Shifting Priorities 3: Mating Call Read online

  The shuttle itself was much larger than she’d thought. There were sixteen crew members, and their quarters included a gym, an exercise pool with attached sauna and hot tub and an informal cafeteria. She felt a sharp pang of envy for the people who were privileged to enjoy this friendly atmosphere. It reminded her of the families she’d watched through the windows back when she’d lived on the streets as a child.

  “Had enough sightseeing for now?” Darien’s voice startled her out of her daydreams. His hand once again rested on her waist, giving her an unfamiliar feeling of security.

  She nodded. “I like your crew, they seem like good people. And the shuttle is impressive. You’ve got a lot to be proud of.”

  He smiled down at her. “Glad you like it. I spend so much time on her, I think of her as home.”

  The image of Yanik, with his dead, cold eyes, passed through her mind. “Well, it sure beats some of the places I’ve called home over the years.”

  She made a mental note to corner the pirate as soon as possible. She needed to make sure he didn’t plan to bring his pirate mates down on the ship. Or expose her to Darien.

  They stepped into the access chute, ascending quickly to the crew’s quarters. As they stepped out, Darien pulled her into his arms, his warm breath feathering across her cheeks as he nipped one tender earlobe. “Since you’ll be living here for the time being, it’s about time for me to collect the rent.”

  Cali snorted. “That is so bad. You need to work on your pickup lines.” She tilted her face as he licked and nibbled his way across her cheek to her lips, engulfing them in a kiss that seared her to the core. He tasted male and aroused and impatient, his tongue probing, demanding entrance. She resisted for a few seconds, unnerved by her body’s instant response to his touch. She’d never had this much trouble keeping her lust in check. In fact, she really couldn’t remember the last time she’d been tempted, even slightly, to allow a man to do more than kiss her. She’d perfected the art of tantalizing her marks without ever having to follow through.

  With Darien, it felt different. She didn’t want to hold back. She wanted to rip off his clothing and explore every muscular, mouth-watering inch in intimate detail. She wanted to taste and touch and feel. And that scared the hell out of her, because she’d built her whole life around control.

  Maybe she just needed to indulge it, get him out of her system. She opened her mouth and he took immediate advantage, his tongue sweeping in to explore every nook and cranny, teasing hers with sweeping licks and stabs.

  She let her body melt into his, her curves molding against him in a perfect fit. Erotic flames danced along her nerves and she lifted her arms to twine her fingers in the tempting mass of his dark hair. She wanted to feel the slide of his skin against her, his hands all over her body. She licked along his lower lip, tasting and taunting.

  Darien let out a low, feral growl and swept her up in his arms, crossing the distance to the stateroom in three long strides. The door swished closed behind them as he lowered her feet to the floor, letting her slide down against him, the hard bulge of his erection pressing against her through his snug suit.

  She looked up and stared, mesmerized at the barely contained lust on his face. She couldn’t break that eye contact. Amber streaks swirled against the darker brown of his eyes as he met her gaze and slowly lowered his mouth to trace a fiery line of kisses from the corner of her lips to the sensitive hollow of her neck. Her pulse quickened, beating faster as molten heat slid down her spine.

  His hands slid lower, cupping the cheeks of her ass and pulling her in hard against him. He crowded against her, forcing her to back up until she felt the edge of the bed pressing against her calves. With a low growl of frustration, he lifted his head, those amazing eyes boring into her as he took a step backward to strip off his clothing.

  Her gaze dropped, her breath catching as his shaft sprang free, curving aggressively upward from his groin. Long and thick, it bobbed slightly as he moved, a shiny drop of precum glistening on the tip. She ran her tongue across lips suddenly gone dry.

  “Get up on the bed.” His voice was low, rough with the need that she could see reflected in his eyes.

  Fear flooded through her. She didn’t want to feel. Didn’t want to chance being hurt. This was too much, too fast. Her body wanted him, but her heart warned her not to give in, not to surrender to the molten heat that flowed through her veins. He was the mark. Nothing more.

  “Cali, get up on the bed.” He advanced toward her, a single step. His eyes were filled with a desperate hunger that tore at her soul. The fear receded, replaced with an urgent need to wipe the longing from his face, to satisfy him as no other female could.

  She sat on the edge of the sleeping platform, her hands going to the top of her suit. Keeping eye contact, she slowly pulled the edges apart and let her breasts spill free, reveling at his swift intake of breath. She felt the power a woman has over her chosen mate, the subtle lure of the mating call.

  His eyes darkened, and he crossed the last step between them, dropping to his knees in front of her. He cupped her heavy breasts in his hands, lowering his mouth to suck one puckered nipple into his mouth, his teeth grazing lightly on the sensitive tip. Cali gasped, feeling a rush of warm liquid between her legs. Darien’s nose twitched and she had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew exactly what he did to her.

  Then she stopped thinking as he set to work, using his hands and tongue and teeth to torment her breasts into tautly pebbled peaks that sent streaks of white-hot lust sliding down her spine. He circled her wrists with his hands, gently pushing her back so that she lay across the bed. His hands explored her body, smoothing their way across her rib cage, then lower to map the rounded curves of her hips.

  He followed his hands with his mouth, licking and nipping, pausing to swirl an erotic caress around her navel. His fingers caught in the waistband of her suit, and he paused to pull the snug leggings down, tossing them carelessly to the floor as his gaze devoured her exposed sex. He slid a hand down to cup the soft folds of her entrance, a sinfully wicked smile curving the handsome corners of his mouth as he felt the betraying moisture.

  She wanted him, and he knew it.

  He slid one calloused finger into her and her muscles clenched around it. Hot. Needing. Wanting. She whimpered, arching up in mindless lust as he stroked that invading finger along her sensitive inner walls. His thumb brushed across her clit, sending waves of honeyed heat through her. She felt herself winding higher and higher, tighter and tighter, unable to control her responses.

  He looked up to stare into her eyes, his pupils dark pools of lust. Slowly, almost reverently, he lowered his face and fastened his mouth on her sex.

  “Dariiiiennnnnnn!” The scream tore from her throat as her world fragmented into a million tiny shards of pure pleasure. She wrapped her fingers in his hair, holding him to her as he fed on her sex, lapping up her juices, sending her back up and over the edge, not once but twice. She was lost in a world of carnal feeling, pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. And still his tongue stabbed and licked and stroked.

  Then he withdrew his mouth and rose above her, roughly shoving her legs wide with his knee. His eyes glittered, dark with lust, and his enormous cock pressed aggressively against the folds of her pussy. “You’re mine.” His harsh tone barely penetrated her lust-filled mind.

  She had no intention of denying his words. She wanted to be his in every sense. She wanted him to fill her with his scent, his tongue, his taste, his cock. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she locked her heels behind him and arched up, trying to impale herself on that luscious shaft. His lips pulled back to reveal two rows of shiny white teeth. With one thrust of his well-muscled hips, he seated himself to the balls in her tight channel.

  Cali whimpered, writhing beneath him as erotic heat flowed through her veins. Hot and wild, the incredible sensations caused by the invasion of her innermost core drove her ever upward, spiraling higher and higher as he moved within her.
He set a steady rhythm, his cock thrusting in and out, while he held her gaze, the swirling amber streaks in his eyes betraying his need.

  He surged in and out. Deeper. Harder. Faster. The friction of that marvelous shaft against her inner walls sent spasms of pleasure looping through her, from groin to belly to breasts and back. Over and over. She twisted and turned beneath him, unable to resist the pleasure that threatened to shatter her sanity. She screamed his name as her orgasm swept her away on a tide of pure feeling. He captured his name as it escaped her mouth, his lips triumphant, aggressively dominant as he followed her to the heights, his seed spurting deep within her.

  The kiss changed, softened, became a gentle thank you as they collapsed on the sleeping platform, both of them spent and gasping for oxygen. He shifted to the side to cradle her against his larger body. He held her tenderly, the tension and aggression of their mating drained for the moment. She closed her eyes, relaxing as she struggled to drag enough air into her starving lungs. For the first time in her lonely, nomadic life, she felt an incredible sense of peace and total fulfillment. Belonging. She’d never belonged.

  As an orphan growing up in the seedy alleys of the post-Empire ghettos on Earth, she’d had to fight for every scrap of food, every bit of clothing. She’d learned never to trust, never to give, never to yield the advantage to anyone. Not anyone. To trust was to be hurt; to give was to have everything torn from you. She tensed as a long-suppressed terror bubbled up from its hiding place and raced through her veins.

  If she cared for Darien, she gave him the power to destroy her.

  Shifting Priorities 3: Mating Call

  Chapter Five

  Darien felt her tense up, smelt the sudden fear that radiated from her every pore. He rose up on one elbow to look down at her face. Her beautiful blue eyes were hidden, long, blonde lashes spread out over her cheeks. Her heart was racing, the blood pounding through her veins, powered by the adrenaline that spilled into her system.

  She was terrified, and he knew it was his fault. She’d responded to him with total abandon and that scared the hell out of her. The report that Jakeb had put together painted a picture of a lonely, independent female who’d been dealt a very unfair hand in this life. Everyone she’d ever needed, everyone she should have been able to turn to and trust, had deserted her. Or worse yet, used her to their own ends. Gaining her trust would be a tough job.

  He smoothed the hair back from her face, running his fingers through the silken strands in a soothing pattern, repeating the caress over and over again until he felt her start to relax, her breathing evening out to a steady rhythm. He needed to court her, give her time to get used to him and the incredible explosive power of their union. He cursed the timing. If his intel was correct, they were due to be attacked by pirates as soon as they entered the adjoining sector. He needed to concentrate on the job at hand. Once they’d cleaned out the deadly nest of pirates, he’d have plenty of time to court her properly.

  He could tell the exact moment she slipped into a deep sleep, exhausted by their lovemaking and her emotional turmoil. He placed a tender kiss on top of her soft hair before he pulled the cover over them and allowed himself to drift into sleep.

  * * *

  “So what’s today’s plan?”

  Darien wondered if she realized how tempting she looked wrapped in one of his robes, her hair a tousled jumble to her waist and her freshly scrubbed face young and innocent. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.

  Time, he reminded himself. Jumping her bones every time she looks at me is not the way to gain her trust. He could feel his lip twitch in amusement. He hadn’t exercised this much self-control in decades. No other female had aroused him this much.

  “I have a vid meeting scheduled for later this morning, so you’ll have to amuse yourself. The crew will be glad to help if you need anything.” He paused beside the food dispenser. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  Cali crossed the floor, tilting her face to study the dispenser. “Can I get fruit salad from that?”

  Darien tapped the access panel to bring up the menu. “Any preference? Earth? Martian? Urazin?” He gave her a crooked smile. “I’d recommend the Martian. They have huge hydroponics complexes devoted to perfecting their produce.”

  “Okay.” Cali rewarded him with a brilliant smile that sent heat pooling uncomfortably in his groin. “Martian it is.” He input the order, adding some coffee for himself. “So how long will you be?”

  Darien retrieved the food from the dispenser. “Probably most of the morning.” The vid meeting would take less than half of that; the rest he needed to set the trap for the pirates.

  Cali accepted the fruit plate and sat down at the table. “This looks great!” She nibbled on a slice of orange-colored fruit, a look of pure enjoyment lighting up her face. Her tongue slid out to capture a drop of juice that escaped and Darien felt his cock jerk in envy. He wanted her to use that tongue on him.

  “So what do you do, exactly?” The look on her face was pure innocence. Darien could see why she was such a successful con artist.

  “I set up and monitor security systems for most of the mining companies in this sector. The security protocols need constant monitoring, which is the purpose of this trip. There’ve been pirate sightings close to some of the out-ports and they want to be sure their protocols are secure.” He took a sip of his coffee, the thick, black liquid sliding smoothly down his throat. Didn’t hurt to give her a heads-up on the danger, even though he had no intention of letting it get anywhere near her.

  Cali’s eyes widened. “Pirates? This close into the system?”

  He nodded. “They’ve been getting bolder. The Enforcers think they have an insider feeding them information.” Which was why he had a new navigator. Yanik was their prime suspect and they wanted him where they could keep an eye on him.

  “Are we in danger?”

  “No.” He gave her the look he used on nervous customers. “This is a Class AA shuttle, with first-class shields and battle armaments. Even if pirates did attack us, they’d find they’d bitten off more than they could handle.”

  “Oh. Good to know.” Cali turned her attention back to the fruit platter.

  Odd. Darien could still smell her fear, which was at odds with her actions. The thought of a pirate attack obviously scared her more than she wanted him to know. He gave a mental shrug. She probably didn’t want him to think she was easily scared.

  He glanced at the timepiece on the wall and gulped down the rest of his coffee. “Much as I hate to leave you, I’m running late for that vid meeting.” He leaned over the table to lift her chin. “Enjoy yourself this morning. I’ll try to make it back for the midday meal.” He placed a chaste kiss on her lips and rose to his feet, striding toward the doorway.

  “Hurry back. I’ll miss you.” Her voice had an odd catch to it, as if she’d surprised herself.

  Darien couldn’t resist. He turned, pacing back to draw her up into his embrace. He bent down, his lips searing over hers with a sensual heat he couldn’t control. She kissed him back, opening her mouth to allow his tongue to invade, and he cupped her head in one hand, tilting it just so. Their tongues met, teased, tasted. The feel of her lithe body against him sent daggers of heat through every vein, flowing down to his groin, where it added to the hellish hard-on he’d woken with. He gave a groan of frustration and dragged himself back to reality. He really did have to make that call.

  He buried his face in her hair, the sweet scent of it seeping into his very bones. He gave her a quick hug, pulling her hard against his frustrated shaft so she’d feel how much she affected him. “And now I really have to go.” He gave her a wry smile as he all but jogged to the door. Given half a chance, he could spend the rest of the voyage with his cock buried deep in her tempting little body.

  Shifting Priorities 3: Mating Call

  Chapter Six

  Cali watched him walk out the door, her emotions in total upheaval. What was she going t
o do? Darien might have all the faith in the world in his security systems, but she knew Yanik. He’d do whatever it took to get his pirates aboard. Including forcing her to help him. She groaned in frustration as she reviewed her choices.

  If she told Darien what she knew, he’d have Yanik arrested. And Yanik would rat her out. The thought of Darien’s face when he found out the woman he’d been romancing was a cheap con artist made her cringe. She’d become too attached to the sexy security man to relish that type of confrontation. She’d practically decided to skip the con and just enjoy the rest of the voyage. The man could damn near make her come with one look from those amazing eyes of his.

  If she kept quiet, the best-case scenario had Yanik breaching security protocols so the pirates could get under the shields and attack. And they wouldn’t care who got hurt in the process. Worst case, he’d try to blackmail her into helping him.

  Damn, damn and double damn!

  She slammed her hands down on the table. She’d have to try talking to Yanik. If she told him Darien knew about the pirates’ presence and had come prepared for an attack, maybe he’d be reasonable. She rolled her eyes at her own naiveté. Not likely, but it was the best she could come up with.

  She dumped the food tray into the recycler and headed for the shower. She might as well give Darien enough time to get his vid meeting underway before she went traipsing off in search of another man. She felt the corners of her mouth curve upward in a reluctant smile. He didn’t strike her as the type who took well to sharing.

  When she’d showered and dressed, she headed down the corridor to the access chute. She hoped to find Yanik on duty on the bridge where she’d feel a little safer. He’d hesitate to cause a scene in public. She didn’t want to confront him in the privacy of his quarters where he’d be free to unleash his nasty temper on her. She gave an involuntary shudder.