Fallen Star (6 page)

The howling roar of the ship’s engines filled the berth. The deck vibrated under the glider’s tires. At the berth’s narrowest point was the door to the launch pit at the spaceport’s heart. The door was closed, but the pit was already primed for lift. The massive superconductors deep in the very bottom were actively generating a massive wave of anti-grav. She could feel the shimmer of weightlessness under the glider.

Fallon stared at the craft and her heart thumped in her chest. She shouted over the noise. “Sobehk, that ship is about to launch!”

Sobehk shouted back. “That’s right.” He checked his speed, slowing as he approached the ship. “I told you, I’m behind schedule!” He turned the glider to the ship’s rear where a narrow gangway led up into the yawning mouth of the ship’s cargo hold.

Fallon stared at the ship’s open cargo door, and her blood turned to ice water. “But what about me?”

The glider roared up the ramp and into the ship. “What about you?”

Two tall, slender men in sculpted black armor came running up. Light gleamed on their silver hair and their weapons. Both of them wore swords, and small blades were tucked all over their suits.

Sobehk unbuckled the safety belts and opened his coat, revealing Fallon locked around his waist.

One of them frowned. “Is that your catch?”

Sobehk pulled off his helmet and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yep.”

The other scowled. “I hope she’s worth it; we’re late.”

“It took a three-day hunt to catch her.” Sobehk smiled. “I got the first dose in her, and she already has a full set of teeth.”

The first grinned at the second. “Sounds like definite Prime potential to me.”

“Let me go!” Fallon jerked at her arms, pulling on Sobehk’s waist in panic. “I need to get off!” Her body buzzed with tension as her muscles fought with her internal tech.

Sobehk snorted and smiled down at her. “You are not going anywhere.”

Temper flared hot and she snarled at him, baring her teeth.

He grabbed the hair at the back of her neck and jerked her head back. His lips curled back, showing his far longer teeth. A growl rumbled in his chest. “Don’t you dare bite me!”

She trembled in his grip, aware on a visceral level that her throat was vulnerable to his teeth. Her gaze darted to the exit. Peter had said they took people -- she hadn’t thought he meant they took them
off-station.

The ramp slid up, and the door irised shut and sealed.

Her breath stilled in her lungs. Her vision blurred completely. She could feel tears tracking down her cheeks.
This was not happening!

She heard him speak as though from a great distance. “Hey, can you see?”

Fallon frowned. “What?” He seemed so far away it took her a moment to realize what he’d asked. She blinked, but he was one big, watery blur. “No.”
You big, stupid brute ...
“I can’t see.”
I’m too busy crying.

“About time.”

“Huh?” That didn’t make any sense. In fact, nothing was making any sense at all.

“Blood tears,” someone said right at her shoulder.

She felt heat begin to creep up her limbs. “What?” A humming filled her ears. The heat in her body pulled at her and made it difficult to think.

“Her eyes are going; she’s late for her second dose.” Sobehk sounded far away. “Let go, kitten.”

Her arms dropped from around his waist. She was supposed to be doing something ... going somewhere.

“She’s going under.”

“I see it.” She felt Sobehk turn her and lay her across his lap. “Give me the syringe.”

Sleep crashed over her.

Something punched into her heart, from very far away.

* * * * *

Fallon awoke disoriented and bent over on her stomach with her wrists pinned behind her back. It took her a moment to realize that she was being carried, draped over a warm broad shoulder, with her head down a muscular, naked back. Her gaze was irresistibly drawn down a long white braid swinging above a flexing muscular ass in skintight pants. It was a really nice ass, too ...

Then her body started protesting, loudly. She groaned as every bruise, ache and strain from the last three days suddenly howled for attention. She shifted uncomfortably. For some strange reason there seemed to be a hard knot at the base of her breastbone that was particularly annoying.

“Finally awake?” The deep voice was more than familiar.

Fallon closed her eyes. She
would
be ogling Sobehk’s backside.
Terrific
 ...

“Before you get any thoughts about trying to leave the ship, we left the station about an hour ago and are currently in jump space.”

Oh, shit!
For a full breath, panic surged through her. The panic was abruptly squashed by practicality. She had known that her career would probably end in being caught by somebody. She just hadn’t thought she’d get caught by someone she’d kissed.
Pain in my ass ...
She flinched. Her ass was still sore from her reaming.

She seriously thought about wriggling out of his hold just on principle, but there wasn’t anyplace to go, not on a ship this small.
And I’m just too damned tired
 ... Her stomach gurgled, and she winced. ... 
And hungry.
She honestly hoped he planned to feed her sometime soon. She lifted her head and found that she was being hauled through a semi-dark, narrow, arched passageway walled in unrelieved black. “Where are you taking me?”

“The facility. You’re incredibly filthy.”

She snorted. “I should be; I’ve been sleeping in the under-city sewers for the past few days.”

“Oh, so that’s where that charming aroma came from?” He sounded revoltingly amused.

Fallon curled her lip. So she smelled like a cesspit; nice of him to point that out. “I did it to avoid a big white-haired brute that wouldn’t get off my ass.” She felt a smile bloom with sudden memory. “When I dove into that last sewage pipe, the look of total disgust on your face was absolutely precious. You really hate getting your pretty armor all dirty, don’t you?”

“
You
are in enough trouble already. Are you sure you want to add to it?”

“I figure I’m about as deep as I can get already, so why hold back?” Fallon’s belly gurgled again. She shifted. Her stomach was not at all happy being draped over his hard shoulder. “Are we there yet?”

“As a matter of fact ...” He stepped through a narrow oval door, knelt, and tilted her back, depositing her onto her feet. “Yes.”

Fallon teetered unsteadily on her bare feet. They were in a compact, black-walled bathing facility with an enclosed water stall that would fit two, but no more. The commode and the sink were both lidded and designed for gravity and zero-g.

Sobehk set towels on the counter, then turned and reached for her.

She back-pedaled into the wall where the door used to be.

He snorted. “Relax; I’m just checking your bandages.” He peeled back the derma-strips with gentle fingers.

She looked up at him in alarm and felt her heart beat in her mouth for no good reason at all. “What for?”

“I want to make sure you didn’t do any permanent damage.”

“My arms work just fine, thank you.” She suddenly focused on his handsome face and then his full mouth. A kiss would only be a small stretch away ... She licked her lips. Her heart thumped harder.
What am I thinking?
She jerked away and almost fell against the smooth wall. Her knees didn’t want to work properly.

He raised a brow at her. “Having problems standing?”

“No ...” She was having problems being in the same room with him. She had to keep away from him; he ... he smelled too good. What was wrong with her today? She’d been doing weird things, thinking weird things, and now she was feeling weird things.

“Good. Turn around, put your hands on the wall, and keep them there.”

Fallon turned and set both palms on the wall. “Now what?”

“Hold still.” His fingertips slid down her back. “I want to see if you took any other damage I didn’t see.”

She arched away from his light touch, but he persisted. It didn’t feel bad; in fact, it felt kind of ... nice. The hair rose all down her spine. Why was he being so ... caring? Why couldn’t he just stay a big loud-mouthed bastard? She could handle being yelled at. This ... gentleness was scrambling everything in her head. Bloody Fate, she had almost kissed him!

“Chaos, you’re filthy.”

The breath exploded from Fallon’s lungs. “If you hadn’t chased me --”

“You
stole
my glider!”

“There was no reason to go after me once you got it back!”

He snarled, the primitive and completely inhuman sound of an angry predator. “We’ve been over all this! You lost, remember? That’s why you are currently up against the wall.”

Fallon couldn’t stop her instinctive flinch. “Fine.” She scowled at the gleaming black wall. “So now what are you going to do?”

“Do? The same thing anyone does with a dirty stray -- give it a bath.” She could hear the insufferable grin in his voice.

“A dirty
stray?
” Fallon turned to glare at him over her shoulder. “What do you think I am, some kind of pet?”

Sobehk barked out a laugh. “Yes, actually.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the oval door to the water stall. “Go on and get in.” He reached for the fastenings to his pants.

She fled.

Chapter Five

The
Vortex --
Skeldhi brigantine class transport

Jump Space

Fallon stepped into the water stall and looked around with interest.
Well now, this is rich territory ...

The stall was completely enclosed in sheets of semi-transparent, silvery-smoked material that looked like glass, with one whole wall that was mirrored. Lights and small-handled spray heads were mounted on each of the five walls; a dark, smoked-chrome rail went all the way around the interior.

Fallon grimaced at her reflection. The brute was right; she was absolutely filthy. Her shoulder-length black hair was dull and matted with Fate only knew what, and her pale skin was barely visible though all the dirt. Her face had oily black smears across her forehead and one cheek, making her eyes look huge and really blue-green. She frowned at her face. Her eyes seemed bigger, somehow, and she didn’t remember having that much blue or green in them.

Warmth trickled down between her thighs and her ass. It was cum, from when he’d fucked her. She turned her back on the mirror in complete disgust. She had no idea how he had even touched her.

Sobehk stepped into the shower with his back turned, utterly and magnificently nude, giving her a mouthwatering view of his entire backside from shoulder to heel. His long, frost-white hair fell in loose waves past his bone-pale shoulders to brush against his slender hips in an extravagant mane of white silk. He dropped a small collection of nubby white cloths on the shower’s smooth dark floor and reached up to collect one of the chrome spray heads. The muscles in his back moved and flexed in an arresting display. He pulled the long hose from the wall and fiddled with something. Water sprayed from the nozzle in his hand.

Other than his brows and mane, he appeared completely smooth and hairless.

Unlike her.

Fallon dropped her arms and felt like crossing her legs to hide her rude feminine curls.

Sobehk turned to face her and raised his brow in amusement. His blue eyes looked enormous and brilliant against all that pale skin. “Ready for your bath, kitten?”

Fallon’s eyes automatically dropped below his waist and her breath stopped in her chest. The broad expanse of his muscular chest tapered down into narrow hips that framed a pair of rigid erections in a nest of snowy curls, one cock right on top of the other. The upper cock was clearly larger, but the lower cock was not what anyone would call small. His plump pair of balls hung ripe and a little overlarge between his muscular thighs.

She couldn’t catch her breath. She’d known he had a pair; she’d felt them slamming into her, over and over ...
Bloody Fate, he’d had that top one up her ass?
A shiver shook her even as a spat of moist heat flooded her core.

Sobehk’s chuckle echoed loudly in the small glass chamber. “Like what you see?”

Fallon looked up at Sobehk’s grinning face in complete shock. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“You really had no idea until I fucked you?”

Completely speechless, Fallon shook her head.

Sobehk shook his head, his mouth open wide in amusement. His long teeth gleamed. “Chaos, you should see your face.”

Fallon jerked as though struck. He was laughing at her, the bastard ...

He waved his hand. “Come over here and hold onto the rail. It’s going to take a lot of hard scrubbing to get all that filth off of you.”

“I can bathe myself, thank you.”

Sobehk snorted. “Bathing yourself is not the point of this little exercise.” He pointed at the rail by his side. “Do it.”

Fallon jerked her gaze away from his ... extremities and walked over to where he stood, tall, pale and intimidating. He seemed to fill the whole shower with his big masculine presence. She ducked her head, chafing that she felt so small, helpless, feminine, and dirty standing under him. She turned away from him and wrapped her hands around the chrome rail that was just a bit higher than her waist. A shimmer went through her augmentation and her hands locked around the bar. She flinched. “So what
is
the point of all this?”

“The point is ...” He leaned over her. “That you are mine to do with as
I
please, and at this moment, it pleases me to bathe you.”

She was bitterly aware that the cuffs on her wrists gave him control of her body. And she was trapped on a small ship in deep space. He had all the advantages. For now.

Deliciously hot water sluiced over her from neck to toes. She moaned before she could stop herself. Black grime pooled at her feet and ran down the center drain. She hated being filthy.