Virgin (17 page)

The look on Dax’s face was a mixture of emotions. Ava retained enough of her wits to see that, but even so, what he said shook her to the core.

“You can’t have
them
, Ava,” he whispered hoarsely, “but you can have
me
.”

***

The Cylopean drew his hood closely around his face and leaned forward, avoiding the bright glare in the casino lounge—one of the few places the indigent could hang out and not be bothered. Plenty of millionaires pretended to be poor to keep from being preyed upon, and the needy used this to their advantage. “The stone,” he whispered. “You should have seen it, Drak. The color of a sunlit sea and as big and long as your thumb. Oddly shaped, too.”

His companion, a hunchbacked Vetla, scoffed. “Come on, Zirf. You’re dreaming.”

“No, I’m not. It was on a blond girl down in the commercial district—the main road from the spaceport. I’d have had it too, but she wasn’t alone. I got pounced on by a big cat.”

“A big cat? Oh really?” The Vetla leaned back in his chair and raised a furry eyebrow. “I think I’ve heard enough of your drivel.”

The Cylopean looked pained. “I’m telling the truth. It was a man, but he moved like a cat.”

“A Zetithian, perhaps?”

“Maybe so,” said the Cylopean. “Never seen one of them.”

“There are three down in the brothel district. Might have been one of them.”

“Doesn’t matter. All I know is I didn’t stand a chance against him. He probably took the stone for himself.”

“I doubt it. Very honest lot, those Zetithians.”

The Cylopean snorted. “They run a fuckin’ brothel, Drak. How honest is that? I mean, most men give it away.”

“They aren’t like most men,” Drak said. “And if they were giving it away, they’d probably be drowning in women.”

A thickset Aquerei man with sea green tentacles sprouting from his head stepped closer. He had obviously been listening. “A Zetithian, you say? What did he look like?”

“Very tall, with black dreadlocks and a tattoo on the side of his face and neck,” Zirf replied. “Tough guy, too.
Very
tough.”

Drak snorted again. “You’re just saying that because he was able to run you off. It wouldn’t take much with a wuss like you.”

Drak was always saying things like that to Zirf, so he was able to ignore this and addressed the Aquerei instead. “Do you know him?”

“No, but I know
of
him. His whereabouts are very important to some friends of mine.”

Zirf’s beady black eyes narrowed. “They willing to pay?”

“No, but I am,” the Aquerei replied. “Five credits if you can tell me where he is right now.”

“Right now?” Zirf exclaimed. “At this very moment? How the devil would I know that? I can tell you where he was and who he was with, but that’s about all.”

“That’ll do,” the Aquerei said shortly. “Three credits.”

Zirf gave him the information, but as the credits were slapped on the table, he added, “Don’t know that it’ll do you much good. But he’s here in the city somewhere. Good luck finding him.”

“I’ll find him,” the Aquerei said. “He’s got something we’ve been after for a very long time.”

“The girl or the stone?”

The Aquerei smiled and shook his head. “That’s something you don’t need to know.”

“You’re probably right.” Zirf picked up the credits. The stone was worth a lot more, but this was better than nothing. Yawning, he stretched his arms out behind him, popping the joints in his shoulders. “Think I’ll go lie down in the street and wait for the sweepers to pick me up. I’ll at least have a decent place to sleep tonight.”

The Aquerei was laughing as he left the lounge.

***

Wane eyed his cohort expectantly. “Have you found out who he is yet?” The two Aquerei occupied one of the many small private rooms available in the city’s casino district for those who didn’t wish their activities to be observed too closely.

Junosk nodded, his green tentacles snapping with excitement. “Dax Vandilorsk of the
Valorcry
. Thank God for the port authority records. He’s got two Kitnocks, a Drell, and a Norludian with him, and guess who else?”

“A blond girl with a crystal pendant?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Too easy,” Wane argued. Given what was at stake, this made no sense at all. “They should be hiding out, not advertising the damn stone.”

“That’s what I figured, but I’ve been giving this some thought, and I think maybe they don’t know what it is.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That stone has been hidden for centuries. Do you honestly think it would wind up with someone who would just parade it around like that?”

“Who knows? It could be that such objects have intentions of their own. But it could also be a fake,” Junosk admitted.

“Or one helluva coincidence. Here we are, searching every planet in the sector, and she just happens to land on Rhylos with the Aquina keystone dangling around her neck? What are the odds?”

“Well, we
have
been following the lead of the Unities. Surely Eantle has
some
idea.”

“One would hope so. I’m beginning to wonder if we may have been too hasty in knocking off that Unity enclave. Who knows which, if any, of those left have the first clue?”

“They have to know something,” Junosk insisted. “They wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing if they didn’t.”

“Okay, then,” Wane said. “If they’re following Vandilorsk, then we will too. God knows we haven’t got anything else to go on. Maybe we could draw them in and trap them.”

“How?”

“How the hell should I know? I’m making this up as I go along.”

“Probably couldn’t get to the girl directly,” Junosk mused. “It would be hard to separate her from the group—don’t forget that the Cylopean I heard all this from tried it and got pounced on by Vandilorsk, plus, somewhere along the line, they teamed up with Threldigan the Magician.”

Wane rolled his big, round orange eyes. “This just gets worse and worse, doesn’t it?”

“No shit.”

“So, what, we nab one of the others and hope they’ll come after him?”

“Works for me.”

“Any idea which one?”

“Well, certainly not the magician. Messing with him would be more trouble than it was worth.”

“Hmm, a Norludian, two Kitnocks, and a Drell, you say? Were they all there together?”

“The Cylopean didn’t mention seeing a Drell. Now, that’s not to say that he wasn’t nearby, but if he tends to separate himself from the group…”

Wane was momentarily cheered, but his tentacles drooped when he realized the difficulties inherent in this plan. “One Drell looks very much like another, Jun. Finding the right one would be next to impossible.”

Junosk grinned. “Not when you know his name.”

Chapter 11

To be perfectly correct, Dax had never been on that particular street with or without a woman. Naked men standing on the street corners didn’t appeal to him in the slightest, though Waroun had always said that a few days spent working in a brothel would improve Dax’s attitude toward women considerably.

But Ava had already done that. And when he’d snatched her up, she smelled like sex and flowers and sweet, delectable fruit. His cock had sprung to attention, and suddenly all thoughts of charm, slow seduction, and playing it cool went flying off into space. He hadn’t said that simply to get her away from the twins. Right then and there, he offered himself to her, body and soul.

But would she still want him when they turned the corner to venture down a different street? What happened on Rhylos tended to stay on Rhylos, simply because the feelings you experienced there didn’t follow you when you left. He’d seen it happen many times before; every purchase lost a portion of its luster as soon as you departed—which was enough to make anyone question their motives, as well as their heart.

Closing his eyes, he went on. “But it’s just chemicals in the air that are doing this to you. If we head back the way we came, it’ll go away.”

Ava let go of him and slid to the ground. “Does that mean I can’t really have you?”

Dax felt confused. “I—don’t know, Ava. I just don’t know. I felt something—still do—but if you don’t then… well… whatever…”

“Oh, for pity’s sake!” Threldigan yanked Ava out of Dax’s arms and wrapped her in his cloak. “No wonder you’re still a virgin.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe how bad you are at this, Dax! One minute you’ve got a woman in your arms, kissing you for all she’s worth, and the next you’re mumbling like a tongue-tied idiot.”

“He’s not an idiot,” Ava said, her voice muffled by the cape.

“Be quiet and keep your head down,” Threldigan told her. He glanced briefly at Dax before heading off down the street, announcing to the hookers: “This one isn’t interested, boys, so you can just keep your dicks to yourselves.”

“But she’s so cute,” a bronze sex god said from his doorway. He stepped into the light and leaned back against the wall to better display the sword tattooed across his chest. The hilt connected his nipples while the blade ran down his middle, the tip coinciding with the head of his penis. Dax didn’t even want to think about how badly that must’ve hurt. The tattoo he had on his neck had been bad enough, but on his dick? No way! The bronze god grinned and began a slow, sinuous pelvic thrust. “I’d love to run her through with my sword.”

Unable to think of a snappy retort, Dax followed in Threldigan’s wake with the rest of the guys trailing behind him. “I hate Rhylos,” he grumbled. “Really, truly hate it. That’s why I never come here—and it’s not just because of those damned hookers. This place makes me crazy.”

“You didn’t mean what you said?” Ava called out.

“Yes, I meant what I said, but you probably didn’t hear it right.” Dax had never been more disgusted with himself in his life. Ava had been in his arms—had even kissed him—but he wasn’t sure what happened after that. Something had ruined the moment. Then he remembered.
He
was the one who’d ruined the moment. Why hadn’t he just shut up and kissed her?

“We’ll talk about this when we get to the Zetithian Palace,” Threldigan said. “The pheromone effect is turned off in there.”

“Oh, and why is that?” Teke asked.

Threldigan chuckled wickedly. “They don’t need it.”

Dax winced. Great. As soon as she saw what a Zetithian was
supposed
to be like, Ava would probably fall for one of them even without the pheromones in the air.

Tarq had always said he wasn’t good for anything but sex. Onca was a player, no doubt about it. Dax didn’t think Ava would be in danger of losing her heart to them. But Jerden? He was trouble.
Big
trouble.

The Zetithian Palace was easily the largest and most tasteful building on the street, the elegant entrance promising a much higher-class form of entertainment. No perfumes or pheromone-laced ventilators blew in the faces of passersby, nor was there a naked man standing by the door. Soft music played—music that Dax immediately recognized as Zetithian in origin.

The doorway led straight from the street into a jungle. Flowers bloomed everywhere. Leafy vines clung to the walls, while rose-colored velvet daybeds lined the perimeter. A table laden with fresh fruit and dainty candies sat in the middle of the room, its centerpiece a fountain of sparkling red wine. Two women were lying on the beds, one completely awake, but languid and smiling as she sipped her wine, while the other looked to be in even more of a stupor than Treann had been. Both were unclothed but blanketed in deep red satin.

A tiny Zuteran female approached from behind her desk. Her patterned red silk dress complemented her startlingly pink skin, and her hair fell to her knees in waves of purest white. She seemed surprised by the appearance of so many men, but smiled in recognition as the gaze from her china blue eyes landed on Threldigan.

“What a pleasure it is to see you again, Threldigan.” Her voice was like liquid birdsong. “We’ve missed you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Roncas.” Threldigan bowed, planting a kiss on the hand she held out to him. “I have brought a friend to visit the men.”

“And others as well,” she trilled. “So many males… It is very rare that we see so many here, but you, my dear,” she said, turning to Ava. “You must first pass through the medscanner. We cannot risk having any of our men become ill.”

Ava shook her head but didn’t reply. Roncas seemed to take this as an agreement that the men shouldn’t be servicing anyone who could make them sick, for she continued on as though Ava was just another speechless client. “Should you wish to avoid conception, that is your choice. However, the men do not practice any form of birth control, and if you do become impregnated, you must register the child with the Zetithian Birth Registry.” Roncas paused there, but then added apologetically, “Actually, I should say
children
, because there will be three of them!”