Dark Horse (26 page)

S
he felt stalked
.

The sensation caught at her breath and raised the hairs on the back on her neck in anticipation. She shivered as she reached the guest suite Sazo had shown her earlier. It helped to know it had never once been used.

She opened the door and looked back at Dav. He seemed to take up most of the passageway and his beautiful face was all sharp angles and desire.

If she let him in, there was no going back. She knew herself too well, and she must call it off now if she didnʼt want anything to happen.

She would not have done this on Earth.

Not have taken things so fast, so soon, but she wasnʼt the same person she had been three months ago. She had come to understand the concept of seize the day, and if Dav hadnʼt worked it out, she knew all too well what Sazo would ask her to do when the other Class 5 arrived.

She may get out of it alive, but there was a high chance she wouldnʼt.

He must have sensed her moment of hesitation, because he stopped, tipped his head in that curious, alien way the Grih seemed to have. They stared at each other for a long beat.

She broke the moment by stepping in to the room and to the side, sweeping her arm to invite him in.

He let out a pent-up breath, put his hand up to his chest and thumped it once. “I think I need to restart my heart.”

His words broke the tension she felt and brushed away any awkwardness with the laugh of delight that leapt from her.

She opened her mouth to say something funny back, and found herself up against the wall with his lips on hers and the words sheʼd planned to say stuck in her throat.

It was strange to realize they were alone, no longer surrounded by a ship full of people who all wanted Dav for something.

Except for Sazo.

But there was nowhere she could go without Sazo, whether here or on the
Barrist
, and there were no lenses here. She had told him to disable the two-way speakers in the room. He could only contact her through the comms unit on the desk or her earpiece.

She let herself fall into the kiss, arching as Davʼs mouth moved from her lips to her neck and down.

He pulled her hard against him, and she let herself enjoy the sensation.

“That was certainly a qualifying kiss.” Her words were breathless. “Iʼm definitely considering bed rather than sleep, now.”

“Are you sure? I could try again.”

He worked his way up, and she smiled as he took her mouth a second time.

She slid her arms up his back, tracing muscles and the broad reach of his shoulders.

“Iʼm happy for you to submit as many applications as you like.” She bit his neck and he lifted her up against the wall, both hands gripping her thighs.

She sighed as they rubbed delightfully against each other.

“You weigh far more than seems possible,” he murmured in her ear, hefting her higher, and she laughed.

“Sweet talker.” She nibbled at his ear, and then licked the outer rim.

He swore, fumbled her, and then swung her around, took the few strides needed to get them to the bed. “I canʼt hold you up with you distracting me like that.” He dropped her down and then followed her, half-pinning her to the mattress.

“And yet you look so big and strong.” She traced the bulge of muscle in his arm, her heart tripping in her chest.

“Hmm.” He was suddenly over her, arms on either side of her head, in a kind of push-up that defined all the muscles in his arms, chest and stomach.

“Oooh. Very big and strong.” She let her hand trail down his chest, and then rub where he was hard and erect.

She saw the change in his eyes from playful and laughing to dark with desire.

He bent his head, not touching any part of her with his body, and then brushed a kiss across her lips.

The sweetness of the connection, the gentleness of it, caused tears to prick behind her lids and she cupped his cheek.

“I like you, Dav Jallan.” She whispered it against his mouth.

He dropped to the side of her, and slowly pulled up her shirt. “Thatʼs good. Because I like you, too.”

H
e knew
they were sexually compatible. Kila had mentioned it in amazement from the very beginning after Roseʼs first medical scan. She hadnʼt been able to get over the unlikelihood of the first advanced sentient in five hundred years being so like them.

Of course, it wasnʼt chance that had brought her their way, he knew now. It was Sazo. Trying to please her. To find her a place where she would fit in.

But sexually compatible was very different to sexually appealing, and he had felt the appeal almost from the moment heʼd met her. It had started on the first walk they took, was strengthened in their flight up to the
Barrist
from Harmon, and then had burst into hot, painful life at the pool, when heʼd first touched her.

The playfulness, the joy in her, pulled him even deeper under her spell now.

She was stripped naked beside him and her hands explored his body, his own hands tracing the soft, smooth curve of her waist, cupping the deliciously heavy breasts.

He shuddered at the sensations, the need clawing at him to take her in hard, deep thrusts.

His fingertips traced the fine, almost invisible white lines the Tecran had put on her, the evidence of a laser scalpel that had opened her up and a heat pen that had closed her again.

He leaned over her and traced them with his tongue, inhaling her scent and reveling in the incredible smoothness of her skin.

She tensed when he touched her scars at first, and then, as he worked his way down, as he explored her with lips, tongue and fingers, learned what made her gasp, or her breath catch, she relaxed. He found what he needed to do to make her shudder beneath him, and when she arched under him, and let him inside her, everything fell away.

She moved beneath him, matching her rhythm to his, until she flew apart with a cry and he shuddered his release.

He pulled her close and she curled into him, kissed his collar-bone, all sleepy and tousled, her glorious, golden hair draped like silk over his arm.

He rubbed it between his fingers, amazed at how smooth and soft it was.

She reached out a clumsy hand to slap at the headboard beside her, and the lights went out. He guessed that she had told Sazo she wanted no speaker activation in the room, and realized he hadnʼt even thought about that, that Sazo would otherwise have been listening in to them. It was a reminder that Sazo was still lurking in this place, that they werenʼt truly alone.

But he couldnʼt hold on to his dislike of that with Rose McKenzie draped over him.

He fell asleep with his fingers twined in her hair, and the gentle tickle of her breath on his chest and for the first time since theyʼd come across the Class 5, truly rested.

H
e woke
, slowly and pleasantly, to the sound of running water and song. He was alone in the bed, and when he opened his eyes, he found the whole of the screen wall in front of the bed was now a forest, dappled in the light of early morning, the pattern of sunlight on the forest floor dancing as the wind ruffled the branches overhead.

The song Rose was singing was fast and catchy and while he knew she didnʼt think what she could do with her voice was special, there wasnʼt a Grih who wouldnʼt envy him this moment.

The scent of yuiar soap wafted out on the steam which curled lazily in the light from the simulated forest. The most expensive scent in the galaxy, and she was lathering it on without a care.

He was involved with a princess.

He grinned.

The comm chimed, and Dav sat up and stared at it. It chimed again and he debated whether to answer.

It could only be Sazo, or Sazo patching through the admiral, and he didnʼt feel like speaking to either of them.

It chimed a third time, and this time, held the tone. Giving in, he pulled on his pants, crossed the room and hit accept.

“Yes?”

“Where is Rose?” Sazo sounded suspicious.

“In the shower.” Where he wanted to be. With her.

“Oh.” Sazo went quiet. “Sheʼs singing.”

Sazo understood her language, yet another thing Dav resented about him, but he may as well use it. “What is she singing about?”

“Earth people arenʼt like the Grih.” Sazo managed to make it sound like Roseʼs people were far superior. “They sing a song because they like the tune, they like the beat. The words themselves arenʼt necessarily meaningful to the occasion.”

That may be true, from what Dav had managed to get out of Rose, but still . . . Sazo sounded a little too defensive.

“I understand that. I still would like to know what sheʼs singing.”

“The song is about someone listing all the things they like about their lover.”

Dav knew he was smiling, probably like an idiot, but he didnʼt care. “Well, perhaps Iʼll go give her a few more things to add to her list.”

“Wait.” Sazoʼs voice was cold.

Davʼs finger hovered over the button to cut the comm short, but didnʼt touch it. “What?”

“Rose is my friend. And she likes you. But if you hurt her, or make her unhappy, I will hurt you back.”

“So noted.” Dav could be just as cool as a thinking system. Just as clipped.

“Iʼm worried you arenʼt taking me seriously.” Sazoʼs voice got quieter, as if he wanted to make sure Rose couldnʼt hear him. “Dr. Fliap didnʼt fall ill. I made him ill. I can kill a whole ship, but I can also be very precise in who I target. Donʼt forget it.”

Dav had wondered about Fliap. “How did you get the bastard?”

Sazo made a sound, almost like an exclamation of surprise, and again, Dav wondered how a thinking system affected something like that.

“We visited a lot of worlds. Most of them with no life, but one, it had life stirring on it. Just the beginnings of it. Of course, they had to go down and see. Fliap had to have samples. He analyzed them and if he didnʼt understand the significance of what heʼd found, the toxicity of it, I did.” His voice held an edge of grim satisfaction. “When he started on Rose, I had to wait six weeks until he looked at the samples again, but when he did, it was a simple matter to infect him, given the automation of his lab.”

“You liked Rose, right from the start?” Dav couldnʼt be anything but grateful to him that he had.

“Yes.” His answer seemed strangely wistful. “I liked her straight away.”

There was silence for a moment.

“I wonʼt hurt her, Sazo.”

“You wonʼt last long if you do.” Sazo dismissed his soft comment with the sharpness of his tone and Dav cut off the comm with a bitter jab.

He turned to face the bathroom.

Blew out a long, slow breath.

Damned if Sazo was going to ruin this morning, this moment. Damned if he was.

He could hear the water flying around in the shower, as if Rose was dancing as well as singing in there under the spray. And her joy, and the thought of her wet and naked and happy, was enough to push aside the threat to his life by something that could crush him like a insect underfoot and propel him forward.

Sazo would have to learn to share.

R
ose dressed with languid movements
, her skin still humming from the feel of Davʼs hands. She hadnʼt slept so well since sheʼd been taken by the Tecran——even on the
Barrist
sheʼd felt too out of place, too nervous, to truly rest.

Dav sat in full uniform beside the desk, watching her as she tucked and shaped the sage green hyr fabric into her standard trousers and long-sleeved t-shirt.

His face was hard to read, although his gaze never left her.

“Will you get into trouble for sleeping with me?” She had wondered while sheʼd led him to her room last night, but decided he knew what he could and couldnʼt do under Battle Center rules far better than her.

He shrugged. “I donʼt intend to tell them, it isnʼt any of their business who I sleep with, although, admittedly, in your case things are a little more complicated than that.”

Just a bit.

“So you want me to pretend there is nothing between us?” Best to have this on the table right now, before she landed him in hot water with a look or a casual touch.

“No.” He lifted his eyes from where her hands were smoothing the waist of her trousers, his voice sharp. Then he rubbed his forehead. “I donʼt know how to play this. I want to shout over the comms that youʼre mine and weʼre together, but I donʼt want to deal with the yurve shit I know will come down on me if they know about it, because itʼs going to complicate things and make them second-guess all my orders.”

She tugged her shirt down. “How about we pretend to be neutral to each other until after this is over? I agree it could be dangerous if they think your motivations arenʼt objective. Dangerous for your crew as well as Sazo and I. Admiral Hoke already thinks youʼre too easy on me.”

He gave a slow nod as he stood. “As long as you know that neutral is the last thing I really feel.” He slid his arms around her, pulled her close. Then swore when the comm sounded.

She brushed a kiss on his chin, as high as she could reach without him bending a little, and wriggled out of his hold.

She walked to the bedside table, started at the fact that Sazo wasnʼt there, and then remembered he was hidden from sight in last nightʼs clothing. She would have to come back and get him after Dav was gone. She picked up her earpiece, brought it toward her ear.

Dav made a sound behind her, and she turned to look at him, the device still in her hand. “It just occurred to me. Back on Harmon, when you were talking to yourself. You were talking to Sazo?”

She shrugged. “Yes.”

“You never told me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I couldnʼt tell you then, and since then, since youʼve know about Sazo, surely you realized? Last night we had a short conversation through the earpiece, so telling you simply wouldnʼt have occurred to me. I thought you knew.”

He made a noise of protest and she lifted her hand.

“When you asked me on Harmon what I was saying to myself, and I told you I was just sorting through the events of the day, that was true. I was telling Sazo what had happened and I had given my word to say nothing about him, so I slid around the truth. Are you seriously angry about this?”

“No.” His words were stiff, but he held her gaze. “Anything else you didnʼt tell me?”

She glared at him. “I donʼt think so.” Then glared at the comm unit as it sounded again.

They both ignored it.

“I donʼt want to fight with you, Rose. I want you to trust me, and I want to trust you. I know about Sazo now, and there is no more need for deception, thatʼs all.”

“Agreed.” She knew she sounded surly. She felt surly.

“When did he break in to the
Barristʼs
systems?” He made the question casual, but Rose felt a twinge of guilt at her part in it, even though Sazo was right, heʼd been just as dangerous to them being outside their system as being in it.

She knew Dav wanted to know how much Sazo knew, how long heʼd been listening in to them.

“When I was singing those songs in the debriefing room.”

He said nothing for a moment, but he seemed to relax a little. “We need to talk about those songs, when this is over.”

She gave a shrug. “Whatʼs there to talk about?”

“The minute Sazo lifts the comm ban, the lens feed of you singing will be transmitted to every family member and friend of every one of my crew. And from there, to each of the four planets.”

She groaned. “Sazo said if I sang, theyʼd be less inclined to listen to that order to hand me over to the UC.”

“He was right.” Dav looked up at the speakers but Rose was sure that Sazo would respect her request to make the speakers inert in this room.

The comm unit sounded again, and Rose could actually hear a squawk from the earpiece in her hand.

She stalked over and opened the channel. “Sazo? Iʼm putting in the earpiece, so lower your voice.”

“I wouldnʼt have to shout if you answered the comm unit.” He sounded like he was spitting.

“Iʼm sorry.” She meant it sincerely, and he must have heard that because his next words were civil and quiet and he spoke through the comm unit, so Dav could hear him, too.

“Admiral Hoke is trying to connect to Dav. Iʼve been blocking repeated contact from the
Barrist
since you went to bed last night. I want to talk to Dav about his idea of surrounding the Levron before I let Hoke speak to him again, but we had better do it quickly or sheʼll be too angry to agree to anything.”

Dav made a sound, and she turned to him.

“I canʼt believe I forgot to sign off.” He looked at her, absolutely perplexed. “I said Iʼd connect every hour until I told them otherwise.”

“I guess you forgot,” she said, and he suddenly grinned and gave her what was clearly intended to be a leer.

“I suppose I did.”

“Could we discuss strategy now?” Sazo asked, and Rose recognized the sarcasm in his tone. Sheʼd used that tone herself.

Now she knew what her sister meant when she said how spooky it was to hear your words come straight back at you from your children.

But Sazo wasnʼt her child.

He was a chimera, building himself using parts from everyone he came in contact with. So far, aside from his own cold logic, heʼd absorbed the Tecran ruthlessness, and her own unique style.

Her hand crept up to grip the crystal hanging around her neck, scrabbled at nothing until she remembered again he wasnʼt hanging there.

She would do whatever it took to never let him fall back into Tecran hands.

He would truly become a monster if that happened, and whatever the Tecran thought, they would never hold him for long again.

“Strategy it is.”

T
hey had decided
, Sazo, Rose and himself, that it would work better if Dav returned to the
Barrist
before they began discussing their plan with the admiral.

Anything that he said from the bridge of the Class 5 could be considered a forced cooperation, and while they didnʼt need Admiral Hoke to agree, her agreement would help.

Dav was greeted in the launch bay by Hoke, Valu and Appal, and as he stepped down, he felt a hard tug of regret that heʼd had to leave Rose behind. And that the last private words between them had been tainted by his accusations of her hiding things from him.

The thought that sheʼd lied to him had dug at him, the memory of her sitting in the runner from Harmon, staring at his feet, telling him it was acceptable for someone who had been in solitary confinement to talk to themselves, when all along, she hadnʼt been talking to herself.

Sliding around the truth, she called it.

Whatever it was, it had stung, but he was sorry they hadnʼt had time to talk it through. That she couldnʼt have taken the runner over with him to the
Barrist
to clear the air.

There was no way Sazo would allow her off the Class 5, and he couldnʼt blame him, but it left something cold and hard lodged in his throat to fly away from her.

“Well, you look fine.” Admiral Hoke said, her voice blunt, but not unfriendly.

“I am fine.”

“We were worried when you stopped checking in.” Appal caressed the stock of her shockgun. “Sazo said you were sleeping, but we didnʼt know whether to believe him.”

He grimaced. There was no excuse he could offer that was acceptable. But he would not apologize in front of the admiral. He could speak to Appal in private, later. “Sazo said he needed to think about a plan I advanced to him, and cut off comms until he engaged with me again this morning.”

“Well, you actually look as if you did get some sleep at least. Iʼm surprised you could rest knowing where you were.” Valu eyed him with a quick, thorough evaluation.

“What do you mean, where I was?”

“On a Class 5 with a thinking system in control. He could have killed you at any time.”

Hardly, given Rose had been lying curled up right beside him. But Valu still didnʼt get it. “Heʼs just as in control of the
Barrist
. You were no safer than I was.” In fact, Dav knew, heʼd been far safer, as Sazo would do nothing to harm Rose or upset her.

“What have you got for us?” Hokeʼs voice was sharp.

“Letʼs talk with the rest of my senior officers present.” Dav strode off, leading them to the conference room, and Appal got in step with him.

“Are you really all right?”

He gave a nod.

“And Rose?”

“Sheʼs fine. Sheʼs safer there than she is here.” But something was niggling him about that. Something he was sure he should have caught earlier.

“There was panic when you didnʼt call back.” She scrubbed a hand down her face. “It was a long night.”

Dav could see the dark rings under her eyes. “Iʼm sorry.”

She shrugged. “Not your fault.”

But it was, and he shook his head at her, then tapped his comm unit before he said something he regretted. “Borji, Kila, Havak.” He hesitated a moment. “Dimitara. Conference room in five minutes.”

They must have all been hovering on the bridge, because they got there before he did, Appal and the admirals in tow.

“Status on the UC councilors?” He directed his question to Appal and Dimitara.

“Fu-tama is in holding here on the
Barrist
. The rest are back on their carrier, but theyʼre demanding a senior officer be stationed on board, not only to show respect, but to reassure them the Grih wonʼt attack their ship.”

“Thatʼs ridiculous.” Hoke lifted her chin. “We donʼt have anyone we can spare.”

“Iʼll do it. It might not be a bad idea to have eyes and ears over there, especially with the Tecran councilors on board.” Valu tapped his chin.

Hoke hesitated. Dav didnʼt blame her. It was unlike Valu to take himself out of the sphere of action, but it was true it would be useful to have someone who wouldnʼt be intimidated by the councilors watching over them.

“If you donʼt mind,” Hoke said, at last.

Valu gave a nod.

Dimitara made a small moue of distaste, her smooth golden skin crinkling at the corners of her mouth. “Commander Appal wonʼt give me the details of Farso Lothricʼs confession, but I agree Fu-tama needs to be confined until we can hand him over to the UC guard if heʼs mixed up in this.”

“He is.” Dav kept his words short.

“I believe you, but the other UC staff and councilors donʼt know you as well as I do, and theyʼre panicking about this.”

“What do they think weʼre doing?” Hoke focused her penetrating stare on Dimitara, but the liaison officer shrugged, unintimidated.

“They suspect youʼre trying to subvert the UC. Trying to claim illegal ownership of the Class 5, too——well, thatʼs what the Tecran councilors are claiming.”

Hoke snorted. “Sounds like youʼll have some fun over there, Valu.”

Dimitara smiled, her sharp little teeth a reminder that the Bukari may be the diplomats of the UC, but they could bite, too. “As the Tecran have more than a slight personal stake in advancing that notion, the others havenʼt take them very seriously, but they are disturbed.”

“And what do they have to say about the appearance of a Tecran Levron class battleship in our territory?” Appal didnʼt keep the sneer from her voice.

Dimitara lifted her already arched brows. “They are disturbed by that, too, and the Tecran councilors canʼt contact their leaders to discover whatʼs going on.”

“I can help with that.” Dav couldnʼt help a quick glance at the lens in the corner of the room. He hoped Sazo would let him talk first. Lay the groundwork. “Sazo has communicated with the Levron, and threatened to destroy it if it so much as moves a milli. But he wants to bring it home very clearly to the Tecran that he is in alliance with us. That weʼre cooperating together.”

“I like the sound of this,” Hoke said. “Whatʼs the catch?”

“No catch.” Although there was. And Dav would have to find a way to work it into the conversation. “Heʼs agreed to align with us, and he will lift the comm ban, and the
Barrist
, the Class 5 and the two battleships will surround the Levron in a coordinated maneuver.”

“With the comm ban lifted, the Levron can send lens feed of the attack and show the Tecran High Command that we either have control of the Class 5, or, if they know about Sazo, that he is working with us.” Appal spoke slowly. “I agree, what is the catch?”