Desire's Prisoner (Planet Desire Book 1) (16 page)

“That could take us months. A lot could happen on Arturia before we’re finished.”

“I’ve gold enough to grease the palms of the local constabulary for a while, but I’ll have to take the Raptor back out.”

“I thought you were selling her.” Darak’s eyes widened. “Are you planning to return to piracy?”

“For a time,” he replied curtly.

“What about Evena? Does she know you’ll be abandoning her as soon as you get to Arturia?”

“She’s coming along.”

Darak blinked. “Sir, you know it’s bad luck to take women on raids.”

Adam waved a hand. “We’ll make our own luck. Besides, she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Ooh-hoo! You’re sounding hen-pecked already. I’m surprised you don’t just tie her up and send her along with the other women. That was your original plan, after all.”

Adam gave him a searing glance. “You’re to forget that bit of folly, and that’s an order, scivvy!”

Darak laughed, unimpressed with Adam’s ire. “Does Cantor know yet that you’re appointing him interim governor until your return? He won’t like being grounded.”

“I haven’t had the pleasure, yet.”

A light dawned in Darak’s eyes. “Ah, you’re making sure he and Evena are kept separate for a time.” He laughed merrily. “Very nasty. But, I like it.”

“Cantor’s a fine choice for the job.”

“If you say so. Somehow, I can’t picture him in charge of a company of women.”

“The responsibility will make a man of him.”

“He’ll kill you.”

“He can try.” Adam’s gaze was drawn once again to his woman as she strode toward him, a smile on her face.

“I fear that one will lead you a merry chase, sir.”

“God, I hope so,” Adam murmured. “By the way, you’ll be in charge of the women left on Arturia.” Surprisingly, Darak didn’t appear a bit perturbed. Then, Adam watched Darak’s expression grow soft when his gaze lit on Mary Grogan. “So, have you decided to take Mary as your mate?”

Darak smiled. “To tell you the truth, I’m not so sure who did the choosing. But, aye, she’s the one for me.”

“The
one
?” Adam was well aware of Darak’s proclivity for variety.

“My ‘Number One.’ Too cruel to leave so many unattached females without the love and support of a good man.”

Adam’s mouth twitched. “I suppose you’ll sacrifice your manhood for the greater good?”

“You know our motto: So many women, so many cunts to plunder.”

“Ships, dammit. It’s ships!”

Evena’s eyes narrowed as she stepped close. “You definitely have to find a new motto, Captain.”

“Captain, huh?” He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her near.

“Only in public. Don’t go getting all puffed up,” she warned, with a sliding caress of his cock. “Can’t have more than one aboard a ship. And, since I’m a pirate-in-training, that title can’t be mine.”

“And what will you call me when we’re alone?”

“Oh, I think we’ll find much more interesting things to call each other.”

“Master and slave?”

“Hmmm.” Her eyebrows rose. “Sometimes. But we’ll have to trade roles, occasionally.”

“How about…husband?” He held his breath.

She looked up, her eyes shining. “And wife?”

“If you’ll have this pirate.”

Evena leaned upward to kiss his mouth.

Their tongues mated and their bodies aligned. Oblivious to their amused audience, Evena and Adam sealed their promise.

“Ahem, Captain.”

Adam bussed Evena’s lips one more time before shooting Darak an annoyed glance.

Darak raised his hands. “Thought you might like to know, the breaching crew’s opened the portal.”

A cheer arose from the women, and they surged forward to greet the newcomers climbing through the opening.

Evena sighed. “We’ve work to do before we can continue this discussion.”

Adam brought her hand to his mouth. “Tonight, then.”

“Bring a slave’s torque?”

“Will you wear it for me?”

She glanced sideways and lowered her lashes. “I was hoping to try it on Rufus.”

Adam grinned. “Ah! He’s a slippery fellow. Do you really think you can chain him?”

She licked her lips slowly. “I can make him my slave.”

Adam felt blood converge in his loins from all parts of his body. Damnation! The woman would lead him by his ballocks, and he’d be a happier man for it.

Evena rubbed against his lengthening cock, and then backed away. With a coy smile, she turned and walked toward the crowded docking station.

Adam shot a sideways glance at Darak, who quickly wiped the smile from his face.

“You know, Captain. It’s going to take several trips before all the women are removed.”

Adam’s cock rose higher in his breeches. “See to it,” he commanded, then walked briskly after Evena.

Darak laughed as
he watched his friend and Captain grab Evena from behind. With a deft twist, Adam hoisted the struggling woman over his shoulder and headed down the hall, out of sight.

When his gaze returned to the women shuffling through the portal, he found Mary. Her eyes brimmed with humor, and she favored him with a saucy wink.

As Darak strode forward to greet his mate, he wondered how quickly he could have Mary backed up to wall. Something of his intent must have shown on his face.

Her eyes narrowed, and a frown creased her brow. “Oh no,” she said, waving her finger in his face. “This girl did not wait all these years to miss this ship.”

Darak ducked and gently rammed his shoulder into her belly. As she folded over his back, he patted her ass. “Don’t worry, love. This won’t take a minute.”

Mary’s muffled voice replied, “Take a minute? Baby, why so slow? I’m there, already.”

Desire’s Slave

After a fellow convict is murdered while she’s guarding the maximum-security cellblock, ex-con Calandra Jones escapes the ship of the pirates who liberated the convicts, determined to make it on her own. Just as she’s attempting to arrange passage on another ship headed for a mining colony, she’s abducted by a handsome slave trader bent on offering her for sale at a potentate’s auction.

Drago Chavez doesn’t understand Calandra’s opposition to his plan. As a concubine or wife to a powerful man, she would be pampered and influential. No woman he’s ever placed has complained about being sold into the arms of a caring owner. Besides, his acquisition of the rebellious beauty is his entrée into a lucrative and exclusive market.

Calandra considers Drago’s goal nothing short of sexual slavery and vows to seduce the trader into changing his mind about offering her for sale. A sensual storm erupts during their desert odyssey that culminates when Calandra is sold, and Drago must decide whether he trusts their love enough to launch a rescue.

D
espite the meager
light offered by the single crude fixture above the bar, Drago Chavez knew the creature in the dark, hooded cloak was a woman.

He first spied her when she elbowed her way through the crowd. She wore a long mantle, no doubt to disguise her figure. Instead, the flowing cloth clung to the enticing curve of her hips as she settled onto a barstool.

His curiosity aroused by her bold action, Drago withdrew to a murky corner where the sweet smoke from
hatta
pipes shrouded the occupants. The better to watch, while he remained unobserved.

He’d heard a ship full of escaped convicts, women from the Dominion prison, the New Attica, had arrived in Arturia’s port city of Aghora. The women could be seen walking on the starship’s dock, closely guarded by the pirate crew of the
Intrepid
. He had heard of none venturing beyond the end of the dock. And the fearsome reputation of the
Intrepid
’s captain, Adamarik Zingh, kept Aghora’s curious from approaching them.

Drago suspected he was staring at one of the escaped cons now. Only a woman tasting forbidden freedom would be so foolish as to wander into this tavern alone. The Pirate’s Cove was a magnet for pirates and petty criminals who made their connections and targeted their next victims within its walls.

The woman was lucky she’d made it this far down the docks. Procurers for the brothels had circled like sharks around the
Intrepid
for days, waiting for a foolish woman to step beyond the boundary of Captain Zingh’s protection. Drago hadn’t been one of them, but seeing as the woman courted disaster anyway, he hunkered down in the shadows to see whether an opportunity would arise.

This woman was either fearless or incredibly naïve.

And as far as he could tell, broad-shouldered with wide-hips. The sturdy sort of woman Arturian men prized as breeders. If she possessed any beauty whatsoever, she’d earn a trader a pretty
dinar
at Aghora’s monthly auction the next day.

She ordered ale. Although pitched low, her voice drew the attention of several men standing nearby. While there were whores aplenty inside the bar, every one of them blended with the décor—shabby, tawdry, over-used. This one’s voice was youthful, hesitant, but at the same time, sultry.

Drago recognized several of the men closing around the woman who appeared oblivious to the interest she stirred. They were a dangerous lot—belligerent and stupid. Leaning toward Kaspar, he whispered, “Find Gilbert and have him bring the hovercar around. And make sure he’s armed.”

His assistant nodded and left the bar.

Drago decided to make his interest known to the crowd surrounding the woman and approached the bar. He clamped a hand to the shoulder of the man sitting next to her and slipped a dagger between their bodies.

The man’s eyes widened when his flesh was pricked, and he gave up his seat immediately. “Didn’t know this was yer seat, Chavez.”

With a warning glare to the others, Drago slid onto the stool. Angry muttering sounded behind him, but he knew the men were leaderless at the moment. Not one of them would have the balls to take him on.

From the corner of his eye, he watched the woman raise her glass. When her head tilted back, light penetrated the folds of the hood, illuminating her features. He heard gasps from the men around him, and knew they’d been struck as he was by the beauty revealed.

Her hair was the color of Arturia’s desert dunes, golden and rippling, and it complimented skin as pale and lustrous as an Earth pearl.

To hell with the local sale. If the rest of her was as enticing, she’d bring a fortune at the
Hazar’s
auction—and he’d finally have his foot in the door of the more lucrative market—an opportunity that had eluded him since arriving on Arturia.

Leaning close, he said, “You’re attracting attention. This isn’t a safe place for a woman alone.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m exactly where I want to be, and I can take care of myself.” She turned on her stool to face him.

Regardless of the deep shadow cast by the hood, Drago was near enough now to discern her full lips pursed in a tight frown.

“Besides, you’re the only person who’s bothered me so far.”

“All right. So you have business here. What’s your price?”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Beyond your dreams.”

He deliberately swept his gaze down the front of her cloak, and then shrugged. “If you’ve nothing to sell, what are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for transport to New Australia. I’m seeking employment in the minefields.” She hesitated, her gaze searched his face. “I’ll work for my passage.”

Drago shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that too loudly around here—you might just get your wish.”

“Did I ask for your opinion?”

“Finish your drink. We’re leaving.”

She snorted. “You and who else are going to make me?”

“Hey,” said one of the men, a tall fellow with yellowed teeth and a scraggly beard. “Sounds like the lady don’t want nothin’ to do with you.”

Drago stood, straightening until he looked the man in the eye.

Yellow Teeth glanced over his shoulder to his buddies, but they all looked the other way. When he faced Drago again, he muttered, “Must be a lover’s quarrel. Sorry ’bout that, mate.”

Knowing the crowd would get uglier by the minute, Drago reached for the woman’s arm and yanked her to her feet. When she swung, he grabbed her fist and pulled her close, his face only inches from hers. “Don’t press your luck. If these men get any drunker, you’ll be the evening’s entertainment. So, unless you want to be spread-eagle on the bar, you’d better come with me.”

She blinked, wide-eyed. “Did the captain send you after me?”

Without missing a beat, Drago nodded. “He asked me to keep an eye out for you.

The woman snorted. “I’m surprised he even noticed I left.”

“How could he not? You’re a beautiful woman.”

“He has eyes only for Evena, now. And she’s not likely to share him with me again. Not after what happened to Aurelia.”

Not knowing who Evena or Aurelia were, Drago murmured, “You feel responsibility for Aurelia?”

Her expression turned grim. “Of course I do.” Her voice grew brittle. “It was my duty to keep an eye on the cell block. She died while one of your pirate friends had me up against a wall.”