wall of her pussy with each thrust and curling his fingers up to hit her G-spot with every stroke.
Hanna’s body jerked up off the ground. “Fuck! Yes! Fuck! Make me come! Make me come now!”
Lance grabbed her ass again with his left hand holding her body against his face, while his right-hand fingers pistoned in and out. Her pussy flowed with juice now, even sweeter than before. Lance lapped it all up and licked her clit nonstop.
“Yes! Oh! Oh yes! Yes!”
Lance had to press her pussy tight against his tongue as Hanna’s orgasm rolled through her. Her body rose off the ground and then dropped back. Waves rolled across the muscles of her abdomen as she came once and then twice and then three times. Lance did not lessen his grip and continued to finger fuck her and lick her clit.
Hanna’s cries of “Yes!” became an incoherent cry of pleasure. Her body rocked back and forth, and she continued to scream. Lance slowed his rhythm, and Hanna lowered back down to the ground, panting. As soon as her body made full contact, though, Lance ramped up his tongue and fingers. Immediately, another orgasm gripped Hanna, and she rocketed off the ground. Lance had to wrap his left arm completely around her ass to continue his delicious meal of her pussy. She bucked wildly.
* * * *
Hanna was no longer sure where she was. She simply rode on a wave of endless pleasure. “Ahh! Yes! Fuck yes! Don’t stop!”
Lance obliged and repeated this process two more times. Each time, just as Hanna began to relax, he increased his tempo, sending her into another wave of pleasure. Finally and reluctantly, she pushed him away from her pussy and pulled his face up to hers.
“You’re amazing,” she said and kissed him, wanting to taste herself on his lips. His face was wet with her juices, and she ran her tongue across his lips and over his chin, relishing the flavor of her juices against his skin.
Lance wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly, careful of her still-injured foot, which she had completely forgotten about during the past moments. They lay that way as the sun set. Hanna couldn’t stop looking into Lance’s green eyes and wondering how she was falling for this man and knowing she had to do something to make him himself again so she’d know if his feelings for her could be real or were always doomed to simply be the result of her mind-hack.
* * * *
Lance kissed Hanna’s cheek as he held her close. She nuzzled into him. Then he pulled back and looked at her. “Do you believe Arden that the Khsharayan are alive?”
Hanna thought about it for a few seconds, although she already knew. “Yes. I don’t want to, but I do.”
“Why?”
Hanna rose up so she could look into Lance’s face better. She wanted to see those gorgeous eyes, but more importantly, she wanted him to see the earnestness in her face. “It makes sense of what I found when I hacked the net in The Hairy Hand. It wasn’t just an encoded network; it was an alien one built on our technology. Or for all I know, our technology is built on it.”
“The code language we heard wasn’t code. It was alien,” Lance said, nodding. “But can they really look like humans?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We only have Arden’s word for that. But if those guys we fought really were Khsharayan, they are at least humanoid.”
Lance lay back and looked up at the sky. “Yeah. But we knew that from archaeology. What could that treasure be?”
Hanna’s emerald eyes gleamed with excitement. “I don’t know, but I’d love to find out.”
“You pirates never learn,” Lance said, laughing. Hanna punched his arm lightly, and then he grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the ground.
“You caught me, you big Galactic Marine. Now what are you going to do with me?”
Lance showed her.
Chapter 37
Night had fallen, so Lance and Hanna had only the dim reddish glow from Gallus’s moon to guide them. Making slow progress over the ruins of the collapsed complex and out onto the road that led up to it, they painstakingly picked their way
down the path and out into the pass through the cliff.
There they discovered two more large permaplast lumps. They were too far away to be part of The Hairy Hand, so the couple stared at them in confusion for a moment.
“The Pulsar Tanks,” Hanna said, gasping in realization. “That means the virus traveled through the GrayMars’ net beyond the building. Who knows how far it may have affected them.”
“Could it spread to other nets?” Lance asked. He imagined a galaxy of melting permaplast. The damage would be incalculable. The thought was terrifying, actually, as Lance realized he had just witnessed the birth of one of the most potentially deadly terrorist weapons ever created. The only thing worse would be a human/implant virus—the fabled death virus that would affect both biological and CHI systems at the same time. There were tons of holovid dramas and books using such a virus as the plot device for their Armageddon event.
Hanna stopped suddenly, surprising Lance and clearly hurting her ankle as she grimaced and bit down on her lip. “Lance, where are we going?”
Lance looked at her for several seconds debating whether he wanted to tell her his plan. In truth, he didn’t, but after she had been willing to sacrifice herself for him, he couldn’t lie to her. “Back to the spaceport. We’ll find a shuttle there and head to the nearest Galactic Marine base.”
Hanna’s face paled, and she shook her head vigorously. She tried to free herself from his grasp, but he held her tightly. “No. No. No. I can’t. I’m a wanted criminal. I’ll be locked up or worse.”
Lance looked at her panicked face. Going to the Galactic Marines was the right thing to do. They needed to know about Arden and the Khsharayan artifact, and the very real possibility that an alien force was preparing to attack the galaxy. Lance tried to convince himself that he could protect Hanna. This was what he had been telling himself ever since this plan had formed in his head, but he knew it was a lie he was telling himself. There would be no amnesty for a pirate who had Hanna’s talents, especially if they discovered that she had mind-hacked a Galactic Marine. Death would be a mercy compared to what would happen to her.
