“Where are we headed?” he asked, trying to get a feel for the region.
“There’s a small moon circling a gas giant this way. No life and no reason for anyone to come this way. Perfect for a dust smuggler to set up a base of operations.”
130
The disgust in Amy’s voice was clear.
A moon was good. It meant they would be able to get out of the ship and being mobile would give them an advantage. Pressing the com, he waited for Gaz to acknowledge. “You’re bothering me, Donaldson. Not a good thing when we are about to land this bucket.”
“Put Ryan on.”
“What do you want with my boy? Hey!”
“It’s Ryan.”
Sean smiled. “Remember when Bas held the food depot hostage?”
“Yup.”
“We’re going to do the same thing here, with a slightly different decoy. Fill
your
boy in.”
“Will do, boss.”
Amy held the throttle tight. “We’re falling out of jump speed…now.” The ship lunged forward as the engines were cut. “I’m assuming you’re going to fill me in?”
“Nope. Part of the plan is that you don’t know what the plan is.”
“You’re kidding?”
He ignored the panic in her voice. “Trust me. Ryan and I have done something similar before and it worked flawlessly. We’ll be able to pull it off again.”
“Don’t have much of a choice,” she muttered.
No, he couldn’t have that. Grabbing her wrist, he gave her a squeeze to get her attention. “Amy, look at me.” She lifted her gaze, looking him in the eye. “I need you to trust me if this is going to work. I’m going to do everything in my power to get us all out of here without getting hurt. That includes your dad. It’s going to be tight, but Ryan and I have worked together a long time in the mines. We’ve dealt with situations like this before. Gaz may be a pain in the ass, but he’s damn smart and strong. We can pull this off if we all work together. I just need you to have faith in me a bit longer.”
When she didn’t answer right away, he thought they were going to have a problem.
Instead, he was caught off guard when she leaned in and kissed him. “I trust you. With everything.”
Sean felt the ice-cold tension that had taken up residency in the pit of his stomach years ago finally start to give way. How he’d earned this respect from Amy, considering how hard he’d been toward her, how distant he’d been from anything that remotely felt like human connection over the years, he wasn’t sure. But it felt good.
“I’m so going to lock you in a room when we are done all this,” he muttered, placing a soft trail of kisses along her jaw, “and I’m going to lick every inch of your body until you’re begging. I want to hear you pleading in that wonderful accent of yours.”
“Gods, don’t do this to me now.” She arched her neck, giving him more room.
131
“Sean.”
“I’m going to strip you naked. Peel back inch by inch of your clothing until every smooth curve and patch of your beautiful, dark skin is revealed. And I’m going to run my tongue over it. Nipping, tasting you. I want to learn everything I can.”
“Sean! We’re on an approach vector. I need…
Gods
…to land the ship.”
He pulled back, fighting against the rush created by her sudden burst of pheromones, and looked her in the eyes. “Every inch for hours.”
Amy swayed toward him, but he managed to gently push her away. “Land the ship, baby.”
“You really need to stop calling me that.”
“Why?”
“Because babies are innocent and sweet. What I want to do to you is anything but.”
Sean chuckled and turned his attention back to their approach to the moon. The rest of the descent went surprisingly smooth. The code they’d been provided wasn’t necessary, as they were granted clearance the moment they came into range. The docking bay was small, the gap leaving little room for error. In the hands of many pilots, it would have been a difficult landing. Not for Amy.
The engines cycled down as landing clamps reached up to hold them in place. It was standard procedure for any docking bay, but here it felt ominous. They wouldn’t be leaving until Tyrell let them go.
“Let’s get down there and look the enemy in the eye.” Sean stood and held out her hand. “My lady, may I have the pleasure of escorting you?”
Amy rolled her eyes, but it didn’t prevent her from slipping her hand into his and letting him tug her close. He only held her by her hand, but she made no move to pull away. Even when he licked around the shell of her ear. Her responding shudder made him smile, as did the new surge of pheromones. While his plan was bordering on insane, it had a strong chance at working. As long as Amy could forgive him when everything was over, it would be fine.
They ended up meeting Gaz and Ryan in the cargo hold. Both men were checking over the dust containers, making sure they hadn’t been compromised in any way.
“The last thing we need is to overdose on this shit,” Gaz said, patting the side of the nearest container. “But it looks like we’re good. The faster we can get rid of it and get out of here, the better.”
“Okay,” Amy sighed, rubbing her hands along the tops of her thighs. “I know they’ve run a scan on the ship, so they know how many of us are in here. I’m assuming they are also scanning us for trackers, anything that could lead the authorities back here to them. We’ll have to play it safe for the first bit until we unload this shit.”
“There is another ship coming in hot behind us,” Sean added. “We’re going to use them as a distraction to get Amy’s dad back.”
“You haven’t explained how you are going to do that.” She turned to face him.
132
Sean ignored her and looked at Ryan. “Bas?”
Ryan and Gaz both nodded, matching solemn expressions on their faces. “All set,”
Ryan said, casting a quick glance at Amy.
Ignoring exactly how hard his heart was pounding and the sound his blood made as it rushed through his ears, Sean slipped an arm around Amy’s waist and navigated her in the direction of the door.
“This should prove interesting,” he muttered in her ear and hit the door release.
133
Amy really hated being kept in the dark. It wasn’t reassuring having Sean pressed hard against her side or that both Gaz and Ryan were in on the plan and walking just as close. She had a feeling the reason she wasn’t told what was going on had little to do with her being a woman or that they were scared she wouldn’t go along with things, but rather they were trying to protect her.
Old-fashioned, overbearing
men
. When this was finished and Sean was following through on his promise to lick every inch of her skin, she planned on making him pay for this little stunt. Probably doing something involving rope, a chair and a long-postponed orgasm. Maybe not the most subtle of ways to make her point, but it would be worth it in the end.
Stepping out into the hollowed-out shell of the landing pad was far different from their reception at the Eurus docking bay. There was no station crew running and jumping to assist with refueling. There certainly weren’t any other ships and staff milling about, laughing and carrying on. Instead, armed thugs pointed high-powered laser rifles at them. Tension crawled up her back, making her body taut like a guide wire. She had to keep control, let them know they weren’t going to get to her, frighten her into any rash moves.
“Now is that anyway to treat company?” She was pleased her voice came out clear and strong. “And I came all this way. Showered, brought presents and everything.”
“Well, since you got all prettied up, I’d hate for you to have wasted it.”
The woman from the vid at the beginning of the race walked out from behind the guards. She was a petite thing, but she had an edge to her. Her back was ramrod straight, and while her brown hair hung loose around her shoulders, it didn’t move with her. Like it was scared to fall out of place.
“I’m Cyanna. I hope your trip in wasn’t too uncomfortable. The
Riax
can leave a bit of a nasty bite.”
“Where’s Tyrell?” Amy stepped away from Sean and crossed her arms across her chest. “And where the hell is my dad?”
“Patience, Captain Bryson. We need to check the shipment first. Once I know everything is as it should be, we’ll discuss your father.” Cyanna nearly spat out the last word, like it was poison.
Amy didn’t move as the woman waved three men in the direction of the
Drake
’s cargo hold. She didn’t stop them when they slammed into her ship with little regard for the
Riax
radiation which would have made the hull hot to the touch. All she could do was keep her eyes fixed on Cyanna and tried to make sense of what was going on 134
around her.
Something was off.
“It’s all here. Undamaged,” one of the guards shouted out after several minutes.
“Start unloading it,” the woman called back.
Amy felt Sean move closer beside her. She couldn’t help but react to his proximity, the richness of his scent closing around her. After his mini-seduction back in the ship, her body was hyper-aware of his presence. Trying to take a deep, calming breath without it being obvious, she lowered her chin and glared at the woman.
“You may want to know there is another ship coming in hard and fast. They’ll be landing any minute now.”
The woman smirked. “I’m well aware of what’s going on and who is en route.
Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“When are we going to meet Tyrell?” Sean said from behind her. He pressed his hand against Amy’s lower back. The back of her thigh connected with his leg, allowing his warmth to seep into her.
The heat from his touch sent a shiver through her body. Her cheeks heated and her hips pushed back, increasing the contact between them. If he didn’t stop soon, she wasn’t going to be able to hold back her response.
The woman’s giggle snapped Amy’s attention away from Sean. “What?”
“What makes you think you haven’t met Tyrell already?”
Mind racing, Amy frowned and tried to figure out what was going on. Then she really looked hard at the woman. She’d only seen grainy vid shots of Tyrell over the years, none of them recently. Still, what she’d seen back then struck a striking resemblance to the woman.
“You’re his daughter?”
She grinned. “Cyanna Tyrell. Guilty as charged. Dear old dad was starting to bring the company down, losing what little he had of his psychotic mind. I think it was collective damage from all those years being around the dust. I did everyone a favor by shooting the bastard. Put him out of his misery, really. I’m sure you can appreciate wanting to take over the family business, Captain.”
“Great,” Sean muttered.
Amy couldn’t agree more. “Well, that’s fantastic. I hope you’re doing a bang-up job replacing daddy. Now I’ve done what you wanted. I brought you your dust shipment.
Where the hell is
my
father?”
She felt Sean flex his fingers against her in warning. She didn’t care. This little bitch was responsible for destroying the integrity of the Catallian race, was supplying dust to most of this sector of the galaxy and had
dared
to hurt her only remaining family. It would be over her dead body she’d let this woman get away with it.
“Bit of a hothead, are you, Captain? Well, I’d hate to set you off and be responsible for my men needing to blast holes into your body. Take her to see her father. The rest of 135
the crew stays here. Consider it collateral to guarantee your good behavior.”
Well, she wasn’t sure if that went according to Sean’s mysterious plan, but she wasn’t going to miss a chance to see her dad. Unwilling to look back at Sean, she strode forward following the guard, aware as a second fell into step behind her.
Despite the fact they were on an actual base, the construction was flimsy, the craftsmanship shoddy and very quickly done. Cyanna hadn’t been at things too long, that much was obvious from the way her guards hesitated slightly before following her orders. Maybe taking over her dad’s operation now wasn’t part of her original plan.
Maybe Tyrell’s actions forced her to move before she was ready, far too close to the launch of the race. It meant there was a chance she’d forgotten something, left a hole somewhere in their security Amy could exploit. Given half a chance, she intended to bring this entire organization crashing down around them. But her first order of business was to find her dad.
The guards led her to a small room off the main corridor. There was little to no security. Given what someone would have needed to breach in order to get this far, they probably felt it wasn’t necessary. The room itself had little to no natural light. The air stank of sweat, blood and excrement, which spoke volumes as to the condition her dad had been kept in since his arrival.
“Where is he?” she ground out, ignoring the way one guard swung his gun toward her.
When he stepped into her personal space, Amy pushed past him, ignoring how he tried to grind up against her. Her dad, she needed to focus on getting him out.
“Dad?”
“Amy?” The low rasp of a voice came from the far end of the room.
She moved as quickly as she could in the half-light to the end. There was a small closet of a space where they’d shoved her dad. Dried blood was caked on his forehead and cheek, his left eye was now swollen shut.
“Oh shit! Let me get you out of here.” When she saw the heavy bindings holding his hands cuffed behind his back, Amy spun on the two guards. “Free him now.”
She was shocked when, instead of the resistance she’d anticipated, both men moved to do her bidding. More than once they moved against her in the small space, not allowing her to get too far away from them as they worked to free her dad. Despite his injuries, he moved his head, taking in the reactions and shooting her a questioning glance. Amy gave her head a small shake and shrugged her shoulders. She really hadn’t a clue as to what was going on, but she wasn’t about to kick fortune in the face, not if it got her what she wanted.
Her dad fell from the chair and landed in a heap on the floor. Amy dropped to her knees and pulled him into her grip, burying her face in his neck. “Shit, Dad. What did they do to you?”
“Ah, my girl, nothing similar bastards haven’t done to me in the past. I’ll live. Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”
136
She brushed tears she hadn’t realized she’d been shedding from her cheeks and plastered a grin on her face. “I’m good. Fine. The
Drake
was kicking ass in the race, Dad.
You would have loved it.”
He grinned at her as much as his split lip would allow. “I knew she would. You’ve always known how to make my baby fly. You have your boy with you then. Your Sean?”
“Yeah, he’s here. He came with me to get you. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
It took some effort, but she managed to get him to his feet, his arm draped around her neck for support. They barely took two steps when one of the guards pressed a hand to her ass, cupping and squeezing it hard.
“I’d like to take you out back and fuck you.” His voice was low, rough and far from pleasant.
“If you don’t move your hand from there, I’ll break every finger,” she snapped back at him, tightening her grip on her dad’s hand.
“I’d like to see you try, bitch.” He pinched her hard.
Ignoring the pain, Amy hauled her dad out of the room and out into the hall. The air was fresher there, making it easier to breathe.
“You’re potent, sweetie,” her dad whispered. “Did you miss taking your drugs?”
“I ran out of my inhibitor a few days ago. Couldn’t delay to get any and risk something happening to you, so I’m going without.”
“Ah sweetie,” he started, only to groan when they stumbled into the main area.
She struggled under his weight until she felt another arm wrap around and brush hers from the other side. Looking over at Sean, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Dad, this is Sean. He’s been helping me out.”
“Sir. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
“So do I, son. Just get me over someplace I can sit.”
“Now isn’t this touching,” Cyanna crowed. “I only wish I had a vid camera to take a picture for you.”
“This bitch is really pissing me off,” Amy muttered. “Dad, can you lean on Sean?”
“Yup. What are you doing, Amy-girl?”
She extracted herself from her father’s grasp, and marched over to the other woman. Amy was about to say something when she saw a group of five men saunter over from another dark passageway. The leader, dressed in a bright red jacket and black leather pants, eyed her up and down with a leer before turning his attention to Cyanna.
“Where’s Tyrell, bitch?”
Amy stopped where she was, unwilling to get any closer to the newcomers than necessary. From the way the leader kept glancing in her direction and the amount of stress she’d been under over the past several weeks, her body would be throwing off a crazy amount of chemicals. Sean’s earlier attentions already had her spiking, and if the 137
guard’s reactions were anything to go by, then she was still actively attracting men. The background hum of arousal was still there, waiting for someone to stoke it.
“Your ship will be attended to shortly,” Cyanna snapped, her sharp eyes colored with disgust.
The next few minutes played out instantly in her mind. Cyanna clearly had no concept of how to deal with men like this, if the way she was posturing with the new captain was anything to go by. The idiot was relying on her father’s reputation and fear to keep everyone in line. For the majority of the crews that might work, but for the experienced smugglers and career criminals, it would take a whole lot more to keep them tame. If Cyanna didn’t do the right thing quickly, then there was a very real chance everything would explode. And they would be caught right in the middle of the firestorm.
She was going to say something when she felt Sean move beside her once more. For a moment she thought she’d heard him mutter
sorry
in her ear before sliding his hand along her ass.
“What are you doing?” She tried to push him away, but he didn’t move.
Sean pressed his mouth to her ear, licking and sucking the lobe, swirling his tongue around the flesh. As if tuned into his very thoughts, Amy’s traitorous body reacted.
Despite everything, the danger unfolding in front of them, the drugs, her injured dad, Amy found herself getting aroused.
“
Dammit
, Sean, you have to stop!”
His mouth heated her neck with wet kisses as his hands caressed the sensitive skin of her lower back. She shivered, wanting to fight against the desire, but quickly losing the battle. When he pressed his erect cock against her ass, rolling his hip, Amy felt the burst of her pheromones fill the air. She moaned, knowing this was so very wrong, but completely unable to do anything to prevent her reaction. Without her inhibitors, she was defenseless and everyone around her would be affected.
The one thing she wasn’t expecting was the sudden loss of heat at her back when several of the men in the room turned to look at her.
“Sean?” Her voice shook, heavy and lust filled.