Ride the Stars/once Bitten (5 page)

The blond looked at Bali, then placed a hand on Sirocco’s shoulder when he moved to follow Bali.

"You dislike mutants?" Domino said, with a last glance at the pair. He hadn’t expected this virulent reaction from her.

Granite faced, she stalked ahead. "Most of them think I’m my father’s daughter. Some have accused me of tracking them to further his experiments. The rest just try to kill me."

He froze, then caught up and spun her around. "Try to kill you?"

"Leave it. They’re entitled to their vengeance, I suppose. Maybe some mutant and I will both get lucky one day, and he will be successful. My alternatives are ugly." She broke off with a curse and glared at Sirocco, who smirked back.

Rubbing her ear, she muttered viciously, "Subsonic freak."

Domino stiffened. Draconians had their own form of high frequency communication. Bali wasn’t endearing herself. At the moment he was glad he hadn’t kissed her. Thinking of that, he felt moved to find a way to repay his debt quickly. "You said you’d been attacked."

"Look it up in the news files. Most of them made headlines." She saw how he was looking at her and relented a little. "Sirocco and I ... let’s just say he made his vengeance more personal than most." She looked away, refusing to say more.

He let it go. This little adventure had shown him what a mistake it would be to soften toward her. She could hold her own.

Obviously, it was time he started holding his.

Bali felt awful. While polite, Domino had noticeably cooled toward her. By the time he dropped her off at her hotel, the temperature had become subzero. She hated it, but she hadn’t wanted to spill her guts over Sirocco. The whole thing made her feel stupid, and she wasn’t sure Domino needed an explanation.

Unfortunately, it made her come off looking like dirt.

She sighed and slipped out of the blue dress, her mood matching the color. Maybe it was for the best.

He’d been getting too close, and she knew better than that.

Even so, when night fell, she slid into a cutwork leather body suit, drew her hair into braided coil on top of her head, and went on the prowl.

* * * *

Domino reclined in his booth, his arms resting on the backs, two of his favorite women on either side of him. Bass thrummed, low and deep, through the soles of his feet, though the music level allowed for conversation. He’d been strung tight for most of the afternoon and was just beginning to unwind. It was late. There was no chance that Bali would show up.

On the thought, he looked up and saw her. The indigo leather she wore was solid where it counted, but cut in star shapes all over the arms, legs and neckline. Adequate ventilation was not in question, and neither were her curves. Eyes were already turning her way.

Hers were trained directly on him. A newborn recklessness lurked there, and pain.

As if he didn’t exist, she turned her face away and kept on walking. To his shock, she paused before a table with a very interested Draconian male warming it, rested her weight on one hip, and issued what could only be an invitation.

Predictably, the male smiled, stood, and pulled out a chair for her.

"What’s wrong? You’ve gone as stiff as a pipe," Belsi asked from his right. A dark-haired beauty, she was ever quick to sense his moods.

"It happened when that woman walked by. Is she yours?" Vasha, on his left, observed. As dark as her sister Draconian and gifted with their trademark golden eyes, she leaned forward and slowly stroked her chin with her thumb as she studied Bali. "I think you want her," she teased.

Domino looked down at her and said nothing.

Belsi snorted. "Well, he’d better move quick. Degoth there looks all but ready to bite her over the table."

"Don’t be crude, girl," Domino snapped reflexively, though she was telling the truth. Degoth looked fascinated ... and hungry. But did he want to interfere?

The memory of her hurt rushed him, and he slid out of the booth. Belsi had already cleared the way, joining her sister on her side.

Degoth looked at him inquiringly as Domino neared his table. Bali ignored him.

Domino nodded to Degoth and addressed Bali. "My party would like to meet you."

She smiled cynically and refused to look at him. "Your party is large enough. I’ve no interest in joining whatever activities you have planned for the evening."

A muscle jumped in Domino’s jaw as he drew in a slow breath. "You misunderstand the nature of our engagement."

That won him a cold look. "I don’t approve of casual flirtation," she said as primly as if she were not engaged in that very thing.

Degoth looked between them, his expression leery. "You two have an understanding?"

"No."

"Yes," Domino countered, staring down her angry shock. "We had a misunderstanding, and now she’s punishing me. And since she’s not the kind of woman to engage in a casual flirtation...." He left it hanging, grimly satisfied by her mute outrage.

Degoth regarded him, then her with a long stare. He inclined his head. "Good evening, then."

Mortified at the clear dismissal, Bali turned her face away and slid out of her chair. She still refused to look at Domino.

He took her arm.

She snatched it back and hissed, "Have you no sense of privacy? What is he, your brother?"

His own temper at a simmer, Domino reclaimed her arm, steered her past his booth and into his private office, which was next to it. The noise level dropped to nothing the moment he closed the door. That was good--they needed a moment to yell at each other. He let her go and retorted, "No, but I was not about to get into a fight over you. That was a brainless move, woman."

Slits of blue fire glared back at him. "We do not ‘have an understanding,’ Drac. I can talk to whomever I want."

"Not when your motive is revenge." He took a step toward her and regretted it. Instantly wary, she moved back. Changing tactics, he held his ground. "Those women out there--"

"Are no concern of mine!" she spat out so quickly that she nearly tripped over her tongue.

"They’re my sisters." He winced. Draconian protocol frowned on mentioning family ties to outsiders, but under the circumstances....

Bali crossed her arms and looked at her toes. After a long moment, she said lightly. "Oh." There was an awkward pause.

He let it drag. Sometimes there was nothing as telling as silence. Jealousy and chagrin over it was stamped in every line of her body. It was so expressive, it was almost as good as reading her mind. She cared and didn’t want to. The effort to deny it was costing her. She cleared her throat, but didn’t speak.

Anything she might venture on the subject would be very revealing.

Domino held his ground, refusing to help her out. An apology from her would acknowledge that she owed him some emotional allegiance. Interesting possibility, and not one he was sure he wanted to address yet. Argument he’d interpret as guilt.

She chose evasion. "I promised Icki I’d call tonight. If I wait much longer, he’ll worry."

Oh, that was lame. By the way she grimaced, she knew it, too. Domino snorted. "Bali?"

Reluctantly, she looked at him. "Yes?"

He couldn’t help a half-smile for her sheepish look. "Come meet my sisters."

Bali exhaled noisily, "Domino, about this thing with us--"

He held up a hand. "Not tonight." She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "We don’t know enough about ‘us’ to make any decisions. I’d rather wait."

"I can’t do that." She chewed the inside of her cheek, then worried her lips. Quickly, as if she’d never get it out before she lost her courage, she said, "Sirocco pretended he was normal. I fell for his tricks and he used me to break into my private labs. He didn’t find the cure he was looking for, and when I figured out what he’d done and confronted him...." She took a ragged breath. "He unleashed, showed me what he’d been made into. My ... father ... made me follow him around the lab as I was growing up. I looked older than I was. Maybe he thought I was an assistant instead of--" She choked off whatever she’d been going to say.

Domino silently finished the thought. An experiment.

She breathed deep. "Many of the mutants think the same. I was there for more tests than I like to think about. Father wanted to make me over into his image, but all I ever felt when I saw what he did to them was horror and guilt because I couldn’t stop it." She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them quickly as if shaking off a nightmare.

He took a chance and asked a hard question. Maybe she’d have enough trust to give an honest answer.

"Did he experiment on you, Bali?"

That fast, her breathing went into overdrive. Eyes wide, she tried to calm it. "No!"

"All right." He was disappointed, but knew what it would cost her to be honest. To be fair, there were many who would love to use that knowledge against her. "Come and meet my sisters," he said soothingly.

Noting her reluctance, he added, "Or we could stay in here and talk."

He was almost trampled in her rush to the door.

His sisters welcomed her warmly. When Domino introduced her and gestured for her to sit beside Belsi, Bali complied, then glared at him when he slid in beside her, blocking her escape.

Vasha laughed. "Big brother is possessive. Interesting." She ignored Domino’s quelling stare. "We haven’t seen that in a long time."

"If ever," Belsi added. She was shorter than her statuesque sister, more curved. "Are you in town for long?"

Bali studied the menu on the table’s central screen. "I was thinking of leaving town tomorrow. There are some business affairs I need to see to." Actually, she needed to get as far away from Domino as she could, as soon as possible. Seeing him with his sisters had been a shock, and she’d realized she was getting in too deep. Icki’s medicine was losing its effect, and her tremors were getting worse. She needed to be bitten, and not by Domino. It was tawdry, but getting drunk with a Drac, getting him excited enough to bite, was her new plan, as long as he was a stranger. If she lost control with Domino, instinct told her that she’d never be able to walk away.

He was watching her closely. Maybe he guessed that she was running. It didn’t matter. Once she was gone he’d forget her. Men like him didn’t have to go far to find distraction. How many times had she seen Icki forget a woman?

"Leaving the planet?" Domino asked casually.

"Not yet." But she wasn’t coming back to his club. It might be a hot spot for Draconians, but it wasn’t the only place they hung out. She might not even have to leave town, as long as she avoided Domino’s.

It wasn’t as if he would track her down.

Five nights later, she was getting better at smiling at strange men. Unfortunately, she hadn’t unwound enough to let them do more than buy her drinks. Never a heavy drinker, she’d been dismayed to find that her super-efficient, mutated liver made it impossible to get beyond a mild buzz. Even worse, she just couldn’t relax. The shakes were getting worse. Her hot new looks attracted men and Dracs like flies, but anyone who spent more than ten minutes in her company caught on, and her lame excuses didn’t satisfy them. They probably thought she was an addict. The more men who left, the more desperate and depressed she got until she was reduced to sitting in a shadowed booth in the back of a bar, listlessly dunking her ice in her drink with her straw. It had come to waiting for the night to end so she could admit defeat and go home. She hadn’t even called Icki since she’d left Domino’s.

"There you are."

Bali jerked and looked up. "Icki! What are you doing here?"

Icki twitched aside his short leather jacket and sat down. Other than black leather pants, he wore nothing under it. "That’s my question. Why aren’t you at Domino’s?" The hard lines in his face said he was furious.

Taken aback, she blinked. "I ... decided that was an unfruitful avenue--"

"Don’t get all wordy with me, girl," he hissed. It emphasized his Japanese accent. "You haven’t answered my calls for five days, and he tells me he hasn’t seen you. You’ve been tripping around this dangerous rock alone, trolling for men for five nights, and ignoring the one who’s been hunting you at your own hotel. Yeah, he told me you’ve always been out when he stopped in. He’s the one you want, and you’re running from him." His almond eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to die on me?"

She looked away. "I might need him, but I don’t want him. It’s simple."

"You’re lying, and dying of it." He grabbed her hand. "Look at these tremors, girl! It’s getting worse."

Bali looked at him instead and saw the worry behind his fury. "Icki ... I can’t. I-I’m not ... I’ve never even kissed a man. When he looks at me with interest, I go into a cold sweat. I can’t trust that way."

He looked at her quietly. "Bali, you need to. I never would have sent you to Dom if he would hurt you.

Stop running." His eyes said so much more.

Tears welled, blurring her vision. She closed her eyes and sniffed. They were friends, and Icki was making certain she knew it. He wasn’t going to take a chance on breaking her heart. Womanizer that he was, he’d never touched her. His love didn’t run to the romantic for her and never would. It hurt, but she knew he wasn’t what she needed.

He was sexy and familiar; she’d fall in love with him and cling, and he’d break her heart. Her love could never find its full expression with him, and he was wise enough, kind enough, to keep what they had pure.

He tipped up her chin, sympathy in his eyes. "Little sister, go to the man. He’s what you need." He can love you, remained unspoken.

Because it was him, she nodded.

Visually relieved, he stood up and dragged her out of the bar.

She’d expected him to take a room at her hotel. Instead he’d taken a spare room in Domino’s flat.

"Won’t that cramp your style?" she asked skeptically as they arrived at her hotel. He hadn’t told her until they were safely in the lobby.

He pushed the elevator button and watched the floor numbers come down. "Doubt it. The place is a mausoleum since the renovation. He’ll hardly know I’m there. Besides, his sisters have suites on the same floor."