3013: MENDED (8 page)

She had to admit there was a bit of tenderness, but not nearly enough to prevent her from taking him to the shower and having her way with him. Extracting herself from his arms, she stood and rested her hands on her hips, smiling at Tariq’s deep growl and appreciative gaze.

“Are you coming or not?”

Springing up from the floor, Tariq lunged, sweeping her into his arms and making her squeal as he carried her through the bedroom and into the bathroom. “You shouldn’t poke the tiger, angel.”

Gasping when he pinned her against the bathroom wall, anchoring her there with his larger body, Cami grinned mischievously and leaned in for a kiss. “Here, kitty kitty.”

“Are you sure you feel okay?”

Tariq kept a hand on the small of her back as they walked toward Bay E. In fact, he hadn’t stopped touching her since they’d left his quarters, and he’d almost ripped a guy’s arm off for standing too close to her in the lift. His overreaction should have annoyed her, or maybe even scared her, but she found it kind of sweet.

“For the hundredth time, Tariq, I’m fine.” She felt a little sore, but in a good way, and that would likely pass by the end of the day. “Hey.” Pulling him to a stop, she grinned as seductively as she knew how and crooked a finger for him to come closer. When he did, she captured his lips in a slow, sensual kiss filled with promises of more to come later. “You were very good to me, Mr. Navarra, and I promise, I’m perfectly happy.”

With a rumble that sounded suspiciously like a purr, Tariq pushed her back against the wall and slid his hands beneath the hem of her shirt. “Kiss me again.”

Happy to oblige, Cami stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and slanted their mouths together once again. Her body responded to Tariq’s taste, his touch, remembering the pleasure he’d brought her during the night. A familiar knot formed in her belly, and a slow throb started between her legs. Forgetting herself and their very public location, she pressed closer, rubbing herself along the length of Tariq’s body as she moaned against his lips.

Tearing his mouth away, Tariq held her pinned to the wall while he panted against the side of her neck. His left arm tightened around her waist, and he shook in her arms, but he didn’t say anything—not aloud at least.

“Mine. All mine. So soft, so beautiful, so perfect. How am I going to let her go? I need her.”

“Hey. Tariq, hey, look at me.” She cupped his jaw in both hands, forcing him to lift his head. Then she smoothed his hair out of his eyes and brushed their lips together in a chaste, gentle kiss. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Tariq nuzzled her cheek before rising to his full height. Cami expected him to remind her not to listen in on his thoughts. Instead, he just straightened her knit cap to cover the marking near her eye and shook his head.

“Come on, we’re already late.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
Again.

“Stop it.” Tariq eased her closer to his side. “I know you can’t help it, and I’m not upset. There’s no reason you need to apologize.”

“You really mean that.” She could hear the sincerity in his voice, feel it in the way he stroked her back. “I’ll try harder to control it, but thank you for saying that.”

“Cami, you don’t have to try with me. Just be who you are. That’s all I want.”

Their conversation ended when they reached the doors to Bay E. Good to their word, the repair techs had the dock back in working order, and the doors slid open with a quiet hiss. “I’ll just do a quick sweep, and then we can go.”

“I actually have to work today.” Pulling his small tablet from the pocket of his jumpsuit, he scrolled through the day’s itinerary. “I need to install new heating coils in a shuttle, and then I’m going to spend most of the day replacing the nacelles in a cargo freighter.”

“I’m going to pretend like I know what you just said.”

Laughing, Tariq bent and kissed the top of her head. “They power the jump drive and make the ship go fast.”

“Okay, you go play with your jump drives and whats-it-cells. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“You’re not going anywhere without me.”

“Well, I’m not sitting here watching you play with ship parts all day, either.” The general had given her three days, and she had nothing more than when she’d started. “We’re running out of time.”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“I want to help, and more importantly, I
can
help.”

It had been too long since she’d felt like she had a purpose. She had never met Dennison, and she didn’t know any of those poor girls who had been kidnapped. Cami could help them, though. She had the ability, and for once, someone actually wanted her to use her gifts, not lock them away as something to fear.

Tariq studied her for a moment before he nodded. “I’ll get Adams to install the heating coils, and I’ll take you now. Do what you need to do here.” He slid the tablet back into his pocket. “We leave in ten minutes.”

“Tariq, I really don’t need an escort.”

“Forget the smugglers and the pirates. Forget the damn Reema that slink around the bars. Hell, forget the fact that a man is dead if you have to, but there are four women missing from the station.” His right eye twitched, and a vein in the center of his forehead throbbed. “If you think I’m letting you go anywhere alone, you’ve lost your fucking mind.” Taking her wrist, he dragged her to a spot near the door and pointed a finger in her face. “Do not move.”

The tingle of embarrassment started in Cami’s stomach and quickly spread to her extremities as she watched him stomp away. In her eagerness to help, she’d been so focused on the other women, she hadn’t stopped to consider she herself might be in danger.

Everyone she’d met aboard the station had been nothing but kind and welcoming. Then again, she had yet to encounter any unsavory types who frequented the more questionable establishments like the Rusty Spigot. She hadn’t spotted any of the lizard men from Reema at all, and they didn’t exactly blend in to a crowd.

Tariq could be intense, almost invasive in his desire to protect her. Cami figured she could probably be more careful and not give him so many reasons to worry. If they wanted to find out who killed Dennison and took those girls, they’d have to find a way to compromise.

With that thought in mind, Cami turned her attention to the dock workers milling about the bay. Most of them she recognized from the previous day, and since she’d already scanned them, she moved on to the new faces. She knew the man who had killed Dennison spoke Tarin, but that didn’t necessarily mean he hailed from Tartarus. Hell, Tariq could speak a little Tarin, and he definitely hadn’t murdered anyone.

Frustrated but determined, Cami leaned against the metal-plated wall and closed her eyes. Same as the day before, most thoughts either pertained to work or boring, everyday things, like lunch breaks. Images of Tariq flashed behind her closed lids once or twice, but the thoughts of him were superficial at best and downright disturbing at worst.

A twinge of anger had Cami biting her bottom lip, but she couldn’t blame those women. Tariq really was magnificent to look at, but for some unfathomable reason, he wanted her, and that knowledge went a long way in soothing her jealousy. So, she put the women from her mind and continued her search.

By the time Tariq returned, she hadn’t learned anything worth knowing, and certainly nothing that might help them. “There’s nothing here. We’ve already checked the cargo docks, and those seemed like the most logical choice.” Cami fisted her hands at her sides and huffed. “This is pointless.”

“We still have four docks you haven’t scanned yet.” Tariq placed a hand in the center of her back to lead her from the bay. “Maybe you’ll find something in the other repair bay.”

Cami appreciated his faith in her, but she couldn’t stop thinking that maybe she’d missed something. “General Whitmore said all the dock workers have access to the logs. Who else?”

“To the docking reports?” At the intersection in the hallway, Tariq motioned for her to turn right. “Some Alliance personnel—the commander, the generals, like Whitmore, and the lieutenants—sixteen in all, I believe.”

“Wait, there’s a commander?”

“Yeah, Whitmore is the second-in-command on the station. Commander Cain is in charge of things around here, but he’s off-station for the next week.”

Well, at least Cami could mark him off her list. “Okay, so I’ve been going on the assumption that whoever we’re looking for is a dock worker. What if that’s not the case, though? What if it’s someone from the Alliance?” It would narrow her suspect pool quite a bit at least.

“I think it makes sense, but it’s also asking for a lot of trouble, angel. Are you prepared to accuse an Alliance officer of murder?”

“If he’s guilty? Yes.” She’d find proof before she started pointing fingers, but she wouldn’t be intimated by rankings or politics. “The one bar that’s all black and red on the inside. That’s where the officers drink, right?”

“Guts and Glory, and yes.”

Cami wrinkled her nose. “That’s revolting.” The owner had to be a man, maybe a Krytos. Somehow, that wouldn’t surprise her. “Okay, well, let’s start there.”

“I don’t like it, but at least it’s better than the Rusty Spigot.”

Turning away to hide her smirk, Cami changed directions and headed toward the atrium. She’d known with the proper motivation Tariq would eventually see the silver lining. The bar would probably be dead in the middle of the morning, but maybe she could convince her overbearing protector to let her stay with Scarlett, or even Naira. No one would bother her with either woman at her side.

“She’s lying. I don’t know why, but I can see it in her eyes.”

“Does she think I’m fucking stupid? I saw them together, and she’s going to tell me where the girl is.”

“Tariq, we have to hurry.” Grabbing his wrist, she tried to hurry him along the corridor, but she might have had better luck trying to pull a freightliner through the mud. “Please, come on, Scarlett’s in trouble.”

“Slow down, angel. What’s happening?”

“Parsons and Becks. They’re looking for…someone.” She’d almost admitted that someone was her, but Tariq wouldn’t let her step foot inside the common area if he knew.

“Scarlett can take care of herself.”

Probably true, but it didn’t matter. Scarlett was in trouble because of her, and she couldn’t just wait around and do nothing. “Fine, but I’m going. You do what you want.” Then she released her grasp on his wrist and sprinted for the atrium.

“Damn it, Cami, stop!”

Though she had a decent head start on him, Tariq caught up to her just as she reached the end of the passageway. Anticipating his next move, Cami ducked to the side to avoid his reaching hand and turned on a burst of speed. Her lungs burned, her legs cramped, and she felt like she’d swallowed a box of tacks, but she kept running until she stumbled to a stop beside the trio.

Becks’ fingers dug into Scarlett’s bicep as he loomed over her, and Parsons stood to her left, cutting off any escape. They’d drawn the attention of the other vendors, and a small crowd had begun to gather in a loosely formed half circle. Either too afraid or too indifferent, however, no one had stepped forward to try to help.

“Now, is that any way to treat a lady?” Though she couldn’t see him, Cami could feel Tariq at her back, and it gave her courage. “You’re being very rude.”

“Cami, it’s okay.” Scarlett made no move to try to free herself from Becks’ grasp, though. “I’ve got this.”

To the untrained eye, she looked almost bored with the confrontation. The rigid set of her shoulders, and the way the muscles in her throat jumped when she swallowed told a different story, though.

“Well, well,” Becks purred, “there you are. You’ve been keeping yourself hidden, haven’t you, princess?”

“Yes, because walking around in the open and having dinner with friends is so secretive. Lieutenant, I do mean this with complete sincerity.” Sucking in a deep breath, Cami fisted her hands at her sides and took a step closer to him. “Go piss yourself.”

Scarlett blinked several times before bursting into laughter, and from somewhere behind her, Tariq snorted. Even Becks looked at a loss for words before his gaze turned challenging.

“Strong words for a little girl.” He finally released Scarlett and turned to face Cami, planting his feet in a wide stance and crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“My mother is dead, so I’ll thank you to keep her out of this.”

“Feisty.” A half smile lifted one side of his mouth, and he extended his right hand, reaching for her. “I like that.”

Before his fingers could brush her face, Tariq’s hand clamped around his wrist, halting any forward progress. Then he curled his unoccupied arm around Cami’s waist and pulled her away from the elite, tucking her against his side.

“Whatever you think is going to happen, let me make myself perfectly clear.” Tariq’s deep, rumbling voice carried for half the atrium to hear him. “Cami is mine. Touch her again, and I’ll rip your fucking arm off and beat you to death with it.”

Cami had just wanted to help her friend, not start some violent, testosterone-fueled pissing match. “Tariq, stop. He’s not worth it.” She shifted her gaze to Parsons, who hadn’t moved. “Neither of them are.”

“We read the report,” Parsons said, speaking for the first time since the confrontation began. “If you are who you say, then you’re a scroll without exempt status. We have the right to claim you as our chosen.”

“You may have the right,” Tariq responded as he pushed Cami behind him, “but not the ability. I dare you to try, though.”

Tension hung thick in the air as Tariq and Becks sized each other up like a predator assessing his prey. If they were placing bets, Cami would put her money on Tariq. Bias aside, he had at least three inches and forty pounds on the lieutenant, not to mention a set of razor-sharp fangs.