Rebel (7 page)

Pushing away from the wall, he walked to the
bunk and sat her on the edge of the firm pad. He tugged his uniform
top off over his head and shed the bottoms just as quickly.
Kneeling on the floor, he eased her legs apart and moved between
them. Her arms covered her breasts again and uncertainty filled her
eyes.

“I won’t hurt you. I’m not angry
anymore.”

“I know.”

Her voice trembled and Ashton hesitated.
“Everything about you tells me you want me, but I still see fear in
your eyes. Are you worried about pregnancy or an STD?”

“No. Injections are mandatory, even for the
premier’s son.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I shouldn’t want you. It’s weak. It betrays
everything I hold dear. I can’t do this.”

Framing her face with his palms, he kissed
her, distracted her while he scanned her emotions. Desire pounded
through her, the intensity easily matching his. Part of what
frightened her was how much she wanted him. The flickers of shame
bothered him. He didn’t want her to feel guilty about the
attraction flaring between them.

“You’re my hostage,” he whispered against
her mouth. “I’m much stronger than you. I’m a ruthless bastard. I
take what I want when I want it. Your only rational choice is
surrender.”

She opened her eyes and nodded,
understanding clear in her gaze. With those words he’d released her
inhibitions, freed her from her shame and gave her an excuse to
give in to her desire.

“Stand up.” He used a firm, commanding
tone.

He didn’t move back as she stood and the
silky skin of her belly brushed his face. Hooking his thumbs in the
waistband of her panties, he dragged them down. She stepped out of
the undergarment with one foot and kicked them aside with the
other. He nuzzled her belly, teasing her with featherlight kisses
while his hands explored the firm contour of her ass. Her flesh was
soft and warm, addictive. He stroked her, squeezed her, memorized
the texture of her skin.

“Raise your leg to my shoulder. I want to
taste you.”

A shuddering breath escaped her mouth, but
she tentatively lifted her foot off the floor. Ashton guided her
leg into place and bent slightly, breathing against her damp sex.
“When we’re finished, I’m going to shave these curls. You’ll love
how my tongue feels sliding across your smooth, sensitive mound.
Nothing should distract from such pleasures.”

“Then shave me now.”

He looked up at her, their gazes colliding
across the quivering expanse of her naked body. “I can’t wait. Can
you?” With his gaze still locked with hers, he flicked her clit
with his tongue. She gasped and jerked, grasping his upper arms for
support. “Didn’t think so.”

Holding her firmly against his mouth, he
circled the swollen nub. Her fingers tightened each time he stroked
the sleek hood protecting her exquisitely sensitive nerve endings.
Her feminine musk stirred his senses and her soft cries urged him
on. He’d imagined this, dreamed of her taste and her trembling
need.

He dragged his tongue from back to front,
gathering her cream and sucking it into his mouth. She squirmed as
he grew bolder, pushing into her core and exploring her tender
folds. Her hips rocked. She did everything in her power to bring
his tongue back into contact with her clit. Each soft cry fueled
his resolve to build the urgency. He wanted her panting and
desperate, ready for anything.

She stiffened, her breath caught on a gasp,
and he quickly pulled away.

“No!” Her fingers tangled in his hair. “I
was almost—”

“The first time you come for me, I want to
be inside you.” Easing her back across the bunk, he pulled her hips
to the edge and bent her knees. “Hold your legs open.”

Her wide, luminous eyes stared up at him as
he gently parted her folds and pushed two fingers into her pussy.
Stars, she was hot!
Her inner muscles clenched his fingers,
her passage wet and incredibly tight. Why was she so tight? He
pushed deeper, spreading his fingers as wide as her stubborn
muscles allowed. She moaned and shook.

Bracing himself against the bed with one
hand, he arched over her, claiming her mouth with deep, passionate
kisses. He slid his fingers in and out, rotating his wrist with
each stroke. “How long has it been, sweetheart? I really don’t want
to hurt you.”

“A long time.” Her admission sounded hoarse
and strangled. “But I ache.”

How could he resist the subtle plea in her
tone? She might be unsure, but she needed this as much as he did.
He positioned himself against her entrance. One sharp thrust or
ease in slow? What would hurt her less? With just the head of his
cock inside her, he found her clit with his thumb. He rubbed
firmly, pushing into her with slow, steady pressure. She stretched
around him, slick and wet, and tight enough to steal his
breath.

Corry trembled as his cock surged into her
aching pussy. Deeper and deeper he pushed, filling her, stretching
her. The skillful motion of his thumb detonated tingling tremors.
Her inner muscles fluttered, accepting his thick length.

Her nipples felt as if they throbbed in time
to the rhythm of her core. Tension coiled. She tossed her head,
restless and hot. Arching, she took him deeper.

“Almost there,” he whispered.

How could he possibly have more to give? Did
they augment
everything
on Halley Prime? A giggle threatened
to reveal her anxiety. His balls pressed against her ass and Corry
released her pent-up breath. They’d done it. He was buried to the
hilt and she was alive and breathing. Her body was designed for
this, but damn, he felt huge!

“Am I hurting you?”

He’d obviously misread her expression. “No.
You’re just… I don’t think it’s just my abstinence. You’re
rather—large.”

Smiling down at her, he kept up the steady
rhythm with his thumb. “And this is the lowest setting.” He pulled
back about halfway then thrust deep again. “You’ve never been with
a man who had implants?”

Shocked that her fanciful thought hadn’t
been fanciful at all, she asked, “Have you ever been with a woman
who doesn’t?”

He shook his head and grasped her hips.
“Pleasure implants are the traditional gift for everyone’s
eighteenth birthday.”

“Not everyone’s.” Resentment seeped through
her desire as she stared into his passion-glazed eyes. “Just
citizens of Halley Prime.”

He gathered her close and kissed her softly,
his fingers stroking her hair. “I won’t use them if they upset you.
Just relax and feel me move.”

His kiss soothed her. The slide of his cock
aroused, yet she was distracted by the mention of his implants.
Every
person on Halley Prime had pleasure implants? How
could they squander precious resources on such a trivial
“tradition”?

“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he
ordered, frustration sharpening his tone. “You’re not going to let
this go until you understand, so I’ll demonstrate.”

He must have sensed her distraction, her
emotional withdrawal. She hooked her ankles behind his back. A
subtle vibration gradually intensified until her core literally
hummed with sensation. “Oh! Your… I’ve never—”

Pleasure burst with spontaneous force and
Corry cried out. Her pussy squeezed his vibrating cock, shooting
darts of tingling heat all through her body.

Trembling and dazed, Corry stared up at him.
“What else can your implants do?”

Ashton pulled back until only the head of
his cock remained within her wet folds. “I can provide hot or cold
stimulation as well as lubrication if we decide to be really
adventurous. And when you’re ready, I can get significantly larger
than I am right now.”

“No.
This
is almost too much. I
couldn’t…”

He thrust his full length into her, ending
the conversation. Corry clutched the bedding as he moved. His dark
gaze never left her face, his expression tense, eyes sparkling.
Confusion and tenderness swirled through Corry. How could she feel
anything but resentment for him?

How could she not? He was everything she’d
ever wanted and more.

And he was her enemy.

His mouth sealed over hers, driving away the
disquieting thought. His hands slipped beneath her bottom,
adjusting her hips to a better angle. He reached deeper, filling
her more completely than she ever dreamed possible.

She shared his breath, savored his taste and
surrendered completely to his demanding penetration. He moved
faster, each forceful drive a distinct claim on her body. His gaze
burned. His fingers dug into her hips. Pushing up with her heels,
she arched into his downward thrusts. Sensation sizzled along her
nerve endings. Her blood raced through her veins. She gasped and
moaned.

“Now.” His voice snapped with authority.
“Come for me now!”

Happy to oblige, Corry cried out. Her pussy
rippled with wave after wave of scalding pleasure. He closed his
eyes. His abdomen clenched as his cock jerked deep inside her.

The last tingle hadn’t left her body when
shame came crashing in. What had she done? This was Premier
VinDerley’s son.

“It’s a little late for regrets.” He shifted
his hands to her waist, keeping his cock buried in her body.

His augmented, vibrating cock! The shallow
citizens of Halley Prime wasted time and money perfecting internal
sex toys while thousands of children starved.

Rearing up, she shoved him backward and
scrambled off the bed. “This never happened!” She snatched the
blanket off the floor and wrapped it around her trembling body.

“What is wrong with you?” He scowled. “I
know damn good and well you enjoyed that as much as I did.”

“Of course. How could you not? You’re
telepathic. If you can read my mind, why don’t you know why I’m
pissed off?”

“I’m empathic. It’s different than
telepathy. I can feel how upset you are, but I can’t hear your
thoughts in the way you mean.”

“How unfortunate for you.”

He said nothing for a long time. Gloriously
naked and in no apparent hurry to re-dress, he just stared at her.
“Does this have something to do with Korbin?”

“No.” She turned her face away. He was the
enemy. She couldn’t let herself forget it again.

“What is your association with him?”

“He’s the leader of the rebels.”

“And who are you?”

“Your hostage.”

He tossed her panties to her and gathered
his clothes. “I have work to do.” He quickly donned his uniform,
frustration clouding his gaze. “In your present mood, I think
you’ll be less trouble locked in here.”

She didn’t reply until he reached the
doorway. As the panel slid shut, she whispered, “Don’t count on
it.”

“I have work to do,” Corry mocked as she
paced the small cabin. How much
work
could there be on an
automated schooner? He was probably trying to extend the range of
communications. Send a message to
Daddy
.

How could she have been such a fool? She’d
looked into his eyes and… It didn’t matter. She couldn’t change
what happened, but she could make damn sure it didn’t happen again.
She couldn’t go to Halley Prime. That’s all there was to it. No
matter what it took, she had to escape.

With her determination restored, Corry
stopped pacing and looked more carefully at the room. There was a
computer terminal built into the corner desk, but it didn’t respond
to voice command. There was no keyboard or control panel, so it was
either malfunctioning or Ashton had cut off her access to the rest
of the ship.

“Damn.” Cyber-sabotage was out of the
question. She’d have to find a more overt approach. The most direct
route between Borrelly and Halley Prime would take them past Chiron
and Temple-Tuttle. Corry had no particular preference, but she
needed to force a landing on one of the two outposts.

There had to be something useful, a tool—or
a weapon.

Opening the wall locker, Corry continued her
search. Two maintenance uniforms hung in the back of the narrow
compartment. She hadn’t noticed them earlier. There were numerous
pockets and loops for tools, but the corresponding tools were
nowhere in sight. At least she’d be covered. Solid gray-green, the
uniform zipped up the front. It had a drawstring to adjust the
waist but both the legs and sleeves were too long for her
diminutive frame. She quickly rolled up the excess material and
resumed her search.

She spotted an access panel in the back
corner of the compartment and smiled. If she could get belowdecks,
it wouldn’t be hard to create some form of malfunction. She tugged
on the panel until it came loose. Ducking her head down into the
opening, she looked in both directions before descending the narrow
metal ladder.

Masses of wiring, electronic components and
system housings cluttered the walls. She had acquired a basic
knowledge of spacecraft for her supply runs to the outposts. This
schooner was newer than hers, but locating the beryllium generator
shouldn’t be that difficult. She could barely sit up in the limited
space and even crawling was a challenge with the numerous
obstacles. She needed to hurry. Ashton wouldn’t leave her alone for
long.

Spotting the generator, she inched toward
the main power supply. This would be tricky without any tools. She
couldn’t cause an overload or short out the system. Kneeling beside
the generator, she felt its rhythmic hum vibrate through her
body.

Vibrating.

Humming.

Just like Ashton’s… She would not think
about him! Her body tingled with echoes of sensation, but she
focused entirely on escape.

Highly concentrated beryllium fueled most
midrange spacecraft. If she could find the manual release valves,
she could simply jettison the tanks. Moving farther down the
crawlspace, she located the twin cylinders. She ran her hands along
the top and then the bottom of the tank closest to her. Ah, there
it was.