Beyond Galaxy's Edge (8 page)

“Yes.”

“But you won’t escape me.”

All three of them spun at the feminine voice.

Lady
Curiosity climbed over the edge of the ship with acrobatic grace and stood on the wooden railing. She held a rope in one hand and her mechanical arm was aimed at them.

Justyn saw some sort of mechanism built into her forearm. It held darts. His chest tightened.
Poison
.

“You made an incredible mess of my store.” The woman stepped gracefully off the railing, landing with the tiniest bend of
her knees. “And I believe you have something my employer was going to buy from the boy.”

“I’m Captain Nissa Sander of the GSS. I’ve taken the artifact and
the boy
into custody.”

Lady Curiosity smiled, looking every inch like a feline about to devour its dinner. “The Galactic Security Services?” Her laugh was a delicate tinkle. “Way out here?” The human part of her face hardened and her voice
lowered. “Where no one cares?”

Nissa kept her gun pointed at the woman. “Stay back.”

“Captain Sander?” Commander Tellis’s voice came through the timepiece on Nissa’s wrist. “Nissa, we’ve reached orbit and are in range for teletransportation.”

Justyn grinned at Nissa. “Nice work, Captain Smooth.”

She shot him a brief glance and the tiniest smile. “Three to transport, Commander. All humanoid,
don’t grab a cyborg by accident.”

Lady Curiosity’s mouth firmed into a flat line. She started forward.

“Stay back or I
will
fire.” Nissa’s voice was unforgiving. “Ten more seconds and we’ll be gone. Your employer will have to find something else to acquire.”

The woman shrugged. “He will. I don’t think he was particularly attached to the Constitution.” Her gaze narrowed. “But I still am not
inclined to forgive the mess you made of my shop.”

“Teletransportation in three seconds.” Tellis’s voice.

Lady Curiosity raised her arm.

“No!” Justyn called out.

As the dart hit Nissa in the neck, her body jerked. Her gun hit the deck.

Justyn leaped out and caught her. He yanked the dart out of her skin.

“It burns,” she whispered.

Solomon made to move, but Justyn jabbed one pistol
in the base of the man’s spine. Justyn speared Lady Curiosity with a stare. “What kind of poison is it?”

The woman’s smile was smug. “Oh, it isn’t poison.”

Justyn frowned. Nissa began to writhe. “What, then?”

“An aphrodisiac. One that sets the blood on fire and brings all a person’s needs boiling to the surface.” The half-metal woman winked. “I suspect you should be thanking me, Mr. Phoenix.”

The world dissolved in the bright blue light of teletransportation.

As the bridge of the
Freedom
materialized in front of Nissa, she fought to stay upright. Her skin was on fire and felt too tight. A fine sheen of perspiration covered her from head to toe, and her clothes were choking her.

But she was a captain and she had to job to do.

“Commander Tryker, please take Mr. Solomon to the brig.” She watched her head of security move toward the
treasure hunter. “Lieutenant Galen, please secure this and run the necessary tests.” She held out the metal cylinder out to her CSO. Damn it, her hands were shaking.

Luciana took the holder, eyeing it reverently. “You found it. Well done, Captain.”

Nissa felt a wave of fire wash over her and gritted her teeth. “I need to shower and change.” She swiveled and her gaze crashed into Justyn’s.

“Nissa…”

His deep voice was like a stroke of fingers over her skin. She shivered and took a step toward him before she caught herself.

“You need to get to sickbay,” he said quietly.

She shook her head. That was
not
what she needed. Gossip travelled on a starship with the energy of a star going supernova. She didn’t want her…condition bandied about. She wanted quiet and privacy. “Please, could
you get a medscope and bring it to my cabin?”

He eyed her for a long second then nodded.

Nissa wasn’t sure how she made it to her cabin. She weaved like a drunken starfreighter worker on station leave, her body consumed by flames. For one humiliating moment, she sagged against the corridor wall and pressed her thighs together to fight the burning, needy sensation between them. She wanted to
touch herself and rub until she found some release.

She staggered into her cabin with a sob. In her bedroom, she ripped off the constricting corset and dragged in some air.

It didn’t help.

Next she ripped the gauntlets off her forearms and worked at the slick trousers. With shaking hands, she took her contacts out and then ripped away the derma patches on her skin. It took her a few attempts
but finally she got them off.

She stood there in only her panties and the billowy white shirt that hit the top of her thighs. The cool air of the cabin barely dimmed the heat of her skin.

“Nissa?”

Justyn’s deep voice came from the living area. She moaned and steeled herself against the boiling rush of needs and wants swirling inside her. She panted, trying to get air into her constricted
lungs.

“Leave the medscope on the coffee table and leave.”
There
. That sounded relatively steady. Considering she wanted to strip the last of her clothes off and rub herself against something like a cat.

“No.” He appeared in the doorway. He hadn’t changed but somewhere along the way, he’d lost the waistcoat. His shirt was snowy white against his darker skin. In one hand he held the slim metal
wand of the medscope.

Panic gripped her throat like choking hands. She held one hand up, like that could ward off six feet two inches of hard male. “Get out.”

“Jesus, Nissa. Just lean on someone for once.” He stalked toward her.

She slammed a hand against his chest. Her fingers twisting in his shirt. “I don’t want to lean on you. I want to knock you to the ground, tear your clothes off and
rub myself against you.”

He went still as stone. “Shit.”

Her entire body trembled. “Yes. Shit. Now please, don’t test my tenuous control.”

“Let me treat you with the medscope and this’ll all go away.”

Nissa bit down on her bottom lip. The flames licking her skin were getting worse. Far worse.

“Sit down,” he said.

Her legs were barely holding her upright. She dropped down. The cool
fabric of the cover against her bare thighs almost made her moan.

Justyn moved to sit beside her, then paused and obviously thought better of it. He knelt in front of her. When his gaze lingered on her bare legs, Nissa’s breath hitched. She tried to fight her body’s response to the flash she saw in his eyes but against her will her legs shifted, her thighs falling apart.

He hissed in a breath.
“Fuck, Nissa—” the knuckles on the hand holding the medscope turned white “—how about you lie down?”

She swiped a trembling hand across her lips, then dropped backward, closing her eyes.

She heard the medscope switch on, followed by its gentle hum. She knew it would be emitting a gentle, blue light. His clothes rustled as he moved closer. She imagined him leaning over her, his big body caging
her to the bed. Then her feverish mind took over and she imagined the hard weight of him pushing her down into the sheets, the two of them twisting together, fighting to get at bare flesh.

Her chest started rising and falling rapidly and she twisted her hands in the sheets.

“Hold on, sweetheart.”

His voice was close. His body was so close. She could reach out and… She tried to focus on the
fact the medscope would be eliminating the aphrodisiac from her blood stream. The small device could treat small to minor wounds in just a few minutes.

Time ticked by with agonizing slowness and she wasn’t feeling any better.

She heard the scope click off. “Justyn?”

He sigh was loud. “I’m sorry, Nissa. It’s too late. The chemical’s spread too far and the medscope can’t remove it.”

She
made a strangled sound.

“The readout says there should be no side effects though and the chemical will wear off naturally.”

Her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. The room felt tiny and suffocating, like all the air had been sucked out the nearest airlock.

Heat flared across her skin. She writhed amongst the sheets, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. She hated
the lack of control, that her body was no longer under her command. “It’s getting worse.” She tore at the buttons on her shirt, desperate for something to cool the raging fire.

“Maybe a cold shower?” He gave a tortured laugh. “A tried-and-true antidote that’s been around since old Earth times.”

His voice…it stroked over her like a caress. Her nipples hardened to tight points and she was drenched
between her legs. Another sob tore from her throat.

Justyn made a choking noise. “God, sweetheart, I’d do anything to help you.”

Yes, he would. Working alongside him the last few days had shown Nissa there was much more to Justyn Phoenix. She pushed up on her elbows.

He was still on his knees, his hands digging into his hard thighs, his head hanging down. The lights in her cabin caught the
golden strands in his hair, making them shine like gold. Such a delicious-looking man.

And one who hid so much under his devil-may-care façade.

Another flare of heat flushed over her from her toes to her cheeks. The heat was growing so much that it burned away the last of her rational thoughts.

She sat up and scooted back to the edge of the bed. As she moved, she trapped Justyn with her
legs.

His head shot up. His silver-gray eyes darkened. “Nissa…”

That one word held a wealth of meaning—warning, anger, desire.

“Touch me,” she murmured.

He shook his head, his strong throat working as he swallowed.

“Touch me.
Please
.” She tightened her legs on him, her knees digging into his sides. With one hand, she flicked at the last few buttons of her shirt. Air brushed over her
breasts and belly, but the raging inferno was too strong to be cooled.

His gaze raked over her and she saw the answering flames in his eyes. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

“No. You’ll hate me after.” His gaze collided with hers. “I don’t want you to hate me.”

He wasn’t going to help her. Despair rocketed through Nissa. Her hand dropped to her own breast, rubbing, her nail flicking over her
nipple. But it didn’t give her any relief.

His eyes went straight to her hand, and the muscles in his arms flexed.

She trailed her hand lower, over her flat belly. Lower, and dipped insider her panties.

He groaned. “Nissa.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Jesus. Fuck. Shit.”

The touch of her fingers wasn’t enough. Another sob broke free. “Justyn…please. Help me.”

***

Justyn was
in hell.

Of all the many and varied fantasies he’d ever had about having a naked Nissa Sander laid out on a bed in front of him, this situation had never, ever starred in them.

Whatever he did here, she’d hate him for it. Hell, she’d hate the fact that he’d seen her like this.

But as he watched her body shaking, burning up with need, his resolve weakened. A tear rolled down her cheek, destroying
the last of his control. There was no way he could leave her like this, hurting and in need.

He’d never deny this woman help when she needed it.

He sucked in a breath and banished all the clamoring voices in his head. He pushed up, circling her thighs with his hands.

She arched up into his touch. Her tongue flitting out to lick her lips.

Damning himself to hell, he stood and scooped her
into his arms.

Confusion flashed over her face. “What are you—?”

“Not on the bed.” The temptation was far too great. No way could he control himself from going too far if they were both on the bed. He wasn’t a man used to denying himself anything, but this was too important for him to screw it up with a lack of self-control. Already his cock was like a steel rod against the fastening of his
trousers.

He strode into her living area. Setting her on her feet, he pushed her toward the back of the sofa. Maybe if he couldn’t see all the expressions flitting across her face or her gorgeous breasts, he had a chance to control himself.

He bent her over the back of the sofa. And stared at the smooth golden skin of her back, the delicate knobs of her spine and her damn fine ass lifted up
to him. That sexy diamond-scale pattern traced over her shoulder blades and her lower back.

His cock throbbed. Okay, not better at all. But deep down he knew nothing much was going to help him. He liked every part of Nissa Sander, from what was on the outside to what was on the inside.

When she reached an arm back, trying to grab him, he caught her wrist. He moved behind her, pressing her
arms out along the back of the sofa. She arched her back, her bare breasts bobbing in front of her and her ass pushing back against him. A groan tangled in his throat.

“No.” His voice sounded like rusty nails on steel. “I’ll touch you. But you won’t touch me and I will not fuck you.”

She writhed. “Justyn—”

“No. You really would hate me. But I’ll help you, Nissa. I promise.” He leaned down
and pressed his lips to the elegant sweep of her shoulder blade.

“Yes.” The word hissed out of her.

The skin on her back was smooth and that delicious honey-golden color. He traced a path down her spine, luxuriating in the taste of her, taking his time to lick over her patterned skin. If only things were different…

Justyn stopped thinking and focused on her. He let one hand drift over her
side, down the outside of her thigh.

She was making incoherent cries, her entire body trembling. Her hands gripped the sofa, clenching it tightly.

“It burns,” she whispered, looking back over her shoulder.

He looked up the sleek length of her. Her yellow eyes were glittering with her burning need. “I know, sweetheart. I’ll make it better.”

She bucked against him. “It’s getting worse.”
Another choked cry. “I feel so empty inside, as though the flames are eating everything.”