“Don’t blame Charlie. I asked about the ship, and he told me why you haven’t bought anything newer than”—she flailed her hands—“this.”
Erik sighed. He should have known someone would mention their run-in with Jackal sooner or later. Susan had that way about her. She revealed little but inspired others to talk. Or at least she inspired Charlie to talk. And Dilly. He’d never known the cyberbot to be so irascible or vocal.
She had Adam wrapped around her finger, too. There was something going on with them. Adam alluded to a mating or marriage or something more than just sex. What was that about? Hell, he had feelings for the woman himself beyond mere sex, but he wasn’t thinking about marrying her.
He looked at Susan. “What do you know about Heron?”
“A great deal, actually. I worked there. In fact, I worked with Jackal.”
“What?” God damn it! Erik would have bet everything he owned and loved—he would have bet his ship—that Susan was a decent person. But not if she worked with that bastard, Jackal. He’d have her off his ship so fast she wouldn’t know what hit her, and then he’d be in touch with the DAT. If they wanted her, by God, they could have her.
He shook off Adam’s hand on his arm. He realized the conversation was still going on around him, blocked by his anger and feelings of betrayal.
“…trying to find out who controlled the Pheron trade,” Susan was saying. “To my knowledge, the drug doesn’t act as it has on us. It releases inhibitions, yes, but most often in violent ways. I can’t tell you how many rapes and murders have been put down to Pheron. And it’s becoming rampant on Earth. That’s why I was there.”
Realizing his mistake, Erik’s emotions did a double turn. “Good God, woman.” He exploded from his chair and scraped his hand across his head, ruffling his hair. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”
Susan burst out in laughter. Adam smiled, and Charlie cackled.
“Guess that was a dumb-ass question,” Erik said, smiling sheepishly. “But I don’t like the idea of you in that situation. Why, you’re a woman.”
“Something you’ve already proven for yourself a couple of times,” Dilly put in with a completely straight face.
“Shut up, Dilly,” Erik said automatically. “So, if you’re one of the good guys for the DAT, why are they after you?”
She held her hands palm up in question. “I have no idea. That is, I think it has to do with the Pheron. Jackal didn’t know I was DAT, I’m sure. It had to be someone on Earth, and only a few people knew I was there.” She shook her head. “I think all of them are dead.”
He studied Susan. “Then who betrayed you is what we’ll need to figure out before going back to Centre City. And there’s one person who can help with that.”
To say he didn’t worry about coming face to face with Jackal again would be a lie. But Erik already would have gone back for his money if he hadn’t wanted to keep Charlie and Adam away from a situation that had almost killed them before. Now he had a secret weapon. The odds were ever so slightly in their favor. “Knowing Jackal and his gang of cutthroats, what do you have in mind?”
“Nothing, specifically.” She bit her nail and stared at the wall. “But what if I could get back inside? Actually…They’re expecting me in a week or so. Jackal thinks I’ve been called to Earth for a family emergency.”
“How can we get you there?” Erik paced back and forth. “The asshole knows the ship.”
“Captain,” Charlie said, “we can’t let her go back. Not now.”
“What do you mean, ‘not now’?” Susan faced Charlie, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
He blushed. “I mean not when you mean something to us. It’s up to us to pro—”
“Don’t you dare say protect me,” she spit out. Her lips formed a thin line, and the gleam in her eyes turned to fire. “Charlie, I know what I’m doing. I’ve protected myself for a good many years.”
“You were alone then. You aren’t now.”
Her expression changed immediately, softening. From one second to the next, she shifted from a blazing warrior to gentleness. Her eyes glistened. Erik never would have imagined the brash woman who boarded his ship only a few hours ago to be capable of crying at the words of a young pilot. That drug really had changed them. Too bad the effects would soon wear off. Even with the prospect of squaring off against Jackal and the battle that might loom ahead, at that moment he wanted nothing more than to bend her over the table and sink his dick into her wet, warm pussy. Or simply hold her. He wasn’t sure which would feel the best.
Charlie looked at Susan. “I’ll help if that’s what you want. But if there’s trouble, know that I’ll do anything to make sure you get out.” When they met—hell, just a few moments ago—Susan would have ranted that she didn’t need the man’s help. Now she smiled.
Poor Charlie. The kid was an open book. Obviously, he was already half in love with Susan. And Erik had to admit, her smile did hold sunshine. She should do it more often. But then, he might find himself coming under her spell, too. Bad enough that his exec and lieutenant were both wrapped up in her.
“There’s not much we can do to disguise Erik’s Pryde. They’ll know us, which will compromise you.”
“You’re right,” she said. “We have to come up with a story.”
“Far be it for a steward to have an imaginative idea,” Dilly said dryly, “but why not say that she was trying to escape being arrested—” He cast Susan an ironic look, brows raised. “I’m sure there are many scenarios from which to choose. She stowed away, and by the time we realized it, the law was already after us. Too late to turn back, so we promised to deliver her to Heron for a substantial reward.” Everyone stared, dumbfounded.
“Dilly, have I ever told you that you have strokes of genius?” Erik clapped him on the back.
“Not often enough,” the bot replied.
“The first thing the DAT tells undercover agents is to stick as close to the truth as possible.” She frowned at Dilly. “It’s not very imaginative, but the story might work, especially when Jackal hears I offered you a ton of money. Money is everything to him.” She grinned. “And a ton of money is what I’m promising you.”
Erik thought for a moment, never taking his eyes off her. “We’ll vote on this. It could mean all our lives. Adam?”
“We go.”
“Charlie?”
“I don’t like it, but I agree. We go.”
“Dilly?”
Susan frowned. “The bot-steward gets a vote?”
“The bot gets a vote,” Dilly said and then raised his brows as though daring her to contradict. “I say we let her go.”
“Do I assume you say go, Susan?”
“I’m not a crewmember, just a passenger, Erik.”
“You’re one of us. Your vote counts, just like ours,” Erik said.
He saw the change in her. She sat straighter and looked him in the eye. She was one of them. “We go,” she said.
“That’s it, then,” he said. “Set course, Adam.”
“Aye,” Adam said, winking at Susan.
“I hope the Pheron doesn’t start acting up,” Susan said. “It would be awful if that poison did anything to ruin the mission.”
“I can assure you that it won’t,” Dilly said. He looked at each of them, smirking. “The vial didn’t hold Pheron. The liquid was a syrup derivative of the rumberry.”
“What?” Susan paled, staring back. “What are you talking about, you metallic moron?”
“Poor Ms. Vanessa was gypped. I analyzed the ‘Pheron,’ and I’m telling you that you’ve been acting like a horny bunny on steroids of your own free will. No drug had anything to do with it.”
He strolled to the door and then turned. “Steward, indeed!”
Chapter Ten
Three pairs of eyes stared at her. Erik’s narrowed and studying her, Charlie’s sympathetic, and Adam’s rather amused. There was no Pheron on board? What the fuck?
“What did he mean? W
hat did that bucket of rivets just say?”
Adam smiled. “Susan, you weren’t affected by a drug when you took each of us into your body.”
“Bullshit. Dillard is wrong.”
“Dilly’s never wrong when it comes to physical analysis,” Erik commented. “Come to think of it, he’s most often right when it comes to analyzing people.” His gaze bore into her.
She focused on Adam. “Then you put something in my head. You influenced me somehow.”
Adam shook his head. “I told you before. I can only emphasize what you already feel. You are a very sexual woman.”
No, she wasn’t. She was smart, well trained, and a consummate actress. Her skills included ten different ways to kill. But nothing had ever pointed to any talent in intimacy. She’d suppressed that female characteristic in favor of those that could make a difference, could save her life. Sex was overrated. Or that’s what she’d always thought.
She shoved back the chair and stood. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m going to my cabin. Don’t bother me, don’t come knocking, because the mattress dancing is over and done.” She strode to the door, head high, back straight. “Let me know when you need coordinates for landing.”
“Susan,” Charlie called as she exited the room. “Don’t worry. You’ll be all right with us.”
Charlie was a sweet man, but she wasn’t worried about taking care of herself. She never had shied away from protecting herself and never would. Need them, those three men she’d cast her lot with? Never. They were a means to an end, nothing more. That she’d had sex with them, taking their cocks into her mouth and her body, and felt herself transported to realms she’d never dreamed existed meant nothing. The aberrant insanity ended now. Within a week she’d be back in her role as undercover DAT agent, and there was no room for emotion or orgasmic daze.
Her cabin door shushed closed. Susan collapsed on her bed. How could this have happened? When the Pheron had been found on board, she thought it would bring out the violent tendency that she kept controlled.
It seemed that all her life she’d been filled with anger, starting with the death of her mother and ending with the unfeeling hardness of her father and brothers. Only the DAT had found a way to use her anger, to shape it into a weapon to be used at Susan’s direction. Only the DAT had recognized her potential and convinced her that she had worth—and skills and instincts she’d channeled into a valuable quantity. They taught her to restrain her base characteristics, and that included her libido. Until recently, she’d been perfectly happy with the situation.
Until coming on this ship, she’d believed she was better off on her own. But she liked these men, liked the way they wanted to help, liked the ways their bodies made hers sing.
She remembered the sensation of Adam’s mouth on her pussy. Her panties moistened with juice. She slid her hand under the waistband of her slacks and stroked her clit. Gasping, she caught a short breath as she found a rhythm with her middle finger. What she lost in not having a man’s weight on her, his mouth suckling her breast as he invaded her innermost channel, his hot breath on her neck, she fantasized. After all, she had three great role models.
Opening her mouth, she imagined Charlie’s cock tickling her lips before sliding inside. His flavor filled her mind.
And Adam. Would his penis grow each time they mated as it had the first time? She’d never had anal sex, but now, how would it be with such a skillful lover?
She wanted them, wanted them badly. Imagining all her orifices filled with huge cocks, pumping in and out, in and out, kissing, nipping, sucking, their fingers exploring, elicited a moan.
Who knew? She didn’t need a drug to release her deepest, darkest sexual fantasies.
The fantasy, along with the steady questing of her fingers, built a tension that grew with each second. She came suddenly, her pussy lips gently kissing her fingers, her breath momentarily halted.
But when her heart slowed to its normal beat, she felt cheated, empty. In a very short time with the three men, she’d been ruined. The mission they now faced had slipped her mind while instead she sought to satisfy a primal need she’d done without for years. She’d been content with a bout with her favorite vibrator only now and then. She’d thought men overrated. Erik, Charlie, and Adam proved her a fool.
She sat on the side of the bunk. She’d just brought herself to climax yet still felt the tingle that signified need.
“Why should I deny it?” The rust bucket was right. There was no drug. Her attraction to the ship’s three pilots was exactly that—an attraction of a woman to the men around her. Just because it had never happened to her before didn’t mean it wasn’t happening now.
And she meant to do something about it.
* * * *
The door to the bridge opened. Concentrating on a course plot, Erik didn’t look up. “Put the coffee on the table, please, Dilly.”
“It’s not Dilly.” Susan’s voice sounded deeper. There was a hint of hesitation in it.
Charlie turned away from the console. “Are you feeling better? I worried about you.”
“I know you did,” she said. She walked to him and took his face in her hands. His surprised expression morphed into tenderness as she lowered her head and kissed him. He pulled her between his legs and deepened the kiss. Then gently she extricated herself. Turning, she smiled at Adam and him. What was she up to? Not half an hour ago she’d said she would stay in her cabin. Her tone and fierce expression had left no doubt that she would not welcome male company.
She made her way to Adam. “Are you truly my mate?”
“I am.” He dipped his head. “Whether you want me or not, I am bound to you.”
“I want you.”
His head snapped up and he examined her eyes. He took her hand and placed it on his cock.
Erik didn’t have to touch anything to know Adam’s cock was growing under her palm. She stroked him. His eyes turned smoky with desire. Sliding his hand under the top of her shirt, he sought her breast. Erik imagined kneading her breast and flicking his thumb over her nipple. His groin ached. His cock pulsed, rising, his sac hung heavy. Erik crossed his arms, waiting for her to finish with Adam.
Backing up, she broke her connection with Adam and strode to him, at last. He regarded her with a hooded gaze. The woman who had left the wardroom might have been a warrior, but the Susan who stepped toward him now was all sex goddess.
Her lips were red and ripe from kissing Charlie, her nipples erect and breasts pert from Adam’s ministrations, and her eyes flamed with desire.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m admitting I was wrong. If there was no Pheron, then my actions can only be the result of my own desire.” She skimmed the nail of one finger across his cheek. “I thought I should fight it but have decided that as long as I’m with you, there’s no reason to.”
Susan took his wrists and uncrossed his arms, pushing them to his sides. Stepping closer, she ran her hands up his chest. His breath quickened, but he tried not to let her know.
“This ship, this time, is set outside my normal life. It’s freedom I didn’t expect. I’m here, you’re here. I know we have a vital mission, but I want to experience a part of life I’ve ignored until Erik’s Pryde. I can do both—help with the mission and fulfill a fantasy. Will you allow it, Captain?”
In answer, he pushed his hand beneath her waistband and cupped her sex. She hitched her breath and held it as Erik inserted two fingers in her pussy. Unerringly, he found her G-spot. Her eyes closed, her mouth open, she gave in to his strokes
God, she was wet and ready for a cock. In seconds she would come, but it was too soon for that. If Susan wanted a fantasy, the crew of Erik’s Pryde would give it to her.
He withdrew his hand, bringing a whimper to her lips. With a silent gesture, he drew the others forward.
They made quick work of removing her clothes. She made no attempt to stop them. In fact, she let them do as they pleased. And
they did.
Erik dropped to his knees and spread her legs. He felt rather than saw Adam at her back and Charlie sucking her tits.
Her scent overpowered him. He sank his face into her pussy. The softness of the skin under his kneading fingers made him itch to touch her all over. He moved lower and dipped his tongue between her lower lips and into the channel that sent out the fragrant musk of sex. He pushed his uniform to his knees, freeing his dick. It twitched, seeking a wet, tight, hot hole to fill.
As he pressed his tongue deeper into Susan’s channel, he felt Adam pushing back as he rubbed her butt cheeks. Erik lapped at her cream, fingering her clit and tugging it farther into the open. Inhaling her pungent, creamy scent, he switched his attention to her clit, sucking it deep into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue. Two of his fingers glided on her juices up to the hilt in her pussy. When she came hard, clamping his fingers in place, a sense of male satisfaction cloaked him—just before he was reminded of how badly he wanted to come inside her.
He stood, fairly ripping off his uniform. Somehow, Charlie and Adam had already done so. He stared at Adam, scrunching his forehead. Something was different about his face. His tongue was impossibly long and narrowed at the tip. He rimmed her back hole while Charlie sucked her breasts with fervor. Susan held his cock tightly while Charlie rammed it into her palm.
With Charlie on the left, Erik grasped her right leg and lifted it over his hip. Her head fell back, giving Charlie better access. Adam stood then, too, and supported her from behind. Erik fed his cock to her pussy slowly, pressing her toward Adam. In moments, he felt a push back where Adam took her from behind.
Erik was no Universe Scout, but he’d never shared a woman like this before. His heart raced, pounding in his chest with the excitement. He didn’t think he could get any harder, but he grew another inch just knowing what was taking place on his bridge. They’d left the viewing window open. The blackness of space added to the bizarre experience.
Knight, Dee S. - Bride of the Pryde (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8
