No Mercy (5 page)

“Come see for yourself.” Again, Zan offered his hand, but having just committed herself to not encouraging any further intimacy with him, she ignored it. He stared at her, those sharp eagle eyes assessing her before he led her into the darkness.

“I can't see a damn thing!” Even the little bit of sunlight cutting through the storm and reflecting off the snow was better than this engulfing blackness.

“The trail is plenty wide. Take my hand.” Zan didn't wait for her to agree, just gripped her wrist and pulled her along.

“You can see,” she realized. Honestly, why did it surprise her in the slightest? He was Zan, the mighty space pirate. He could probably walk on water too. She really had to get a drink soon because her thoughts were fixated on water

“Yeah, I can see well enough. At least it's not so dark in here. Wait until night truly falls. You won't want to be moving around any then.”

The feel of his hot, calloused hand engulfing hers combined with the dark was setting her teeth on edge. “How much farther?”

“Just around the next bend.”

And then she saw it, the unmistakable reflection of light glinting off water.

With a joyous cry she ran for it, but Zan caught her by a belt loop. “Hang on a second; don't you want to know if it's safe, if there's anything living in there before you go diving in?”

She pointed to the steam rising up off the surface of the water. “See there? It's fed from an underground freshwater spring. Not consistent enough to support life, it probably drains out every few days and takes forever to refill. We just got lucky.”

Zan let go of her and folded his arms across his chest. “Guess that means you're going for a dip.”

Gia turned to face him, her energy renewed. “No, it means
we're
going for a dip.”

T
he woman was exceptionally good at getting naked. Zan couldn't believe how quickly she'd stripped off her grungy flight suit. He was still adjusting to the idea that she wanted him to come in the water with her after he'd essentially hijacked her life, then frozen up on her out in the snow like a virgin on a first date. The pale globes of her ass were sinking down into the pool, and the come hither invitation in her small smile as she watched him over her shoulder wasn't the least bit shy.

She was more than beautiful, she was also clever. He'd been admiring her resourcefulness ever since they'd found the cave. That and her feminine silhouette, the grace with which she moved, the twin dimples on her backside. Enjoying her was a much better way to spend his final hours than contemplating when they'd be found and executed.

Thoughts of death didn't affect his raging erection. His flesh was willing even as his brain scrambled to find a way out, climbing the smooth vertical walls of the mental trap.

Hosta. Anywhere else in the frigging universe they might have stood a fighting chance. She was a quick thinker, and what with his skilled manipulations he felt confident that working together they could outfox almost anyone. Almost. If he'd known where they were headed he would have intentionally crashed the stinger into the side of a mountain and spared them hours of suffering, torture, and ultimately the most painful death Xander could envision.

He should tell her. Gia deserved to know what was in store for them, that in trying to protect her from his enemies he'd bungled the situation and managed to drop them both into the cookpot. He opened his mouth, but his normal irreverent tone was nowhere to be found and he couldn't seem to spit out the words “My father put a price on my head.”

He considered and dismissed dozens of plans. Abandoning Gia wouldn't save her. The second she was caught they'd torture her until she revealed his whereabouts. Or if he was captured first, she'd likely die of starvation. Those little vials of purple goo would only last so long, and here in the frozen Northlands there was no game to be caught, no help for thousands of miles. Only the military ventured this far north for training or to investigate any kind of disturbances picked up on the planet's informational grid. Things like, oh, say, a crashing alien ship.

Chances were good they were already being hunted. And her innocence, the fact that they barely knew each other, wouldn't matter. He'd come inside her and some part of her now knew where the Infinity Pool was located. This was his worst nightmare come to life. He stuffed it deep down, unwilling to let his terror show.

When she cast him a saucy wink over her shoulder, he decided he'd admired her from a distance long enough. Losing himself in her willing body, riding her hard until neither of them could hold a thought, seemed like the right course of action.

Dropping his own pack he took his time divesting himself of his leathers. The sturdy clothing had held up better against the elements than Gia's thin uniform, but neither of them would have made it this far without those thermal blankets. Bending down, he laid his blanket on a flat outcropping, with hers rolled up next to it. All ready to cocoon their naked bodies after their swim.

“Are you planning to make me wait all day?” Gia asked as he splashed down into the pool.

“So hungry for my cock, are you?”

“Actually it's your body heat I'm really interested in.”

She was lying. He saw the devil in her eyes as she studied his hard shaft. He gripped it, showing her how he liked to stroke himself, and precum pearled at the tip. She licked her lips, the witch. No blush stained her cheeks as her hungry gaze practically devoured him. Though it was selfish as hell, Zan was relieved that since fate had brought him back here, at least she was here with him. He desperately needed the distraction she offered.

“Lucky for you I'm willing to share both. Turn around.”

She did, presenting him with her back once more. He pulled her flush against him, his cock nestling between her soft ass cheeks. She rocked back, a soft sigh encouraging him to take her, but he stilled her hips. “Let me wash you,” His cupped hands carried water up and let it spill over her shoulders. His eyes following the droplets over plump breasts, stiffened nipples and down further to the small indent of her belly button only to get lost in the tangle of golden curls that hid her sex from his hungry eyes. He did it again and she arched back into him, seeking a deeper contact.

“I've been thinking I owe you an apology.” His hands skimmed down her slim arms, admiring the flawless texture of her soft skin. He followed each stroke with his eyes, taking in her natural biorhythm; her well-toned muscles; and her smooth, supple limbs, like those of a dancer. Learning her body so he could better please it.

Under his ministrations Gia practically purred, “If you actually say you're sorry for kidnapping me—”

Nuzzling the tendon in her neck, he grinned. “Oh, hell, no. If I had it to do all over I'd probably do the exact same thing.”

Her huff of indignation ended in a breathy moan as his fingers parted her nether lips with his index and ring finger, using the middle digit to stroke her clit.

“No, what I'm regretting is that I didn't take my time with you before. Your shielding was at the forefront of my mind, when it should have been you I was thinking on. It's been so long since I've been able to fuck a woman freely, without considering the consequences.”

She was up on her toes as he fondled her sex, her breath coming out in shallow pants. “You don't expect me . . . to believe. . . you haven't fucked your way across the galaxy.”

He smiled against her silky blond locks, reading her body's cues, to help her make the climb toward the summit. “Oh, I've done my share. But this damn knowledge, well, it's not like I can just give it to every space station whore I cross paths with. No, I've learned to take my pleasure in other ways.” A glance at her face told him her eyes were shut, and he dipped lower, stroking her vulva.

Her arms circled around his neck as she plastered her back against him. She stole his breath, so lovely and full of sensual grace. Rocking her hips back, standing on the tips of her toes, urging him lower. His finger hovered over the entrance to her body, a moment to build the anticipation for both of them.

Her eyelids fluttered as she arched against him. “How . . . so?”

He nibbled on her earlobe and reveled in her gasp as he slid two fingers inside her wet sheath. “Now, touching a woman, like this, well, there's no worry about sharing anything but a memory. So I slow it down, to one heartbeat at a time. I notice every detail. Like how the deep pink color of your tight little nipples matches that pretty cunt I'm stroking. The way your breath hitches every time I circle your clit. The salty-sweet taste of your skin where I kiss your neck.” He paused, long enough to illustrate. “I'm studying you, Gia, savoring you for later.”

Her inner muscles clenched his fingers tight as she panted. “What . . . comes . . . later?”

Though it was a struggle he withdrew, unwinding her arms from around his neck. Placing her palms on a flat rock, he urged her to bend forward. She made a sound of protest, though she did as he commanded. Mercy, seeing her spread before him like that, pink lips drenched with her desire and parted as though beckoning him. . . . His cock throbbed painfully, eager to explore her from the inside out.

“I do. Alone back on the ship, I remember it all. Your taste, your scent, the slippery feel of your cunt. I lie on my back in the dark, stroking myself, and live it all again. And I imagine what it would have felt like to drive my hard cock into this sweet little pussy. But there's some freedom in having already fucked up with you. Because I don't have to imagine now.”

Aligning his aching shaft with her feminine opening, he surged forward. They cried out in unison, and he lost a little bit of himself in the clasp of her lithe body. Her head was bent forward, her slim back trembling as he pulled out and then arching when he thrust back in. She was wet, slippery from more than just the water, and miraculously tight. Her body hugged him, clutched him in a silken embrace, one he'd almost forgotten the pleasure of having.

Gripping her hair he pulled her head back. “Do you like this?” he rasped in her ear as he fucked her harder. “Is this enough body heat for you, or should I give you more?”

“More,”
she panted, widening her stance and inviting him to take her hard.

No way could he refuse such a sweet offer. Gripping her hips he drove forward, forgetting all of his promises to savor this and to make it last for both of them. He planned to spend every moment from now until the end fucking her like this. Or maybe on his back, with his cock standing straight up as she slowly impaled herself on his length, riding him to climax.

He'd come, drag her to the blankets, lay her out like the luscious feast she was, and then dine on her puffy pink sex until she was begging him to fill her once again.

If there was a better last meal, he sure couldn't think of one.

 

“Zan,” Gia gasped as his thick rod plunged into her at a frantic pace.

His fingers bit into her hip bones, holding her still so he could ram inside her again and again. She'd never liked being so confined during sex, so powerless, but he was doing everything right, hitting all of the sensitive spots inside her, pushing her closer to the edge.

“You feel incredible,” he breathed in that guttural accent she'd once despised but now made her flood with cream as she recalled his whispered words.
I lie on my back in the dark, stroking myself, and live it all again.

For the first time she'd felt a surge of empathy for his plight. Not that she was ready to forgive him for absconding with her, but what must it have been like for him, such a sexual being, to have to restrain himself? To hold back when he was clearly designed to surge forward, to explore everything, and then to do it again and again?

God, she loved the way he pounded between her thighs, the fat rod shoving inside her, invading her and taking her away from all the things she didn't want to think about. Gia had always loved sex, the joining of her body with another's, the scent of arousal heavy in the air, the moment-to-moment loss of self that ended in the divine pinnacle of pleasure. There was nothing she hadn't tried; no taboo would stop her from living to the best of her abilities.

But sex with Zan took it further than she'd ever been before. He fit her so well, the way his shaft stretched her to that perfect point just before pleasure crossed the line into pain. The way her breasts fit precisely into his large hands. And the way he knew how to touch her, when to make her wait, how to make her crave more. It was like she'd been living in the dark on bread and water and now was brought out to a feast under the noonday sun. An overload of color and sensation, and she didn't know where to look, what to try next.

Fortunately, he did. One hand snaked down her torso and into her thatch of pubic hair, cupping her mound. The other followed the crease of her ass, his thumb finding her puckered hole, pressing inward, stretching the tight ring of muscles until they ceded and he invaded her back passage. His message was clear—he owned her pleasure, could do anything he wanted, and make her beg for release.

Black dots floated before her eyes as orgasm stormed through her, a violent siege she was totally unprepared for. Her body clamped down hard on his, desperately gripping him where he invaded her, determined to drag him down with her. Zan shouted his release, and she felt it, the hot surge deep in her like another thrust. The moment stretched on and on, both of them locked together, riding the tempest for all they were worth.

Her knees collapsed; her entire body felt utterly boneless, and she would have gone under if his strong arms hadn't caught her back against his sweat-slicked chest. His cock was still semihard inside of her, connecting them even in the aftermath of the sensual storm. Gia'd never had a man linger within her after achieving orgasm. It was almost more intimate with the sensual fog lifting and her fully aware. The overwhelming urge to nuzzle into his body scared her to death.

Neither of them spoke. She didn't know what to say. Nothing seemed appropriate, no polite conversation. Maybe “fuck me again”?

But the risks. . . . She sucked in a breath as consequences bore down on her. Pregnancy. Without her health guard it was a very real option. God, Zan might be a stellar lay, but no way did she want to have a baby with him!

The shock of that very stark reality spurred her into action. He didn't resist as she pulled away. She couldn't look at him as she cleaned herself up the best she could without soap. Splashing from behind her indicated he was doing the same thing.

A deep, yawning pit opened inside her. Missing him, the sexy rumble of his voice, the heat of his skin against hers. Wasn't this what she'd wanted? Fucking with no talking, no intimacy. Why did it feel so wrong?

She trudged out of the water and retrieved her thermal blanket before moving it away from his. After she redressed she lay down on her side, facing away from him.

Say something,
her mind screamed at him.

Zan emerged from the pool; she knew because the splashing stopped. “I'm going to keep an eye out front.”

She listened as his footsteps retreated, disappointment and relief clashing in her head.

Really, what was left for them say?