Harper couldn’t resist opening her eyes to look. Rick stood close, but his attention was turned to the side toward Alexis. The orange tint of his shirt struck her as a jovial shade, yet he appeared sad.
She gave a light cough. It jarred her side but was nothing compared to the pain she’d felt with the side stitch. The warmth instantly returned to the location.
Rick turned his attention to her, his face shifting from sadness to one of ease. That mask he wore covered a lot of emotions.
“Hey there, starbeam, welcome back,” he said, smiling. “Thought we lost you there for a second.”
“I said I didn’t want to be in a medical booth,” she answered, her voice gravelly. “Get me out of here.”
“Beats death,” Alexis stated, joining Rick to look at her. “Because there’s where you were heading.”
“What do you know about it, robot?” Harper muttered. “Someone unplug your power source once?”
“Robot? No, Alexis is—” Rick began.
“The Alexis Companion model nine-point-seven,” Alexis interrupted. “I prefer pleasure droid.”
Rick frowned.
“Whatever,” Harper mumbled, coughing again. “Get me out of this thing.”
“It’s not done,” Rick said by way of denying her command.
“I’ll be fine,” Harper insisted, trying to lift her arms to push the top part of the booth away so she could wiggle her way out of the side.
“Stay in there, or I’ll make the booth inject you into unconsciousness,” Alexis warned.
“I don’t take orders from machines,” Harper argued. “Rick—”
“Do it. Inject her,” Rick told Alexis.
Alexis went toward the console.
“Wait, no!” Harper called out, as she stopped pushing on the booth lid to escape. “Don’t do that.”
“I get that alien tech can be frightening, but I swear the booth is safe. In our line of work it’s been put to the test many times. It’s saved all of our lives more than once.”
“I’m hardly scared,” Harper scoffed. “I just don’t want the Medical Mafia having access to my records. I like my privacy.”
“Is that because you’re HIA?” Alexis asked, her creepy eyes shifting colors.
“What? No, that’s ridiculous,” Harper lied, keeping her expression unchanged.
Blast it all! How in all the black holes did they figure that out?
“You don’t have to worry about this unit transmitting anything. We rigged it so what happens on this ship, stays on this ship,” Rick assured her.
“That true?” Harper leaned to the side to get a better look at the robot.
Alexis nodded. “Yes. It’s true. We like our privacy as well.”
Harper lay back down and relaxed. It made sense that pirates would’ve found the modifications to block medical booth transmissions. “Okay, then. Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
“You’re going to be in there a while,” Rick said. “You want to talk about what happened?”
“No.” Harper gave a small shake of her head. “I’m good.”
“I’m afraid we’re going to need more than that,” Rick stated. “What happened after you left me?”
Harper thought about arguing, but finally sighed loudly and feigned boredom. “You told Bucky I wasn’t a virgin. I disarmed him to save your ass. He sent his toy soldiers after us. You knocked yourself out on a branch. I hid you under a bed to save your ass. I led the last thug from the adventure hall. I saw you being chased by pavilion security and saved your ass. I got tagged like a fricking animal with a side stitch while saving your ass, and I figured you owed me, so I hopped a ride. You’re welcome.”
Rick touched his forehead. A light bruise had formed but nothing that would indicate he’d been knocked unconscious by a blow. It wasn’t like she was about to admit to injecting him though.
“So…” Alexis came closer, arching a brow. “You two did sleep together when you were pretending to be a queenpin.”
“No,” Rick and Harper answered in unison.
“Then how did Rick know you weren’t a virgin?”
“Lucky guess,” Rick muttered.
“Wishful thinking,” Harper countered. There was something about this man that made her frustrated and turned on at the same time. Of course, she’d never tell him that she was attracted to him or else he’d never shut up about it until she injected him and made him forget. Again.
“Yeah, you been wishin’ to hop on and get a little Rick lovin’?” Rick grinned and lifted his brows.
“You are so…” Harper wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“Charming? Sexy?” Rick offered. “Attractive?”
“Unfortunate,” she answered. “Misguided. Odd.”
“Misguided? Trust me.” His voice dipped. “If there is anything that I know how to do it’s guide my ship in for a landing.”
“And with that gem, I’m out of here. I’ll check back later.” Alexis abruptly left.
“If I hadn’t seen her ad plastered all over every fuel dock holograph board, I would have sworn she was alive,” Harper stated.
“She is alive,” Rick answered.
“I know that you indicated the captain was pretending he was married to the robot, but she doesn’t, you know…” Harper glanced down Rick’s body. Actually, it was only as far as his chest because she couldn’t see farther down than that, but he got her meaning. “Pleasure the whole crew?”
“No. She really is the captain’s wife, and his kind doesn’t share,” Rick said.
“His kind?”
“Draig.” Rick leaned closer. “He can shift into a dragon.”
“That’s right. You told me that before, though at the time you had another captain who you said was a catshifter. He was in love with that Lintianese princess.”
“Jarek. He and Mei are married now and living in Jarek’s childhood palace. Lochlann is our captain now. Naturally, they all begged me to take charge, but I didn’t want the responsibility. I like being the pilot.” Rick’s gaze traveled to her mouth and lingered. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just bled out all over the floor of your prison hold.”
“Yeah, you made quite the mess.” Rick sighed as his expression became thoughtful. “We’re going to need you to clean that up.”
Harper laughed, knowing he wasn’t serious. “You’re a space cadet.”
“I thought you said I was charming.”
“I believe misguided was the word I used.”
He grinned. “And so we’re back to my navigational skills, are we? Can’t seem to keep your mind off my great prowess, can you?”
The way he asked the questions dripped with sexuality. A small shiver worked over her, and she closed her eyes.
“What is it? Are you in pain?” His hand touched her cheek. “Is it your side?”
She glanced down. The lasers were concentrating on her ankle. “Let me out of here. My foot’s fine.”
“Let the machine do its work. It will be finished soon enough.”
“Let me out now, and we can have sex,” she offered.
Rick stiffened and started to turn toward the control panel only to stop himself. “No. We can’t do that. I know I’m irresistible but you almost,” he glanced over her and seemed to struggle with his decision, “died.”
“But I didn’t. Come on. Let me out.” Her grin widened. Being near the brink and surviving filled her with a restless energy. “We’ll have fun.”
He took a step back and lifted his hand. “You, um, just…”
Harper laughed. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the booth. “All talk. No action.”
“No, I’m action,” he assured her. “But I have a feeling you’re messing with my mind again.”
Harper opened one eye to look at him. Her heartbeat had quickened, and she felt like her blood was full of fire burning to get out. “A woman can only take so many refusals before she stops asking.”
“I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details about the first time we met, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember you offering that as a perk to my prison cell,” he said. “I would not have said no.”
Harper gave a small laugh, knowing he wouldn’t understand the reason for her humor. Rick had no idea about the times they had met in the past, and she had to remind herself of that fact. He remembered the drug queenpin, and as she was now.
Without any injectors at her disposal, she wouldn’t be able to wipe the minds of the entire crew. She’d have to dupe them the old-fashioned way or call her bosses to do a sweep. For the same reason she’d never bring Rick in to have his memories of her erased, she’d not want to bring notice to his crew. Headquarters wouldn’t care about a ship of space pirates. It would be easier to blow up the vessel and call it an accident if anyone cared to ask. Spaceships had fatal mishaps all the time, especially pieced-together junkers like this one.
It was all about the greater good.
“Did you fall asleep?” he whispered.
Harper realized she’d closed her eyes and had automatically regulated her breathing as she thought of what she needed to do next.
“No,” she answered just as softly. “So if we’re not going to do what I want to do, you need to entertain me. When she pulled the tracker off me, Alexis said some weird things.”
“She does that,” Rick said.
“Why exactly does a pleasure droid know so much about cutting temperatures for Ingeniarian metals used in their bionics?” Harper knew he was going to avoid giving a serious answer before he even said a word.
“She likes to learn things, and we like to take her to trivia contests on fueling dock bars,” Rick answered. “Won a laser wrench once.”
“I can see how knowledge of the Ingeniare Alliance consisting of three factory planets could be picked up in random conversations or reading a geography book, but I’m not sure I consider in-depth knowledge on the removal of side stitch trackers as common trivia.” Harper pressed her knee forward, trying to lift the lid to the booth without being as obvious as before. It didn’t budge. “What connection do you and your crew have to the Ingeniarian government? Why were you at the conference?”
Rick laughed. “You think I was there with your Prince Bucky?”
“He’s not my prince,” she denied.
“Glad to hear it. Lochlann said you claimed to be his fiancée.” Rick placed his hands on his hips and appeared frustrated, even as he smiled.
“Well, not me, Harper, but Eloise is,” she corrected. “Well, was. I doubt the egomaniac is still interested now that you told him I wasn’t pure. I have a theory about men like that. It always seems curious when they want a woman who doesn’t know what good sex is. Says much about their lack of performance.”
“I should be asking you what your connection is to the Ingeniarian government.” Rick’s smile fell by small degrees. “You were pretending to date the prince.”
“You first. How did Alexis know about the illegal humanoid transports, or the inherent problems of the working population on two of the planets, or the fact that many of the workers did not sign up for their jobs willingly?”
“You should ask her,” Rick said.
“I’m asking you.” If she couldn’t convince him to release her so they could have some fun, an argument would be the next best distraction. People often revealed too much when a conversation became heated.
“We travel around. I’m sure she picks up conversations.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his jaw as he studied her.
“Secret protocols? That’s just something a pleasure droid picked up from conversations? Shouldn’t she be focusing on tips to please her man?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t there when she said whatever it is you think she said. I was busy flying us out of Nozando airspace.”
She’d never seen his expression look like the one he wore now. All traces of a smile had disappeared, hidden by a distrustful mask.
“She’s talking about the classified file number 7890-8889, which initiates Ingeniarian top-secret protocol for alpha four.” Alexis appeared in the doorway. “I had a chance to sort through the information. The directive calls for an infiltration team to undermine the power of the royal Ingeniarian family.”
“To save the workers?” Rick asked.
“To cull back their power,” Alexis answered. “I didn’t find any mention of the workers. Their enslavement didn’t appear to be an issue for the HIA one way or another.”
They both looked at her. Harper didn’t speak. What could she say?
“Have you told the others?” Rick asked the droid.
“Not yet,” Alexis answered. “Violette and Dev are finishing up the scans to make sure we’re not being followed.”
“So that’s why you were with Bucky?” Rick stated more than asked. “It’s true. You’re HIA. Alpha four? So there are three others with you on this mission?”
“You don’t want me to answer that.” Harper pushed harder at the lid. She needed to find an injector and make Rick forget this conversation.
“His parents controlled three small planets that produced various technological products,” Alexis said. “Those products had made them rich, powerful, and bionic.”
Harper was tired of the know-it-all droid. The first chance she got she was shutting that thing down. “Just forget you heard anything. You’ll erase the droid if you know what’s good for you.”
“I’m not doing anything to Alexis,” Rick denied. He gave a small, humorless laugh and shook his head. “But you being HIA does make sense, doesn’t it? Pretending to be a queenpin, pretending to be a pure maiden.”
The medical booth beeped and the lid lifted on its own to let her out. Her limbs were a little shaky, but the unit had healed her. Blood stained her clothes. Seeing a decontaminator on top of purple material on the floor, she reached for it. Rick stepped in front of her to block her from picking it up. His leg came close to her cheek, and she felt the heat of him radiate onto her skin.
Harper could think of about three moves that would take him to the ground in seconds—sweep his knee, twist his arm, or grab his face and start kissing. She glanced at Alexis before slowly standing.
“So where do we go from here?” she asked, holding her hands to the side to show she wasn’t going to misbehave.
“Alexis, could you give us a moment?” Rick asked.
“I’m not sure I should,” Alexis replied. “I don’t trust her.”
“It’s not like I have anywhere to go while we’re in the sky,” Harper said.
Alexis studied Rick for a long moment before nodding. She left them alone.
“I can’t give you the answers you’re looking for.” Harper lowered her hands and shook her head. “That’s not how my line of business works.”
“No. I suppose it’s not.” Rick went to the door and ran his palm along the hand scanner on the wall and tapped a button. The door slid shut, locking them inside.
“You need to stop her from telling the others. The less your crew and your robot know—”
“Alexis was a test subject experimented on by the corporation that manufactures pleasure droids. They used her as a base model to create the robots, as you call them. She’s very much alive.” Rick took a slow step forward.
Harper eyed him warily. Why was he telling her this?
“You did something to my memories, didn’t you?” He came closer.
She kept her place, not moving. When he paused to wait for her answer, she nodded once.
He touched his forehead were the small bruise had formed. “You’re responsible for this.”
Again he paused, and again she gave a single nod.
“Do you need help?”
Harper kept her eyes focused on his as she shook her head in denial.
“I don’t believe you.”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe.” She took a deep breath and strode to
ward the door. “You can bring me back to my cell now. This conversation is over.”
8
Rick went after Harper, blocking her from leaving. He seemed to always be going after her. He saw her, he followed her. It was that simple, and that complicated. She had a pull on him, one he didn’t know how to end.
Was it the mystery?
Was it the unfulfilled lust?
Was it something more?
Fate?
Harper frustrated him and confused him. He wanted to shake her and yell at her and make her reveal all her secrets. She was in his head, and he knew there was much he didn’t remember about what had happened between them.
His lips tingled as if they knew what she would feel like, even though he didn’t recall kissing her.
“You have to let me go, Rick.” There was a vulnerability in her eyes now. “If you don’t let me go—”
Rick grabbed her by the face and pulled her mouth to his. He had to know if the tingling sensation was right. He kissed her deeply, and she responded as if she knew how he was going to move against her. If she took the memory of their kiss from him, what else had she stolen?
When she didn’t resist his touch, he let go of her face and ran his hands along the side of her body, over her hips and around to cup her ass. She held on to him, drawing him closer. Feeling the dried blood on her shirt, he automatically went beneath the material to explore her healed side. His hands trembled at the idea that he’d almost lost her.
“Are you sure we haven’t done this before?” His body felt as if he knew her. It was hard to explain. The rest of his body knew something his brain didn’t. Every muscle, every nerve, every bone, and blood-filled vein felt her on a metaphysical level. He wanted to absorb her into himself and never let go.
It was his mind that didn’t understand. There were so many holes in his memory needing to be refilled.
He kissed her, and it was impossible to feel anger. Desire rampaged through him. Nothing mattered beyond this moment. He dipped his hands into her tight pants, cupping her ass so that she rocked against his arousal. He could have easily met his climax right there, but he held back.
His Woodland Maiden Page 9
