Ride the Stars/once Bitten (8 page)

"Bali."

Bali looked over at the quiet voice and saw understanding in Domino’s eyes. The moment shifted, became incredibly surreal.

Slowly, Domino reached for her cold, damp hand. "Come down, little one. I won’t let him hurt you."

She blinked hard. Nobody protected her. Her father had always done whatever he wanted to her, and nobody had ever stopped him. "You can’t," she said simply, stating a truth she’d learned with painful repetition.

"I can. I will," he said harshly, his grip firming. "He won’t hurt you. I won’t let him."

The moment stretched out, unreal, uncertain, but somehow his offer raised a fragile trust in her. She remembered the boy in the lab who had carried her to the couch, who’d spoken such intense, alien words to her. It was that boy who eased her to her knees, who helped her to sit stiffly on the examining table, and it was a mixture of that boy and this man who cupped her cheek, then slid a slow kiss from the crest of her cheek to the corner of her mouth. "Let me help you, little love."

What was he doing to her? Calm radiated from his touch, slowly seeped into her blood. He soothed her, enspelled her with his compassion. How could he be patient with her now? Slowly her wits returned to her. She glanced at Skye, still unhappy with his presence.

Domino’s thumb stroked her cheek. "We don’t have to do this now. Why don’t we wait? I can take you home right now if you wish."

His words brought a final draft of calm to her tortured mind. Drawing a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and shook her head. "No. I’m here now. I need to know...."

He stopped her from looking at Skye. "Then look at me for a moment. Talk to me. Did you know your eyes are turning gold? I will miss the blue. You have beautiful eyes."

She hissed at the bite of the needle, but he wouldn’t let her look. Trembling, she shook her head. "I’m not beautiful."

He grinned. "You’ve lost the case if you’re trying to convince me of that."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Skye take the syringe and slowly fill several tiny dishes with it, which he then slid into a series of machines. She watched him broodingly, her vision dimming as she recalled the many times she’d watched her father do the same.

"What do you want for dinner?" Domino said casually, forcing her to return to the moment.

"I don’t know. I’m not hungry," she said irritably.

"I am. I’ll call the cook at the club and have him fix something savory. You’ve barely had a taste of Draconian cooking. I’ll enjoy spoiling you."

She frowned and would have answered, but Skye returned. Unperturbed by her glower, he canted his head. "We need to check your hearing. Listen and tell me if you hear this. His mouth moved, but she didn’t hear a thing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Icki wince and rub his ear.

Skye smiled. "Draconians have sonic communication abilities. Your profile said you once had it, but if you don’t know, it’s an indication that your hearing has returned to normal human parameters."

For some reason, that made her frown. She’d come to take certain things for granted, and, useless as it had been, her hearing had been one of those things.

Skye canted his head and crossed his arms. "Have you noticed anything different about your vision?"

She frowned. It had been a minor thing, but now that he mentioned it.... "Things seem a little odd around the edges, like I’m seeing a fog of color...." She trailed off, trying to examine the effect. Her eyes had been darting around all day, chasing ghosts, but she’d been too harassed to really notice it.

"It’s a normal experience for a Draconian," Skye explained. "Our emotions color the edges of our vision, making them hard to ignore. On the bright side, we have better tolerance to bright light than humans." He took a small flashlight and shined it in her eyes. To her surprise, she didn’t flinch.

"It doesn’t hurt!"

A slight smile tilted his lips. "Congratulations." He felt her pulse, examined her color and checked the glands on her neck before consulting the computers that had been working on her blood samples. He looked thoughtfully at the results on the computer screen. "Looks good from here, though I’d recommend a regular dose of adaptogen over the next few months to make certain there’s no relapse."

Bali saw Icki’s head whip up, and he stared at the back of Skye’s head penetratingly.

As if sensing the stare, Skye turned and met his gaze. His voice was curiously neutral. "What do you think, Dr. Icki?"

Icki held his stare for long moments. "You might be right."

Bali’s gaze darted between the two of them. The looked like lawyers haggling over a tough case. Her heart sank as their diagnosis sank in. "You can’t be serious!"

They turned twin, unblinking gazes her way, but it was Skye who answered. "You don’t want to regress, do you? Give the adaptogen some time to take hold."

She couldn’t believe it. "Icki?"

"I think it might be best," he said slowly, looking grave.

She darted a wild look at Domino. "But he can’t! I was going to...."

Domino smiled and slouched against the examining table next to her. As blandly as if they were discussing the weather, he assured her, "I’m perfectly willing to oblige."

A new tension gripped her, one that had nothing to do with doctors. She’d planned to leave him and was fairly sure that everyone in the room knew it. Maybe they had a conspiracy going, but she didn’t dare go to another doctor. She was neatly trapped and resented it.

Icki rolled his head from side to side and groaned. "If you don’t mind, I’m ready to go back to Domino’s. My bed is calling." His color was bad, and Bali held her tongue as Domino gave him a hand up. She wanted to lash out, to go a little crazy, but now wasn’t the time.

By the time they got back to Domino’s suite, she was feeling unexpectedly tired as well. Anger and simmering resentment mixed with unease, even fear as she crossed the threshold. Happily, the smell of a feast also rose up to greet her, and she realized she was hungrier than she’d thought.

Icki went straight to his room, so she fixed him a plate, delivered it, then departed with a meat roll while he and Domino talked.

Domino’s room was open, so she slipped inside, wary of going to her own room. It would be the first place he looked. She wanted to be alone, preferably for hours, but knew it was unlikely. He was going to want to talk, and he wasn’t the kind to settle for a simple no.

His bed was large, mussed and otherwise unremarkable. He had a nightstand, and it was the only other furniture in the room. Weapons of all types, mostly guns, hung on his walls. His room looked like an arsenal. Frowning, she wandered closer, examining the medals in a glass case on the wall. He had quite an array.

"My sister’s gift. They have the mistaken idea that I need to display my accomplishments," Domino said dryly.

Bali spun around. He leaned against the doorframe, casually blocking the entrance.

"Aren’t you hungry?" he asked, raising a lazy brow. His eyes were beginning to glow. "I’m starving."

The purr warned her. "Go eat, then. Your cook sent up quite a feast."

He paced closer, his smile slow, seductive. "I hate to eat alone."

She backed along the wall, aware that she was nearing the bed, certain she could dart around it at the last minute. "I’m not going to sleep with you."

"Good. I wasn’t going to sleep." He kept coming.

She reached the bed and tried to bolt past him. He caught her easily, laughing as he held her to him, her back to his front. She should have attacked, but her mind froze as his hand slowly tracked over her belly, inching under her shirt. "This is crazy."

"What is?" he whispered in her ear, tracing the shell with his tongue.

She shuddered. "This. Us. This is never going to work. We don’t even know each other; not really. I’m completely wrong for you."

"But I’m right for you." His hands moved to her zipper, slowly eased it down. There was a sharp tug as he unbuttoned her pants. "This is right for you."

"Domino...."

He hooked his thumbs under her panties and slid those with her pants down her legs, then slid his hands up, raising her shirt above her breasts. Those wicked hands wandered from nipple to thatch, squeezing here, sliding down and barely in there. It was terrifyingly erotic, the power of his touch, the confidence of his lips on her neck, her ear.

He waited until she was shuddering, then he turned her around and bent her over his bed.

"Domino!"

"Easy, love. You’ll like this, too." His hands slipped between her legs, stroking and teasing until she was even wetter, squirming helplessly on the bed, abrading her tender nipples against the sheets. Only when she was pleading for it did he ease into her, mindful of her lingering tenderness.

She liked it. Needed it. Begged for it as he rode her slowly, forcing her to buck, to impale herself in a desperate search for release. With a growl, he leaned over her and gave her what she needed, driving into her so swiftly that she climaxed in tortured pleasure.

Curiously, when he climaxed this time, he didn’t bite her. Maybe that came later, after....

Minutes later, she was lying in his arms clad in only her panties. It was delicious, naughty, and lingering shyness kept her from meeting his eyes as he pulled her against his chest. Unfortunately, the contact made her squirm with renewed heat.

Common sense made one last gasp for speech. "I’m not your wife. I’m...."

He rolled her on top of him, raised her up so he could suckle her nipples. He let her squirm at bit, then pulled her down and kissed her with drugging intent. "Why do you say that? Haven’t you shared first rights with me? Don’t I pleasure you?" He moved against her, making her gasp. "Why should it be more complicated than that?"

His hardness against her damp panties was making her breathless with lust. "I can’t love you. I have to leave."

He laughed, oozing confidence. "You’ll love me. Until then, let me give you what you need." He gathered her panties in one hand, pulling it tight in the back until it pulled hard against her tender front parts. As she sat up, her eyes wide, he eased them aside just enough to slide inside.

She couldn’t get enough. It was too much. She begged him to stop but rode him with wild intensity.

He’d proved his point, if he’d wanted to prove she was a slave to the feelings he inspired. The man had power, he was beautiful, and she was as helpless in his arms as a sultan’s favorite pet. She needed him.

In her heart, she knew she was already lost.

The pleasure left them too sated to move, and they lay there for a long time afterward, dozing. If they had begun as they meant to go on, their lives would never be the same.

* * * *

"You must have had lots of lovers."

Domino blinked at Bali’s tentative comment. He snuggled her closer and considered thoughtfully.

"Why?"

She sighed. "You’re ... this wasn’t your first time."

He considered her statement and the emotion behind it. "I had a lover once, when I first joined the space force. I’d joined to spite my father, and I thought I could ignore thousands of years of culture and conviction while I was at it. We weren’t married. At first I thought it wouldn’t matter to me. When I found it did, she did everything in her power to drive me away. She finally took another lover to prove her point.

"After that, I let my father choose a Draconian bride for me. We got on well enough, though there was no love between us. She died a few years ago of a blood disease. As advanced as our medicine is, there are some things we can’t cure."

"I’m sorry," she said, clearly shocked.

He sighed. "As I said, we weren’t in love. I regret her passing, but there was no substance to our marriage."

She was silent for long seconds. "Then why would you tie yourself to me? Whatever’s between us--I don’t know what it is--but you’ll grow to regret this."

He rolled over and looked at her. "Give us a chance. We did this backward. It was a risk, one we had to take, but I regret the necessity. You needed more time to get to know me, to let our relationship grow.

We can still do that. I’m willing." He let his question hang in the air.

Bali let out a slow breath, then gestured helplessly. "I guess we can try. I don’t know what you expect, what I expect, but we can see what happens."

"Not good enough. I want us both to actively try. There’s a huge difference. It means investing time into problem solving, being willing to forgive and change. Walking away is easy. A good marriage is the work of a lifetime."

"Are you really sure that’s what you want? A marriage? To me?"

He grinned and kissed her quickly. "Should I prove it again?"

Laughing, she shoved him off, noting that he went willingly. "I’m starving, you fiend. The least you can do is feed me."

They adjourned to the kitchen and the forgotten meal. To alleviate her lingering shyness, Bali flipped on the kitchen screen and scanned the news headlines, her mind only half on what she was doing, thinking about her and Domino.

Suddenly, a line caught her eye and she paused to read, her mood growing grimmer the more she read.

"What is it?" Domino paused in clearing the counter to read over her shoulder. "‘Two Dead In Execution Style Murder.’ Did you know them?"

Bali cracked her neck, rolling it slowly to alleviate the tension. "I recognize their names and faces from my security detail’s files. They’re with a group of vigilantes dedicated to wiping out mutants and their creators. I’ve always been a favorite target of opportunity. My bounty’s probably gone up after this last attempt."

"We’ll hire bodyguards first thing in the morning," Domino said harshly. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "No sense in tempting fate."

She glanced over her shoulder. "I was going to handle it. It was foolish of me to let mine go."

He kissed her softly. "Let me. I have Draconian friends who are exceptional security professionals. I’d feel better knowing you were surrounded by men I trust."

Her mouth twisted up. "I have someone in mind already. He’s saved my life more than once."