“Why would you seek out this skill when your father could teach you the other?”
She tried to keep her face blank. “It was never a sure thing that he’d let me on his ship, let alone teach me to fly. Mom and I lived in a refugee camp, Haverlee. My folks never actually married.”
“I don’t know this word.”
She looked up at that. “Married? It’s a commitment when two people decide to share their lives, be with only each other.”
His lips thinned and his tongue slipped out to briefly flick across them. “It’s like mates then.”
The Arena Dogs probably didn’t have any legal options, she realized. They’d been slaves with no hope of anything better. They’d made the best of their situation.
“Your father and mother had a child together, but weren’t mates,” he said. “Were they forced to breed?”
Samantha’s stomach twisted. He looked so grim. “Have you ever been forced to father a child?”
“Forced breeding is something they started only recently and no children have been conceived.” His face blanked as he spoke, all sign of emotion gone. “Hera was sent to us, but Carn wanted her.” He shook his head as if he thought he could shake away the thought.
A knot formed in her stomach, as she considered what might have happened if Carn hadn’t wanted Hera. “I’m glad you weren’t forced.”
“What of your parents?” His tone rang with a demand to move the conversation forward.
She turned her attention back to her work, connecting the power circuit to the voltage regulator. “My parents weren’t forced either. They wanted to share sex. I think having me was a mistake. Dad had women in every port he worked. He wasn’t awful about it though. He brought my mother funds when he came around. And he did come around.”
“And...” The softly spoken word encouraged her to continue. To dive back into the old memories as she completed her work.
“I knew he was my only way out of the camp so when he came to visit Mom I hung out with his crew. I was just a kid, but I was his kid, so they treated me well. Taught me things.” Probably, her old man had told them to keep her busy so she wouldn’t be in the way of him getting busy with her mother, but mentioning that might be over-sharing. “So I learned to work on ships around the port and he eventually falsified citizenship papers for me and paid for the tests so I could get certified. I signed onto his ship and he taught me to be a pilot, too.”
“You no longer work with your father.”
She had to swallow a lump of regrets before she could answer. “He died last year.”
Mercury stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I may not have had a true blood family, but we made our own.” She’d understood that much and been awed by the strength of heart that had allowed them to survive in such brutality without losing their humanity. “We made packs to protect one another, to stand and fight together. Just as Carn and Lo are my pack brothers, there were others who are gone now. We mourned their loss and still feel it with each breath.” Maybe it was the loss he wore like a gravity-suit that had made it so impossible for her to ignore him. It was something they shared. He slipped his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry you lost this man who was your father. You honor his memory by using these skills he taught you.”
Something moist dripped onto her lip. She licked it away, tasting the saltiness of tears. She hadn’t known she was crying. She’d never cried for her father before.
She scrubbed the moisture from her eyes. “I hated him. I loved him, but I hated him too. My mother loved him, always. Every time he came around she’d light up and then he’d leave again. She never cried in front of me, but her light was gone when he left.” She scrubbed at her eyes again to make sure all traces of her tears were wiped away. “I swore I’d never cry for him.”
Mercury pulled her into his arms. His deep voiced rumbled softly in her ear. “You wanted to hate him, but you couldn’t hate someone who gave your mother joy, gave you life, gave you skills to make a life for yourself.”
She pulled away choking on a laugh. “Sure. Side with him. Just like a man.” Her laughter faded quickly, leaving a raw ache in its wake. “I thought I’d become important to him, but when he died he left me nothing. Not even a part interest in his freighter. He left that to his crew chief.”
“I have nothing to give you,” he said. His eyes narrowed as his stormy gaze met hers. “Nothing but myself. But I’ll never stand against you or leave you behind. I’ll fight to keep you with me always.”
His words were too perfect, everything she could hope for… and impossible to believe. “When would that be? After you rescue Carn’s mate? Or after you free all the slaves?” Stars, she sounded like a selfish shrew.
Mercury didn’t bristle as she expected—as some terrified corner of her soul hoped he would. A fight would be easier to handle than more of this weak, clingy creature that had taken over her body. But the solemn expression on his face never wavered, never gave way to anger.
“You’re right,” he said. “I’m not free to devote myself solely to your happiness, but seldom in our world are things as we would wish.”
His easy agreement doused the fuel for her ire.
She couldn’t even imagine the life he’d endured. The cruelty and hate. He came from a world that seemed terrible and incomprehensibly horrifying.
He didn’t scoff at her grief. A grief that should have seemed trivial through his eyes. Eyes that had gone silver for her. As if he stood ready to fight her battles. How could she do any less for him?
She couldn’t find the words to tell him how she felt. Even if his intentions were the best, letting herself love him would give him the power to crush her.
The crackle of the cargo-drop’s newly adapted receiver saved her from failing, utterly, to protect her heart.
“Drake? Come in Drake.” The voice coming across the recently modified circuits was unfamiliar, but the person obviously knew the Roma men.
Mercury stilled, barely breathing.
“This is Drake.” The voice that answered filled Samantha with rage. “You get them?”
“We retrieved the tracking receiver from the Dove. We’re coming down for a low pass now. We’ll land when we’ve completed the sweep. Should be first light in your location.”
“We’ll be waiting,” said Drake’s voice over the receiver. “We can start the hunt as soon as your ship is down.”
“Hoowa.”
The transmission went quiet and Samantha let out the breath she’d been holding. “That doesn’t sound like a rescue.”
“Hunters.” Mercury growled in the back of his throat.
“We must return to camp and tell the others.” Mercury threw back his head and howled. The others joined him, howls echoing faintly in the distance.
By the time they made it back, Carn and Lo were there, waiting for the news.
“The hunters are here. They hunt at daybreak.” Mercury’s voice had gone all snarly in a way she hadn’t heard since they’d left Drake and Resler behind.
“We’ll be ready.” Carn sounded calm and confident.
Lo spoke directly to Samantha. “Will you be able to fly their ship?”
Finally, something she knew she could handle. “If they can land it here, I can pilot it.”
Mercury squeezed her hand. “You’ll remain in this camp. We’ll come for you after they’re dead.”
She had no intention of waiting in safety. She might be a coward, but she wasn’t that kind of coward. And she’d really hoped they could avoid any killing. “They said something about a tracker. They’ll know where we are, by now.” She looked up to the cloudless aqua expanse overhead and in her mind’s eye she could picture the ship skimming the planet’s atmosphere.
“She’s right,” said Carn. “The camp may not be safe.”
Lo spoke up. “If they can track us, they’ll know we’re coming to them. They’ll have the advantage.”
“Maybe not.” Samantha met Lo’s fire-flecked gaze. “If they needed to run the scan before landing, then they aren’t sure it will work once they reach the surface. It may be designed to bounce off a satellite—something this planet doesn’t have. Then again, the pilot could drop them off and return the ship to orbit. The ship could relay the info down to the men on the surface.”
“They’ll be too arrogant and too eager to hunt to believe that would be necessary,” said Lo.
“Tomorrow,” Mercury growled, “we take the fight to them.”
She knew her next words wouldn’t go over easy, but they had to be said. For Mercury, for them all. “You can’t kill them.”
Lo snarled. “You don’t know their cruelty.” His words were bitten off with remembered pain. Samantha flinched at the sound, but she knew now that his anger wasn’t directed at her. It only made her want to find a way to undo every terrible hurt done him.
Mercury wrapped a hand around her arm and spoke more quietly. “Do you care so much for them?”
She jerked her arm out of his grasp and huffed as angry heat flushed through her. “No! I don’t give a damn about them, but if you kill them, you’ll be wanted men. You’ll never be free.” And it would be more violence to weigh on their souls.
Lo’s growling faded. “We’re already escaped property to them, little Sam.”
She shook her head. “But maybe not in Gollerra. There’s only one crime the Golley-Alliance treaty recognizes as cause to hand someone over, and that’s the murder of each other’s citizens. ”
Mercury reached for her slowly, cautiously, as if she were a sand-viper. He drew his palms down the length of her arms until he circled her wrists. “Then perhaps we steal their ship and leave them here, alive. Can we prevent them from alerting Roma?”
She took a deep, relieved breath and exhaled her agitation. “They’ve probably already alerted them to what’s happening now, but yeah, we can keep them from finding out you’re on your way back for Hera. The real question is, do you have a plan once you get there?”
“We’ll find a way. A way that will keep you safe.”
“We’re not far from Haverlee port. We could get help.” She realized she was pleading. It wasn’t as if she wanted them to abandon Carn’s mate, but it wouldn’t do the woman any good if they got themselves killed trying to get to her.
“We,” Lo raged, voice dripping with venom, “don’t need the help of humans.”
Mercury released her and put himself between her and the others. “We’d still be in cages, if this human hadn’t helped us.”
Samantha could hear Lo panting with anger. She squeezed Mercury’s shoulder and edged around him, stopping within touching distance of Lo.
She rubbed her hands on her pants legs to keep from reaching out. “I only wanted to help.”
“You’re different,” Lo snapped then shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“I wasn’t afraid.” From the moment she’d realized his anger served to shield his pain, her fear had started to lessen. She didn’t know when it had disappeared completely, but she knew now that it was gone.
He frowned, tiny lines disturbing the beauty of his features.
She pressed her lips together, biting her lip as she searched for some way to reach him. “I can’t pretend to know what your life has been like, but I do understand the hopelessness of having all roads to a better existence blocked against you. I understand going without the things others take for granted. I understand betrayal.” She took a deep breath. It was important that she think about her words before she said them. When she made a promise she made sure it meant something. “I’m nothing like the people who hurt you, Lo. I’m not perfect, but there’s one thing you can count on, I’ll never betray your trust.”
Lo reached out and took her hand. He glanced over her shoulder to where Mercury stood at her back then pulled her hand to rest over his heart.
Mercury directed everyone to prepare for tomorrow. Samantha slipped easily into the rhythm of the team as they worked in silence. A silence that gave him plenty of time to contemplate the coming challenge and all that was at stake. He had time to reflect on the determined set of Samantha’s chin as she’d spoken to them from her heart of loyalty and betrayal.
She’d help them free Carn’s mate. She’d help them learn how to survive in her world, she’d face danger at his side. She was beautiful and courageous. In his heart she was already his mate. A more perfect mate than he could ever have dreamt of. So much more than he deserved.
He’d seen so many of his people die in the arena, unable to do a thing to help them. In the kennels he’d done all he could to protect his pack brothers, but still two were gone. After years of standing strong together on the training grounds and in the arena, Jupiter and Senneca were dead. The thought made him want to howl out his grief.
He’d been shocked by the offer in the glance Lo had given him as he pressed her small hand to his heart. He’d never thought to see the implied offer of loyalty to Mercury’s mate from his troubled brother. It was something he’d been afraid his brother would never be able to give. It made him breathe easier and created an ember of hope in his gut.
Tomorrow they’d slip into the enemy camp and steal a ship. Something could go wrong. They could face death. If not tomorrow, then when they returned to RomaRex. He could be killed and he couldn’t leave Samantha to face the consequences of aiding them alone. Lo’s look assured him that was no longer a worry. Even if death took Mercury from her side.
It was the way of the Dogs. The way of the packs. The only way they’d found to stay sane in a life full of danger and death.
A man always had brothers. He always knew that, should he die, they’d stand together and survive. A mate to one became bonded to the pack and they’d give their lives to stand beside her. Females of their kind were so rare, no pack had ever been given two, but Carn was already mated. That left only Lo to bond with Mercury’s mate. He might harbor a deep distrust of human females, but Lo would stand with Samantha should Mercury fall. Tonight, he’d seal the bond between his mate and his brother. If he fell in battle, they’d stand together. Samantha would not be left alone.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Arena Dogs Campsite, Planet G-45987
Earth Alliance Beta Sector - Gollerra Border
2210.167
Samantha decided not to wait for sundown to get some sleep. The three males sat near the fire talking strategy. Lo had caught dinner sometime during the day. They preferred fresh meat over ration bars—not surprising as their animal natures were so close to the skin. Mercury had already informed her they’d hike away from the camp before sunrise. She didn’t have their stamina so she curled into the bedding on the pallet under the tarp.
She woke hours later to Mercury climbing into her den of blankets. The sun had set and the night was growing colder, but he’d hung a low camp-light on one of the posts. “Where are Carn and Lo?” They’d only made one pallet and they’d all been sharing the space and the warmth.
“Carn will keep watch tonight. Lo will join us later.” His voice was soft and serious. She wanted to see him smile again.
He’d moved closer but hadn’t yet touched her. His dark hair hung loose around his shoulders. A black so luminous it was almost silver had eclipsed the thundercloud gray of his eyes.
She let her gaze trace across his broad shoulders and down his sculpted chest and abdomen to find he was completely bare and aroused. Just the thought of him buried inside her, as close as the two of them could be, created a wet heat that threatened to bathe her thighs. She wanted him. That fast she was ready to take him into her body as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But it had never been like that for her. Not with any man.
He held her gaze as he moved closer. “I want you, courra. Say yes.”
“Yes.” She knew what she wanted. He wanted her and she wanted him just as much.
He took her lips in an
aggressive kiss and she met him stroke for stroke. Their tongues fought eagerly until they were both breathless. She bit at his lip to make him back off.
He moaned an encouraging sound, but slowly he eased back. He panted, his whole body moving with the labored breaths. When she pushed on his chest he rolled to his back easily and pulled her over him. Hands on her hips, he centered her over his erection, surging up into the damp material of her briefs. His hands slid back, slipping under the material to squeeze her ass. She nipped at his chin, pressed kisses to his jaw, rubbed her cheek against his. They rocked together, building the anticipation until it grew too large to contain.
Samantha sat up, pulling at her under-tank, tossing it aside as she freed her breasts. She palmed them, needing the contact on the sensitive tips. Mercury groaned as if her hands were on his flesh instead of hers. His eyes turned slumberous with arousal. His hands pushed hers aside and molded against the soft mounds. When his thumb scraped across the cinnamon-toned flesh, she moaned and he repeated the touch. He watched her nipples harden with the fascination of an artist discovering a new mix of patterns on an artscreen.
She leaned forward, seeking a firmer sensation and the resulting pressure sent a spike of arousal swirling down through her body to settle into the swollen flesh between her legs. She rocked her hips and it was suddenly Mercury groaning. His hands slipped across her ribs as he reached for her briefs then he rolled her beneath him, working them down and off.
The moment she was free of the material, he came over her, settling between her thighs as if he’d always belonged there. She wrapped her legs around his hips and circled his neck with her arms. He felt incredibly right pressed skin to skin with her. For long, delicious moments he held her. Nothing more. Just an embrace, tight and relentless, as if he understood her need for that feeling—that he would never let her go. She needed it more than she needed orgasm. But his body quivered with a more carnal need. She pulled a hand down from his shoulder and slid it down his chest. She coasted over all those formidable muscles, the strength he’d never use against her.
Stealing Mercury (Arena Dogs Book 1) Page 18
