Rion (12 page)

Rion didn’t wait for a second invitation. He shucked the clothes but climbed into the tub behind her, settling so that his
back rested against the side of the tub, and her back settled against his chest.

“Lean against me,” he instructed. “I’m not done with your hair.”

She scooted down a bit and her breasts disappeared beneath the surface. He gulped and applied the Toran equivalent of conditioner
and perma-shine rolled into one, smoothing his fingers through her hair from the neck up to the roots.

“Umm. That feels so good that I think you should wash the rest of me.”

He’d been hoping she’d ask. His chest tightened. Her lovely dragon scales, winding along the insides of her arms and down
her spine and her silver skin, made his mouth water. There was something very beautiful about Marisa, not just her stunning
looks, but the way she opened herself to new experiences, the way she could take joy in small pleasures.

“Star soap?” he asked.

“Whatever you think,” she murmured.

Again he lathered his hands, then spread the soap over her shoulders and along her arms. The soap wouldn’t immediately dissolve
in water like Earth soap. Instead, it clung to the skin, the soap nodules bubbling away to leave the skin clean and buffed.

“Oh… my.” Her eyes popped open. “That tingles.”

“Uh-huh. Lean forward.” He spread the soap over her back, all the way down to her shapely ass. “Now lean back again so I can
do your front.”

His hands closed over her breasts. She gasped. “How long does the tingling last?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Your chemistry and hormones. The more aroused you are, the more you tingle.”

“But the more it tingles, the hotter I get.”

“Umm.” He nuzzled her neck with his lips, fondled her breasts with his hands. “Such an interesting dilemma. What would you
like me to do?”

“You’ve missed a few spots.”

He nipped her earlobe, tweaked her taut nipples. “Have I now?”

She moaned softly. “I didn’t know I could feel like this.”

“I haven’t even begun to make you feel good,” he promised, lathering up his hands again. He spread the soap over her belly
and down her thighs. “Raise your legs, please.”

He leaned forward and ran his hands over her thighs, her knees, her calves. He took particular care with her feet. And then
he repeated the process with her other leg.

When he finished, she trembled against him and parted her thighs. “More.”

Dipping his fingers between her legs, he swirled the soap into her triangle of curls, then dipped lower. She moaned softly,
and he carefully coated her delicate lips with soap. Her sexy ass got the same treatment. And when he slipped his lathered
fingers into her from two angles at once, she panted. Squirmed.

“I can’t… hold still. It’s tingling everywhere.”

“Not everywhere.” His finger moved to where her scales joined between her thighs, the delicate bud where her nerve formed
a pulsing nexus.

“Oh… my.” She jerked. “I think… I’m… going to explode.”

He shook his head, mouth dry as all her bare skin rubbed against his. “You won’t.”

“Why not?”

“The soap has smart technology. It will only let you get so aroused.”

“That doesn’t sound very smart to me.” She raised her hand to trail up his neck. The other clutched his hip.

His erection pressed against her bottom. She tried to take him between her legs.

He shifted slightly to the side. “Not yet. I promised you I wouldn’t rush, remember?”

“But I’m ready.”

“According to Earth standards that may be true. But Earth standards aren’t my standards.”

She gasped again. “Ah… sweet… stars. What is happening to me?” She tried to shimmy closer to take his erection inside her,
but she got his hand instead. “You don’t… play fair.”

“This is more fun.” He kissed his way down her back. At the same time his fingers stroked between her legs, his other hand
teased the crease of her ass. “Does that feel good?” he murmured, flicking his finger slowly over her clit.

“Faster,” she demanded. “Harder.”

She was lighting up his every nerve ending. Raw need poured through his system. Marisa had always charmed him. Intrigued him.
Attracted him. But now he could breathe in the star scent, mixed with a delicious female mustiness. She wanted him.

He wondered how long he could hold back. Already on the edge of control, he felt his breath grow tight in his chest.

Marisa leaned forward onto her hands and knees, raising her hips out of the water. The sight of her set off his primal need.
He wanted to ram into her like some wild animal.

Heat cascaded over him, engulfed his chest, making breathing difficult. And as the heat swirled lower, his sex drew so tight
he was certain he’d never been this huge. Or in such need.

His thoughts swam in a sea of passion until he was drowning in the moment. It was as if every drop of testosterone in his
body had fired. Lust clawed at him deeper, harder, hotter than ever before.

“Take me, Rion.”

“I will.” He’d had difficulty speaking at all, but he’d forced words past lips that wanted to taste her flesh and embed this
moment into his memory.

There was no reason not to take what she was offering.

*   *   *

W
HAT WAS TAKING
him so damn long? Marisa didn’t get it.

Her body was demanding release. Between the incessant tingling and Rion’s damned clever fingers taunting and teasing her soft
flesh, tiny goose bumps of need rose everywhere.

She wanted him inside her. Her body was saying
now, now, now.

He bit her, and God help her, she lost it.

Holding back was madness. She had to have him. Could think only of him. And the aching hollow between her legs that needed
filling. A hollow only he could fill.

When she reached for him, he moved his fingers faster over her flesh. Her skin prickled, her dragon scales undulated, and
her nipples drew even tighter. The damp, sensitive folds between her legs ached.

She jerked her hips up. “Rion… please.”

She glanced over her shoulder. His nostrils flared, and he smiled. His grin was feral, primal. His eyes burned, and he rose
to his knees. His greedy fingers kept demanding.

He was primed to take.

But he kept nibbling her butt, his hands taunting her until she had to bite her lip to keep back a soft moan. Her hips gyrated
wildly; her body surged to and fro, seeking release.

Just when she thought her muscles couldn’t clench tighter, when she couldn’t yearn for more, when she couldn’t stand another
moment without taking him deep inside her, the door burst open.

She sank low, hiding behind the lip of the tub, her hearts still pounding, her face hot and flushed. Rion leaped naked from
the bath, flung a towel at her, and wrapped one around his waist.

Phen bolted inside, one hand pressed over a bloody chest wound. “Enforcers.”

Phen took a step forward and toppled into Rion’s arms.

Fingers shaking, Marisa scooped up her clothes and slipped them on. At the sight of Phen’s terrible injury, she rushed to
the outer door to lock it.

Rion carried Phen from the bathroom and lowered him to the bed. “Hold on. Let me place a pressure band—”

“No time. Leave. Now.” Phen pointed to a panel on the wall. “Third button. Push it.”

Rion’s eyes went cold. “Your wound… if we leave…”

“I’ve lived”—he coughed up blood—“a good life. Besides, it’s not my time… to… die.”

Rion ignored Phen’s plea. Instead he materialized a bandage and ripped open Phen’s shirt. Marisa placed her ear to the door
and, over her rush of fear, listened. “I hear shouting. Lots of footsteps.”

She glanced over her shoulder. Rion worked with a humming orange wand to close Phen’s wound. The sounds of boot steps increased
in volume. “Rion, we don’t have much time.” She headed to the panel and found the button. “Should I press it?”

“Not yet.” Calm, efficient, Rion kept working. “I need to stop Phen’s bleeding first.”

“Push the damn button,” Phen ordered.

“Not yet.”

A boot slammed into the door, and the vibration sent a shock wave through her system. “They’re here.” She raised her finger
over the button. “Rion?”

“Five seconds.”

The door shattered.

“Four seconds.”

Her mouth went dry. Her gaze focused on Rion. “We don’t have four—”

“Now. Now.”

Choose your friends as if your life depends on it.

—K
ING
A
RTHUR

M
arisa pressed the button. That’s when Rion realized she had no idea that the building was about to lose its gravity and fly
above the city as part of the sky grid’s traffic pattern. Without looking up from the wand he held over Phen, he ordered,
“Marisa, hang on to something solid and close your eyes.”

“Why?” she asked, instead of obeying.

“When you pushed that button, you severed this room’s connection with Phen’s house. We’re traveling like an uncoupled train
car, except instead of following tracks, we’re free-floating through the city.”

Rion swore as she floated to the ceiling. Eyes wide with curiosity more than fear, she waved her arms and legs. “Where are
we going?”

“Toward the outer rim. Just hang on to something. I need a minute.” Rion finished sealing Phen’s wound and injected the man
with pain-no-more. Phen closed his eyes and eased into a deep and hopefully healing slumber.

With his hands still covered with Phen’s blood, Rion found talking difficult. He’d lost too many people who were close to
him. He couldn’t lose another friend.

Rion tucked a blanket around Phen to keep him from floating, and then, reaching up, he seized Marisa’s foot and gently tugged
her back to the floor. Of course, the term
floor
was relative. Without gravity, there was no up or down.

“Thanks.” She set down on her feet and held on to a chair. All the furniture in the room had been automatically fastened to
the floor when she’d activated their flight.

Rion adjusted their directions on the control panel. He turned part of one wall clear, allowing a view of their progress.
But he wasn’t watching the view.

He stared at Phen. “The Enforcers who shot him will be on our trail. We don’t have much time. Perhaps just a few minutes.”

Marisa peered out the window. “What do the Enforcers up here look like?”

Rion pointed. “See those tiny capsules? Those are singles darting in and out between the buildings. The Enforcers will come
for us in a black one of those. Keep an eye out.” He returned to Phen and placed a finger over the man’s pulse.

“A black single’s coming right at us.” Her voice was tight but not panicked. “Never mind. It flew on past.”

“Keep watching.” Rion placed his ear to Phen’s nose and mouth. His breathing was steady, the bandage already soaked with blood.
“Phen should be in a hospital.”

She glanced at his uncle. “If we take him there, will the Enforcers arrest him?”

“Yes.” Phen coughed an answer. He opened his eyes. “You two must go. Get to Drake.”

Rion took Phen’s hand. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Yes”—Phen squeezed his hand—“you are.”

“After I left Erik, I swore I’d never leave another man behind.” Rion’s throat closed. “I still can’t believe I’m free and
he’s not.”

Phen raised Rion’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’m glad you’re here. Now pull the fire alarm and go. The fire officer’s
an old friend. He’ll protect me from the Enforcers.”

“I said I’m not leav—”

“You can’t delay.” He coughed again. “To escape, you need to dragonshape, and I’m not strong enough to morph.”

“You’re a dragonshaper, too?” Marisa’s eyes widened.

“It runs in the family,” Phen muttered, then glared at Rion. “So does hardheadedness.”

Rion’s lips tightened. “You can ride me.”

“I’m too weak to hold on. I won’t be the reason—”

“Enough.” Voice stern, Rion tried to cut off this conversation.

“Look, either you go or you’ll be captured. You owe the Honorians—”

“You don’t need to remind me of my duty,” Rion snapped.

Gut churning, furious and frustrated that he had no other choice, Rion floated over to the wall. Punching the alarm, he broke
the glass with his knuckles, welcoming the pain that couldn’t match the agony in his heart.

Phen might be his last living relative.

Shutting down his emotions, he turned to Marisa. “Phen’s right. We need to dragonshape. And we’re almost at the hub. It’s
a colossal storage sector of swirling debris, forgotten rooms, and antiquated machines.”

“We can lose the Enforcers there?”

“I hope so. We have to find Drake at the space museum. The trick will be getting there.”

“Trouble’s coming,” Marisa said from her position at the window. “Six Enforcers are heading our way from three directions.”

Merlin flapped his wings and flew down to Marisa. At first Rion thought the owl meant to hitch a ride on his backpack, which
she wore, but the bird began to peck frantically at a tiny piece of dull black metal embedded in the material.