Desperate Measures (16 page)

fact it‟s what I expected from you from the first.” She lifted a shoulder and drew her hand back

down his chest.

He laughed and seemed to relax. “How about we give that a test?”

She laughed as he grabbed one of her wrists and pinned it above her head. Not at all

fazed, she used her free hand to stroke down his side and gave one of his butt cheeks a good

squeeze. Now it was getting interesting. She arched her body and rubbed her foot along his calf.

She wanted to give him plenty to think about and let him know that she wasn‟t going to be

running out of the room screaming any time soon.

His body arched, pressing her down into the bed and letting her feel the weight of him.

She loved it. She lifted her head and dropped kisses along his jaw. His head turned and his mouth

claimed hers fiercely. Her fingers threaded through his hair, trying to hold him close, but he

didn‟t even seem to notice when he lifted his head. He moved lower and kissed his way from her

neck to her shoulder.

She drew in a shaky breath as his tongue traced a teasing path up her breast. He seemed

to know just how to touch her to send her higher. His hand pressing hers down into the bed

caused a rush of excitement through her. She felt a little out of control, but gloried in it.

“Let‟s see how ready you are.” His breath puffed over her nipple as his free hand traveled

down her stomach.

His tongue circled the taut nipple. Her hand clenched in his hair. She ached to feel his

mouth on her, but her attention was split between his mouth and the hand wandering down her

stomach. She knew he was going to touch her pussy, but the wait was making her crazy. His

mouth closed over her nipple at the same moment that his fingers parted the lips of her pussy.

His fingers brushed over her clit and she arched at the jolt of sensation.

“You‟re wet and your inner muscles are clenching at my fingers.” Two of his fingers

slipped into her.

She gasped and her nails dug into his neck. “I want you.”

“I did get that impression.” He scraped his teeth over her nipple. “I love your breasts.”

She didn‟t doubt that. The way he touched her and kissed her told her he more than liked

being with her. She stroked her fingers over his shoulder as he rose. He moved between her legs

and hooked an arm underneath one of her knees. She eagerly lifted up into him as his cock

brushed against her thigh. He fitted the head against her entrance and then slowly pushed into

her. His body was stiff and she could see the tension in his eyes and the slight film of

perspiration on his body. When his hips pressed against hers, he held completely still for a few

moments and drew in a couple of slow breaths.

She wriggled beneath his weight. She needed him to move. She loved the feel of him

inside her, but that wasn‟t enough. It only made her hungrier, because she knew that what she

craved was so close. His mouth slanted across hers in a fierce claiming. She responded with just

as much demand. Her free hand held him to her as she strained to move and get closer to him.

He groaned and his hips ground against hers. With her leg over one of his arms, it

allowed him to go deeper than before. Every move he made seemed to push her higher. She

couldn‟t understand how it could seem so right. He withdrew and moved against her in a hard

grinding rhythm. Her hips rose into each stroke. The need swirled and built and she felt as if she

was on the edge. His chest rubbed against the sensitive tips of her breasts. She gasped, her body

straining toward the pinnacle.

He gripped her hips and rolled with her until he was on his back. He released her wrist.

His hands guided her hips in a slow rocking motion for a few moments before he drew her down

so that he could raise his head and take her breast into his mouth. He sucked and scraped his

teeth over the taut peak. Her hips gyrated against his. His hand slipped down and managed to

slide between their bodies as her hips rose. His fingers found her clit and began stroking in slow

circles. Her eyes closed. She moved faster and faster as the heat inside her rose. The feel of his

teeth closing around her nipple in a playful nip sent a starburst of sensation through her. Pleasure

exploded, flowing outward until even the tips of her fingers tingled with it. His hips punched up

again. A low groan rumbled against her breast as he came. His mouth slid away from her breast.

His hips continued moving against her and the friction sent sparks of pleasure dancing up her

spine. She collapsed onto his chest, as her hands swept in slow idle strokes along his arms. She

could hear his heartbeat slowing gradually.

As she calmed, she realized that she hadn‟t been the only one who‟d felt a little freer this

time. He‟d actually growled at her. He hadn‟t done that before. He‟d been just as careful as she

had to keep that side concealed. It seemed strange after all of the time they‟d spent trying to keep

their secrets. The new openness made her more than a little nervous.

Raine walked down the hallway to the room where they had set up the search. In the two

days since they‟d arrived, they‟d made some progress, but as always it seemed slow and to come

in little spurts. The men had found Everett disembarking on the planet, but so far they hadn‟t

found any trace that he‟d been near the places necessary to encounter the people in the slave

trade.

He‟d been to the upper end, very public clubs with the woman he‟d accompanied. Those

weren‟t the types of places where anyone even minorly connected would listen to a stranger.

Most of the time they‟d think they‟d been targeted by the authorities if that happened. She didn‟t

know how the man was supposed to have known that this kind of trade occurred much less who

to contact. The Deveaen government worked hard to keep the news of abductions out of the

media. They‟d succeeded only because no one influential had disappeared or had any contact

with it. Any stories that did make it were quickly squashed and denied as unsubstantiated rumors

or outright lies.

She didn‟t doubt that Everett would cause trouble for Connal and the other
Feiral
on the

Raitan
, but she honestly didn‟t think that he‟d intended to cause it in this way. He‟d arrived barely a day before Connal and the others had come to the planet. It wasn‟t really enough time to

get into contact with the right people, gain their trust. That wasn‟t even mentioning the fact that

Everett couldn‟t have known who‟d be coming down to the planet or if they‟d even stop long

enough. From what she‟d been able to learn, it was a last-minute decision to layover here instead

of on the next planet because of some problems there.

Getting them to see that wasn‟t going to be easy. It wasn‟t that Connal and the other men

of this ship were paranoid. Everett had caused trouble for them in the past and would probably

do it again in the future. Raine didn‟t think they understood how difficult it was to find the

people involved in the trade. Even if Everett had stumbled across someone in that business, he

wouldn‟t have known it. They hid their involvement. They didn‟t flaunt it and they didn‟t brag.

Now she just had to convince Connal. She knew he‟d be in the conference room. She

walked into the room. Connal stood over by the table looking at one of the screens. They‟d

moved a few more comps into the room so that they could cross-reference any places they‟d

tracked Everett to against the places known as common meeting places for the slavers and those

who provided the service for them.

Stopping just inside the room, she took a moment to savor the picture of him standing

near the table and looking at the screen in front of one of his men. He was gorgeous. She

admired the way his dark blue pants cupped his buttocks. His white shirt had a dark blue edging.

It was as close to a uniform as she‟d seen him or any of the others wear. The dress on this ship

was amazingly casual. Most people wore something blue and whatever style of clothing they

wanted as long as it suited the job.

He smiled, but his look was a little assessing. “You‟ve been delegated to talk some sense

into us about the Everett situation haven‟t you?”

“Yes, but I at least expected to have to bring up the issue. I didn‟t expect you to do it.”

She stopped at the edge of the table, frowning.

His confronting her about it wasn‟t part of the plan. She‟d thought to work around to the

subject and have him agreeing before he knew she was trying to talk him into believing what she

wanted. This could make things a little more difficult than she‟d expected.

“I‟m not blind. I‟ve seen the looks and heard the groans every time we bring over an

image to reference against the known slavers or want to know if a location we‟ve tracked Everett

to is a place where the information could be passed.” He shrugged and sat in one of the chairs,

leaned back and gave her a long look. “Now tell me why you don‟t think we should worry about

Everett.”

“I know Everett‟s a problem for you and probably planned to make trouble of some sort,

but I haven‟t seen any evidence or even a possible way for him to be involved in Tricia‟s

kidnapping.” She walked around the table and dropped into the chair next to him. She could see

the alpha staring out at her now, demanding that she make her case. It was a little intimidating

and very definitely a strange position for her to be in.

“He‟s more than a problem. He‟s become a threat even if he had no part in this, but I‟m

not convinced that he isn‟t involved in some way.” He turned to fully face her.

“That‟s what I‟m going to try to do. We need to focus on the real problems and I‟m sure

Everett is actually going to try something, but he hasn‟t done it yet.” She stressed the last few

words.

“I haven‟t heard anything convincing yet.” He relaxed back in the chair.

“Do you try to be annoying?” She shook her head.

“Give me your reasons,” he said flatly.

She rolled her eyes. The man was good at giving orders. It was probably one of the

reasons he was the
Natahl,
but she wasn‟t one of his people. She wanted to make him see that she wouldn‟t follow his every order, but now wasn‟t the time. Convincing him that Everett

wasn‟t involved was going to be hard enough without throwing down that kind of gauntlet. She

could almost hear the argument that would start.

“We‟ll start with all of the coincidences. He got here almost a day before you did. You‟ve

got to admit that‟s not much time for him to make contacts here. There‟s also the fact that

according to some of your people you weren‟t scheduled to stop here longer than it took to

unload your cargo. Everett somehow knew that you‟d layover here. How would he know that? Is

someone on your ship in contact with him?” She drummed her fingers on the table.

“No one was in contact with him. And you‟re right that the stop wasn‟t planned.” He

nodded. “Is there more?”

She exhaled slowly. “Yes, there‟s more. How convincing is your man? Could he do in

just a day what it took us months to do? And we knew what we were looking for and had some

actual idea of who to target. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea who would be going

down to the planet if anyone would.”

“You think we‟re giving him too much credit for planning this.” Connal‟s head tilted and

she could see he was thinking about it.

“I think he had plans, but not here. You should look a few stops ahead from Deveae in

my opinion. Where would you be now if this hadn‟t happened? He‟d made plans to leave, but

didn‟t. I think he‟s staying because you‟re here.” Raine had no idea what the man could be

thinking to stay around here unless he was hoping to take advantage of an opportunity that might

present itself.

“And you think Tricia being taken in that club was just a coincidence.” Connal raised an

eyebrow. She could tell that he didn‟t believe that the answer was so simple.

“It does happen and in this case I think it‟s more like she just happened to be in the

wrong place.” Raine kept her voice calm and reasonable. She admitted she didn‟t like having her

reasons questioned. This wasn‟t the first time she‟d had to justify her beliefs to a client, but it

wasn‟t easy. His attitude grated and the way he just sat there expectantly made her hackles rise.

“Why do you think it‟s more likely that she happened to be where these people were

hunting for the right kind of girl than someone led them to her?” Connal asked.

“A lot of it has to do with how your people ended up at that place. They weren‟t led

there. It isn‟t a popular tourist spot. They heard about it in another club when no one even knew

there was someone close enough to hear. It‟s a place where the locals go.” She tried to see if he

was even really listening. She knew that sometimes people only heard what they wanted to hear

and in those cases talking was a waste of time.

He took a deep breath and grimaced. “And they would have wanted to target locals over

someone from off-planet. It would draw more attention on to them and people from off-world

can use resources other than those on the planet.”

“There‟s also the fact that those from off-world are likely to have someone who will look

for them. Most of the time zealously. I was amazed at how some of the families on-planet acted.