Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 (17 page)

And so what if she didn’t trust him? Hells, he could count on three fingers the beings he trusted. He respected a suspicious woman, especially one who could use the power of her sexy body to back that up. He scowled, as he pictured Scala sauntering away for good. The hells with that. He’d keep her around. She just needed to learn her place with him, that was all.
 

Not as his lady, but ... ah, he didn’t know. Part of his coterie. An important part.

He remembered how she’d smiled at Darry as he, Tal, fucked her against a wall. How she’d kissed Trix with unselfconscious enjoyment.
 

And when he pictured her in his arms while Trix and Darry came naked into the room and asked to be included, he could see her looking up at him and smiling, that naughty twinkle in her eyes that said ‘Now we’re gonna have some fun’.

Damn it to all seven hells, no! She was the wrong woman.

He scowled impatiently and broke the link, scrubbing his hands over his face. Fuck it, he was tired, that was all. He had a tough, canny crew and more firepower than most IGSF fighters, should they have need. He’d complete this mission and show her his worth, and then the infuriating woman would look at him in a new light.
 

Kiri, he meant Kiri. Fuck, he needed sleep.

* * *

Scala stood at the turn of the passageway into the
Z’s
galley, her feet stuck to the floor like stones. She did not want to face Tal and his ... lovers. Every time she pictured the three of them holding each other, the same pangs of anger, envy and loneliness snarled in her chest.
 

“You’re only here for a few more days,” she told herself.
And nights
, a sly voice murmured. She shoved it down. Didn’t matter what he’d offered, she couldn’t accept.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped around the corner. The voices she’d heard when she stepped out of her cubby quieted. Trix and Darry looked up from their breakfasts to study her. Dalg kept shoveling food in his mouth.

“Morning,” she said, avoiding all their gazes.
 

Tal leaned against the counter beside the coffee maker, a steaming mug in his hands. She chose a mug and turned to fill it, refusing to react to the prickling electricity of his nearness, the warm brush of his shoulder on hers.
 

“Sleep well?” he asked in her ear. She hunched her shoulder, shivering as one of his silky braids caressed her cheek. Were the damn things alive, for goddess’ sake?

“No. Which is why I need caffeine.” She watched her mug fill with dark, steaming brew, then pressed the button to add soy creamer. Taking a long drink, she nearly groaned with gratitude at the strength of the brew.
 

“What’s on for today?” she asked.

When he didn’t answer, she looked up at him over her mug. He was examining her, a look in his eyes that sent a frisson of alarm down her spine. Possessive, analytical. Like she was a weapon or a vehicle that wasn’t performing well and needed work.

He took a drink of his own coffee and gave her a limpid look over the rim. At least he didn’t seem to be carrying a grudge, although with him, who could tell? And why should he anyway, when he’d promptly slid into bed with two willing bodies, while she’d slept alone, only her pride for comfort.
 

“Today you earn your keep,” he told her.

She took another drink of scalding coffee, wishing it contained a shot of something stronger. “As long as I get to do it with my clothes on.”

Tal smiled. “In a manner of speaking.”

Oh, hells. That didn’t sound good. But it seemed he was done tormenting her.

“First,” he said, straightening to pace across the galley with restless energy. “We need to find out which of these places the Serp is holed up in—if any. Since you’re a native, we’re gonna send you in.”

She shrugged. “Just ask around?”

“No, I picked out a cover for you. You’re the mistress of a wealthy man, looking for a new hideaway for the two of you, away from his jealous wife. Since you’re a bitch who’s earning your credit the hard way, you want only the best. That means the Lure Valley.”

“So I’m shopping for one of these homes?” Scala drank her coffee, her mind racing. There was an easier way to access the information—ask her handlers to get it. But she couldn’t very explain her access to this information to Darkrunner, unless she was feeling masochistic—which she wasn’t.
 

Besides, he owed her some new clothing, and she had nothing against a bit of role-playing. She walked over to refill her cup. “I’ll need to dress the part.”

“The resort has shops,” Trix said. “You can buy some things there.”

Scala turned with her full mug and a smile. “I’m in. What’s my credit limit?”

Darry and Trix looked at each other and laughed.
 

“You don’t have one, Snake Eyes,” Tal said. “I’m fucking loaded.”

Then he reached over and put one finger under her chin, closing her mouth. Scala barely noticed. She’d known he was wealthy. The Z was the most deluxe craft she’d ever been aboard, apart from the
Orion
. But no credit limit? At all?

“Starry,” she managed. “Haven’t been shopping in a while.”

“Then have fun,” he said, and patted her on the ass. “And remember, I like lace. Black lace.”

“I don’t,” she said sweetly. “And you want a bitch, Darkrunner? You got one.”

This time she walked out on him.

* * *

Scala paused in the center of the enclosed plaza of the Lure Valley Resort shops to strike a pose, hands on her hips and a petulant scowl on her face. She wore her black tights with a black tank borrowed from Trix, and a pair of gold flats Kiri had sent her. They were the least shabby clothing she owned, basics that a wealthy woman might have in her wardrobe.

She surveyed the selection of shops and then strode into the nearest, displaying one orange dress in the window, a stunning piece of lii silk that shimmered in the muted sunlight pouring through the protective glass roof of the plaza.

An elegant Serpentian emerged to meet her. The woman cast an encompassing glance over Scala and smiled tightly. “May I help you?”
 

Scala frowned at her. “I don’t know yet. Depends if I like what you’ve got. I want everything for a long weekend here. From the skin out.”

The woman raised her thin brows. “Certainly. And to whom will I be charging this?”

Scala handed over the com device Darry had given her, in the name of one Haarl Taghar, a businessman from Gavial City.

The sales clerk used her com to check the account, and her eyes widened. She turned to Scala, beaming as if she’d suddenly realized they were long-lost friends. “My dear. Do come with me.”

* * *

Darry let out a long, low whistle. Tal looked up from the Flash’s financial reports he was studying via holovid. “What?”

His lieutenant was sprawled in one of the cabin chairs, his feet up on the arm of another. Darry jerked his chin at the surveillance holovid open before him. “I’d say Scala put your credit to good use. What do you think?”

Tal stared at the woman strolling out of one of the fancy-ass shops in the resort, a hovercart close behind her, laden with bags.
 

“That is
fine
,” Darry muttered. “Sure hope Trix did some shopping too.”

Tal didn’t answer. He was too busy taking in the view.

She was sex walking, from her head to her toes. She wore a tiny halter top made entirely of gold lace, cut so low he could see the inner curves of her breasts from top to bottom, and the slender, muscled perfection of her arms and shoulders. Scarlet tights clung to every nuance of her swinging hips and long legs, and on her feet were gold sandals so thin and strappy they merely highlighted her high-arched feet. Over one shoulder was draped a jacket of scarlet leather.

Pride and admiration spread through him as he looked back to her face, now adorned with cosmetics that made those golden eyes look huge and mysterious, and her lips wet and inviting. She looked like a wealthy man’s mistress, all right. And she was
his.
 

“Might have known she’d find a way to change that pendant up,” he muttered, smiling at her slender throat. She still wore the device, but now it was gold-plated. And instead of the choker, around her neck was tied a thin scarf of fine lii silk.

“I wanna fuck her,” Darry groaned. “So bad.”

Tal knew the feeling. His cock was hard as one of the rocks out on this quarking desert. He wanted her on her knees before him, while Darry took her from behind, and then vice versa. He wanted to watch her and Trix together, while he directed every kiss, every touch and then reaped the sweet benefits of their lust.

“You will. Have patience.”

“Promise?”

Tal cupped the other man’s head in an affectionate grasp as they both watched Scala slip aboard one of the hovercycles, packages tagged on behind her. Straddling the sleek vehicle in her brief costume, the blazing sun gilding her, she looked like a desert princess, dangerous and desirable. Hells, she wasn’t even squinting in the brilliant light reflecting off the sandstone of the patios around the resort.

“There’s Trix,” Darry said. He chuckled. “She looks a little different than our Serp.”

Trix emerged from the plaza, clad in a pair of dark sungoggles, a broad brimmed hat and a light but enveloping cloak. Sun protection gear for the non-native. She also towed packages.

“Maybe we can have us a fashion show,” Darry suggested. “The kind where they take the things off to music.”

“Later, mate,” Tal said, giving Darry’s short ponytail a gentle yank. “We’ve got work to do.”

No matter how big a hard-on they both had, they’d celebrate
after
they sprang their trap.

“Wait,” Darry said, leaning forward. “Scala’s linking someone.”

“Volume up,” Tal ordered.
 

The Serpentian leaned back on her cycle, propping one leg up on the seat as if she were in a shaded loggia instead of sitting in the brutal heat of the sun, wind swirling sand across the ground at her feet.
 

They listened as she greeted the Serpentian she’d linked the day before. Her cousin, who took a few moments to marvel over the new clothing and makeup.

“Hey,” Scala said after a moment. “I need a favor, if you can.”

“Sure,” the other woman said.
 

The skin on the back of Tal’s neck tightened.

“Shit, what is she up to?” Darry breathed, echoing Tal’s thoughts with eerie precision.
 

The video fuzzed and then straightened, but now they could no longer hear what Scala was saying.
 

The
Z
moved, rocking slightly.
 

“Damn it,” Darry said, slapping his hand on his knee. “Wind is interrupting the link. Must be this fucking sand or something.”

“Could be this sun,” Tal said. “Earth tech may not be built to withstand it. Lot closer than ours.”

Darry snorted. “Not to mention we rarely see it in New Seattle.”

Tal didn’t take his eyes off Scala as she spoke, gesturing gracefully with her hands. She had no idea anyone was listening in, of course. Or did she? Did she have some new tech to foil his surveillance?

“Only one way to find out what she’s up to.”
 

Darry groaned. “You’re gonna use your mojo on her, aren’t you? Tal, no!”

Tal smiled faintly. “Relax. She won’t feel a thing.”

“No, but the rest of us will have to catch you when you crash.”

Tal waggled Darry’s head from side to side. “Make it a soft landing for me, right?”

Chapter Eleven

Scala expected to be summoned for questioning the sec she stepped onto the Z, but instead the cabin was empty. Dalg was in the cockpit, but only Darry lounged in one of the cabin chairs. He looked her over and smiled, twin dimples appearing in his cheeks. His hair was pulled back from his face, emphasizing his eyes. He wore a tank shirt that revealed his slim but strong shoulders and arms.

“You clean up well,” he said. “I
like
.”

“Same goes, handsome,” she replied. “Where’s Tal?” She wanted to share her idea with him—that is, the edited version.

Darry pursed his lips, biting his inner cheek as he considered her. His gaze slipped to the small, flat object he was flipping over his knuckles and back again. “He’s busy. Sit down, we’ll have a drink.”

“Thanks, but I need to talk to Tal.” She peered at his toy. “What is that?”

He caught the thing and presented it to her on his palm. “It’s a coin. What they used to use for credit on Earth I, back before the tech. This one is really old. Solid gold.”

“Nice,” she approved.

He nodded. “Gift from Tal.” He looked up at her through his lashes. “He treats us well.”

She gave him a look. “That’s great for you. I’m just here and gone. Where is he? In his bunk?”

The blond sighed. “Yeah. That’s where he is.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” She turned on her heel and pushed the hovercart down the passageway to her bunk. Shoving the packages into the storage bins, she paused to survey them with satisfaction. There, that was better. Nothing useless as an empty clothing container.