A Touch of Lilly (20 page)

The
soft roll of excitement warmed her belly. She wasn’t kidding
herself that it had anything to do with a bounty payment being within
reach. Lilly credited it all to the fact she’d soon be seeing
Dallas. She picked up his t-shirt from the bed. She’d
reluctantly parted with it after her shower when she’d pulled
on her leather pants and a silk blouse. A perfect outfit for taking
down a criminal—or running for her life. Lifting the soft
cotton to her face, Lilly inhaled deeply, the unmistakable masculine
scent of Dallas wrapping around her nostrils and making her dizzy
with want.

After
she’d gotten up at the cabin, the three of them had sat around
the table strategizing.

Somewhere
between the cutting of her clothing and their lovemaking, they’d
developed trust. But there had been something more. None of them had
been anxious to leave the secluded confines of the cabin and their
discussion of Treljon lasers and vantage points had deteriorated into
another round of very hot, very sweaty sex. Her desire fueled by the
knowledge her energy had no pull on Dallas and yet he
still
wanted her.
Craved
her was more like it. The two of them had
managed another quick session in his residence while they were
searching for clothes and Thaegan was contacting headquarters.

Eyeing
the computer on the desk, Lilly realized she’d be leaving for
the tavern without knowing any additional information about Grebetz
or his boss. The decoding program was still ticking away, working
with her cochlear translator, trying to decipher the conversation
she’d overheard between the Znedu and the Braugtot. A little
stab of guilt twisted in her gut. She could have given the translator
to Dallas. No doubt QAL computers would do a much faster job, but
she’d feared it might make her appearance tonight unnecessary.

Then
again, it may also save some lives.

Lilly
couldn’t think that way. When this night was over, she didn’t
want what she’d found with Dallas to be over as well. Yes, it
was selfish, but the way karma had been kicking her ass lately, Lilly
figured she was owed a little selfishness. And being with Dallas was
certainly an indulgence she’d like to repeat. Having Thaegan
around would make it a welcomed trio she could definitely get used
to.

Her
body was still delectably bruised all these hours later. When she’d
stripped for her shower, Lilly laughed at the bite marks on her
breasts and ass, trying to remember exactly when they’d
occurred—but not really caring. The memory of their hands and
hot mouths on her skin and their silken erections filling her so
completely had raised her energy. She’d stepped into the shower
with a couple of toys, trying to bring it down a notch or two. Even
now the current hummed along her skin, adding to the nervousness and
the unsettled feeling making her fidgety.

She
studied the heavy pack next to the door, wondering if she needed to
grab one of the sex toys again just to take the edge off the
jumpiness. But rummaging through the neat stacks of clothes and books
contained in the packs seemed like more effort than it was worth.

Lilly
wasn’t sure she would even be leaving Garalon Five. No one knew
how tonight would play out. She’d packed her meager possessions
earlier in the afternoon with the absurd thought that if she helped
bring down
Hij’Rozhod
, perhaps QAL would reconsider her
qualifications and allow her to pull out with Dallas’ team.

But
now that seemed like a foolish girl’s romantic dream.

All
Lilly knew for certain was that she didn’t want to give up what
she’d only recently found with Dallas and Thaegan. QAL had sent
her away once. But here in deep space where rules were different, she
wondered if there was a way she could become one of them, a member of
a ragtag family who would keep her from feeling so utterly alone and
isolated.

But
putting that expectation on two men she’d just met, certainly
seemed unrealistic. No doubt she was mistaking Dallas’ concern
for affection. If she understood correctly, the men had not only lost
a teammate but a lover. Thaegan had convinced Dallas that Lilly
needed to be at the tavern and the man had reluctantly capitulated.
She suspected his balking had nothing to do with his heart and
everything to do with pride. It didn’t matter. Lilly would
never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to continue
what they’d begun.

Absently
she flipped stations on the televid. Boredom had most certainly set
in. Every channel looked the same to her. It took Lilly a moment to
register what she was seeing. Hitting the volume control, she tuned
to the English language station and cued in to the special bulletin
being televised on every channel.

“…
Premier
Commander’s inauguration is only ten days away. Ambassador
Antonio Tervoss is making an unannounced stop on Garalon Five…”

Lilly
recognized the airstrip where a crowd had gathered. She’d
landed there herself less than two weeks ago. It wasn’t more
than a fifteen-minute walk from her hotel. Five, if she hailed a luna
cab. She checked her watch. Perhaps she’d go down and see the
man she’d voted for in person and burn off a little of her
restless energy.

“…
will
be speaking in less than thirty minutes. Elected into office, many
say, because of his strong stand against illegal trades on Krystallos
Three. We’re not sure if he’ll…”

Lilly’s
police training had her focusing on the aliens with the official
security badges milling about the podium. Ambassador Tervoss had made
few friends during his campaign and his protection detail was no
doubt high. A couple of Ka’al scanned the growing crowd, while
a Xerick walked every inch of the open area where the ambassador
would cross to the podium. But it was the Drikspa checking along the
back of the staging area that nearly stopped Lilly’s heart.
When he turned to face the camera and scan the crowd, nausea rolled
hot and thick in her gut. Disbelief tripped over fury as she leaned
in closer to the televid screen.

The
bulky Drikspa aliens with their white skin and hornlike protrusions
on their head sometimes blended one into another. But there was one
male Drikspa she would never forget. As the alien on stage turned to
speak into his communicator, Lilly’s suspicions were confirmed.
The horny protrusion on the right side of his face was incomplete.
Burned beyond repair in a QAL takedown, the doctors at the infirmary
told her they wouldn’t be able to mend the damage wrought by a
Treljon laser.

The
laser she’d held to the Drikspa’s head as she’d
taken him into QAL custody on Earth six months ago. The same Drikspa
who had bought his way out of jail and imprisoned her on a freighter
bound for Krystallos Three. A Drikspa she’d been tracking
intent on exacting her own form of revenge.

Lilly
grabbed her coat, the Ba’alkin dagger and headed for the door.
No way in hell was he getting away alive this time.

* * * * *

Dallas
leaned forward on his hands, the hologram of the tavern illuminated
in front of him.

“
Have
they changed anything in the last thirty minutes, partner?”
Thaegan slammed a wide palm on his back, lifting him from the morass
of anxiety he’d fallen into.

Dallas
pressed a button on the control panel and the tavern melted away.
“Tell me again I made the right decision allowing her to be
there.”

Thaegan
laughed. “Let her? Did you really say
let
her? Nothing’s
going to stop that woman when she’s got her mind set on
something.”

“
Hey,
Sawyer, isn’t this the bimbo you guys took into custody?”
The geeky Xerick who monitored all QAL communication hollered from
across the room.

“
What
the hell you talking about, Harrick?” Dallas really wanted to
be left alone to stew in his indecision.

“
This
blonde human with the big tits.” The Xerick waved his hand at
the monitor in front of him. “I need your confirmation before I
radio Bastower. Seems too much of a coincidence after screwing up our
missing last night that she’d also be skulking around a
surprise visit by the ambassador.”

Dallas
strode to the bank of vid screens in three quick steps. Though the
female on the screen wasn’t facing the security camera and the
honey tresses that had tickled his skin were caught up in a long
braid down her back, he would have known that curvaceous ass, hugged
by soft leather from any angle.

“
Yes.”
He pushed the simple word past the strangle hold of panic wrapped
around his throat. She turned then and looked into the televid, her
eyes searching the crowd. Her full mouth was a tight line of
determination, her hand sliding under her coat, no doubt ready to
draw a weapon.

“
What
the hell?” Dallas hadn’t meant to pose the question out
loud.

“
I’ll
warn Bastower and Lelkin. They’ll have time to apprehend her—”

“
No.”

“
But
I’m pretty sure—”

“
Dallas
said no.” Thaegan’s voice was low and menacing, a Ka’al
growl riding on the words. “He’s team leader. Are you
questioning him?”

“
No
Sir. No…I just thought…”

“
You’re
right, it’s not a coincidence she’s there. I don’t
want to chance alerting her if she’s somehow hacked into our
frequencies. Thaegan and I will go down there ourselves.”
Dallas headed for the exit. “Continue to monitor all channels,
but don’t radio Bastower.”

“
But
I can scramble the—”

Thaegan’s
angry roar vibrated off the walls.

The
Xerick’s trembling would have been comical if Dallas wasn’t
so worried about Lilly. What the hell was she doing? Doubt clawed at
his gut. The fact she was at the airstrip and in detective mode meant
she was chasing a bounty—or worse—knew something about
Hij’Rozhod
she hadn’t bothered to share with him.

“
Harrick,
just monitor the channels and keep me informed. If anything changes
radio only me on my secure channel.” Dallas checked the charge
on his Treljon laser before holstering it. “I’m taking
Thaegan with me. The rest of you sit tight. Jones, you be ready for
that interview. We’ll hook up with Bastower and Lelkin, see
Tervoss safely through his speech and back to his transport and
continue with our plans to take down Grebetz at the tavern.”

His
partner stared at him, a knowing look passing between them. In that
instant, they both understood the interview at the tavern had been a
ruse to keep the QAL contingent occupied on the desolate planet. The
Ambassador’s
unscheduled
visit to Garalon Five had no
doubt been planned weeks in advance—and someone had known about
it. Someone who intended to make sure the man didn’t live long
enough to be inaugurated.

As
he and Thaegan passed through the wall at a dead run, Dallas didn’t
want to think his night with a beautiful woman— a woman who had
wiggled her way straight into his heart—had been nothing more
than an assassin’s very convincing fact finding mission.

* * * * *

She’d
seen him. He had to be here somewhere.

It
hadn’t been ten minutes since she’d seen the asshole on
the televid. Lilly had known the minute she’d hit the crowded
street and seen the lights of luna cabs backed up for blocks that
there would be no getting through the backed-up traffic. Obviously
the surprise visit by Ambassador Tervoss was no longer a surprise to
anyone in the Plaintar Quadrant of Garalon Five.

Lilly
had sprinted the distance from the hotel to the landing site in seven
minutes flat—and in heels no less. But as she pushed through
the crowd, the Drikspa was nowhere to be seen. There was no way in
hell that dickwad slave runner was getting away from here. Lilly
didn’t give a shit if the guy had a bounty on his head. She’d
mete out some of her own justice if the authorities didn’t want
to listen to her story.

The
way he’d been moving around the podium, Lilly was sure the
alien was part of the security detail. She laughed in disgust.
Wouldn’t that be just the way? It seemed QAL just continued to
protect the criminals in its midst and punish the innocent.
Assholes.
Revenge tore through her, hot and hard, solidifying her resolve.
The Drikspa would pay—not for what he’d done to her—but
for the nearly one hundred souls he’d stolen from Earth.

Revenge
was a mighty sword and she’d wield hers with deadly force.

This
night she would not be denied. Lilly had been in enough dangerous
situations to know how to take out one slave-running scum-bucket of a
Drikspa and slip away undetected and unharmed. Searching the crowd,
she made note of all the televid cameras readied for the ambassador’s
speech. The Ba’alkin dagger lay in her palm, mostly hidden by
the long sleeve of her jacket. Whatever she did to take this guy
down, it would have to be away from the eyes of viewers. Though with
the number of aliens filing onto the tarmac, she wasn’t sure
there was anyone in the city sitting at home watching.

The
mob pressed forward, anxious to see their future leader who promised
so much change. Lilly had believed it was the human colonies
inhabiting Reigis Alpha who had voted him in. But this crowd of mixed
aliens appeared to be happy to meet the human who would be
inaugurated in a few days into the most powerful position in the
galaxy.