Forbidden Worlds - Box Set (35 page)

She’d barely made it over the threshold of her room when a familiar whisper of air crossed her path. “Gan? Is that you?”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t you be on the bridge with Fletch?”

“Under control.”

“Ah. Well, I might as well say good-bye to you now. I’ll be heading right for the transport when we dock, so do you think you could say good-bye to Fletch for me? I don’t want to drag this out any more than I have to, and I’m sure he’ll want to get on his way as soon as all the pods are empty.”

“His room.”

“What?”

“Stop there.”

“You want me to go to Fletch’s room? What for?”

“Good-bye.”

“Oh, Gan.” Talia sighed. “I don’t have time for that. I…it’s not a good idea. We need to go our separate ways. He saved my life, in a way. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if Kreth had managed to get all the way to Camilax with the pods. I guess I’d belong to some Mogarthan playboy now.” She shuddered at the thought. Fletch truly had saved her life.

“Saved him.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I saved him. A few bandages, a shot or two of pain killer. Anyone could have done that.”

“Not me.”

Talia grinned. “Well, I guess you’re right about that. So that makes us even.”

“Not quite.”

Talia growled her exasperation. “Come on, Gan. I know you don’t have to do this cryptic stuff. You can just come out and tell me what you want me to know.”

“His room.”

“Gan!”

“Just go.”

“Ahhh! All right. All right. But this better be good. I don’t want to look like some love sick foo—uh…I don’t want to look stupid, sitting around waiting for him to show up.”

“You won’t.”

Chapter 9

The
Xector IV
docked at Asteroid X7658 with much fanfare and celebration. For a few minutes, Fletch worried that the miners, in their enthusiasm to welcome the pod-refugees, might, in fact get started on Fletch. He’d never been so welcomed anywhere in his life.

Fortunately, the decanting went well, with the station medical team keeping everything orderly. Each woman was paired with a miner and after an initial orgasm or two, given a full explanation of where they were and how they’d arrived. Each and every one seemed by turns stunned and grateful to have been liberated from Mogarthan captivity, and several of them offered to thank Fletch personally for his participation in the mission.

He hated himself for refusing, but despite the tempting aroma of sweet U-4EA in the air, he found himself not the least bit aroused by any of the other women.

By the time the last of them had cleared out of the pod room, Fletch felt only exhaustion. He sighed as he shut down the last of the stasis systems and headed to his quarters.

Talia was gone. He hadn’t really expected her to hang around, but a final good-bye would have been nice. He felt foolish that her departure left him so out of sorts.

“Gan? You around?” he called to his partner when he reached the door of the captain’s quarters. The last leg of their mission would be to return the
Xector IV
to an impound yard at Earth-Sec headquarters and pick up a new skimmer for himself. The accommodations would be sparse compared to this, and if nothing else, he was looking forward to having the extra room to himself for a few more days.

“Right here.”

“I’m going to take a long nap. Can you monitor communications for a while?”

“Will do.”

The faint breeze of Gan’s departure stirred Fletch’s hair, and he wondered briefly why the Metrian seemed to be in such a hurry. With a shrug, he opened the stateroom door and let himself inside.

“It’s about time.” Talia stood in the center of the room, hands on her hips, shoulders squared in defiance. “I’ve been locked in here for hours.”

Fletch did a double take. Was he already asleep and dreaming that Talia hadn’t left on the transport to CalTak? How could she still be on board? “Locked? In here?”

She stalked toward him, eyes hard as the emeralds GemCon mined from the asteroids of the Belt. “You put him up to this, didn’t you? All that talk about us not being even, that was just your plan to—”

“Whoa. What are you talking about? Not being even?” He resisted the urge to put his hands on her shoulders as she approached. She stood toe to toe with him now, her lips twisted in a pucker of annoyance.

“You know. You saved my life, I saved yours. We’re even, so I thought, but Gan said—”

“You didn’t exactly save my life. I mean, you slapped a bandage on me and…” As the words left his mouth, Fletch noticed the distinct flavor of foot replacing them on his tongue. He clamped his lips shut in an effort to prevent himself from saying anything else that would make him sound like a complete cad.

Talia nodded sharply. “So you’re saying I owe you something more? You
definitely
put Gan up to this.”

“Up to what? Why aren’t you on the transport to CalTak?”

“Because your partner lured me into your room and locked me in! I don’t know how he did it, but he disabled the door controls and the com-link. I’ve been screaming my head off for over an hour, but of course no one heard me. I guess you were too busy servicing the women from the pods.”

Fletch didn’t know whether to be angry or pleased at the hint of jealousy in her tone. “Oh, yes. They all wanted me, so how could I refuse?”

“I bet. Well, on that note, good-bye, Agent Gray.” She spun away from him and launched herself at the door, which failed to open when she palmed the controls. She stopped, her pert nose barely a hairsbreadth from the sliding panel, and sighed in exasperation. “Enough is enough, Fletch. I’m done.”

“Do you need a push or something?” He couldn’t resist that one. She was a classic example of passive aggressive ambiguity all rolled up in an angry but very sexy package. If she didn’t get her cute little butt out of his sight immediately, he might not be able to let her leave.

After a few deep breaths, she whirled around. “It won’t open. Tell Gan to give it up already. The two of you can’t keep me here any longer.”

“Uh…” Fletch shouldered past her and palmed the door control as well, eager now to be rid of her. If hanging around him made her this cranky, then good riddance. He liked her better when she was a raving sex fiend. Just one tap on the door control and she’d be out of his life forever.

And nothing happened.

He tried twice more, but the door remained stubbornly closed. “Gan!” Fletch pounded on the door. “This isn’t funny.”

“He’s incorporeal. How does he control the computer?” Talia demanded as she joined Fletch in hammering on the door with her fists.

“Wet wire interface. He can tap into some of the ship’s controls telepathically thanks to a psionic enhancer.”

“So how come he couldn’t help you fly the ship?”

“Most Mogarthan navigation systems are largely manual. All those levers and toggles are beyond his capabilities in this dimension.”

“He can’t fly, but he certainly can lie.” Talia sighed and leaned against the bulkhead next to the door. “The two of you make quite a team.”

“Wait a minute, don’t think I had anything to do with this.”

“Oh, come on. You didn’t want me to leave, but you were too timid to say so. So you had Gan hold me prisoner.”

Fletch glared. “Timid? I’m a lot of things, but timid isn’t one of them. And in case you don’t recall, I
did
tell you to hang around so I could say good-bye. I was planning on…” He stopped himself again. Why bother confessing now when all she wanted to do was leave?

“On what?” She faced him again, breathing hard.

“Nothing.” How long could they stare at each other until one of them broke, he wondered?

“Tell me.”

He broke. “I was planning on asking you to dinner. The mining colony’s cafeteria isn’t fancy, but I hear the food is good, and I didn’t figure it would be too crowded this evening with everyone otherwise occupied.”

“Dinner?”

“I figured you’d be sick of protein bars by now. I know I am.”

“And then what?” Her voice softened, and so did her posture. Her shoulders rounded, and she leaned back against the bulkhead, her expression expectant.

Fletch shrugged. “I was going to kiss you good-bye, and give you this.” He dug into his pocket for the small object he’d been carrying around with him all day. It glinted in the dim light.

“What is it?”

“The antidote to Mogarthan sleep darts.” The small cylinder held a single dose of a powerful stimulant. All Earth-Sec agents carried them to combat being drugged and kidnapped by their enemies during missions. “I thought if you were scouting somewhere and you got tagged again…well, you’d have a couple of seconds to administer this. The only side effect is the stuff in here will keep you awake for three days straight.”

Talia reached up and palmed the cylinder. Her fingers brushed his briefly, and Fletch swore he felt an electric spark pass between them. Gan must have forgotten to degauss the ship after they’d slid into space dock. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.”

He shrugged. “I can get more. Over the last few days, I spent a lot of time worrying that you might not be safe scouting out there all alone.”

Talia stared, and for a split second Fletch wondered if he’d said the wrong thing again. He was about to apologize when she leaned forward and kissed him.

This time, he definitely felt an electric spark, and it had nothing do to with the friction from space dock.

* * * *

Talia threw her arms around Fletch’s neck and pressed herself against him. She caressed his lips with hers and drank in his warm flavor and masculine scent. This is what she’d been fighting against, trying to deny that she didn’t need U-4EA to make her respond to his touch.

When he broke the kiss and met her gaze, she forced herself not to tremble in anticipation. What if he didn’t feel it anymore? What if she couldn’t convince him to give her one more sweet release?

“Talia—”

“Fletch. You don’t have to say anything. Just make love to me. I need you, one more time.”

Fortunately Fletch didn’t hesitate. He swept Talia up in his arms and carried her to the bed. She would never have admitted how much she’d enjoyed the night they’d spent here, how wonderful it felt to wake up in his arms. She’d grown so used to working alone, being alone, that she’d forgotten how much more restful sleep could be when it was shared with someone.

Right now, though, sleep was the farthest thing from her mind. She had him right where she wanted him, and even though it was for the last time, she planned to enjoy every moment of it.

She let him undress her, reveled in having him pull her coverall open and slide the rough material off her shoulders and down past her hips. She spread her legs to accommodate him and moaned when he planted a line of kisses along the column of her throat. Every touch felt like fire, and her body responded with a coiling of muscle, a tightening of nerves that had her ready for release in an instant.

U-4EA hadn’t done this.

Talia realized when Fletch stripped off his uniform and slid his erection into her, that the aphrodisiac was not responsible for the feelings colliding in her body. Her throat had gone tight, and her heart thundered when he began to move. Every sensation seemed heightened beyond what she’d experienced even the first time she’d demanded that he take her. This was different.

This was real.

Fletch brought her to one shuddering release after another and left her panting and clinging to him on the narrow bed. With a final thrust, he completed his mission, and Talia moaned her complete satisfaction.

“Yes. That’s what I needed. But once isn’t enough. Fletch.”

He laughed between laying kisses across her nose. “Once? That was three times, I believe.”

“It’s still not enough. You know, CalTak told me I didn’t have to report back to work right away. I get some R&R, considering the ordeal I’ve been through.” She met his gaze as he shifted his body to lie next to her.

“Oh? Like a vacation?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe you could use my help with the Camilax affair. I mean, now that I know about the Mogarthan slave trade, I feel compelled to do something about it. There’ve got to be plenty of other pod ships full of unsuspecting women that need our help.”

“Our help?” He grinned.

“I’m sure there are rules and regulations, but couldn’t I come along for a while? Since I missed my transport and all.”

Fletch gazed at her, his blue eyes soft with understanding and something deeper. For a moment, Talia worried that he was going to give her the lead boot and send her on her way with nothing more than a good-bye kiss.

Instead he ran a hand up over her shoulder and cupped her face. “You really want to deal with me and Gan on a daily basis? I can guarantee you’ll grow to miss the solitude of trinium scouting.”

Talia shrugged, covering her nervous anticipation with nonchalance. “I’ll take my chances. I can always hide in the brig when I need some peace and quiet.”

Fletch leaned forward and kissed her. “Let me talk to Earth-Sec. I shouldn’t have trouble getting you some clearance, and in the mean time, why don’t we pretend we’re Leonids?” His grin was wicked and promising, and Talia laughed while he pulled her body beneath him again.

“Anything you want, Agent Gray. I’m with you all the way.”

THE END