3013: Targeted (11 page)

“If you ever want to know more about your heritage, I would be honored to tell you about our ways, Hawke. We’re really not all that complicated, but I would rather you not go offering any other females the chance to share a meal with you while we are...whatever we are. The only one you’re allowed to flirt with that way, is me.”

Satisfaction flowed through him at her possessive comment. “Fair enough. No one shares my dessert, or my bed, but you. Unless…”  he frowned as he struggled to come up with a tactful way to bring up the one question he hadn’t dared to ask yet.

“I have no intention of sharing you with anyone, Hawke Summers. There is no
unless
.”

“I am not interested in being shared. But I need to know if this is…I mean if you are.” Way to clarify things.
You want to cram your other foot in your mouth now, or are you done?

T’karra fixed him with a puzzled stare. “Either my translator is on the fritz, or you’re not making any sense.”

“Let me try this again. What I’ve been trying to ask is if this thing between us is going to be just you and me, or do you want Brandt, too?”

She didn’t answer him right away, and her expression was impossible to read, so Hawke just waited in agonized silence.

Please gods, don’t let him have fucked this up.

“Are you asking me if I want to be with both of you, as a trio, you, me, and Brandt?”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking. Brandt isn’t here to speak for himself, but he’s been my best friend for a lot of years, and I know he wants you, too.
We
want you, T’karra.”

Her expression softened as she nodded in assent. “I want to be with both of you, but only so long as neither one of you even thinks about slapping one of those claiming tattoos on my face. I’m not one of your scrolls, and I will not be forced into a permanent bonding.”

“For the record, you are nothing like any scroll I’ve ever met, and I value my life far too much to ever consider marring your lovely face with a claiming mark. As it happens, Brandt and I haven’t given much thought to claiming a chosen.”

“I thought Elites were all obsessed with getting claiming rights and finding their chosen. It certainly seems that way from what I’ve seen. Is there something wrong with you?”

“Obsessed? Is that any way to talk about the man who just rocked your world? No, there’s nothing wrong with either of us. We’ve been focused on our careers. And as you’ve already pointed out, our assignments have us being bounced all over the fucking galaxy like a pair of Ping-Pong balls in a vacuum. I think we’re about done with that part of our lives.”

“You want a change?”

Hawke nodded. “Brandt and I already talked about it before we got here, and we’re getting tired of moving from posting to posting. It would be nice to actually get to stay and run a place after the issues have been dealt with.”

“So, if you could, would you stay here?” she asked, not even sure what she wanted him to say in response. If he said no, that meant this was just a casual thing, and for the first time in her life, T’karra wasn’t certain that’s all she wanted. A yes was just as terrifying because it might mean they wanted something more permanent than she’d ever considered before. She shut down that line of thought before it snowballed into something she wasn’t ready to deal with. Her first priority was to deal with the threat to the sanctuary. When that was over with, she’d think about what, if anything, she wanted from the two commanders who had barged into her life and sent her spinning into a new orbit.

“Stay here? I think we might. If we had a reason.” Hawke tightened his grip on her fingers and gave her an intent look that made her breath catch in her throat. “If you think of a reason for us to stick around, you be sure to tell us.”

“Find the asshole who is targeting my family and my home, then we’ll talk.”

“Believe me, baby, I’d like nothing better. What I wouldn’t give to have a telepath on the station. I even checked the personnel files, and there’s not even an empath assigned here. They’d have our traitor pegged in five minutes—Fuck!” Hawke sat bolt upright and his free hand flew up to smack his forehead.

“I take it something has occurred to you, or do you often yell for no reason and hit yourself in the head?”

“You’re adorable when you’re being snarky, has anyone ever told you that?”

She blinked at him, too surprised to speak. No one ever called her adorable, period.

“We
do
have a telepath on board. Better yet, we have a D’Aire with a vested interest in finding out who attacked him and his crewmates, Rael! We’ve got the list of suspects whittled down to a handful now, I’m certain he’d be willing to do a surface scan and see if he can get a bead on who the traitor is at the sanctuary. It’s too early to contact Rael yet, so we’ve got time to update Brandt, eat breakfast and figure out some kind of strategy.” Hawke kissed her hard, then got to his feet, pulling her up after him as he headed for the door of the holo-room.

She started to follow, then stopped as she realized neither of them had a stitch of clothing on. “Aren’t we forgetting something?”

Hawke shot her a confused look. “Coffee, breakfast, Brandt, plan. What am I missing?”

“Clothes.”

He glanced down at himself, snorted with laughter, then took a long, heated look at her. “I vote I get dressed and you stay exactly as you are. Naked, flushed, and tousled is a good look for you, and it would certainly save us the time of telling Brandt what’s going on. One look at you, and he’d be up to speed. On second thought, you better get dressed.”

Hawke donned his pants and retrieved his quarterstaff from the ground. She watched in fascination as he pressed a button and the weapon retracted until it was only about a foot long.

That was handy.

T’karra retrieved her shirt from the grass and pulled it over her head before speaking, using those few seconds to shake off her sexual afterglow. She needed to be focused. “Do you think Brandt will have a problem with what happened here?”

“Hell, no. I’m thinking that if you walk upstairs naked, he’s going to want to do wicked things with you, and we don’t have time for that. He’ll just have to wait until tonight.”

“Who said anything about tonight?”

Hawke’s answering grin was hot enough to melt through the hull of a starship. “Today we’ll work, and if luck is on our side, we’ll find out who betrayed you. Tonight, we’re going to play. All three of us.”

T’karra’s head was suddenly full of lurid images of the three of them together and the scent of both Hawke’s arousal and her own thickened the air between them. “You have yourself a date,
tikta.
You both do.”

***

CHAPTER TEN

Brandt had just poured two mugs of coffee when he heard Hawke coming up the stairs. After years of living together, they had synched their morning ritual to the minute. He turned to offer Hawke his mug and froze as he registered a second presence in the kitchen, T’karra…holding Hawke’s hand.

Interesting.

“You’re up early, T’karra. I thought you’d still be sleeping after the day you had yesterday,” Brandt said, trying to ignore the few dozen questions that were tripping over each other in an attempt to be the first out of his mouth.

“I’m a light sleeper. When Hawke headed downstairs, I heard him and decided to follow.”

“And then she proceeded to beat my ass like I was wet-behind-the-ears recruit.” Hawke lifted his shirt to show off a set of scratches that ran across his chest.

“I hope you pounded some sense into his thick head while you were at it. So, all it took to get you two talking about was a few rounds of no-holds-barred brawling, and you didn’t even invite me.”

“I’ve been telling you for years, you snooze, you lose.”

T’karra let go of Hawke’s hand and crossed the kitchen, stopping right in front of Brandt. Without a word she took the steaming mugs of coffee, set them on the counter, then took his hands in hers. Her lips parted, but no words came out, and he realized she was actually unsure of herself. She was the most determined, confident female he’d ever known, and it meant a great deal to see that tiny sign of uncertainty. It told him that whatever was about to happen, it was important to her.

“You didn’t lose anything, Brandt. Hawke and I had some things we needed to work out alone, and we’ve done that. Unless you need to go a few rounds with me for some reason, I think we can skip that part.”

“There are a great many things I’d like to do with you, starshine, but fighting isn’t one of them.” He tugged on her hands, drawing her in close enough to do what he’d been aching to do for days. He kissed her, and the moment her lips parted beneath his, Brandt’s world went up in flames. She let go of his hands to wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her body tight to his. The scent and taste of her filled his senses, a spicy sweetness that was as unique as she was. He let go of her hands and grasped her hips, turning them both so that she was pinned up against the counter.

“And that’s my cue to go grab a shower…unless you two care to join me?” Hawke asked, snagging one of the mugs of coffee off the counter on his way out. T’karra waved him off without breaking their kiss, and Brandt felt something snap into place deep within his heart. She already fit into their lives so well it was as if she was somehow fated for them. Not that he believed in fate. Hard work and focus were the keys to forging a good life, not waiting around for destiny to wander by and hand out favors. He’d made a career out of that premise. Then T’karra had waltzed into their lives and made him wonder if maybe there was more to life than logic, after all. How else could he explain the fact he had T’karra here, in his kitchen and in his arms.

“I should shower, too,” T’karra murmured when he finally lifted his head and broke their kiss. Disappointment slammed into him at her words, and he had to force himself to let go of her, despite the fact he wasn’t ready to, not yet. Fuck, he wasn’t sure he’d ever want to let her go, not when she felt so damned good.

“You do that, and I’ll make us breakfast. Each of our rooms has its own shower, so you’re fine to use your own.”

She cocked her head to one side and smiled. “You could make breakfast, or you could come help me wash my back…if you wanted to.”

“I will help wash any part of you. Name it, I’m there.”

Her laughter wrapped around him like a comfortable cloak, warming his soul. “One day I’m going to take you up on that, but I happen to know that Hawke’s come up with an idea on how to catch our traitor, so we better be efficient.”

“You know, I used to love that word. Right now, I’m really not a fan.” He kissed her again and then bent his knees as he gripped her by the waist and hoisted her so she was hanging over his shoulder.

“Brandt Carver, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she hollered, kicking her feet and slapping her hands down on his ass.

“Getting you to your shower…efficiently.”

T’karra slapped Brandt on the ass once more before she gave up and let him carry her to the shower. She’d never expected him to pull something like this, and it reminded her that despite her attraction to the two men, she really didn’t know that much about them yet. Brandt was usually the reserved, thoughtful one who rarely said or did anything without a plan, yet here he was with her slung over his shoulder as he jogged up the stairs at an impressive speed.

He carried her into her room before lowering her back to the floor, holding her close until she got her bearings again. Not that it was easy to get her senses unscrambled when all she could smell was the heady scent of male desire, and everywhere she touched she found nothing but hard planes and muscle. Need hit her hard, making her clit throb in time to her racing heartbeat, but when she rose up to kiss him again he moved his head up, just out of reach.

“This wasn’t how I planned this, T’karra. This wasn’t something I wanted to rush. You deserve better. Hell, you deserve the best we can give you, and probably more besides.”

She laughed at that. “That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. You can spoil me another time. For now, I just want to be with you.” She gripped a handful of his shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers.

He groaned and buried a hand in her hair, wrapping his fingers in her braids for leverage before tugging her head back and kissing her hard. Passionate, forceful, and determined, he plundered her mouth with his. One kiss led to another, and soon they were caught up in a passionate dance, mouths mated as they tugged and tore at each other’s clothes. The moment he had her naked, T’karra found herself being walked backward, toward the bathroom. She let him guide her, too lost in her desires to do anything else. Her bare feet hit the cool tiles of the bathroom floor and then her back was pressed against the even cooler glass of the shower wall. Goosebumps chased across her overheated skin, clearing her lust-clouded brain for a moment.

Brandt entered the shower first, and she drank in the sight of his naked body. He was different than Hawke, but just as handsome with his fair skin and well-built frame. His paler coloring fascinated her, and she followed him inside to lay a hand on his chest, comparing the golden hue of her skin to his. She traced her fingers down the center of his torso, down across the hard ridges of his stomach until her hand was less than an inch from the head of his erect cock. The crown was a deeper color than the rest of his body, and when she touched him, she was intrigued by the way the skin darkened further.

“If you keep touching me like that, I’m going to forget what we came in here to do,” he warned her in a voice gone husky with need.

“Wasn’t that the point?” she asked, wrapping her fingers around his thick length.

“Fuck! No…the point was to shower. I’m sure that was the plan. Wasn’t it?”

“If the point was to shower, shouldn’t the water be on?” she asked, enjoying this new side to Brandt.

“Water. Right. I’m on it.” He turned his attention to the faucets, and T’karra took advantage of his distraction to continue her exploration of his body. She kept her hand around his cock, stroking it as she reached down to cup his balls with her other hand. Brandt’s entire body tensed, and then a shudder passed through him and he groaned aloud.

“Where’s the water?” she asked, trying to sound innocent, but there was no keeping the laughter out of her voice.

“Oh, it’s coming.” He finally managed to activate the shower, and within seconds they were cocooned in hot water and rising steam. He had her up against the wall seconds later, their water-slicked bodies rubbing against each other as he kissed her until her head spun.

Brandt was fighting to stay in control, and he was determined not to lose. Having T’karra naked and in his arms was better than anything he’d dreamed of, but he wanted even more. He’d meant what he said to her earlier, this wasn’t what he’d planned. When he took her for the first time, he’d do it right. Some things in life were worth waiting for, and at the top of his list was
her
. If he took her now, the sex would be incredible, he had no doubt about that, but he wanted to make love to her. With the last of his will, he let go of her and reached for the manual showerhead.

“Brandt?” she made his name into a question.

“Trust me. I’ve got you.” He drew her into his arms again, kissing her once before turning her so that the soft curve of her ass was pressed to his dick. She was warm and pliant, and when she leaned her head back against his shoulder, he felt a surge of protectiveness that left him breathless. He reached between her thighs, coaxing her to part her legs as he spread the lips of her pussy. With a flick of his finger, he turned on the flow of water to the showerhead in his hand, and the aimed the pulsing stream across her clitoris.

She moaned deep in her throat, and his cock twitched, hardening to the point of pain. It would be so easy to take her now, to slide into her slick heat and fuck her until they both lost their minds, but he didn’t. Instead, he played the water over her pussy, learning from each soft moan and arch of her hips. When she shivered, he dialed up the pressure, and when she reached back to grip his hips and hold him tight he knew he had her just where he wanted her. She bucked and writhed against him, his cock sliding along the crease of her ass until he was nearly as lost as she was.

Since the day she’d stormed out of their office, Brandt had been learning what he could about the Krytos. Culture, beliefs, even anatomy. It was time to put what he’d learned to good use. He dropped his head and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to a point just below her ear before sliding his lips down the side of her throat, lightly raking her skin with his teeth as he went. She trembled in his arms, and when he bit her just where her shoulder and neck met she came on a cry that echoed within the glass and tiled cubby. He caught her as her legs buckled and she sagged against him, still quaking with the aftershocks of her release.

“What…how did you know to do that?” she asked, her voice still shaky.

“I never start a mission without doing my research,” he told her as he set the showerhead back in its cradle.

“So,
I
was your mission? When did that happen?” she asked, her voice stronger now.

“I knew I wanted you the second we met. I just hadn’t planned on moving this fast. I had a plan…a good plan.”

T’karra’s joyful peals of laughter made his heart leap. “Plans change. I planned on being angry at the two of you for a hell of a lot longer, but here we are.” She turned and took hold of his cock, pumping it with hard strokes that threatened to snap the last threads of his control. He took her mouth in a hot kiss, holding her close as she milked his dick with a sure touch that made him wild. He fucked her hand as their tongues danced and hot water poured down on them both, closing them off in a world of their own. There was nothing but sensation here, heat and slick flesh, pleasure and need. His cock jerked and his balls tightened as raw lust uncoiled from deep in his loins, radiating outward. The hot splash of his cum on their skin blended with the water cascading down, and he uttered a groan that was lost in the depths of T’karra’s mouth.

His hips jerked, thrusting his cock against her fingers until he was finally spent, and he felt a heavy wave of contentment crash over him, filling every part of his soul.

“If that’s what foreplay is like with you, then tonight might just kill me,” she whispered, nuzzling his cheek before stepping out of his arms.

“Tonight?” he asked.

“Mhmm. If the past few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that life is uncertain. I intend to seize the good things in life and hang onto them for as long as I can. Plans and good intentions be damned. You and Hawke are the best things in my life, and I want to enjoy whatever time we’re given.” She gave him a tender smile that melted his heart, and at that moment, Brandt knew that whatever time he had with her, it would never be enough.

“So, if tonight is for celebrating, what’s the plan for today?”

She grabbed the soap and squirted a generous amount into her hand, lathering his chest before she answered. “First we shower. Then Hawke is going to go talk to Rael, the D’Aire who was attacked last night. He’s old enough he should be able to scan the surface thoughts of the most likely suspects in my pack and help us figure out who the traitor is. That is, if he’s willing to help us.”

Brandt took the soap from her and started working on covering her in suds while he considered what she’d just told him. It was a good plan, but only if they could come up with a reason to bring their suspects close to him without tipping them off. “We’ll need a ploy. Some excuse that brings us all together.”

She nodded. “I think I’ve got an idea that might work. We’ll have to hammer out the details over breakfast.”

* * * *

Everything was in place by early that evening, though Hawke was far from happy about the plan. They were back at the Black Hole, surrounded by a constantly changing sea of faces. Regular patrons kept coming by to ask after Danor’s recovery or to offer a few words of support to T’karra. The ebb and flow of people had Hawke on edge, as he found himself assessing the threat level of every being that came within striking distance. T’karra had laughed at him, pointing out that if anyone were to attack her, she was the most dangerous one at the table, but it didn’t make any difference. She was his, and he would protect her with his dying breath. They both would.