Jerred's Price (8 page)

She was definitely in over her head.

50

Jerred’s Price

Chapter Seven

Her self-imposed exile didn’t last nearly as long as she would have liked. Not two hours after she had gone to her cabin, Jerred commed her and asked her to come out.

“Our guests want to meet you,” he had said through the speaker, giving her no indication of what she should do or how she should act. She opened the door uncertainly and walked out into a situation that seemed tense at best.

There were five armed men in the room. She tried not to look at any of them directly, focusing her attention on Jerred instead. He stood as she walked into the room, holding out one hand to her.

She looked to his face for some kind of sign, but it was completely impassive. She took his hand and was strangely relieved when he pulled her against his side.

Then she looked at the man standing across from him and felt faint.

He was big—every bit as big as Jerred, although not as muscular. He had short, spiky white hair and his skin was so pale it hardly seemed to have pigment at all. His eyes were a piercing blue, light and icy. Tattooed across one cheek was a scarlet symbol, something she didn’t recognize. It looked bloody and carnal. She would have thought him handsome if there had been even a hint of warmth or humanity in his eyes. There was none.

“Giselle, this is Josiah,” Jerred said casually, as if they were at a party among friends. “He and I are business associates.”

“I don’t think Jerred intended for us to meet you,” Josiah said, flashing his teeth in a parody of smile. “He seemed to want to keep you out of the way. Naturally, I protested.

I wanted to see what kind of woman would make Jerred feel protective.”

“Nice to meet you,” Giselle said, feeling ridiculous. “But as you can see, I’m not really dressed for company. I really think it would be better if I just went back to my cabin until you finish your meeting.”

“Our meeting is going to take longer than I initially anticipated,” Josiah replied smoothly. She felt Jerred’s arm tighten around her, and she tried not to betray her fear.

She had no doubt this strange man would enjoy it if she bolted. His men watched her closely, hands hovering over their weapons.

“I’d like to invite you and Jerred over to my ship to share a meal,” he continued.

“I’m sure you’d enjoy the opportunity to meet more of my crew.”

“We’d be delighted,” Jerred said, his tone anything but. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that you’ll leave the ship untouched while we enjoy your hospitality?”

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“Yes, that would be too much to hope for,” Josiah said. “I don’t trust you, Jerred.

I’ve never made a secret of that. Now you’re on my territory and we’ll do things my way.”

She shivered, and Jerred squeezed her again, as if trying to comfort her. It was a nice gesture, but it wasn’t enough. She didn’t like Josiah, not one little bit, and she’d been a waitress long enough to trust her instincts where strangers were concerned.

“We’ll leave immediately. Jerred, would you like to take the lead?” Josiah asked politely. Jerred nodded tightly, then dropped his arm from her shoulder to take her hand. She gripped his fingers gratefully.

“How long will we be off the ship?” she whispered. Jerred shrugged, then smiled reassuringly at her as he led the way to the airlock.

It took them less than five minutes to make the short trip to Josiah’s station. She’d known it was big, but as they walked out of the airlock and down the corridor, she realized it was more than a small space habitat. It was a fortress. There were tough-looking men everywhere, all carrying weapons and eyeing them suspiciously. Several times she thought she spotted women, and even a child or two peering down from an overhanging railing, but it was hard to tell. The lighting was just a bit dimmer than standard.

They were escorted to a small, well-appointed room, and Josiah spoke again.

‘You’ll find toiletries in the fresher, and I had them round up some clothing for you,” he said. “We’ll have dinner in an hour. I anticipate you’ll be with us for a while, so make yourself comfortable.”

He gave them a mocking bow, and then the door slid shut behind him. She turned to Jerred, and saw to her disgust that he had a bemused smile on his face.

“You can’t tell me this was part of the original plan,” she asked. “You said it would be a quick meeting. I don’t think this man intends to let us go!”

“That’s a distinct possibility,” he said softly. “At least at the moment. Don’t worry, though.”

“Easy for you to say,” she snapped, throwing herself down on the bed. She draped one arm across her eyes, and decided that Jerred’s ship really wasn’t so bad after all. At least he didn’t lock her in the cabin.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked after a moment. To her disgust, her voice wavered.

“I think we should just relax,” he said. “I would imagine we’ll be treated to a very nice dinner. Josiah likes to show off.”

“Lovely,” she muttered. “And after that?”

“If things go well, we’ll be done here within the next cycle and be on our way.”

“Do I want to know what will happen if things don’t go well?”

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Jerred’s Price

“You may want to be careful not to display too much personal loyalty toward me,”

he said after a brief pause. “There are always opportunities for people with Josiah. You may wish to examine them.”

“Wonderful,” she muttered, and rolled over onto her stomach. She thought longingly of Manya’s, where all she had to think about was filling drink orders.

Granted, good waitressing was a challenging job, but it was fairly straightforward.

People ordered drinks, she brought them.

Nobody ever locked her up in the process.

She felt the bed depress as he came to sit next to her, and his hand rubbed slowly up and down her back.

“I’m sorry that you’re caught in this,” he said after a moment. “I really didn’t anticipate that we’d be here this long, let alone that we’d be leaving the ship.”

She tried to reply, but to her disgust a snuffling noise came out instead. She was crying, dammit. It wasn’t fair. She burrowed her head in the covers, allowing him to rub her back steadily as the tears flowed. It started slowly at first, but the more she thought about everything that had happened to her, the more she felt like crying. Her home had been destroyed. She’d been forced to leave Manya’s. Now she was stuck in a cabin that belonged to some damn space pirate, all because her “rescuer” had business with him. Things didn’t look good. It felt good to cry, but she wasn’t able to keep it up for long. Her natural pragmatism kept rearing its head, demanding that she get control of her emotions and figure out the next move.

After a while she sat up, wiping her face with her fingers. He sat next to her, his eyes filled with such compassion and concern that it hurt. Without thinking, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. He kissed her back, a soft, gentle kiss that seemed to wash over her with infinite patience. It was enough to make her want to cry again.

She reached up her arms to deepen the kiss, but as she did so the chamber door slid open and a young woman stepped in. She looked past them at the wall, carefully ignoring their embrace, and held something out stiffly before her.

“Captain said to bring you this,” she muttered. “To wear for dinner. Said your coverall was ugly.”

Jerred stood and took the swath of fabric from her, and she turned to leave the room. Giselle waited until she was gone before she stood and joined him.

“Nothing like a vote of confidence from your captor,” she said wryly. “What is it?”

“It seems to be a dress,” he said. She took it from him and held it up. Her breath caught.

It was a lovely, filmy floating thing, made of some kind of shimmering fabric she didn’t recognize. The color, a deep, emerald green, would provide the perfect foil for her reddish curls. It was generously cut, too, to accommodate her chest. A chill washed over her as she realized just how closely Josiah must have examined her body.

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Joanna Wylde

“You might as well put it on,” Jerred said softly. “He won’t be happy until you do. I would imagine you’ll look lovely in it. He has good taste.”

“I can’t decide which of you I like least right at this moment,” she muttered acidly.

“I really can’t.”

She stalked off toward the fresher without waiting to hear his reply.

To her disgust, the dress did look lovely. Incredible, in fact. She’d never seen herself look so fine before. The fabric’s color was perfect for her complexion, giving her a soft glow like a goddess come to life. It did wonderful things for her chest, too. She’d always been well-endowed, but the cut of the dress celebrated the voluptuousness of her figure with a new level of comfort. Whoever had designed it was a genius, she thought. It supported her very well, yet left her feeling as sexy as if she were wearing nothing at all.

There were cosmetics in the fresher, and while she’d initially decided not to use them, she couldn’t help herself. She looked so good, dammit. She wanted to see the full effect. And she wanted to see what kind of effect it had on Jerred.

She didn’t have to ask him if he liked it. He froze as she walked back into the room, a terrible longing across his face.

“Do you like it?’ she asked, knowing the question was rhetorical. She could see the bulge in his pants all the way across the room. He was hers—in that moment she knew he’d do anything she asked of him.

She sauntered over toward him, and laid one hand flat across his chest provocatively.

“I think we’ve got at least twenty minutes or so before dinner. Can you think of any way we might pass the time?”

He swallowed, and she gave a low, throaty laugh. No matter how mad he made her, seeing him like this made her want him. And she
did
want him.

She could smell him, see the pupils of his eyes widening as he looked at her. She let her hand slide slowly down his chest toward his waist, and felt the stiffening of his body beneath her touch. She leaned forward on her tiptoes, and offered her lips to him in a kiss. He didn’t need to be asked twice.

He took her mouth harshly, his lips ravaging hers and pulling out a response that was nearly uncontrollable. Her arms wrapped around him. He picked her up, grinding their hips together even as they stood in the center of the room. She felt his fingers working the fabric of her dress up, sensing the exact moment he realized she wasn’t wearing any undergarments. His mouth grew harder. His fingers clutched the rounded mounds of her buttocks, and she wiggled against him enthusiastically.

He pulled his mouth away from her and gasped.

“Lift me up just a bit more,” she whispered. He hardly seemed to understand her, so she took matters into her own hands, boosting herself up his body. “Now, open your pants,” she muttered. “I need you inside me.

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Jerred’s Price

She clung to him as his hand reached past her. Anxious seconds were wasted, and then she felt his length springing free below her.

Instantly, she lowered herself down over him and they both moaned. His hands were once more firmly grasping her cheeks, supporting her as they stood in the middle of the room, fully connected. She marveled at his strength. Even that short period when she’d fully supported her own weight had been enough to strain her arms. He hardly seemed to notice that he held her. His hips rocked against hers, and she wiggled in response. An answering shot of sensation shimmied through her, and she rocked again.

Intriguing what a difference their new position made. Parts of her body that had never been fully touched before were being touched. Each twitch of the hips brought new sensation…

She would have liked to stay still for a while, fully exploring this new position, but he seemed unable to control himself. Beads of sweat started to build up on his face, and his hips pressed against hers until she started moving faster. Up and down she rode, seating herself on his fully length with each movement. Every stroke brought her just a little closer to where she wanted to be. There was a tightness in her legs, a need for something that was becoming impossible to ignore. She tilted her pelvis inward, wanting to get closer, knowing it would be hers if she only waited a bit longer.

Each thrust seemed to bring him closer, too. She could feel it in his cock, so hard it had to be close to bursting. But she could also feel it in the rest of his body. He breathed harshly, and every part of him was rock hard from the strain. His motions became jerkier, and then he was moving across the room to back her against the wall.

“Can’t get enough leverage,” he muttered in her ear, thrusting into her with a new strength. His cock pinned her, grinding her into the wall with an urgency that was impossible to ignore. He thrust harder, and each time he hit home, his pelvis ground against her clit with an intensity that made her want to scream. She was so close, it seemed like each thrust would set her over the edge. There was a wire inside her body pulling tight, winding so hard that her heart pounded to keep up. If that wire didn’t break she would die, smothered by the pressure from within. He thrust into her again and again, and then she screamed as he gave one final thrust, slamming into her with such force that she knew she’d be bruised in a few hours.

She screamed, clutching him to her body as she convulsed in orgasm. Her body gripped him so tight he couldn’t move, and then she felt the hard, hot spurts of his seed within her. He moaned, leaning into her with his full weight, pinning her against the wall so hard he could hardly breathe.

They gasped for breath, and then a sound entered her consciousness.

A horrible, nasty, intrusive sound.

A lone, slow clap of the hands.

She closed her eyes as Jerred stiffened, then slowly lowered her so her feet could touch the floor. He shielded her with his body as she fumbled with the dress, doing his best to preserve her modesty.

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Joanna Wylde

When she was done, he fixed his own clothing. He stepped back from her, and she opened her eyes to find Josiah watching them with sick amusement. Behind him were two of his armed men, their faces carefully impassive.