Ricochet (11 page)

Once the man’s wicked-looking dagger came out to play, cold panic drenched Stratton. She’d be no match for that blade. Of course, the troublesome woman proved him wrong. She held her own while the Caringa pummeled a few fists into Stratton’s stomach and ribs. Pain exploded in his midsection, reminding him of the here and now. Gritting his teeth, he kicked the alien in the chest. The sickening crack of bone rang in his ears, but the Caringa went over backward.

Winded, Stratton knelt as he attempted to catch his breath. Damned thin air. He wriggled his wrists, yanking on the rope that scratched his skin. There had to be some way to untie his hands. Eventually, he’d be taken out while bound, and he couldn’t allow that. His reputation was at stake. Nothing this side of the galaxy would make him give in to these assholes.

The Caringa groaned; then a rumbling growl emanated from its chest as it lumbered to its feet. Stratton struggled into a standing position, his side aching and his jaw throbbing with every beat of his heart. “Is that the best you’ve got, you dirty killer?” His shoulders screamed a protest when he tried to find relief. “Come on. At least make it a challenge, man. Use the HEPPs and offer me a quick death. Beating me senseless just offends me.”

Not that he had any intention of an early demise. These lowlifes had stolen his winnings and the clothes off his back. That, at least, demanded payback. Not to mention he still needed a way off this life-forsaken asteroid. Chaf had probably landed at the checkpoint by now. Hell, he might have slipped the course once he realized the
Anomaly
wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

He spared a glance at Willa. She grunted and moved in a wary circle around the dagger-wielding thief. An angry red scratch broke the smooth perfection of her chest, slashing across the top of one breast, yet the man appeared just as battered, maybe more. Her cheeks blazed crimson and matched the fury in her blue eyes. Stratton’s chest constricted. The woman was a force of nature.

And as sexy as any female he’d ever seen. He jogged his gaze down the curvy length of her body, lingering at the apex of her thighs where he caught a mere hint of dark curls through the lace.

Oh, Willa…but…oh what a bad time to focus on her goods.

Suck it up, man.

In the blink of an eye, she kicked out at her attacker, then launched herself at him. The two went down in a cloud of dust. The other two bandits stood to one side, urging their leader on, their stolen supplies forgotten at their feet. No sign of the fifth man who’d taken the quad rover.

Every breath Stratton drew burned like acid in his chest as he strained to see who’d gotten the upper hand in the tangle. Any heavier fighting on his part and he’d be flat on his face, gasping his last, a prime target for the Caringa.

Red dust blew across the jagged asteroid floor, swirling in veil-like clouds around the Caringa’s feet. The whir of a charging HEPP droned in Stratton’s ears, raked over his nerves and yanked his mind away from Willa. His muscles tensed as he balanced on the balls of his feet.

He’d have seconds to dodge the first blast. Chances were high the second one would tag him, though. A wide grin split the Caringa’s leathery, yellow face as he aimed both weapons. Stratton swallowed, but it did little to force moisture into his dust-coated throat.

He should gamble on all the luck he had, throw his lot in with the thieves and somehow convince them to give him a ship so he could get back to his life. Bag Chaf, collect the money, start over. That was it. Again, his gaze fell to his racemate, and a hot surge of guilt tore through him.
Damn you, Willa.
What had happened to his solitary attitude, the one where he didn’t need anyone, the state of mind that had seen him through the bulk of his life? Why was he wasting valuable time on Willa? Shit. No way would he delve into his psyche to figure it out, but he couldn’t leave her. Not now. He gritted his teeth. She’d owe him big for this. Any minute now, those HEPPs would go off…any second…and his ability to do his job dwindled away…

“Stop. No more fighting.” The leader of the bandits threw up his hands, dropping his dagger into the dust. Perspiration coated the front of his tunic, mixing with the red powder in the air. “Let the woman negotiate. She’s earned the right.”

Stratton looked from the Caringa to Willa’s tired, triumphant face, then back to his adversary. The weapons lowered, and he crossed two pairs of arms. Stratton’s shoulders sagged in relief, as much as the bonds would allow. “What are the terms?” Finally, he could get the damned ropes off!

“She can take back whatever she can carry.” The thief wiped his face with his sleeve. “Any woman who can fight with such fury and determination deserves a cut of the take.” He bowed to her from the waist. “Choose wisely, miss. This is your only chance.”

Stratton took a few steps toward her. “Grab the jewels,
kita
. We’ll need those later.” For the love of all that was holy, she’d better salvage their winnings. They were worth thousands of dollars and would fund his future.

Her body gleamed with sweat, and her chest heaved with the effort of breathing. His gaze drifted to her full breasts, focusing on the hardened buds of her nipples. The rose-hued tips thrust insistently against the lace, and blood rushed to his groin. He yanked his attention to her face, a half grin at one side of his mouth. She never lost the stubborn expression he’d been treated to for most of their time together. Stratton swallowed a groan. Ah, hell, she was going to screw the whole thing up. Willa passed the back of one hand over her forehead. “Do I have your word you’ll let me walk out of here with
anything
I can carry?”

The thief nodded. “You have it, as far as the word of a thief goes, mind you.” A genuine smile lifted his cracked, dry lips. “What do you choose?”

She shook her head. “One more thing.” When her gaze passed over Stratton, cool, determined, deadly, he couldn’t help the shiver that shot up his spine. There was no doubt she was pissed. “I want my ship too. Something to get off this rock.”

“I am truly sorry, lady. That I cannot do.” The thief advanced toward her. Willa’s eyes narrowed. Stratton tensed, his shoulders burning due to his bonds. “Your newer ship will fetch us quite a profit or give us the means to expand our territory. However, you are more than welcome to take one of ours.” He gestured at the round dwelling. “I have two in back. Not much, I can assure you, but they are flight-ready and will get you to where you need to go.”

Great, they’d give her a piece of space garbage that would probably strand them just outside the Belt without the means to summon help. Stratton shifted his weight, conscious that the Caringa grew restless with the small talk. “Uh, can we speed this along, Willa? I’m getting the feeling these guys won’t honor the promise for much longer.” No way did he trust anyone in the Belt.

The thief scratched fingers through his scraggly hair. “Your companion is correct. My patience wears thin. What will you carry?”

“I want our slick gear and the datapad.”

“Done.” The thief snapped his fingers. Another man came forward with the requested items and threw them near Stratton.

“And one more thing…”

“Pushing my good will, Lingorian.” The warning in the thief’s voice hung heavy in the air.

Willa stared at the thief for what seemed like endless seconds, challenging, assessing and ultimately dismissing him, then moved her gaze to Stratton. “I’ll take him.”

“What?” Stratton gaped as she marched across the ground, rapidly closing the distance between them. “What the hell are you doing? Tell him you want the jewels, something that will actually benefit us in the long run.” The woman was out of her mind!

“Shut up, Sin. I know what I’m doing.” She stooped, gathered the clothing and the datapad in one hand. When she reached his side, she pivoted on the ball of one foot. “I will be taking Stratton with me. If you’ll be so kind as to show me which ship I can take?”

The thieves erupted into laughter. Mortification burned through Stratton and heated his face. Surely, she didn’t mean to—

When Willa tucked herself against his side and wrapped her free arm about his waist then struggled to heft his bulk onto her shoulders, the breath whooshed from his lungs in surprise. The little vixen really did intend to carry…him. But why? He half stumbled after her, the toes of his boots trailing intermittently through the dust as she dragged him away from the ring of thieves. He angled his face, putting his lips to the delicate shell of her ear. “You don’t have to do this.” Still, his ego inflated at the thought she valued him more than material things.

No one who’d been in and out of his life had ever cared, and definitely not enough to remove him from a hazardous situation. Willa’s action made him reel.

“Don’t tell me what I have to do.” She grunted and toddled forward another few steps, pausing to shift his weight against her shoulders.

“What made you choose me over the money?” He had to know. What was she thinking? Had it been him in the same situation, he would have taken the jewels and not looked back, not even for her, wouldn’t he? Ten minutes ago, he’d contemplated ditching her to save his own ass. Now…well, now those answers were lost under the sudden murk his mind had become.

“It’s the only way off this rock. I’m taking it. Besides, I can’t leave you behind. Who would navigate? It’s not personal, you know. Just business. Commerce. A level you can understand.”

And just like that, the thread of idyllic wonderment snapped, buried under old resentment, newer irritation and something else he didn’t care to identify. “Put me down, Willa, or so help me, I’ll make your life miserable before we can get to the next checkpoint.”

She dropped him like a sack of dirty laundry. “That makes any time in your presence different how?”

His knees buckled, but he kept himself upright by sheer willpower. “I…”

The thieves had followed them and now stood laughing in a tight ring around them.

“I wonder if the great Sin will be able to live down the details of his rescue, boys.” The leader slapped a hand against his thigh. “You can always try your luck with us instead.”

He could, but he meant to get even with the woman who’d stripped him of his pride and stomped all over his he-man reputation. Stratton curled his hands into fists behind his back. “I have places to go. Lives to wreck.”

Willa kept her gaze trained on Stratton. She gave nothing away.

He ignored the thieves, glaring back at her, the woman who tempted and annoyed him by turns. “Why they paired us together is beyond my limited understanding, apparently. Maybe it’s punishment for everything bad I’ve done.” He pulled at his bonds, but they hadn’t loosened. The skin chafed, hot and raw against the rough rope. “The end of this damned race can’t come soon enough. I live for the day when I can walk away from you.”

Only someone who knew Willa as well as he thought he did could see the hurt that sprang into her eyes. “I agree. You’ve slowed me down too much, and I have no more time to waste on someone like you.”

“At least we’re in agreement on something, finally.” His jaw clenched, a muscle twitching in his cheek as her eyes blazed. Then she blinked and lifted her stubborn chin, flicking her gaze away to single out the thief leader.

“A ship, please. I’ve had enough fun in this asteroid belt for one day.”

The thief nodded. He hooked a thumb in Stratton’s direction. “What about him?”

She shrugged and kept walking in the direction of the domed building. “What about him? If he manages to get his ass on the ship, I’ll take him. After all, somewhere down the line in this race, I can probably use him to barter for a better ship. Isn’t that what you do with scum like him in this section of the galaxy?”

Stratton stood in place until one of the thieves shoved him forward. Then he plodded behind Willa. Her back remained rigidly straight. A sweet dimple at the small of her back mocked him. Every once in a while, her hips swayed, and his cock twitched, recalling black thoughts and even darker desires. The woman was infuriating and more trouble than any female had a right to be, yet she held all the cards and had the power at the moment. Without her, he’d never leave the asteroid, never reach his ultimate goal of bringing Chaf to justice, never raise the money he needed to buy the sort of life he’d always dreamed of having.

Then why did he want to strangle her and kiss her into submission at the same time?

Chapter Seven

“The
Stellar Drift
?
That’s
the ship’s name?” Stratton couldn’t help the scoff that escaped him once the thieves showed them to their new vehicle. He walked around the dull-gray craft, pausing at a black panel near the nose, which was obviously not a part of the original vessel. It seemed to have been fit to this one from a similar ship. No one bothered to paint over it. “This thing’s a wreck.”

“Maybe so, but it’ll get us to Megaris-8, so shut your mouth and power up the datapad.” She came around the port-side, which was littered with dents and small dings, zipping up her slick gear in the process. The belt encircled her waist, mocking him by touching her when he couldn’t.

His gaze focused on the creamy expanse of cleavage she’d left showing—just enough to tease him into remembering what she looked like under the covering. He ground his teeth, knowing she’d done it on purpose. The thin cut marching across her skin reminded him of their circumstances. Later, he’d come back and kill the thief for daring to mark her in such a way. “Small problem with that,
kita
. Still tied, remember?” He glared, despising her ease of movement, hating his body’s reaction to this troublesome female.

“Oh, poor Stratton, trussed like a pig at the spit.” She caressed a hand along the length of the ship, stroking the metal like a lover. “You know, aside from its unfortunate name, the ship’s not bad. Scout class, several years older than ours, but it looks to be sound.”

“It’s a poor excuse, and you know it. No bells and whistles. Doubtful it can make hyper-light without shaking apart. Most people would have retired this wreck a long time ago.”

“Maybe.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth in the signature gesture she made while contemplating. “It deserves another chance to do a good deed.” Abruptly, her gaze shifted and caught his, hard, confused and mostly determined. “I’m wondering if it’ll choose to rise to the challenge or if it’ll disappoint me like I expect it will.”