Sweet Starfire (41 page)

Desma arched one brow. “Is that what happened? Interesting. Everyone knew something catastrophic had happened, but no one knew exactly what.”

“Don’t tell him I told you,” Cidra said urgently. “I think I might have had a bit too much ale. I seem to be babbling.”

“Don’t worry, Cidra. I won’t say a word. As I said, after the partnership was dissolved, Severance was left with only his ship and virtually no capital. He and his brother started building things up again, and just as they were beginning to see some progress, Jeude went down on
QED
.”

“I know.” Cidra swallowed a wave of sadness. “It was very hard for Severance to handle.”

“The emotional trauma was only part of it. The other half of the story is that the loss of the ship sent Severance Pay, Ltd. back to circle one. For a year Severance took some awful risks as a bonus man here on Renaissance for some exploration companies. ExcellEx was one of the firms he worked for during that period.”

“Do you think he took the risks because he just didn’t care anymore?”

“I don’t know. People take risks for different reasons. I know he was a bitter, angry man for a long time. He spent more time in the jungle than he did in Try Again. But when the year was over, he seemed to have pulled himself together. In the meantime he had accumulated enough bonus money to finance Severance Pay. He’s been working his way back for a third try at the big time ever since.”

“And now he’s got another crack at it.” Cidra sighed. “I suppose I shouldn’t get in his way.”

“But are you going to get in his way?” Desma asked perceptively.

“I prefer to think of myself as a useful and extremely valuable member of his crew.” Cidra took another sip of ale. “Now all I have to do is make him see me that way.”

“Hey, Severance, how much will you take for the little lady?” Craft grinned cheerfully as he helped make the skimmer fast to the dock. He examined Severance’s dusty boots and sweat stained shirt, which were revealed under the marina’s bright lights. It was obvious that the past four days had been hard and long. But, then, most days on the river and in the jungle were.

The balmy night air was thicker than usual, heralding the approach of a storm. Borgia and Medici were quickly being veiled by clouds. Severance and the skimmer’s pilot had made it back barely in time. Skimmers avoided travel by night if at all possible, especially when a storm was in the offing. But Severance had pushed for the unorthodox travel that afternoon because they were so close to Try Again and Cidra was due to ship out the next day. The thought of not seeing her before she left had led him to give the skimmer pilot an extra fifty in credit for traveling after dark. Folks were always on the lookout for easy bonus money on Renaissance.

“You haven’t got enough credit to buy her, Craft, and you know it.” Severance jumped onto the dock, his stained travel pack slung over one shoulder. “Even if I decided to sell, you’d have one renegade devil of a time trying to collect. The lady’s got a mind of her own.”

“She’s also got two hundred and fifty thousand of her own from what I hear.” Craft chuckled as he reached down into the skimmer to take a container the pilot was handing to him. “A lady like her draws a considerable amount of attention in a place like this.”

Severance, about to walk down the dock toward shore, glanced back. “Anyone been making too much of a nuisance of himself?”

“Why? You going to feed him to the river if he has?”

“After I separate his head from his neck. Let’s have it, Craft. What’s been happening?”

“Calm down, Severance. She and Desma haven’t been seen apart since you left. Saints know a few hopeful types tried to get Cidra interested in a nice steak dinner or something, but no one had any luck.”

“She doesn’t like meat.” Severance readjusted the travel pack and stalked off toward the bank.

“Maybe that’s why she’s drinking ale at the Bloodsucker tonight,” Craft called after him. “A lot of protein but not much meat in a glass of Rose ale.”

“One of these days, Craft, someone’s going to accidentally push you into the river.” But Severance didn’t pause this time. He headed away from the dock facilities and up the dusty street, driven by a sense of urgency. He had so little time left with Cidra.

She must have gotten very bored to have gone to the Bloodsucker for a drink. Maybe Desma had talked her into it. Cidra never did more than sip elegantly at a glass of wine or ale. At this late hour she was probably tired of killing time in a tavern. She wasn’t really cut out for spending her evenings that way. At least there was no Cord Racer around to cause trouble that night. Severance decided he wouldn’t chew Cidra out for spending a couple of hours in a tavern. After all, there wasn’t much to do in a place like Try Again. Besides, from what Craft had said, it sounded as if Desma was doing a good job of playing chaperon. He paced more quickly along the street, anticipating the pleasure in Cidra’s eyes when she saw him again.

It was Desma who saw Severance come through the door. She glanced up, took in his dusty, stained appearance and the intensity of his eyes as he scanned the room, and then she smiled at Cidra. “He’s back.”

Cidra blinked. She had just finished the last of her third mug of ale. “Who’s back?”

“The love of your life.”

“Oh, him.” Eyes narrowed to help her concentrate, Cidra looked around and saw Severance starting toward her down an aisle of tables. She smiled wistfully. “Isn’t he wonderful, Desma?”

“He’s interesting, I’ll say that for him.”

Cidra’s smile congealed into a frown as Severance reached the table. She glared up at him. “You’re late,” she announced.

Severance tilted his head to one side, studying her as he let the pack slide to the floor. “You’re drunk.”

“I have been drowning my sorrows. Ask Desma.”

Severance slid a grim glance at Desma. “How the hell did she get into this condition?”

“I did it all by myself,” Cidra answered.

“I can see that. Why is it that every time I leave you on your own you get into trouble?”

“I’m not in any trouble. You’re the one in trouble. Did you give those sensors away to Exce1lEx?”

Severance leaned down, planting his hands on the table, to confront her. His eyes were glittering with a mixture of masculine irritation, desire, and possessiveness. “No, I did not give the sensors to ExcellEx.”

“Did you get full credit on delivery?” she demanded.

“Yes, Otanna Rainforest, I did. Satisfied?”

“No. You should have gotten hazardous duty credit on top of the agreed-upon fee.”

“I got a contract for another shipment instead. Does that please you?”

Cidra’s severe expression changed back into a warm, approving smile. “Oh, Severance, that’s wonderful.”

“Thank you.” He looked at Desma, who was smiling. “How much has she had?”

. “Three mugs. Holding it very well, I might add.”

“She’s spaced out of her little mind.”

“She’s been waiting for you,” Desma said simply. “Today she started worrying that you wouldn’t return until after she left.”

“She should have known better. That’s no excuse-”

“I,” Cidra interrupted grandly, “don’t need any excuses. I am a financially independent woman who can do as she likes.”

“Too much education and too much money. It’s a bad combination in a woman.” Severance straightened. “Are you ready to leave, Cidra?”

“Yes, please. Where are we going?”

“Someplace where there’s a bed.” He reached down to take her arm.

“You need more than a bed, Severance. You need a shower.” Desma grinned up at him. “Why don’t you take her back to my place? I won’t be home for a while yet. You’re welcome to spend the night. Fred’s waiting there too.”

“I appreciate the offer, Desma. I’ll take you up on it.” He started to tug Cidra out of her chair.

“Now wait just one spaced second.” Cidra lifted her chin. “I have decided that this relationship of ours is based entirely too much on bed. It’s too physically oriented. We need to talk. We need to explore the intellectual side of this whole thing. Then we need to discuss the business aspects of it. You’d better sit down, Teague Severance. We have a lot to discuss.”

Severance regarded her politely. “The thing is, Cidra, you’re not in any condition to carry on an intellectual analysis of our relationship. You’re spaced, Otanna Rainforest. Drunk as a renegade on a bonus spree.”

“Oh. How interesting. I hadn’t realized.”

“It’s all right,” he assured her, hauling her to her feet. “Just leave everything to me. I’ll handle it.” He scooped her up and slung her easily over one shoulder. Cidra’s yellow-gold gown swirled around his stained shirt.

Cidra examined the floor from her upside-down position. Then she steadied herself by grasping his utility loop. She smiled reassuringly at Desma. “It’s all right. He always handles things. Pilot in command, you know.”

“I understand,” Desma said gently. “Good night, Cidra.”

“Good night, Desma.”

Desma spoke to Severance. “The door’s keyed to Cidra’s voiceprint.”

“All I have to worry about is getting her to say something coherent when we get to your place. See you in the morning, Desma. And thanks.”

Severance clamped one hand firmly around Cidra’s thighs, plucked the travel pack off the floor, and started toward the door. He ignored the interested attention of the tavern crowd. He was out on the street, striding toward Desma’s before he realized that Cidra was humming contentedly.

“I didn’t know you were musical,” he growled.

“I can do a great many things. Excellent education.”

“I’m going to put you in a bed and let you show me what you do best.”

“You don’t think we’re placing too much emphasis on the physical side of this relationship?” Cidra asked with both whimsy and worry.

“I think,” Severance told her, “that memories of you wrapped around me are all I’m going to have to keep me warm for a long time.”

Cidra sighed. “You shouldn’t send me away, Severance.”

“I have to send you away.”

“I know. I’ve thought it all out I know you have to do it. But I’m scared, Severance.”

“So am I.”

Cidra lapsed into silence for the remainder of the trip. When Severance stopped at Desma’s door, she obediently said her name into the voicelock and then felt herself being carried into the house. Severance walked into the bedroom she had been using and stood Cidra carefully on her feet. She circled his neck with her arms and smiled wistfully up at him.

“I’ve missed you.”

“Not half as much as I’ve missed you.” He pulled her close, feeling her gown whip lightly around his legs as he did so. She lifted her face for his kiss, and he took her mourn with a hunger he knew he would be feeling frequently during the days and nights to come. For a long moment he simply helped himself to the promise of her, drinking deeply of the nectar that was waiting. She melted against him the way he had remembered, and Severance wondered how he would last without her during the long time ahead. The thought that she might not be waiting when the ordeal was over filled him with a dangerous tension. He realized abruptly that his kiss was growing rough and heavy. She was such a soft little creature.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re not hurting me.” She framed his face between her hands.

“I should get cleaned up first.”

“Later,” she murmured. “We have so little time.”

“Cidra, do you know what it does to me when you look at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“As if you want me so much, you’ll dissolve if you don’t get me.”

“I might.”

His fingers were trembling as he undid the delicate fastenings of the yellow-gold robe. It slid to the floor, a heap of treasure around her feet. Severance decided it was nothing compared to the treasure it had concealed. He unhooked the utility belt and draped it on the table beside the bed. Impatiently he tugged off the rest of his clothing. When he was finished, he reached out to touch Cidra. It occurred to him again that he should get under a hot spray before he claimed such a sweet-smelling woman, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Already he was pushing her backward onto the bed.

“Watch out for Fred,” Cidra said.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He’s usually in here somewhere.”

Severance looked up and saw three rows of teeth grinning at him from the window ledge above the bed. “Hello, Fred. Go back to sleep.”

The three rows of teeth winked out of sight. Severance gathered Cidra into his arms. He heard her soft sigh, felt the warm, eager welcome in her arms, and wondered how he could let her go in the morning. Then he stopped thinking of the future entirely. All that existed for him was the present with its promise of passion and satisfaction. On Renaissance a man took what he could get.

He made love to Cidra with the burning need of a man who knows he’s going to go hungry for a long time.

Severance didn’t know what brought him up out of sleep later that night. He came awake the way he usually did on Renaissance: with a sudden alertness that kicked his system into full gear. He lay listening to the shadows, unmoving. One arm was wrapped securely around Cidra as if even in his sleep he were afraid of losing her. Her rounded rear was nestled intimately into his thighs, and he could feel the curves of her breasts under his palm.

But it hadn’t been Cidra who had awakened him. She was sound asleep. He listened intently, and then he heard a faint movement on the window ledge. Fred was awake too. Perhaps he had only heard the sound of his movement. The rain had begun, pouring down outside with enough force and noise to mask any sounds from the street. Severance wondered if it had been Desma’s return to the house that had brought him up out of sleep. But he could hear nothing from the hall.

Then he heard another sound, and this time he recognized it: the hiss of a deflector screen as a man moved through it. The faint noise was coming from the deflector that guarded the window across the room, Severance slitted his eyes and turned his head a few fractions of a centimeter. A shadow moved on the other side of the diazite pane. On the window ledge over the bed Fred shifted again.