Rebel (23 page)

Oh, hell…

Rising up, he arched above her as his body emptied its seed into her waiting womb. He should have withdrawn, eliminating the chance for further entwining of their minds and bodies. But he wanted to see the joy in her eyes one more time. He could give it all up after that.

Or could he? Maybe, maybe not, but as her pupils dilated, opening her soul to his view, he knew he would never see a more beautiful sight than this. Not if he lived a thousand years and spent all that time giving himself to every woman in the galaxy.

Joy…

***

Kim knew her scent was to blame for what Onca had done. But as someone once told her, all was fair in love and war.

This, apparently, was both.

She’d stayed right there beside him, propped up against the headboard watching the door to keep from looking at him—a tactic that had worked for perhaps five minutes. The rest of the night had been spent letting her eyes and hands roam over his nude body. The fact that she was taking advantage of his helpless state weighed on her conscience only briefly. From the very beginning, she knew she would have to play dirty to keep him. After all, he was attracted to her against his will, his better judgment, and the pressure from his peers.

As if any of those things could possibly be stronger than the sexual urges of an adult male—particularly a Zetithian with a good sense of smell. All she had to do was maintain her desire for him—whether he purred or not—and nature, as the saying went, would take its course.

Her sigh was one of deep contentment. For once, she had nature on her side. Onca’s cock deep within her felt absolutely right—the perfect melding of male and female. He didn’t stand a chance.

All too soon, he rolled onto his back, not even trying to take her with him. He was thinking too much already—thinking about all that crap Jack had thrown at him about Kim’s defective genes and the fact that he was too old and wasn’t the type to settle down with one woman.

Jack should have known better. She had a Zetithian husband who would’ve slit his own throat rather than leave her. Kim didn’t have to meet them to know that. Shemlak was right about Zetithian men. Onca was no different from the others.

Pulling the covers up over them both, Kim snuggled in beside him, her hand resting on his penis, then slipping lower to caress his balls. He was still wet, still hard, still delicious.

Ducking under the blankets, she sucked his cock into her mouth, savoring the sweet mingling of flavors. The smooth, blunt head pressed against her cheek felt marvelous, and she sighed with delight knowing she had succeeded in capturing his full attention. As it moved over her skin, the creamy sauce coated her face and his intoxicating essence filled her senses with a need that could never be completely satisfied. She would always want more of him. Each orgasm was the stimulus for the next—on and on into infinity.

He was the most addicting form of man candy in existence. How could he possibly be so stupid as to think he could simply hand her off to Larry? He certainly wasn’t pushing her away now. His fingers tangled in her curls, holding her firmly against his cockhead while the ruffled corona bathed her skin with his deliciously orgasmic nectar. Such actions only intensified her need for him.

Silly
man.
He could protest all he liked, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Larry, Moe, and Curly could find their own damn women.

She was already taken.

Whoa
shit. I did it again.

Onca glanced at the tray on the nightstand. She must have kept watch over him during the night. He couldn’t help but be touched. “You had dinner up here?”

Kim nodded. “Yeah. Um…a lot happened after you passed out.”

“I’ll bet it did. Thanks for getting me out of there. Did you have any trouble?”

Her snicker suggested there had been plenty of that. “I’ll fill you in on the details over breakfast.”

He sat up and looked around the room. Kim at least had a shirt and pants to put on. He didn’t have anything. Then he remembered what that Herp had done to his clothes. “Guess I’ll have to wear a towel unless Rashe can lend me a loincloth. This
is
his house, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Nice place, huh?”

The old-fashioned clock ticked on the wall above them. Having just fucked himself—and presumably Kim—into a stupor, he wasn’t sure how to play this. He certainly couldn’t claim not to have known what he was doing. Therefore, he opted for the casual approach, meaning he didn’t mention it at all. “Sure is. I thought about cloaking my place, but since it’s obvious there has to be a house on that spot, I didn’t see the point.”

“Good thing Rashe did,” Kim said.

As quickly as she threw on her clothes, he suspected she was feeling every bit as awkward as he was. There would be no hiding any of it from Rashe now.

Not that he had anything to hide. People who had been through life-and-death ordeals always fucked each other senseless afterward. At least, he thought they did. Never having been in a situation of that type before, he wasn’t sure.

“Are you, um, okay this morning?” he asked. “I was kinda disoriented when I first woke up.”

“Oh, really?” She sounded pissed.

Wrong
thing
to
say.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I passed out at the Den last night and woke up this morning with no idea how I got here.”

“Ganyn carried you out of there, and I brought you here in your speeder.” Oh, yes, she was pissed all right. Her clipped words and abrupt tone proved it.

“Were you followed?”

She shook her head. “I flew it cloaked for a while.”

Considering her lack of experience with automated flight, let alone the manual variety, it was a wonder they had both survived. However, in light of his previous faux pas, he thought it best to keep that opinion to himself, opting for a mild form of praise instead. “That’s not easy to do.”

“Captain told me how to fly it. I got the hang of it after a while.”

“I’ll bet you did.” He smiled at her, hoping she would take the hint and lighten up a little. Unfortunately, if her tight-lipped expression was anything to go by, even getting her to smile would be tough. Funny how everything seemed so different in the full light of day.

I
never
should’ve touched her.

“Did you get the other girls out?”

She nodded. “Just one problem.”

“Oh?”

“Dalmet wasn’t there.”

His heart sank. They would have to do it all over again. “I was afraid of that. The Levitian I saw didn’t fit her description.”

“Peska and Cassie were there, though.”

“I don’t suppose they know where Dalmet is?”

“Nope. And we didn’t have time to extract that information from anyone else, either. Val had barely figured out how to work their comsystem when they started bombing the place.”

Onca’s eyes widened. “Bombs? You’re shittin’ me, right?”

“I wish I was,” she replied. “It got pretty wild. They blew up the main entrance after we were all inside. If Val and Roncas hadn’t gone up on the roof and fired on the crowd at the back door, we probably wouldn’t have gotten out of there alive. As far as I know we still haven’t heard from Shemlak or Draddut. Val and Roncas are at the Palace with the girls.”

“All of them?”

Closing her eyes, she sank her fangs into her lower lip. “All but Jatki.”

“Oh, no,” Onca groaned.

“I know she got out of the building—and she knew where we were meeting up, but no one seems to know which way she went.”

“She could be with the Darconians,” he suggested. “If anyone could protect her, they could.”

“I hope you’re right.” She paused, shivering. “Being in one of those brothels would absolutely kill her.”

Onca had an idea she was right about that, but chose to remain optimistic. “She had a pistol, didn’t she?”

Kim nodded, but tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

“I’m sure she’ll turn up. She might have decided to lay low until the heat dies down. Even if they caught her—”

Kim put up a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t even want to think about it right now. She might have come in during the night—along with the Darconians.”

“Right.” He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to dwell on the subject. The reality of the night before had been bad enough. Still, the amount of firepower puzzled him. “Bombs.” He glanced up at her. “Doesn’t that seem a little
excessive
to you?”

“Yeah. We were all kinda freaked out. I mean, you went in unarmed. What happened?”

“By the time I got Cassie alone in that room, it was fairly obvious the girls were being monitored. I couldn’t even get her to tell me her name. Then I realized I was screwed no matter what I said to her.”

“So you just up and admitted the truth?”

“Yeah. Stupid, huh?”

“Not really. It got them to show their true colors. Funny thing, though. They seemed to have been expecting us. You were the only customer in the whole place.”

“That’s interesting.” With no other choice, Onca finally got up and draped a sheet over his shoulder just as Rashe’s droid floated in with a pair of pants. “Thanks, pal.”

The droid beeped and floated out.

“Guess this means we won’t be getting breakfast in bed.” She said it with a trace of regret. Perhaps she wasn’t too mad at him after all.

“That’s okay. Besides, we need to have another strategy meeting if we’re going to find Dalmet. We only
think
they planned an ambush for us this time. The next place we hit will probably be locked down so tight we’ll have to fight our way in.”

Kim chuckled for the first time. “Yeah. Did you notice the password for the Den was ‘fuck’?”

“No, but it’s certainly appropriate.” He laughed along with her even though he still wasn’t sure she was very happy with him.

“That’s about the only thing funny about it,” she said, sobering quickly. “The police definitely seemed to be involved in some way. Four of them chased us—and by that I mean you and me, specifically. Hardly anyone went after the girls.”

“Too many, I guess—aside from the fact that they weren’t much of a threat.”

“Yeah. No one would believe their story, even if they knew who to take it to.” She hesitated. “I was talking with Captain on the way back here last night, and I think that’s what we should do next.”

“Go public, you mean?”

“Yeah. I know we’re not very important people, but if enough of us spoke up…”

“The right people might hear about it? Yeah. We can do that now that we have witnesses and actually know what’s going on in those places.” He shrugged. “Guess that’s something else we need to discuss over breakfast.”

Stepping into the pants the droid brought him, he tucked his still-hard cock into them as best he could, bringing to mind Rashe’s comment that his buckskins had been hurting his dick. If asked, he would have said he and Rashe were about the same size, but these were tight to the point he wasn’t sure he could sit down in them. Assuming that Ganyn was there, he hated to go down to breakfast naked—especially considering the way Kim’s scent affected him. She might
act
like she was annoyed with him, but her scent couldn’t lie to his dick.

***

Rashe already had Roncas on his comlink when they came downstairs. The back door must’ve been a lot bigger than the front because Ganyn was there in the kitchen with him, although she did take up a considerable amount of space. Even sitting on the floor, her head nearly touched the ceiling. She gave Kim an I-know-what-you’ve-been-up-to grin that Kim chose not to return. She still wasn’t sure exactly
what
she’d been up to. One minute Onca seemed like he was about to declare his undying love, and the next, he slipped right back into the role of emotionally detached coconspirator. She couldn’t decide whether to kiss him or strangle him.

“We’ve got the girls settled in,” Roncas reported as Kim took a seat at the breakfast table. “Val flew out to get some supplies. We’ve never had so many mouths to feed before. I don’t know if the stasis unit can hold enough to keep them fed for more than a day, but we’ll figure that out at some point. What about you, Boss? Feeling better?”

“Good as new,” Onca replied. “Kim had an idea about getting the news media in on this. You know—to create sympathy for our cause and get the public on our side?”

Roncas grimaced. “Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but the bad guys beat us to it.” She tapped her linkpad and a headline popped up on the viewscreen.

“
Local
Brothel
Owner
Incites
Riot
,” Onca read aloud. There was even a picture of him. “Oh, joy.”

“You’re really screwed now, dude,” Rashe said.

“Thanks, pal,” Onca said with a sneer. “It’s so nice to have optimistic friends.”

The link chimed and Draddut’s image popped up on the viewscreen next to Roncas.

“Dude!” Rashe exclaimed. “Where are you?”

“Oswalak’s,” Draddut replied. “Figured it would be best if at least one of us came back here. The boss is having a shit fit as it is. Have you heard from Shemlak and Ganyn?”

“Nothing from Shemlak yet,” Rashe said. “Ganyn is here with us. Roncas and Val are at the Palace with the girls. Don’t suppose you’ve seen anything of Jatki, have you?”

“Wasn’t she with the rest of the girls?”

“Apparently not.”

Staring at the comlink, Onca let out a gasp that made Kim’s blood run cold. “Mother of the gods! How long have you been wearing
that
?”

“What are you talking about?” Draddut hooked his thumbs under the strips of leather around his chest and shoulders that constituted typical Darconian male attire. “I’ve been wearing this for years.”

“Not the harness.
That
.” Onca pointed to a small decoration on the shoulder strap.

Draddut gave it a brief glance and then shrugged. “Shemlak gave it to me. Said to wear it.”

Onca gritted his teeth until his neck veins popped up. “No wonder those guys knew we were coming. Didn’t it strike you as odd that they’d have that much firepower waiting for us? And that there were no other customers? That’s the tracking device those Rackenspries made Jatki swallow.”

“Really?” Draddut frowned. “Shemlak never said what it was. Just told me not to lose it.”

Kim had never seen a Darconian appear to be at such a loss—or a disadvantage. She almost felt sorry for him. “They probably think it’s still in Jatki,” she said. “I bet it freaked them out when they started following the signal and all they ever saw were Darconians.”

“And yet they still followed it.” Onca shook his head. “Damn. I thought Shemlak was a better soldier than that.”

Draddut looked like he was about to cry—that is, if Darconians were even capable of shedding tears. “Sorry. Guess he forgot about it.”

“Not his fault—or yours. I should’ve noticed it before
and
remembered what he’d said about hanging it on you.” Onca’s exhale came out as a growl. “Maybe we can still use it to our advantage. Who could we put it on that would draw them away from us?” He glanced at the others. “Any ideas?”

Kim shrugged. “A random person on the street?”

Rashe threw up his hands. “I still don’t get why anyone would be following that signal. They have to have figured out it isn’t in Jatki anymore.” He glanced at the comlink. “What about you? Were you followed?”

“Well…yeah.” Draddut sounded slightly embarrassed. “A couple of Racks tailed me for a while. I, um, let them catch up and then I sort of knocked their heads together. Haven’t seen them since.”

“Most of the police chased Kim and Onca,” Ganyn said. “Hardly anyone came after the rest of us.”

“Yeah, well, they almost got us.” Onca was growling again. “With Draddut patrolling the street, they had to know whoever had that device was in the area. You notice they didn’t bring out the big guns until
after
he was inside—and I’d admitted to being there to find Kim’s friends.”

“Okay, so don’t blame it all on Shemlak,” Draddut said. “We still don’t know where he wound up. He could even be dead by now.”

“Surely to goodness they didn’t catch him,” Kim said. “They only sent Racks after you, which was kinda stupid. Who would they have that could take down a Darconian?”

“Another Darconian, maybe?” Rashe suggested. “Who knows? All we know is that he isn’t here or at the Palace—or Oswalak’s. Beyond that, he could be anywhere.”

“Or he was on their side.” Kim hated to even say the words but she figured someone had to do it.

“That’s my brother you’re talking about!” Ganyn roared. “He isn’t that kind of man. Something happened to him.”

“So we’ve got someone else to rescue?” Rashe plopped down in a worn leather chair that looked out of place in the gleaming kitchen but suited him better than anything else in the house. “Maybe they’re holding him hostage—you know, so they can catch us when we go looking for him?”

Onca scowled. “Would
you
try to keep a Darconian hostage?”

“Maybe—if that was my only option.” Rashe shrugged. “They could’ve stunned him. It isn’t impossible, you know.”

“And we all ran in different directions.” Ganyn twisted her beads with trembling fingers. “Maybe he’s the one they decided to follow.”

“He could’ve lost his comlink,” Kim suggested.

“Which is the most reasonable explanation yet,” Onca said. “Either that or he got chased so far he didn’t know the way back.”

“I can relate to that,” Kim admitted. “If Captain hadn’t been there to give me directions, I’d have been hopelessly lost, and the same thing could’ve happened to Jatki. The brothel district isn’t our usual territory.”