Heart of Stone (8 page)

No, once he delivered her to Branch,
she'd thank him and say goodbye, smiling if it killed her. And it
might. Oh, she should never have kissed him, never have made love
with him, or lain in the shadows, sharing secrets from their
pasts.

Rose shook off her angst. She would
take a cue from him, the master of serial liaisons, and enjoy this
while it lasted.

"How about a snack?" Jark
offered.

He activated a small hover-tray between
the seats and pulled out a hot pack of whole grain breakfast bars.
Rose accepted one without enthusiasm, but when she opened her
packet and saw the plump, fragrant roll, smelling of cinnamon and
berries, she realized she was hungry. She much preferred to bake
her own treats when she could, but these would do
nicely.

She wriggled into a more comfortable
position in Stone’s lap and settled back to enjoy her breakfast.
When she was done, she sipped her coffee as the men ate a second
bar each and talked.

Alert and replete, she actually quite
liked her perch. If only Farah and their cooking school friends
could see her now, wearing designer clothing and riding in a fast
new cruiser with two dangerous males. Their eyes would be
wide.

There was something about being held by
a big, strong male that made one feel very feminine and cared for.
Even though it was a false security that would last only until they
landed in Adamant. And then she probably wouldn't see Masterson
again. She'd thrown herself at him, but he wasn't the kind of man
to come back for more. The thought of never being held like this
again made her want to turn in his arms and wind her own around his
neck, hold on tight.

When they finished with breakfast, Rose
tucked their wrappers into the trash receptacle Jark pointed out.
Then she leaned back in Stone's arms. He'd demanded she sit on his
lap. Perhaps it was time to tease him a little. He'd certainly
teased her last night, pretending to be her prisoner. She was still
miffed by the ease with which he fooled her.

She ran her fingers through her hair,
finger-combing it as if her thoughts were on anything but
him.

She smiled to herself. They were
trapped in this cockpit with another man for the next few hours. No
matter how turned on Masterson got, he could do nothing about it.
He couldn't seduce her as he had last night, or convince her to
seduce him.

Rose continued her slow torture for the
better part of an hour. She wriggled a bit, laid her hand over his
and played with his cuff, shifted again as if not quite
comfortable. She stroked the powerful arm curved around her,
learning the shape of his muscle and tendon through the soft
cashmere. To her satisfaction, a long, stiff shape began to prod
her bottom through the layers of their clothing. She shifted again,
rubbing herself on him in a slow, silent tease.

Unfortunately, her torment worked both
ways. Even though her pussy was tender and she had bruises on the
inside of her thighs, she craved that hard cock inside her again,
and him in her arms. But the needy heat between her thighs was
worth it to torment him.

Finally his arm tightened. He tipped
his head down beside hers. "You know exactly what you're doing to
me, don't you, you little cock-tease?" he whispered, following his
words with a nip on her tender earlobe.

Rose looked out the window, pretending
his whisper didn't shiver clear through her body. She
shrugged.

He stroked one big hand down the
tumbled waves of her hair, and gave it a sharp tug. "Didn't occur
to you, did it, that this ship has a lot more to it than a
cockpit?"

Rose froze as his words sank in. His
body shook with soundless laughter. Then he grabbed the safety
harness, unbuckled it and pushed it aside.

"We're goin' aft for a bit," he told
Jark.

Jark looked over at them with interest
but said nothing.

Rose found herself propelled to her
feet and back through a hatchway that she indeed had not noticed.
It slammed behind her and she was alone with Masterson in a sleek
galley. On one side was a series of cupboards, on the other, two
doors. He reached past her and opened one and nudged her inside
with the weight of his body.

They stood in a tiny room, just large
enough for a long bed, covered in a thick, silky comforter. The
repeating design in the russet fabric looked familiar. His
logo—Rose realized she'd been seeing it everywhere in the cruiser.
She was immersed in his world. His cruiser vibrated around them in
flight.

He slid his big hands about her waist,
pulling her back against him, and rubbing his cock on her
ass.

"Now," he said into her hair, his
breath hot against her scalp. "About the offer you've been making
for the last hour."

She strained away from him. "I was just
… teasing."

"You were just havin' a bit of fun with
me, eh?"

Rose nodded.

"Ah, that's all right then." He let her
go.

She turned, leaning back against the
bed and peeped cautiously at him. "It is?'

When he smiled, she knew she'd been
had. A sweet thrill of alarm and excitement filled her.

"Sure," he said. "'Cause you won't mind
if I have a bit of fun with you as well, will you,
darlin'?"

Rose gulped. "Um—I have to use the
lavatory. "

He jerked his head toward the head of
the bed and a narrow hatchway beside it. "Through
there."

She was blushing furiously as she slid
the hatch shut behind her. So far, she hadn't exhibited much
willpower when it came to him. It was getting worse. Just the
thought of him waiting purposefully for her out there made her
knees weak, and she was ready to whimper at the need quaking in her
pussy.

Oh, what the quark. She simply had to
have him one more time.

When she came out, Stone sat on the
edge of the bed. He'd discarded his sweater, his clinging
undershirt faithfully hugging every muscle and ridge. He'd shoved
the sleeves up so his muscled forearms with their dusting of
dark-gold hair were bared.

He reached out, caught her by one arm,
and tugged her between his thighs. Rose swayed against his hard
warmth, inhaling his scent greedily.

"It's not fair. You shouldn't be able
to do this to me—make me feel this way."

"Wanted to be in charge again, did
you?" He unfastened her sweater and tugged it off with swift
efficiency, then disposed of her leggings as well.

"All right, love," he added in that
beguiling tone of which he was master. "Let's have the rest off and
you can be on top."

Trembling with pleasure at undressing
under that possessive golden gaze, Rose slowly drew off her soft
bra, reveling in the way he watched as her breasts swung free, her
nipples peaking long and stiff. Then she pushed down her panties
and shimmied just as slowly out of them.

His eyes on her mons, he yanked his
undershirt up out of the way and unfastened his pants, shoving them
down enough to free his cock. It sprang out, thrusting aggressively
from the dark, curling hair. He palmed it and held out the other
hand to her.

"Come ride me," he
invited.
Coom rade me.
Oh, that beguiling voice of his.

She accepted his hand and knelt
daintily astride him. He reached up to sweep her hair back, filling
his hands with the silky waves, and kissed her. This was a hard,
urgent kiss, with none of the questing preliminaries of the night
before, but Rose was so aroused that she sank into it, sucking on
his tongue, pressing her bare breasts against his shirt and riding
down the length of his hot, sleek shaft, rubbing her labia along
the underside and back again. Being naked while he was clothed made
her feel wanton and vulnerable at the same time, and she loved the
combination.

"Enough." He ran his hands down her
curves, squeezing her bare ass. "I've had a fuckin' hour of
foreplay."

She smiled against his mouth as he
reached between them and guided the broad head of his cock into her
opening.

"Ah, you're so wet for me." He stroked
her and his cock at the same time.

Rose needed no more urging. She began
to press and rock herself down onto his shaft, while he watched
every movement. She moaned at the magical sensation of being
stretched to the limit, every nerve ending pressed
tight.

He filled his hands with her breasts
and played with her nipples as she rode him. She threw her head
back, not caring that she was whimpering like a wild cat. She loved
his eyes and his hands on her. "Watch me," she pleaded and then
blushed at her temerity.

"Oh, I won't take my eyes off of you."
He surged under her. "Fuck, lass—so pretty. You'll drive me mad,
siren."

Pleasure built and built around his
perfect shaft until it imploded deep inside her, and Rose came,
shuddering around him, melting into him. He was with her, his seed
flooding her in a wash of warmth and wetness, his head bowed in
orgasm.

Rose sank against his broad chest, her
head falling onto one shoulder, cheek pillowed on sleek muscle. She
still pulsed with delicious aftershocks. She was so relaxed she
couldn't hold herself upright.

"Conking out on me, are you?" His hand
smoothed down her back in a slow caress. "Lord, fucking's as good
as a sleeper for you."

She let him lift her off of him and
deposit her in the bed. "Stay with me," she invited
sleepily.

"No, lass." He reached to flip the
comforter over her, like pastry around filling. "If I do, I'll have
you again, and you won't be able to walk by the time we reach
Adamant."

# # #

Stone pulled on his sweater and vest,
buckling it and checking the weapons in his belt. Finding her laser
gun there as well, he pulled it out and laid it on the pile of her
clothing. He guessed she wouldn't be trying to shoot him anytime
soon, and on Frontiera, an armed human was a safe human. She might
find his company logo amusing—he hadn't missed the twinkle in those
green eyes—but he'd won all that was his with weapon in hand, and
so the Masterson Enterprises logo reminded all who saw
it.

There was rudimentary law here, but it
was centered in Frontiera City, far flung and overstretched. The
planet was not far off of the major shipping lanes, which meant
riffraff from the whole galaxy routinely drifted in here. And since
they no doubt knew they were close now to being cast out for good,
they'd be circling like starving catamounts, looking for an opening
to spring and wrest the advantage from his grasp.

New Haven was tamer, but Adamant was a
rough frontier settlement—hell, this whole region was. The
civilized coast was on the other end of the continent.

"Boss, sorry to interrupt, but we're
getting close." Jark was obviously trying to be quiet, which meant
his voice was a rumble in Stone's ear instead of a roar.

"On my way." Stone looked down at the
woman sleeping in his bed, her lashes dark crescents on her flushed
cheeks, her mouth swollen with his kisses. He smiled wryly to
himself—he had the absurd urge to throw back his head and roar with
sheer, male triumph. He felt so damn good, relaxed and yet
rejuvenated, ready to take on the world.

He drew one finger down the petal
softness of her cheek, but she didn't stir. Good, she would sleep
through their first stop and not even know about it, safe from any
altercation.

She was such a contradiction: naivety
and determination, sweetness and spirit. The kind of woman to
settle down with, even he could see that. And some lucky bastard
would snap her up before too long.

What kind of man would she end up with?
Not an ex-pirate like him, that was certain. Too bad he hadn't met
her long ago, before he determined he was better off alone. He
snorted at his own sentimentality. There was no 'before' for him.
He'd been born into one of the seven hells and fought his way out.
But he'd never be completely free of his past, and she deserved a
man without one.

As he slid into his seat in the
cockpit, Stone saw they were approaching the long valley that
housed Adamant. But Jark had already begun to swing to the right,
skimming the cruiser along the mountains on the eastern edge of the
valley. They followed the peaks until they reached a high
pass.

Jark slowed, and they headed down
toward a cluster of buildings at the foot of a huge natural arch in
the mountain peak. A log lodge headed a rough clearing, sided with
low, oval-roofed hangars and warehouses. The buildings' profiles
allowed the wind to sweep right over the top of them, without
constantly stressing joints and outer coverings. As usual, a storm
cell was caught on the pass, snow swirling in long
streamers.

The red flicker of a motion sensor
beam, set to alert inhabitants of new arrivals, was just visible
circling through the white snow. Stone's cruiser would have tripped
it, but that was all right. He had a warehouse here, so his visits
were expected.

"Beautiful, downtown Bone Arch," Jark
muttered.