Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series) (44 page)

“Hey. She helped me,” Kiri reminded him indignantly. “When none of the men would. She stopped two other Serps from raping me. Then she let me stay with her. She even advised me to—well, never mind that.” He didn’t need to hear Scala’s comment about the relative worth of males.

A low sound rumbled from his chest, and he yanked her against him, his arms like bands of iron, one hand cupping her head. Kiri let him hold her, astonished. Was he
growling
?
 

“You should never have had to endure all that ugliness,” he said into her hair. “You’ve been through enough.”

“Logan, I’m fine. Except I can’t breathe.”

He let her push him away but held onto her shoulders. “Little cat, I swear to you I’ll keep you safe from now on, if you’ll let me.”

“I don’t need you to keep me safe,” she said stubbornly. “I just made it through a pretty tough spot, with the help of some good people.”

He gave her a strange look. “You don’t need me?”

She stiffened her spine against the urge to melt against him, take that haunted look from his gaze. “I can stand on my own feet, Logan. Anyway, beings are pretty thin on the ground on this planet, so I guess danger should be pretty easy to spot,” she said, trying for a joke. “Maybe going home I can ride on your fancy ship, though.”

He smiled, but it was a poor effort. “Yes, that I can guarantee. You won’t be riding on any ships but mine from now on.” He squeezed her shoulders and then let her go. For an instant she wished he hadn’t.

“I know someone who’ll be glad to know you’re all right,” he said. “Rak has been linking me all week, asking for news. So has Natan. I’ve never seen either of them do that before.”

Kiri’s heart swelled. “They’re both good guys. I need to link Maury, too. And Taara.”

“In a moment,” he said. “Right now, come for a walk.” He stepped off the verandah and gestured at the sylvan scene as if offering it to her.

Kiri forgot her sorrow as she followed him. The grass covered earth was soft and lumpy under her feet. She laughed, turning to Stark to share her delight. “It’s like walking on thick carpet, only ... better.”

He took her hand, and she walked out into the grass, watching her feet move through the long strands of tender green, knowing he would keep her from losing her balance. The scent of the bruised grass rose up around her, mingling with a sweet, spicy scent that was somehow familiar.

“What’s that wonderful smell?”

“The trees.” He waved his arm at the tall evergreens. “They’ve oil in their needles and pungent sap under their bark. The sun brings out the scent.”

Heat draped across the top of Kiri’s head and shoulders, as if someone had dropped a hot blanket over her. She flinched and then turned back to squint at the fiery ball of the sun shining in the sky over the ridgeline of the building.
 

“That’s the sun,” she said wonderingly. “It’s really warm. Even hot.”

“Don’t stare at it,” Stark warned, shading her eyes with his free hand. “The rays will damage your eyes. Quick glances only.”

Kiri closed her eyes and saw bright spots against her eye lids. She staggered, dizzy. A powerful arm slid around her waist, steadying her against Stark’s hard body. She stood for a moment, her eyes closed, absorbing the wonderful heat of both the sun and the man.

Then she remembered and stepped away, pushing his hand off her waist. The meadow slid into a wash of green and blue as her eyes filled with tears.
 

“I don’t want you touching me.” Not yet.

He made no move to do so again, but she felt him close behind her.

“I’m not going away, Kiri.” His voice held pure cerametal. Stark, the magnate, creating his own reality.

She wrapped her own arms around herself, looking out at the verdant scene before her, blinking away the hot tears that insisted on welling up again and again. It was comforting to know he wanted her that badly, but still …

“Well, I hope you’re good at waiting, then. Really good.”
 

Because she didn’t know how long it would take for the image to fade of that woman giving him the intimate smile that said he’d fucked her and done a really fine job of it. Kiri’s breakfast roiled in her stomach.

Stark grasped her arm and turned her to him. Cupping her face in his hands, he tipped it up toward his. His eyes held absolute determination, though his grip on her was gentle.
 

“I’m a very patient man, Kiri te Nawa. And you will be mine again. No matter how long it takes.”

Chapter 40

Kiri glared at Stark. “You can’t know that, Logan. No one can but me, and I don’t even know that yet.

He stared down at her for a long moment. Then something moved behind his eyes, something raw and deep.

“Come and walk with me. I think it’s time to tell you a story.”

“Okay.” She muttered, but she was responding more to that look than to his words. What kind of story?

He took her hand in his and they walked on through the meadow.

“Once there was a boy,” he began. “He was born in New Seattle—not in the wealthy part, but not the worst part, either. He had a mother that loved him, when she thought about him. She took care of him, fed him and sent him to school. But most of the time, her attention was caught up in his father. His father, who was rarely there—flew in once a month or so, ruffled his son’s hair, took his wife to bed and hung around for a day or so, then disappeared again, off to wheel and deal.

“Until the boy was fourteen and the father disappeared for good. Things had been getting worse for a while, there wasn’t quite enough food to eat and the boy’s mother sank deeper into depression. Didn’t pay attention to the boy, just sat and pined for the man. Starving herself, getting sick and not caring. The boy tried to take care of her, tried to fix what was broken, but he wasn’t enough.”

Kiri was listening now with every iota fixed on Stark, her heart pounding with dread for whatever was coming. She knew it was going to be bad.

“Then one evening another woman appeared at their little apartment. She had a boy by the hand. A dirty, skinny kid, about eleven, with dark red hair and eyes … just like the older boy’s. She told them he was another son of the father, the credit he’d given her was gone and she wasn’t feeding him anymore.”

Kiri gasped and Stark’s hand tightened on hers.
 

“The mother would have turned her away but the boy—”

“You,” Kiri whispered. “Say it.You’re the boy, aren’t you?”

He gave her a veiled look, but it was poor shield for the soul-deep turmoil she saw behind it. Kiri held his gaze, gave him hers back.
 

“Yes.
I
said no, we had to keep him. He was—it was obvious he was my brother.”

“Which one?” she breathed.

“Joran.” Ah, the one who looked like Stark.

“And … your other brother?”

His hand tightened again, his grip hurting her, but she didn’t protest.

“Creed. We … found him, Joran and I.”

They had passed into the shadows of the tall evergreens. The earth was soft under their feet, layered with the dry needles. The air was cool, and filled with that magical scent, so strong it was like perfume.

“How did you find him?”

Stark gazed out at the meadow, his eyes squinted slightly against the sunlight, but Kiri had the sense he saw none of the beauty before them.

“Turned out my father hadn’t been traveling far, just to his different women and gambling establishments, where he was a dealer. He hooked up with whores and any woman foolish enough to believe his lies.”

“That’s why you were worried
I
was a gambler,” she breathed.

He nodded. “He died in a crooked gambling house, lasered in some drunken argument. My mother died not long after. Walked in front of an airbus at the stop nearest our house. Never figured out if it was an accident, or she just couldn’t live with the knowledge he’d been fucking around on her. Though why in the seven hells it should have surprised her, I’ve never understood. Even I knew he didn’t think of us when he was gone. He never … brought me anything from his travels. Never had stories to tell of where he’d been.”

Kiri clasped his arm with her free hand, her heart swelling with pain for the boy he’d been.

She’d lost her family, but at least she knew she’d been loved. She took a deep breath, willed her voice to remain steady. “So then what did you do?”

“Lost the apartment,” he said, almost absently. “They were going to put Joran in a crèche, me in a labor school. But I didn’t like the looks of the men who came to pick him up. He was … a handsome boy. And he fought when they tried to take him, so we didn’t let them.”

Kiri stared up at him. Twelve- and fourteen-year-old boys against two grown men and they hadn’t ‘let them’ do something? She nodded. “Ah, that’s—that’s good. So then?”

“We were on the streets. Joran had grown up in the slums, knew some hidey holes, some places to get food, so that’s where we went. And where we found Creed.”

He looked at her for the first time. “Creed’s not our blood brother. He’s ours because we took him from a pimp.”

“Oh, Logan.”

Stark nodded grimly. “Intended to whore him to pedophiles. I’m not altogether sure he hadn’t already. He’s never said. Didn’t speak for months, didn’t do anything but stay close to us like a skinny little shadow with huge eyes. They’re blue, like that sky.”

Kiri wrested her hand from his and threw her arms around him, pressing her face against his chest. “Oh, Logan. Thank God you found him.”

His arm closed around her and he curled his other hand around the side of her throat, his thumb tipping her head up so he could look into her eyes. “Kiri. I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel pity for me, or for Joran or Creed. I’m telling you so you’ll understand me and so you’ll know—everything you went through on that ship, every fear, every discomfort, every threat—I’ve been there. I’ve lived it, slept it, breathed it. I may be wealthy now, but I didn’t come from wealth.”

Slowly, she nodded. This was the past Scala had alluded to. Stark might not be a woman, but he’d known the fear of being smaller, weaker as a youth, and yet he’d appointed himself guardian of two younger boys and refused to part with them.
 

His face softened, and she watched him come back to her, his gaze focused on her, not the cold and bitter past. His hand worked, caressing her cheek.

 
“I got through it, little cat, and I triumphed. The places we hid out? I own most of them. They’re viable businesses now, with food kitchens and crèches attached for those who need them.”

“So there won’t be boys like Joran and Creed,” she whispered.

He shrugged. “We can’t save them all. But LodeStar can help by giving jobs to their parents, those who are willing to work.”

His hand tightened, framing her cheek. “And you—I’ll keep you safe if you’ll let me. Protect you so you’re never vulnerable again to slime like Darkrunner and his kind. And I’ll prove myself worthy of your trust, as well.”

The ice around her heart cracked, the image of that other woman not burning quite as harshly, muted by what he’d just shared.
 

His past had made him a man who thought he always had to be in control, who blazed his way through obstacles and people when he could, but it had also made him a protector, a man who would look after those he considered his.
 

She’d remind him later that she didn’t need protecting. He wanted a chance to prove himself, and she had the sense he’d apply every bit of his formidable will and intelligence to the task. And that just might make it worth the work it would take a woman to get to the core of him—at least she hoped so.

“Logan Stark, what am I going to do with you?”

His gaze went molten and his arm tightened around her, holding her close against his hard body.
 

“Stay with me, Kiri te Nawa, and we’ll find out together.”

.... to be continued.

Thank you!

• Thanks for reading
Stark Pleasure
. I hope you enjoyed it!
 

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• For an excerpt from the next
LodeStar
tale, please keep reading.

best,

Cathryn

The LodeStar Series

Book 2,

Creed of Pleasure; The Space Miner’s Concubine

Half-Serpentian or not, in the crime-ridden streets of New Seattle, Earth II, Taara Ravel can’t defend her quirky cousin and herself against an enemy they can’t even see. A wealthy man agrees to whisk them away to safety on the new planet of Frontiera—but only for a high price. One the lovely blonde will have to pay with her body.

Here’s a short excerpt …

Taara Ravel stared at the man hovering via holovid image in the middle of her tiny sitting room.