Not the Man She Thought (22 page)

All at once, Rade slid his finger out of her pussy.  In
one smooth motion, he picked her up in his arms and gently set her down on the
blanket he had tossed on the floor earlier.  Laken gasped as her freshly
spanked bottom came into contact with the rough material, but the sting was
quickly forgotten as Rade stripped off his clothes.  God, he was gorgeous.

Tossing his breeches onto the floor, Rade joined her on the
blanket. Bracing himself with an arm on either side of her head, he settled
himself between her legs.  She slid her hands up the muscles of his chest,
eager to have him inside her, but he surprised her by rubbing the head of his
cock up and down her folds.    

Laken bit her lip, stifling a groan of frustration.  “No
more teasing. I need you inside me. Please.”

At her words, Rade immediately stopped what he was doing to
position himself at the opening of her pussy.  Then he entered her very,
very slowly.

Laken wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in as deep.
He felt so good that she almost thought she could come just from the feel of
him inside her.

Leaning forward, Rade took possession of her mouth, taking
her breath away with the passion in his kiss. Laken slid her hands into his
hair, her tongue finding his to do an erotic dance. 

Rade pumped his hips slowly, his thrusts made her
still-tingling ass grind against the rough material of the horse blanket, and
she moaned against his mouth.  The two sensations almost drove her out of
her mind with how incredible they felt.  If Rade could guarantee it would
always be this good, she would let him spank her any time he wanted.

Laken wrapped her legs around him more tightly and lifted
her hips to meet his thrusts, matching his rhythm.  Rade quickened his
pace, driving his cock deep into her over and over until ecstasy surged through
her. She cried out, not caring if anyone heard.

Groaning with his own pleasure, Rade buried his face in the
curve of her neck as he exploded inside her.  The feeling of his hot cum
filling her pussy sent Laken spiraling out of control and she came even harder.

Laken curled up in his arms, her head pillowed on his chest.
The first time she and Rade had made love, she had been afraid of what she’d
felt afterward, but this time, there was no such fear. She loved him, and she
wasn’t going to deny it any more.

Chapter Ten

It was still dark when Laken awoke the next morning.
Sometime before she and Rade had fallen asleep the night before, he had covered
them both with a blanket, and she snuggled closer to him beneath it now.

“Are you cold?” Rade’s voice was soft in the darkness.

  
“A
little,” Laken admitted.

Rade wrapped the blanket it more tightly around her, holding
her close.  “Better?”

“Much,” she said. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

“I’ve been up for a while.”

“What time is it, do you think?”

“A little before sunrise.”

Somewhere in the barn, one of the horses snorted and Laken
was reminded of the conversation she and Rade had had the previous
evening.  She hadn’t wanted to push then, but the desire to know more
about him was too strong to ignore.  “Last night, you said that you used
to ride when you were younger. Did you grow up on a farm?”

Rade was silent for so long that she didn’t think he was
going to answer, but then he spoke.  “Yes.”

In the darkness, Laken idly ran her finger up and down his
bare chest.  “Dev told me about what happened to your family.”

Rade stiffened at her words.  “Dev talks too much,” he
growled, his voice a low rumble beneath her ear.

Laken caught her lower lip between her teeth.  “Please
don’t be angry with her. Dev only told me because she wanted me to understand
why you do what you do.”

“Why I’m a pirate, you mean?” he said, his words bitter in
the dark.

Laken pushed herself up an elbow to look down at him. 
Outside the sun was just starting to come up and she could see the tight set of
his jaw in the dim light.

“No, that’s not what I meant, Rade. You’re not a pirate, so
don’t call yourself one.”

His lip curled.  “Why not?  That’s what you called
me.”

“That was before I...”

When her voice trailed off, he lifted a brow.  “Before
you what?”

Before I saw the man you really are.  And before I fell
in love with you.  Laken bit her lip, her face coloring as she realized
what she’d almost said.  “Before I found out that you put yourself at risk
to save innocent people from the Federation.”  

An emotion she couldn’t quite name flickered across his
handsome face for a moment, but then it was gone.  He sat up beside her to
stare out into the darkened barn.  “You make me sound like I’m some kind
of hero, Laken.  I’m not.”

Holding the blanket to her naked breasts with one hand,
Laken reached out to cup his cheek with the other so she could turn his face to
hers.  “To the people of Marlon Prime and every other planet rebelling against
the Federation, you are.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile.  “I’m
just the captain of a cargo ship who takes on the jobs no one else will because
they’re too dangerous.  That makes me a damn fool in most people’s eyes.”

“Well, I think you’re a hero,” Laken said softly, leaning in
to kiss him gently on the mouth.

Rade groaned and slid his hand into her hair.  As his
tongue swept into her mouth to claim hers, Laken melted against him, offering
herself to him completely.  Beneath the blanket, his hand slid over her
hip and up her waist to gently cup her breast.  From the urgency in his
touch, it was obvious where this was going, and while she couldn’t be more
eager to make love to him again, she needed to tell him how she felt about him
first. 

Laken moaned and pulled her mouth from his, her breathing
ragged.  “Rade, I...”

But the words she so desperately longed to tell him were
never uttered because at that moment a gruff male voice cut across hers.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in this barn?”

Startled, Laken turned her head in the direction of the
voice, and was stunned to see a big, broad-shouldered man standing directly
outside the stall, a gun trained on her and Rade.
 
Three other armed men were with him.  All four were all
wearing what looked like some type of uniform, but they weren’t
Federation.  Or at least she didn’t think they were.

Beside her, Rade tensed, the hand cupping her breast sliding
out from beneath the blanket to make sure her nakedness was covered with it.
Laken pressed closer to him, her eyes locked on the weapons pointed at them.

The man’s gaze darted to the clothes they’d so hastily
discarded the night before, his eyes narrowing when he saw the Federation
insignia on the uniform Rade had borrowed.  Laken held her breath.

He turned cold eyes on them.  “I should shoot you right
now, you Federation bastard. You and that traitor you’re with.  Now, get
dressed.  You’re both coming with us.”

“We’re not...” Rade began, but the soldier cut him off.

“Save it,” he snarled.  “Get your clothes on. 
Now!”

Rade’s jaw tightened and for a moment, Laken thought he
might argue, but instead he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze beneath the
blanket.  Careful not to disturb the covers, he got to his feet. 
Grabbing her shirt and beeches, he handed them to her before reaching for his
own.

Keenly aware of the soldiers standing there watching them,
Laken tried not to blush as she clutched the blanket to her nakedness with one
hand and dressed herself with the other.  Finally getting her breeches on,
she fumbled with her shirt, but her hands were trembling so badly that it took
her two tries to get the buttons done up right.

What were the men going to do with them? While the soldiers
might not be Federation, they were just as dangerous, especially since they
thought she and Rade were the enemy.

As she pulled on her boots, Rade tried to again explain to
the men they weren’t Federation, but the soldiers didn’t seem to care. 
Instead, the men cuffed their hands behind their backs and dragged them out of
the barn and over to a waiting hover-vehicle. 

When the soldier shoved her down on the bench beside Rade,
Laken scooted as close to him as she could.  “Where are they taking us?”

His jaw clenched.  “I don’t know. But it’ll be
okay.  I promise.”

Despite the fact that she was terrified, his words made
Laken feel better.  If anyone could get them out of this, it would be
Rade.

As it turned out, the soldiers took them to a nearby
town.  Once there, they led her and Rade to a nondescript building and
shoved them into a small room where they were questioned by another
soldier.  Rade tried yet again to tell the man they weren’t Federation,
but the man from Marlon Prime had a difficult time believing the story,
especially since the uniform Rade wore was Federation issue.

After what seemed like hours, the soldier left, only to
return several minutes later with more men, and she and Rade were led out of
the room and put back in the hover-vehicle.  Though Laken thought she did
a good job of hiding her fear from the soldiers, she couldn’t conceal it from
Rade, and he gave her a reassuring nod as they sped out of the city.  She
wished they weren’t cuffed because she would have liked to feel his arms around
her.  Since they were, though, she had to settle for the warmth of his
body beside hers.

The sun was nearly overhead by the time the hover-vehicle
stopped again, this time in front of a bigger building in a much bigger
city.  From the soldiers standing guard outside the tall double doors, it
was clearly some kind of government building, and Laken swallowed nervously as
the med took her and Rade inside.

Once in the building, they were taken to a small room
similar to the other holding cell.  The soldier who questioned them this
time was higher in rank than the first, and as she listened to Rade again
explain who they were, Laken fervently prayed the man would believe them this
time.

“What if they don’t believe us?” she whispered to Rade after
the soldier had finally left.

Rade said nothing for a moment, but then he gave her a small
smile.  “They will.”

Laken hoped so.  She shifted in the seat, trying to
find a comfortable position, something which was difficult to do with her hands
cuffed behind her back.  It was hard to believe she and Rade had made love
in the hay just that morning.  It seemed like ages ago.

Abruptly, she remembered the confession she’d been on the
verge of making when the soldiers from Marlon Prime had interrupted them. 
Her gaze slid to Rade.  As much as she wanted to profess her love, she
knew that now was not the time.  Not only were there two armed soldiers in
the room with them, but Rade needed to focus on other things right now. 
She could tell him when they got back to his ship.  If they ever got back.

The door opened then, interrupting her thoughts, and Laken
jumped.  Her heart racing, she watched as the soldier who had been
questioning them earlier entered the room.  He said something to one of
the guards, but his words were too soft for Laken to hear what he said, and she
tensed as the guard came over to her and Rade.  But instead of dragging
them out of the room, the man took out a key and bent down to unlock Rade’s
handcuffs.

“My apologies, Captain Karsten, but it took us some time to
corroborate your story,” the soldier said.  “If you and your companion
would come with me, my commander would like to speak with you.”

Relief coursed through Laken as the guard bent down behind
her to unlock the cuffs.  Massaging her wrists, she jumped to her feet and
probably would have thrown herself into Rade’s arms if the soldier from Marlon
Prime hadn’t been waiting impatiently by the open door for them.

The man led them down a long corridor and into a huge
room.  From the way the tables and chairs were set up and the holo-maps on
the walls, Laken realized it looked like some kind of briefing room.  As
they entered, a tall man with graying hair came forward to greet them.

“Captain Karsten, it’s an honor,” the man said, holding out
his hand.  “I’m Commander Vargas.”

Rade clasped the man’s hand and returned the greeting, then
introduced Laken.

“If I could get a message to my ship, I’d be most grateful,”
Rade said.

Commander Vargas nodded.  “Of course.  Right this
way.”

To say Rade’s crew was ecstatic when they discovered he and
Laken had escaped from the Federation was putting it mildly. Laken couldn’t
help but smile as each member of the crew came on to tell them how relieved
they were. God, it was good to hear their voices.

Behind them, the door opened and Laken turned to see a
petite blonde woman coming into the room, a tray in her hands.