MissionMenage (2 page)
Authors: Cynthia Sax
* * * * *
Vegas slipped into the seedy Ungarian bar, scanning the
occupants as he moved silently along the shadows.
A drunk slumped facedown on a table, his sallow cheek
resting in a puddle of green liquor, his eyes closed. The leather-clad
bartender had his back to him, watching the inter-galactic Olympics on the
large screen. The Federation bounty hunter drinking alone at the bar didn’t
turn his head, while a hooker, with brunette curls a shade darker than Vegas’
mate’s, cast an assessing glance over the tattooed mercenary, her painted face
hard and calculating.
No one watched him. No one watched his contact.
Vegas entered the quiet corner booth and slid soundlessly
into the seat across from Ug. “Friend.”
“
Grrap
!
” The big beast man jumped, jarring his
frosted tankard of native ale, the green liquid running down the glass,
gathering in a pool on the metallic table. “I hate it when you sneak up on me
like that.”
“It
is
what I’m trained to do.” Vegas grinned at his
depot-bound coconspirator. “Is she arriving on schedule?”
My destined mate,
my reward and the female the Federation future-benders predict I’ll love for
all time.
He stroked the smooth sides of an empty tankard, keeping his
expression carefully blank while his heart beat in double time.
“If she doesn’t get lost again, yeah, she’ll dock at
daybreak.” Ug raised the pitcher and filled Vegas’ glass with ale before
topping up his own. “I like her, friend.” Their gazes met, Ug’s expression
uncharacteristically grave. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I’ll protect her with my life,” Vegas vowed with no
hesitation. She was his. “And the cargo?”
“It arrives tonight.” His friend’s blue hairy face creased
with worry. “I’m glad for the quick in and out, considering…”
“Considering?” Vegas stilled, his complete attention on the
big Ungarian.
Ug leaned forward and Vegas nearly gagged, an overpowering
animal scent permeating his friend’s thick fur. “You have someone asking after
you, someone dressed in black, with a pale face and red eyes.”
Fuck.
Vegas placed one hand on the phaser attached to
his belt. “Does he know what I look like?”
“No, but he knows what you want to do. He’s looking for an
individual of your species accompanying a shipment.”
Vegas released his breath.
She’d be safe.
He stared
into the green ale, watching the bubbles rise, contemplating this new
development. “The mission will be more complicated, but it is still viable.”
He glanced across the room. The sequins on the hooker’s
bright-red top reflected the light, drawing attention to her generous chest.
His mate had smaller, firmer breasts, tipped with pink, pert nipples aching to
be plucked. Vegas flexed his fingers, his breathing deepening and his body hardening.
Soon
.
“I can’t accompany the shipment,” he decided.
Too risky.
“Change the orders to cargo only, no passengers.”
“I never punched it into the system in the first place.” Ug
twisted his chin hair around a thick finger. “She refuses to take passengers.”
“She says they’re too much trouble.” Vegas sipped the ale,
wincing at the burn.
“Yeah, that’s what she says.” Ug frowned, his burly brows
meeting to form one continuous ridge over his eyes. “I thought you two had
never met, so how do you know that? Oh, right.” He shook his hairy head.
“That’s what you’re trained to do. So how will you rejoin the shipment?”
“I’ll find a way.” Vegas watched the hooker walk away, her
hand curled around the big mercenary’s arm, their relationship established in
minutes.
Daybreak.
He sucked back his envy.
Mere hours left.
“Are they true, the rumors?” Ug glanced over his shoulder
and dropped his voice. “About the dead planets, the warships, the breeding
farms?”
“Yeah.” Vegas took another swig of the harsh liquid designed
for the digestive system of the colorful wolfman in front of him.
“
Grrap
,” the Ungarian cursed. “I wish there was more
I could do.” His brown-and-yellow eyes gleamed with a zeal for battle Vegas
recognized and sympathized with.
“We are more valuable in our roles,” he recited the
Federation line, his voice flat.
“Yeah, that’s what they tell me.” Ug’s thick-lipped mouth
twisted. “The sacrifices we make, huh, friend?” He raised his beverage.
“The sacrifices we’ve made.” Vegas clinked his tankard
against Ug’s. “The rewards we have earned.”
Daybreak.
Chapter Two
“Since I docked earlier than scheduled, I thought we could
hit that bar you’re always asking me to join you at.” Raylee followed the big
bear of a man down the wide depot aisles. “The one with the green beer.” Her
body vibrated with a recklessness, a wild untamable energy she needed to
siphoned off in a safe, controlled way.
“Not this time, Ray. The client wants his package there
yesterday.” Ug waved his electronic clipboard, a feminine pink backdrop
plastered across it. “He’s in such a rush that if you’d gotten lost again, I
would have shipped it with someone else.”
Raylee made a face, scuffing the soles of her sturdy boots
on the concrete floor. “That happened once. When are you going to let it go?”
“When it stops being funny.” He grinned, displaying sharp
canine teeth. “Which means never.” He stopped in front of a large wooden crate,
scanning the tag attached to it into his clipboard. “This is it.” He patted the
wood, the deep sound indicating it was solid. “To be delivered to planet Celia,
Spectra Quadrant.” He read off the screen. “Do you know where that is?”
Raylee’s face heated. “It was one time, Ug.”
“That I officially know of,” Ug mumbled loudly enough for
her to hear, but too quietly to warrant a response. He scratched the thick blue
fur matted on his right shoulder, his uniform consisting of purple cargo pants
and green boots with no shirt.
Raylee tilted her head and stared at the crate. There
weren’t any manufacturer logos or return address labels or any other
identifying marks on the shipment except for the tag. “Celia is a different
drop-off point, isn’t it?”
Ug raised one hairy eyebrow.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with it,” Raylee hastened
to reassure him. “It’s just…different.” Her explanation trailed off.
“Do you want a map? Because I can send you a map.” Ug gave
her the clipboard. “You can’t get lost with this shipment, Ray. The Federation
will dock my credits.”
“It was one time!” She glared at him. “And I didn’t say I
couldn’t find it. It is only that, normally, I go to the same locations, back
and forth, back and forth.” Without looking at the form, she pressed her thumb
to the screen, leaving her print behind, and passed the clipboard back. “I’ve
never heard of a shipment to Celia.”
“I have, and that is where the client wants it to go.” Ug
waved his clipboard over the sensor. “Since when do you ask so many questions?”
The crate shuttled backward in a blur of motion and Raylee’s mouth dropped
open.
“Since when do you move shipments so quickly?” She looked up
at her friend and Ug’s gaze immediately flicked to a distant spot over her
right shoulder. “You said top speed made no
grrappin’
sense.” Her
stomach twisted. “You said the shipment would be loaded before we even reached
the docking bay, not allowing me to supervise it, and you said the risk of
damage to the—”
“I know what I said. This is an exception. The client is in
a rush.” He stalked away from her, his big boots ringing on the shiny depot
floor.
“Everything about this shipment is an exception.” She
followed him, her concerns multiplying exponentially. “You know I don’t
normally ask about—”
“Then don’t ask this time. It’ll lose you this contract,
Ray. Let it go,” Ug advised.
She chewed on her bottom lip as the bubbling in her gut
percolated to painful levels, a taste of acid creeping up her throat. “I don’t
transport living creatures. Ship is a closed system and I can’t have anything
onboard I might have to fight with weapons or chemicals.”
“I asked about that,” Ug reassured her, his gait increasing
in speed. She took twice as many strides to keep up with his long legs. “I
don’t know why…oh,
grrap
!” He stopped suddenly, his face compressing
with concern.
Raylee followed his line of sight. A tall, thin man dressed
in black talked with a frightened-looking depot worker. The stranger was
humanoid, but not human, his skin as pale as death and his hair resembling thin
white tentacles. “Who is he?”
“A Balazoid, a creature you don’t want to mess with.” Ug
straightened his shoulders, his countenance fierce and beastly, as he strode
forward. Raylee trailed him, all of her senses on high alert. She scanned their
surroundings, noting exits and the position of other Federation employees.
“Whose ship is this?” The Balazoid didn’t bother with social
niceties, waving one gloved hand at her freighter, his voice echoing as though
traveling over time.
“Mine.” Raylee stepped forward.
The Balazoid’s blood-red gaze swept her from toe to head
before meeting hers, the impact startling and intense. Exuding from him was a
power so dark it pained her, and she struggled to breathe, opening her mouth,
gulping recirculated air, a coolness gripping her pounding heart, squeezing and
squeezing, until she couldn’t stand it anymore, her knees giving way.
Then as abruptly as he’d entered her being, he released his
hold, dismissing her entirely to address Ug. “How many crew members does she
have?”
“I…have…no crew.” Raylee faced the Balazoid, hanging on to a
pillar for support, her chest heaving, the docking bay swirling around her.
“It’s a solo freighter.”
“The human I seek may be inside.” The Balazoid studied her
with suspicion as though she was hiding his mystery human in her baggy flight
suit. “Inform her I will board her ship,” he told Ug.
“Like hell you will.” She stood protectively between him and
Ship, her hands on her hips, her boots braced apart, and she glared up, up, up
at him.
Fuck.
He was big, almost as tall as Ug. “I don’t know who you
think you are, but unless you can show me a warrant from the Federation
authorizing your search, you’re not getting on my ship.”
“Ray,” Ug rumbled a warning.
The Balazoid’s red gaze gripped her once more, but this time
she was prepared, pressing her back against the pillar, her body steeled
against his silent bullying. As her heart constricted and her lungs burned, she
didn’t blink, her chin tilted upward defiantly.
Must…protect…
Moisture
trickled from her nostrils, the metallic scent of blood staining the air, and
the room grew alarmingly dark.
“She is a woman,” the pale stranger sneered, ending the
torture. Raylee sucked in deep breaths of air, her energy zapped, her legs
shaking. “I’m looking for a great warrior. He wouldn’t align himself with a
weak woman.”
She clenched her hands into fists and forced her body to
straighten. “Why, you—”
“Ray,” Ug cautioned once more.
“I will search the freighter in the east dock,” the Balazoid
arrogantly informed Ug. “Its captain is male and served in the Federation
Elites.” His feet didn’t touch the ground as he moved, his black coat flapping
behind him.
Female-hater.
Raylee glared at his back.
“Get the
grrap
out of here, Ray,” Ug murmured,
slapping a square of pastel-yellow fabric into her hands as he passed.
Raylee wiped at the blood dripping from her nose as she
stomped up the ramp. “Ship, is everything ready for takeoff?” She hurried
through the corridor, heading toward the bridge.
“You must be asking about the cargo, which is safely stowed,
as I am always ready for takeoff,” Ship snipped. “I am a class-A freighter, the
finest of our kind. I can—”
“Yes, yes.” She plunked down in her comfy captain’s chair,
the leather worn to fit her ass perfectly. “You can reenergize in mere minutes.
You are a marvel of modern engineering. You can dazzle me with your specs
during the long flight.” The main viewscreen was unveiled, displaying the
closed docking port. “Right now, we need to leave Ungaria, heading to the
planet Celia in the Spectra Quadrant. I hope you know where that is, because I
sure the hell don’t.” She typed the information into her console. “And make it
quick before the Balazoid changes his mind about boarding us.”
“What is one more passenger?” Ship’s question was loaded
with sarcasm. All of the lights flickered as energy was redirected to the
engine. “We’ve already been boarded by a human.”
“What?” Raylee raised her head. The Balazoid searched for a
human, but no, Ship would never allow an unauthorized entity to invade him, not
after…not after. “Where is the human now?” The docking port opened, revealing a
sky clear and perfect for flying.
“Your sleeping chamber.” Ship vibrated under her ass, his
engines rumbling to full capacity.
“Visual, please.” A view of her cabin stretched across the
screen. Sexy sat on the edge of her bed, hunched over the microchip in his
hands. “That is Sexy, Ship.” Raylee rolled her eyes. “Wreak your revenge on him
later. Concentrate on getting us into orbit now.” She pushed the thruster
forward.
“Unlike humans, I can multitask. I—”
“Ship,” she barked, and they shot forward, the force of
their takeoff pushing her back against her seat.
Better than sex.
She
grinned, her teeth rattling, her blood pumping.
* * * * *
“Fuck. He hurt her,” Vegas fumed to his robotic twin as he
reconnected the android’s battle chip. “Twice. Any other damn woman would back
away after the first time, but not my mate.” He shook his head, torn between
pride and absolute terror. “She’s fucking fearless and that bastard Balazoid
almost killed her.”
