Salvage Rights (Distant Worlds Book 2) (5 page)

“No, it’s not the same,”
he said, his voice having lost some of its hard edge.  She breathed it in, her
eyes closing briefly to enjoy the scents bombarding her. 

“You can go out there,”
he said and her eyes snapped open in wonder.

“Truly?” she asked hope
clear on her face.  “What of your test?”

“It can wait.”

She smiled, white teeth
flashing behind rose red lips.  The moss green of her eyes shone behind thick
lashes, sooty from tears.  Then she was moving, her feet taking her out to the
sand and sun, crashing waves, and the sound of birds.

Luc stood frozen.  That
smile had sucked all the air out of his chest and she was out the doors and
gone before he could get it back.

Lucan Warrung was a
pirate, a mercenary, and a self-centered bastard.  He had been forged in the fires
of his family’s hate.  He had fought his way free of his bloodthirsty relatives
to make a place for himself and he held onto what was his with an iron hand. 
He had taken a pirate’s stronghold on this ocean moon and made it his, and kept
it against all comers.  Everything within his sight belonged to him, every
person, every rock.  No one came to this place without an invitation from him
and if they did, they died.  No second chances, no trial.  He had killed
without remorse and made a name for himself as a ruthless businessman. 

No one got past his
defenses.  Not his employees or his infrequent but interchangeable lovers.  He
protected his people and their families because they were loyal to him, not for
any true affection.  No one got past his defenses. 

No one.  Until now.

Lucan stepped out onto
the deck, his eyes finding her sitting on the sand and pulling off her boots;
she pulled off her socks next and rolled up her pants until he could see her
curvy little ankles and calves.  She squished her toes in the powdery sand and
her laugh carried on the breeze back to him.  His cock had been standing at
attention since they hit the bedroom, but that laugh, as free and innocent as
it sounded, wrapped around his dick like a noose.  He wanted nothing more than
to strip off both their clothes and take her in the warm sand. 

She got up and danced
across the beach, the sun bright in her hair.  She pressed a delicate toe into
the water and laughed again.  It was warm so she walked into the water up to
her ankles and ran back as the waves came up to her calves.  She laughed again
and Lucan turned and left because if he had watched her one more minute, he
would have joined her for an entirely different kind of frolic on the beach. 
He hit the icom.

“Sir?”

“Send Kira to the beach
for the girl, have her shown to the blue room, and get her whatever she needs.”

“The blue room, sir?”

“Problem?”  His voice saying
very clearly
there better not be
.

“No, sir, not a
problem.”  He cleared his throat.  “And Briar?”

“Is out.  Make it
happen.”

“Yes, sir.”  This time
there was no mistaking the edge of glee in the answer, but Luc had already
moved on.

“And, Tuft, make sure
the word spreads.  No one touches her.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. What have you
found out about the captain who brought her here?”

“Nothing yet, sir, but
as soon as the numbered account is accessed, we’ll have the info.”

“Let me know as soon as
you have it.  Pull up the transporter scan and run it through medical, and have
Avia contact me as soon as she has the results.  And monitor all transmissions;
I don’t want my brother finding out she’s here until I can use it.”  

“Aye, sir.  Her status?”

Mine
was the word that came to mind, but all he said was “Level 3,” before he closed
the icom link.

***

Danika was lying in the
sand absorbing the heat after only knowing the coldness of space for so long. 
The two suns pounded her, and she sucked in as much of the warmth as she could,
reveling in the feeling of it filling all the cold places within her.  A shadow
fell over her and she frowned, springing up.  She had forgotten about Lucan
Warrung, as impossible as the idea seemed.  When she looked up, it was a pretty
young woman in a slip dress, not the formidable man.  The woman’s feet were
bare, her skin brown from the sun.  Dainty and slim, she moved with inherent
grace.  The scar that slashed across one side of her face seemed out of place,
but it was her soulful eyes that caught Danika’s attention.  She seemed to be
searching for something in Danika’s face.  Eventually, she must have found it.

She smiled and it was
infectious, Danika smiled back.  She caught a flash of relief from the gentle
lady that she did not understand.

“You are Danika?”

“Yes.  I’m sorry, I
have lost track of time.”

“It is nothing.  I am
Kira. Sir has asked that I bring you in to dinner.”

Danika looked once more
longingly at the sea.  “Very well.”

Noticing the look, she
spoke quietly. “You can come back later.  When the suns set over the water, one
after the other, it is incredible.  Then the stars come out and you think you
are in heaven.”

She smiled at the soft
spoken woman.  “I would like to see that.”

Kira bowed low, “Then
it would be my honor to bring you back, if sir has no objections.”

At the reminder that
her decisions were not her own, Danika lost her smile.  Then she breathed deeply
and forced another one.  “I thank you, either way, for the thought.” Kira
smiled back and led the way inside.

Danika followed, with
one last look toward the crashing surf and a sigh.  Then she let it go.  “Have
you always lived here on PortSea?”

Kira stumbled briefly,
her grace deserting her, but she kept walking and did not turn around.  “I have
not.”

“I am sorry.”  Danika
dropped her voice.  “Did I say something bad?”

Kira looked at Danika
as she walked, her eyes sad, but she dropped her eyes and then squared her
shoulders.  “You have done nothing wrong.  I have lived here two wonderful
years.”

“But you did not like
where you lived before,” Danika stated and it was not a question.  “You do not
have to speak of it.”

Kira looked forward,
taking the wide stone steps that were just beyond the first layer of ferns.  “You
are very understanding.”

Danika laughed, but it
was not a happy laugh, and it had Kira glancing back at her while Danika kept
her eyes on the steps at her feet.  “I understand very little.”

When she said no more,
the silence grew.

Danika licked her
lips.  “Is . . . do you know Lucan Warrung very well?”

“Sir does not like us
to discuss him.”

Danika sighed.  “I
should not have asked?”

Kira just shook her
head, finally stopping at the top of the steps that led to a long slab of white
rock deck and two large double glass doors.  She gestured with an extended
arm.  “Here is your room.  I will help you change for dinner if you like.  Then
take you to Sir.”

Danika looked down at
her ship suit.  “I have nothing but this.  I do not think I will need help with
anything but directions to the dining area.”

Kira looked her up and
down, opened her mouth to speak and then closed it looking worried.  Danika
looked between the two of them and laughed a little.  This one was real. “I do
not think anyone will notice me anyway, with someone as beautiful as you in the
room.”

Kira blinked, her eyes
widening, her cheeks pinking, then she shook her head, looking away.  Her hand
went to the scar on her cheek.  Her voice sad, “You tease me.”

“No!” Danika grabbed
her arm to turn her back around, feeling her pain as she did so.  Too much
pain.  With a touch, she was bombarded by pictures and thoughts, feelings,
memories.  Faces of old tormentors, one after the other.  A woman, more recent,
but almost as damaging to her spirit as the men.  She cried out, letting go and
almost fell, stumbling back.  She swallowed the horror with difficulty.  “I . .
. do not tease you.  I am a truthsayer, and cannot lie.”  Then she shuddered,
her hands clasped together and shaking.  “But I can see why you would not see
yourself as you truly are.”  She hugged her arms around herself and tried to
smile at the girl.  “You are truly lovely, Kira, inside and out; do not let
anyone make you feel otherwise.”

Kira pressed her lips
together, those soulful brown eyes lightening.  “You are a truthsayer?  Then you
are not here for . . .”  She sighed, looking relieved, her smile true.  “I
misunderstood.  You are to have the blue room, and you are so beautiful, I just
assumed . . .”  She closed her mouth tight.  “Forgive me.  It is not my place. 
Come, I will show you where you will be staying, and then take you to the
dining room.”

Danika followed,
looking around the large luxurious bedroom, draped in yards of billowing red
fabrics, and costly gold leaf and seeing none of it.  The cloying scent of
roses was overpowering, and after the fresh sea air, seemed to clog her lungs. 
Even with the doors open, it was dark in the room, and she could not have cared
less other than to think it strange that the blue room was not in the least
blue.  Not capable of any more speech with Kira’s memories ripping through her
head, she nodded and forced a smile for Kira, the only type of lie she could
express. 

“Briar has already been
moved out.”  There was something in Kira’s tone of her voice that shook Danika
out of her dark place.

“Someone gave up their
room for me?”

“It was not her room. 
Not really, it is always temporary, though she believed it would be otherwise
for her.”  Kira was walking away, but the relief in her voice was obvious.

“You do not like this
person?”

“It is not my place to
like or dislike her,” she mumbled, looking anywhere but at Danika.

Danika studied the
girl.  “She is the one who whispers to you, isn’t she?”

“Whispers?”  Kira
backed up, her eyes big in her small face.  “How do you know that?”

Danika swallowed,
biting her lip.  “I am a reader.  When I touched you, I saw things.  I am
sorry. I did not mean to intrude on your memories.  I just . . . did not want
you to think I teased you.”

Kira took another step
back.  “You saw things?”

Danika watched tears
well up in the horrified girl’s eyes.  “I am so sorry.”

Kira turned and ran,
and Danika closed her eyes and whispered to the empty room that smelled of
another woman’s perfume.  “I just wanted a friend.”

***

Danika found the dining
room by following the scent of roasted meats and yeasty fresh bread.  On the
way, the corridors were long and wide, with light coming from levered skylights
in the ceiling.  The floor was the same marbled rock that seemed to be
everywhere.  The last turn led her through a wide hall with walls filled with
art.  In the distance, she could see one of the many doors opened and the clink
of glasses and several voices made her hesitate.

A full length painting
of a dragon caught her eye and she lost her breath.  From her immersion in the
Doc’s machine, she knew that some of the artists displayed were well-known and
coveted.  However, the dragon was not art that she recognized and she had to
stop and admire the fierceness of the creature and the incredible colors
shooting through the landscape.  The fierceness of the dragon drew her in, even
if he was crushing armies of sword-wielding knights beneath his talons.

“You like my dragon?” 
The dark voice surprised her so much that she was clutching her heart and
jumping back.  Nearly into the painting.  She caught her breath at her second
look of Lucan Warrung.

“You scared me.”

“I can see that.”

She cleared her voice
and dropped her hands to her side.  When he did nothing but stare at her, she
answered his original question.  “I do like the painting.”

“Really?  Most people
find it gruesome.”

She looked again.  “I
suppose it is, and bloody, ruthless, and frightening.  But it is also fiercely
beautiful and . . .” she stopped herself, remembering how speaking without
thinking had alienated Kira.

“Don’t stop now.  I am
intrigued.  Finish what you were going to say.”  Danika heard the dry bite of
sarcasm in his words and she raised her chin a little at the challenge.

“Well, from what I
learned of dragons from my studies, I think a dragon should be all those
things, so that is also truth.  And, however harsh it might be, truth has its
own beauty.”

He studied her a moment
longer and then turned and presented his arm.  “Come.”

Danika blew out a
breath and tentatively took his arm, making sure to stay on his sleeve.  He
started walking in the opposite direction she had been heading.  “We don’t go
to the dining room?”

“You are to dine with
me, and I do not dine in the public room.”

“I see.”

“Where is Kira? She
should have helped you change and escorted you.”

“Kira was wonderful, but
I hurt her and she ran away.”  She started talking faster.  “I have nothing to
change into anyway.”

He stopped and looked
down at her, his eyes going cold.  “You hurt her?”

“I touched her arm
accidentally and when I touch people on their bare skin, I get memories,
impressions, and sometimes events of the person I read.”

“So you are a
truthsayer, a Bruha, and a reader?”

She shrugged and looked
away.  “With Kira I saw things that had been done to her, and a woman whispering
terrible hurtful things from the shadows.  Kira mentioned someone, and from her
reaction, I knew it was the whisperer.  I asked her about it without thinking,
and she asked me how I knew.”

“And you had to tell
her the truth.”

“Yes.  It hurt her that
I knew her past.”

“I imagine it did.”  He
opened a shiny double door made of steel that was ten feet high and looked like
it could withstand a siege. 

Danika blinked at the
ragged scrapes and burns across its surface while she walked past.  Running her
hands over some of the more ragged edges, she stopped to study them.  She
turned back to him when she felt Lucan watching her.  “Did you fight a battle?”

“The pirates did not
want to give up their place here.”  He shrugged his massive shoulders.  “I
persuaded them they would be happier relocating elsewhere.”

Danika looked from him
to the fire-pitted steel.  “Did you use your dragon?”

He barked out a laugh, but
fell silent almost immediately.  Danika turned to see he had dropped an
impenetrable wall down over his emotions.  It was so all-inclusive that it felt
as if the temperature had dropped along with that shield.  She did not realize
she had moved until she stood close before him, her eyes drawn to touch the
mystery of him, much as she had the door.  But she remembered what Captain
Tyber had said about touching and used her eyes instead.