The Dark Places (4 page)

No.
This isn’t a dream
. I doubted my fantasies would have provided that wine
and bouquet as minor, elaborate details.
This
is
real
. Evidently this fancy
hotel worked small miracles behind the scenes at superfast speeds. I’m certain
they’d only learned of our marriage after Matt’s visit at the front desk.

Ignoring the tastefully decorated
room’s other luxuries, my stare fastened on the door.
Very
well,
then.
This isn’t a dream. I’ve
got to get away from here—and him.
My heart knocked around in my chest. Why
did I feel like a bird caged in with something bigger, stronger,
faster
?

Matt secured additional manual
locks on the door and studied me with a slow smile. “We have only a few hours
here, doll, before we have to get you to your place to pack up before we leave
Harnaru.”

I started to say something—probably
something witless or combative—but Matt pulled me into his arms. His lips
sought mine while his hand roved with possessive assurance over my body. I
couldn’t form a single lucid thought. Frost crept along my skin, and the
shivering returned. Matt pressed me closer to his body, and I grew very
conscious of his arousal. I no longer thought about escape. If this
was
a dream, I willed it to continue.

His caresses stroked along my lower
back, continuing to soothe away my inhibitions. My shivering subsided, but the
deep chill didn’t go away. Despite that, my arms encircled Matt’s hard waist,
and I burrowed my body into his solid frame, determined to pursue my attraction
to this puzzling but compelling man.

Why
did he marry me?

The thought haunted me as my mouth
opened beneath his insistent pressure. Our tongues touched in silken
sensuousness that pulled at my core and left me breathless. His tongue slipped
across mine and overrode my doubts about the immediate future. I wanted him to
claim more of me. Our heated kisses created melting dampness between my legs.
But the nagging chill chasing through me and along my skin persisted, though
his arms crushed me close to his warmth.

Matt scooped me up in his arms and
carried me to the wide, waiting bed, with its dark maroon satin coverlet. I
submitted to the sublime experience of an attractive man undressing me. He
patiently peeled away my boots, sockettes, and coveralls with minimum
assistance from me, leaving me clad only in a dark blue silken camisole and
very scanty matching briefs.

I’d absolutely no idea that I would
be getting married that night when my frantic hands snatched this particular
set of silky undergarments—fortuitously situated atop the clean linen pile—in
my mad scramble to dress for work. At least these were sexier than my normal
staid white cottons.
Finally—you got
something right, Kailiri!
My lips curved in self-congratulatory smile, and
I wondered if Matt appreciated them.

He removed only his tunic. I
glimpsed an intriguing swirling pattern of dark hair above his navel and pant’s
waistband before he laid his nicely muscled, tanned torso beside me with his
head sharing my big fluffy pillow. “Something has made you smile again. It’s
the first I’ve seen since we left the restaurant,” Matt said as he smoothed
back a curl from my cheek. “Does this mean you’ve abandoned plans to escape
me?”

“What do you mean?” My heart and
smile froze.
How does he know?

“You’re now a part of me through
our imprinting.”

Those quiet words spread more ice
throughout my bones. He leaned over and claimed my lips. I wanted to draw away,
but I couldn’t. When he pulled back long, breathless moments later, I forced
myself to speak quickly before my treacherous body betrayed me again and my
brain stopped working.

“You keep saying that—I don’t
understand what you mean when you say we’re imprinted on each other, Matt.
Please tell me—
what
are you talking
about?”

“It’s a rare occurrence, doll.
People are always rhapsodizing about waiting their entire lives to experience the
one overwhelming heart affinity between two people. People on my world believe
that whenever they find each other across life’s adversity and the webs of time
and space, their souls enmesh and their thoughts bind each other. Imprinting is
what we called it where I come from. My mother’s people said it goes beyond
reason and emotion. It’s a reclaiming of a missing part of one’s soul.”

Matt gave me a gentle, wry smile, the
mesmerizing sparks in his eyes’ center glowed. “And I thought I was only
rescuing a fair maiden from entrapment today upon Harnaru. I never suspected
Fate would contrive to bring me the missing part in my soul
now
, of all times.” His brows descended
in a dark frown. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve claimed and married you, Kailiri
Summers Lorins. And I’m holding on to you as long as I possibly can.” He said
this last part in a determined, hard tone. His hand curved around my hip and
forced my stomach in flush contact upon his.

Conflicting alarm mingling with a
curious melting in my heart confused my emotions. His words sounded as if our
marriage had been an unexpected interference in his life too. Something told me
he hadn’t revealed everything about my imprinting. Would the full truth
frighten me witless, if I knew?
How
should I feel? Flattered?
Afraid?
Intrigued?
Certainly a sizzling spark within had flickered to life and
responded to him at the Lilith, and his kisses had mesmerized me into marrying
him. But I didn’t know if
he
was
the one
I’d waited all my life to meet.
Despite his descriptions about imprinting, my overwhelming physical attraction
to him, which left me brainless sometimes, didn’t
feel
like a
forever
phenomena.

Then there was that soul-enmeshing,
thought-binding matter….

“How can you tell for certain if
this is your imprinting event or just basic attraction and desire between two
people?”

“I felt the binding when I first
kissed you, Kailiri. And so did you. You can’t deny it. There’s a deep chill
running through you from it—right? Are you still cold?”

“Yes….”

“It will pass soon.” His lips
captured mine, and I was left no wiser about my mysterious condition.

Further questions slipped from my
thoughts as my body arched toward his. My hands slid across his wide, sleek
shoulders and along his neck. Time slowed down into crystallized moments
wherein he trailed seductive kisses along my face and neck. His hand slipped
beneath my camisole and caressed my breasts, then stroked along my stomach. One
of my hands strayed down to the cloth-encased hard thigh lying over my legs, pinning
me down.

Matt’s warm groin pressed with
growing insistence into my lower anatomy. My hand roamed up along his pants’
smooth fabric, daring and curious, until it wedged through a tiny space between
us and gently cupped his arousal.

He groaned softly and pulled away a
little to allow me freedom to explore. I forgot to breathe for several moments
as my hand stroked along his generous proportions.
And he’s mine—for a while at least.
When I sought to undo the seal
on his bulging fly, he captured my hand and his body covered me again.

“You’re determined to make me lose
control, doll,” he murmured before his soft lips closed over mine and tore down
my
self control.

The chill running through me decreased
only a bit beneath the heat of his solid muscles. When our lips parted again, I
rubbed my face along the cozy niche where his collarbone met a wide shoulder,
and closed my eyes as I savored his intriguing male scent spiked with earthy,
spicy undertones. I brushed my lips lingeringly over his smooth skin and then
kissed it.
Can he feel how moist I am
through my skimpy briefs with his groin pressed dead center on my sensitive
parts?
I wanted him…. A sensuous rhythm impelled my hips to rock beneath
him.

“Do I need to take precautions
against impregnating you, before we get even closer, doll?” Matt murmured in my
ear.
That made my closed eyes open
fast. He gently
kissed my earlobe, and then he leaned back, awaiting my response.

“No. I have Fertipressor implants.”
I lifted my right arm from his shoulder to reveal a tiny blue pinhead-sized
plastic nodule on my paler underskin. Everything kept reminding me how little
we knew about each other, but I appreciated him caring enough to ask.
Uncomfortable warmth swept up my neck and suffused my face. Despite that and
also the hard, warm body over mine, an unrelenting chill continued prickling
along my skin.

“Then let’s get more comfortable,” he
said in an edge-roughened voice.

He released me with a kiss and
swiftly divested himself of his boots, trousers, and then black briefs, which
released his well-endowed manhood from bondage. I sat up, slipped off my
undergarments, and tossed them aside on a not-too-distant leather chair where
he’d earlier draped my coveralls.

“The universe has sent me a
tempting, desirable goddess,” Matt said in a husky voice. He smoothed a hand
over my erect nipples, down my stomach, and then he gently stroked my damp
core. My body writhed from the pleasurable sensations, and I couldn’t stifle my
soft moans.

Matt kissed my throat, breasts, and
then my stomach before he kneeled over me. He eased his length in, stretching
me slowly, and I rolled my hips with an urgent need for him to fill me. My
fingers dug into his back, and I couldn’t breathe without panting and releasing
tiny moans. It wasn’t until after he’d fully sheathed himself inside that the
ice creeping along my bones melted at last.

With each of his slow, deep
thrusts, he built an entangling web around my thoughts and feelings. My
skittish emotions regarding Matt Lorins soon solidified into something a bit
more substantial beyond unbridled desire. A deep, dark yearning for him lodged
in my soul.

I lifted my legs and crossed them
over his back while I clung with fierce possession to him. My lips stole
fevered kisses from his mouth, and then I trailed kisses along his neck and
across his chest.

Long sensation-filled minutes
later, we both shuddered with our release. His warm wetness filled me and
satiation stole over my body, relaxing it. My worries diminished about my new
mate and the disturbing condition that bound us. We lay joined together for an
unmarked time in our own cocoon of contented intimacy.

Matt kissed the top of my head and
then both my temples. I drifted off into a drowsy bliss until his quiet voice
pulled me back into consciousness.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, doll. We
haven’t toasted our union with champagne yet.”

I didn’t open my eyes, but I’d
known him long enough by now to at least hazard a guess from the gentle,
indulgent tone underlying his words that his dark eyes must have been sparking
with bright amusement. “Mmm,” I answered, rubbing my cheek against his hard
shoulder. I didn’t want anything but to stay snuggled in his warmth and
addictive, light spice-musk male scent. Although my arms tightened around him,
he slowly pulled away anyway and slipped from the bed with a parting kiss.

My drowsy brain distantly
registered running water coming from the bathroom. Then the distinctive
pop
from uncorked champagne roused me
momentarily. Before I drifted away again, Matt had returned to the bed with two
crystal goblets three-quarters full of golden effervescent wine.

“It’s a Harnaru vintage from seven
years ago. I’m guessing that was a good year for the lucky winery’s grapes back
then.” His lips quirked with a wry smile as he carefully settled on the bed’s
edge near me.

Fruity aromas teased my nose. I sat
up, pushed back tumbled curls from my eyes, and accepted the delicate stem on
the crystal he presented to me.

“To the missing part of my soul
that Fate has sent me,” he said with his gaze boring into mine.

“To you, Matt,” I whispered in a
husky voice, acutely aware—despite the past few hours and our recently shared
intimacy—that I knew little about him. I didn’t dare add anything complacent
and optimistic like “to our future” or “to love.” This impulsive relationship
was surely short-lived, and we’d never mentioned anything about love between
us.
Only that troubling
imprinting matter
.

His glass touched mine, and a brief,
gentle chime cleaved the room’s deep silence. Our gazes locked over the crystal
rims as we drank the bubbling, lighthearted bitter-sweetness. My brain couldn’t
cull up anything brightly conversational or intimate to say. Instead, I
recalled his kisses. My gaze drifted down to appreciate his well-formed body
before flicking back up to those fascinating eyes, and I smiled across my
glass.

When we’d drained the last of the
champagne from our glasses, Matt set them aside. His strong arms corralled me
again. My treacherous body willingly melted against him and allowed him to
weave deeper bindings upon my evolving emotions that entangled more around his
intriguing presence.

Chapter Three

I blinked drowsily at the well-groomed,
alert man standing beside me in the port complex as we waited for lift
clearance. Our night as a mated couple had been torrid and brief before, true
to his word, my new husband had wakened me and transported me to my hotel studio
to pack and cancel my residence lease.

My few personal possessions had
never amounted to much, but shame had assailed me at my erstwhile home’s
frugality. Barmaids didn’t earn much, and strict flight baggage limitations
meant I’d bought little with me when I’d fled Dearleth. Matt had evinced no
change in expression, nor manner, as he’d demonstrated brisk efficiency in
helping me pack my travel bags with the few mementoes and clothing I’d wished
to keep.

I kept my fledgling writing
attempts imprinted on microdisks and my protyper, along with a precious book
hoard on microdisks. I also retained my paint box, filled with pigments and
brushes, but I’d trashed all the Harnaru canvasses, except one Matt insisted on
keeping. While he was occupied with wrapping it, I had swapped my day-old black
coveralls for a tight red pair I’d salvaged from the packing. They made me feel
less dowdy at least next to him. He was resplendent in a fresh dark blue tunic
and matching pants tucked into his boots.

After an admiring glance at his retreating
form as he carried the protected painting over to rest on the floor against a
wall, my outfit suddenly seemed lackluster. So I’d snatched up a small sandalwood
jewelry box I hadn’t packed yet and extracted the untarnished necklace that had
descended through my mother’s line. I rarely wore the daunting thing. Faceted amethyst
stones studded the circlet, composed of flat cast-silver ovals. One had to peer
closely before realizing they were little leering skulls.
They honor the goddess of life and death. The necklace contains female power
,
my mother and aunts had avowed with furtive glances. I should have left it
behind on Dearleth and saved the baggage weight. Since I had no other adornments,
I’d clasped it around my neck. The warm, open approval in Matt’s wide-eyed expression
when he turned and viewed my revamped appearance melted my core.

I carried nothing now. We’d
tendered up our flight bags and the carefully wrapped canvas to the port’s
check-in system soon after a taxi flitter had delivered us here. My hands were
left without anything to keep them from gripping each other while preflight
jitters occupied my thoughts. The small bouquet Matt’s hotel had thoughtfully
provided would have kept my restless fingers still. But when Matt had explained
flower pollen inside starships was problematic for life-support system filters,
I’d left it behind with regret.

My curious stare focused on Matt as
he turned away to punch in his request for lift clearance again into the port
terminal’s flight control comp. The port controllers had moments ago cancelled
his first request, as another ship had priority for that time slot. My mate
looked not in the least done in by his long evening of drinking, or by his
sudden marriage and wedding night. I wondered at his physiology.

Who
is Matt Lorins—really
? My sleep-deprived brain stalled. I blinked away my bleary
focus and tried not to worry about Harry’s concerned bewilderment when I’d
called three hours ago before we left the hotel. The Lilith stayed open far
into the early morning hours, so that made it easy to catch up with Harry. I
figured I should call him since it looked like Matt was intent on whisking me
off the planet, and I didn’t know when there’d come an opportunity to contact him
and let him know all was well—so far.

“You can’t be serious, Kai!” Harry
had thundered over the receiver. “You’ve only known this guy for a coupla
hours! At least don’t go until you find out more about him. He could be
anything—a criminal, a madman, homicidal maniac, or slaver. Don’t go yet.
Kai—I’m telling ya, check him out with the Interplex Records first.”

Matt
had been in the shower at the time. I felt underhanded and sneaky
calling Harry in secret to tell him what I’d done, and that I wouldn’t be
showing up at the Lilith that night, or any other. And would he also, please,
dump my final paycheck owed, plus my earned tips, into my citizen account, as
always?

I
will need it to escape, if I’ve made a horrible gamble….

Matt’s penetrating dark eyes had
seared into mine when he’d emerged from his ablutions, but he’d said nothing.
However, guilt made me squirm.

Matt returned to my side from the
port terminal comp. “We have clearance, doll. A port crew is transporting our
luggage to my ship while her auxiliary tanks are refueling. We have ten minutes
or so until refueling is complete. Do you feel like trying to eat something?”

He’d tried to get me to eat before
we left the Marnu Grande, but I had no appetite. An aching sensation plagued my
lower regions and abdomen after our impassioned night’s activities and Matt’s deep
thrusts. I congratulated myself for remembering to have my three-year
Fertipressor
implants renewed on precise schedule the week
before I ever met Matt Lorins.
At least I
don’t have to worry about taking care of someone tiny whenever this strange
liaison ends—sooner or later
.

“Thank you, Matt, but no.”

A group of early morning travelers
came into the port terminal, chatting with loud animation and headed toward
where we stood. Matt led me from the flight request comps to clear their path
to it.

He pulled me close and lowered his head
to murmur into my ear.
“Second thoughts?”

He
always seems to guess what I’m thinking.
I didn’t know how to answer.

He lifted my hands to his warm
lips. My stomach quivered at the gentle kiss he pressed upon one and then the
other. No one had ever treated me like a highborn, or a celebrity—or anything
precious.

“I have no regrets,” he whispered.
“Remember that, my lady.”

Despite my conflicting emotions
about him, I longed to hug him, but sudden shyness held me back. Matt, however,
had no such reservations. He enfolded me in a long embrace and rested a cheek
upon the top of my head before releasing me.

“Anyone else you wish to call
before we lift, doll?” he asked in an even, expressionless tone.

I glanced up while swift guilt
slashed through my heart and froze it. A green haze appeared in his eyes and
vanished.
He knows about my call to Harry
.
I backed away. Then I calmed my panic, realizing he’d probably found out about
the room call when he had settled at the Grande Marnu Hotel’s desk before
checkout. I berated myself for not guessing intercity calls would get tracked
and tabulated by that fancy hotel.

“I have one other call to make,
Matt,” I answered between stiff lips.

“Ten minutes, doll,” he said in a
low, silken tone before his hand swept with leisurely grace behind him at the wall
of unoccupied
comm
-net phones.

I fled before courage failed me and
hurried past the row containing only flimsy, open partitions between them,
until I came to an enclosed privacy cubicle at the end.

When I turned to secure the door,
Matt stood watching me. Ignoring my heart’s spiked beat, I spun around, inserted
my citizen credit voucher, and punched in the call direction from memory.

“Interplex Operations,” an
efficient female voice promptly informed me.

“Would you please transfer me to
the Intersystem Alliance Citizens’ Records Directory?” I spoke as low as I
could into the metal wall panel’s audio inset, with my back turned toward Matt.
I wasn’t chancing he could read lips from a distance.

A brief chime sequence in my ear
indicated the call’s transference. When a brisk, male voice asked my business,
I requested any information compiled on a Matt Lorins, presently on stopover on
Harnaru in Marnu City and very recently lodged at the Marnu Grande Hotel. No—I
didn’t know his InterAlliance Citizen Registry Code.

There was a polite command to hold
while my request cycled through planetary and interstellar system profiles and
credit comps.

My fingers clenched and unclenched
and then tapped an impatient tattoo on the call panel while I waited for the
silence to end.
There isn’t much time
left!
Relief washed through me when the voice came back.

“We have some information compiled
from Interplex records on twenty-four planets in twenty-one sun systems. Time
periods for this compilation began approximately five standard years ago. Which
time period are you interested and what types of information profiles?”

“Major transactions or legal
documents generated in the last two years only, please.” Hollow dismay echoed
in my voice and heart.
Only
five
years of records.
Who was Matt Lorins
before that? Had he changed his identity five years ago? I wanted to hear every
year of data, but I was nervous about the onward marching of time.

“These are major transactions
conducted two years ago. On the Twelfth Day of the Second Month of Alliance
Standard Year 0190, subject, Matt Lorins, InterAlliance Citizen Registry Code
44J111O-5499SMK09, had property documents drawn up and notarized on Belrad in
the Kane System. On the Sixteenth Day of the Second Month of that year, the
subject requested docking rights for two standard weeks and ship supplies on Kranan
in the Kane System. Within that time period, he made five major purchase
transactions.”

The Interplex agent rapidly droned
on and on while I shifted from foot to foot, anxious about the elapsing time.
The agent had only reached the Fourth Month of that year, 0192, four standard
months ago, before Harnaru—and me. There wasn’t any way I’d ask him to skip
anything now. My drifting attention sharpened, and I leaned closer to the
panel’s audio inset.

“Interplex
comps
report that nothing was logged upon the subject in question for the entire
Fifth Month of this year. On the Tenth day of the Sixth Month, subject accrued
a large amount of credits on the Credit Central Comp on Shern’s Haven in the
Conrad System. On the Thirtieth Day, the last day of the Seventh Month of this
year, subject requested docking rights and ship supplies upon Rill in the same
system, Conrad, for six standard days. On the Seventh Day of the Eighth Month,
he checked into a hotel establishment on Rill, same system. Subject made a
large purchase transaction and checked out on the Twelfth Day of the Eighth
Month and requested lift clearance.

“On the Fifteenth day of the Eight
Month, subject requested docking rights on Harnaru in the Manning System, as
well as ship supplies. Subject also checked into a hotel establishment on the
same date. On the Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Month, subject signed and had
notarized an open-term marriage tract with one Kailiri Summers, registered out
of the Dearleth Mining Colonies in the Manning Systems. On the Sixteenth Day of
the Eighth Month, subject checked out of hotel and requested lift clearance
from the Marnu Interstellar Port. That’s all the information to date Interplex
has compiled for Matt Lorins.

“This information will be charged
to your citizen credit,” said the brisk voice. “Interplex charges are accrued
on a time basis. The total duration of your information request was eight
standard minutes and twenty seconds. Your charge is thirty-five-point-eight
credits. Thank you for calling Interplex, Miss Summers. Updates indicate you
are now Mrs. Lorins. May I congratulate you on your recent first marriage to
Mr. Matt Lorins and remind you to update your new formal name change with
Alliance Credit Central? Your Citizen Credit Voucher will no longer be viable
after today. You must register your name change before an updated voucher will
be issued to you.”

“Thank you,” I said hollowly. Good
thing there was just enough in my citizen account to cover the fee, until Harry
transferred my final pay and tips. Interplex could become downright vengeful
whenever they set out to recover funds owed to them.

I swallowed to alleviate the dry
tension gripping my throat as I cleared the call entry from the comm-net panel.
No one could accuse Interplex of not keeping updated records. They’d just
demonstrated superfast correlation speeds. Their information computers had
deciphered my maiden name from the voucher card, and upon locating the marriage
documents to Matt Lorins, they had immediately cross-referenced, verified, and
then updated the Interplex agent. I would register my name change later with
Alliance Credit Central. There wasn’t any time left to deal with corporate
bureaucracy.

I turned, opened the privacy booth,
and found Matt standing by the large shockproof plastaglass windows overlooking
the port. A dazed, empty feeling engulfed my heart as I walked slowly toward
him. He didn’t turn, appearing absorbed with studying the ground crews’
refueling and inspection activity upon various ships.

“Are you prepared to leave now doll?”
He didn’t glance at me when I stopped near him.

“I’m ready.”

What
was his name five years ago
?

He swung around abruptly and walked
with ground-eating strides toward the port doors that opened onto the docking
area. I hurried behind, ignored for several seconds until he stopped and waited
for me. Matt gave me a hard, probing stare before he grasped my hand and
resumed his brisk pace across the concrete.

The pavement was heat-crazed in
various places from Harnaru’s blazing white sunstar and from intense, fiery
blasts from many ships’ engine jets. The newly risen sun gave a foretaste of
the full heat that would soon roast the atmosphere. Barely visible heat wraiths
radiated across the distance in wavering layers from the ground. I swiped at my
moist forehead with my free hand and longed for the terminal’s cooler air-conditioned
interior.