Break Out

chapter Nine

Rico switched the ship to automatic pilot and sat back in his chair, booted feet on the console, arms behind his head. His favorite position. They were on course to intercept the transport ship, and there wasn’t a lot they could do now but wait.

Dios, he hated waiting.

Daisy sat in the co-pilot’s chair, but her eyes were shut. She was dozing—too many late nights playing poker. She’d been hanging around even more than usual lately, but he found he didn’t mind, and at least she was safe from him. He’d never liked his food green—even when he was human.

Across the room, Skylar and Al huddled on the floor, cross-legged, faces close together. They’d pinched a pack of his cards and were playing some sort of game. These days, he never saw the two of them apart. The boy stuck to Skylar like an unwanted burr.

Al whispered something in her ear, and Skylar threw back her head and laughed. Rico’s irritation flared. With a jolt of shock, he realized he was jealous of a scrawny boy. He couldn’t ever remember being jealous before, not even when he’d been human.

For a moment, his mind flailed in panic. What the hell was happening to him? What was it about Skylar that made him feel this way? She was beautiful, but there were beautiful women everywhere. What made her different? He had his suspicions. Perhaps it was time to share them with her.

Skylar chanced a peek at him, as if she could feel the intensity of his gaze. She raised an eyebrow when she found him watching her, and then turned, dismissing him.

He rose to his feet. Definitely time to have that chat.

As he stepped toward them, the door slid open. Janey hovered in the doorway, peering into the room. As usual, her clothes were tasteful, her hair and makeup perfect, four-inch heels supporting endless legs. Now, there was a beautiful woman—who did absolutely nothing for him.

Janey caught sight of him and sidled into the room, taking a circuitous route so she wouldn’t pass Skylar and Al.

She came to a halt at his side, almost touching, and tiptoed to whisper in his ear. “I need to talk to you.”

“Well, talk.” Rico returned his attention to Skylar, who was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t watching him with Janey.

“It’s about that thing you asked me to do.”

Reluctantly, he focused on Janey. “That thing?”

Her brows furrowed, and she glanced around before starting, “You know…”

When he didn’t answer, she glared at him. “You asked me to check if that space cruiser was still hanging around, and you told me to be discreet.”

The words were spoken loud enough to waken Daisy, and she jumped up. “Space cruiser? Where?”

“Now look what you’ve done,” Janey snapped.

“There’s no space cruiser. Go back to sleep,” Rico said soothingly to Daisy. He turned back to Janey. “You, come with me.” He put a hand on the small of her back, mainly because he knew Skylar was still watching, and steered her from the bridge. Once the door closed behind them, he faced her. “Well?”

“Actually, there is a space cruiser.”

He looked at her sharply. “You found it?”

She gave him a smug smile. “Of course. It was easy once I knew where to look. You were right—it was following us, just beyond our normal sensor range.”

Rico shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to fathom the implications. This was one of those rare times he’d actually hoped he was wrong. But even knowing, he still couldn’t work out what was going on. He paced the narrow corridor while he tried to decide what his next move should be. Whether he should even have a next move, or whether he should just wait it out and see what happened next.

But he was fed up with waiting.

Patience had never been his strong suit.

Tannis would be furious if he got them all blown to hell, or even if he got them blown up just a little bit, and they missed the deadline to intercept the transport ship. He briefly considered discussing his suspicions with her, but dismissed the idea almost at once—however mercenary Tannis was, she wouldn’t risk her crew, and he wasn’t ready to give up on this yet. Besides, he didn’t think the risk was that big. It all depended on…

The door to the bridge opened, interrupting his thoughts.

Skylar stood there, arms folded across her chest, her gaze narrowing on him and Janey. “Daisy keeps rambling about a space cruiser. Is something happening?”

Suddenly, he knew what he was going to do. He was going to take the fight to the enemy—if they were actually the enemy. He really didn’t know, and that irritated the hell out of him. He gave Skylar what he hoped was an enigmatic smile. “It might be.”

“And are you going to tell us what?”

“Why spoil the surprise?” Pushing past her, he strode onto the bridge and sat in his chair. Next to him, Daisy watched, wide-eyed, while the others came to stand behind him. “You might want to sit down and fasten yourselves in. The ride might get a little bumpy.”

They didn’t move. “Actually, before you go, Janey, can you give me the last coordinates?”

“Last coordinates of what?” Skylar asked.

He ignored the question and waited while Janey reached across and punched in the numbers. She was right; the ship was behind them, just out of range.

He pressed his comm unit. “Tannis?”

“What?” Her tone was grumpy, and he suspected what he was about to say wouldn’t cheer her up any.

“If you’re not already strapped into anything right now, you might want to consider it.”

“What the…”

He closed off the connection and settled back in his seat, locking his safety harness in place. Everyone was still standing. Was no one capable of taking orders anymore?

“Sit,” he roared.

Rico gave them ten seconds to comply, and then hit the new coordinates. The Cazador slowed, shuddered, but before the ship had time to come to a complete stop, he hit the boosters and sent her into overdrive. The engines shrieked as she spun and shot off in the opposite direction, the force of her speed pushing him back into his chair.

Behind him, someone crashed to the floor. They really should have listened.

It was only seconds before he saw the speck of the space cruiser on the screen. They were hurtling toward it, but he didn’t slow down. They had to do this quickly, before the other ship realized what was happening.

The ship grew bigger, definitely the same one from the attack the other day. If attack was the right word. He locked on the lasers and fired. The Cazador wasn’t powerful enough to do any real damage, but he was betting he could still wind them up.

Now was the moment they should retaliate. But he didn’t think they would. Of course, if he was wrong they would all be space dust in about two seconds, and while he liked to think he was never wrong, there was always a first time.

The other ship wouldn’t even have to shoot. They could just keep going, slam into them and El Cazador would be smashed into tiny little pieces. The bigger ship probably wouldn’t sustain more than a scratch.

He held his breath, fighting the urge to change course as the image of the space cruiser filled the screen.

Mierda. He was wrong. They were going to crash.

At the last minute, the cruiser veered. The power of her back-thrust washed over El Cazador, rolling her, and for a minute, he hung upside down from the harness. He ignored the crash and subsequent yelp as someone collided with the ceiling.

When the ship righted itself, the screen was empty. Rico released his breath and assessed the place for damage. A few red buttons blinked on the console, but nothing too drastic.

Skylar was picking herself up off the floor. He should have guessed she’d be the one to disobey orders. She winced and rubbed a spot on her hip, but otherwise she appeared okay. Perhaps he would offer to kiss her bruises better… later.

Everyone else was where they should be. He paused to study Al. The boy’s eyes gleamed with excitement. He caught Rico watching, and the excitement was immediately replaced by abject fear. Strange. Very strange. But Rico didn’t have time to ponder the young boy right now.

“That was great,” Daisy said. “Can we do it again?”

Rico grinned. He clicked open his harness and crossed to where Skylar leaned against the wall. “You okay?”

Her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to answer just as Tannis strode onto the bridge, radiating raw fury, her head bleeding from a small scalp wound.

Another one who couldn’t follow orders.

“Do you want to tell me what the f*ck is going on?” Tannis snapped.

“We had someone on our tail.”

“Who?”

“That space cruiser that we bumped into the other day.”

“I’m not getting this. Did they attack?”

“Not quite.”

Beside him, Skylar snorted. “This big, stupid, brain-dead, blood-sucking idiot thought we’d attack first.”

“All-dead, actually,” he inserted cheerfully.

Tannis frowned. She reached up and rubbed at the blood trickling down her forehead. Rico followed the movement. Danger always whetted his appetite, and he had to rein in his hunger.

“I don’t understand.” Tannis shook her head. “You attacked that space cruiser?” Her voice rose with each word. “The space cruiser that’s bigger than us, faster than us, with ten times more firepower?”

“I wanted to know if they would finish us off. And the answer is no. Whatever they’re after, they don’t want us dead.”

Tannis didn’t look impressed with his explanation. “And what if they had wanted us dead? Then, guess what—we’d be dead!”

“But they didn’t.”

She gritted her teeth and made a visible effort to bring herself under control, then spoke into the comm unit. “Trog, what’s the damage?” She listened for a moment. “Hey, don’t shout at me. I’m not the one who nearly blew up your engines.” She turned back to Rico. “The cooling system is f*cked. I suggest you get down there and fix it.”

Rico took one last look at her fixed expression and decided the cooling system sounded like a good place to be. Besides, he needed time to think.

. . .

Skylar watched him go.

What the hell had that been about? Her hands shook, and she knew it wasn’t just the physical shock.

How had he known the ship was tailing them?

“Have you got anything to say?”

The question cut into her thoughts. Tannis looked pissed. And who could blame her? She had a madman flying her ship. It hadn’t occurred to Skylar when she’d done the computations for this mission to factor in that the pilot was a complete suicidal idiot.

Or was he?

She couldn’t get away from the nagging doubt that Rico knew more than he was letting on. But that couldn’t be the case. Otherwise, why was she still alive?

“Well?” Tannis asked.

Skylar frowned. She’d already forgotten the question. “I think I need to go lie down.” Not waiting for an answer, she turned and walked away.

Al caught up with her in the corridor. “Are you all right?”

She nodded.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.” She set off again and then stopped. “Where’s the cooling system?”

“Down on the lower level, next to the engine room. Do you want me to show you?”

“Thanks, but I’ll find it.”

She felt Al’s gaze boring into her back all the way along the corridor, until she took the ramp down to the lower levels. She had to find out what Rico knew, whether her mission was compromised.

Shit. She was totally f*cked if she had to get out now. No way could she set this up again in the time left. Her first mission, and she had messed it up. She just wasn’t sure how. Maybe Rico had picked up that message she’d sent, but she’d been quick, and the frequency wasn’t something they monitored. And that was days ago, why wait to confront her?

She knew she’d arrived at the cooling room from the billows of steam wafting under the black door. She pressed her hand on the door panel. Nothing happened. It figured she wouldn’t be cleared to go anywhere on the ship. For a moment, she considered turning back, but she needed to know. She tapped her hand on the door. Still nothing. Drawing her laser pistol, she hammered on the metal with the butt.

The door glided open. Rico stood in the opening. “Skylar, what a nice surprise.” He glanced down at the pistol still clutched in her hand. “Planning on shooting somebody?”

She was tempted. Maybe she could shoot him, toss the body off the ship, and no one would be the wiser. She was almost certain he hadn’t shared whatever it was he thought he knew.

Could she do it?

He stood there, slanting her his lop-sided grin, and the muscles in her belly tightened. His clothes were soaked, clinging to the strong lines of his body, his hair damp, his skin gleaming with a fine sheen of moisture.

She holstered her pistol. “I just wanted to know what’s going on.”

“I’m fixing the cooling system—you want to help?”

She gritted her teeth. “I meant up there, with the space cruiser.”

“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about.”

His eyes gleamed with amusement, and she forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. He was trying to wind her up, and she wasn’t going to let him see he was succeeding. She curved her lips into the semblance of a smile. “That’s sweet of you, but it’s my brother’s life at stake here. I can’t help but worry.”

“Hmm, for a moment, I’d actually forgotten about your brother. How remiss of me.” He stepped to the side and gestured into the room behind him. “Why don’t you come inside, and I can set your mind at rest while I work.”

Skylar peered past him into the steam-filled room.

“I can’t stop right now,” Rico said as she hesitated. “The Trog’s threatening to jump ship if I don’t fix this fast.”

The thick, wet heat enveloped her as soon as she stepped into the room. The door slid shut behind her, and immediately sweat oozed from her pores. Breathing in the hot heavy air, she felt as though she was drowning, and she took quick, shallow breaths until she was sure she could get enough oxygen into her lungs.

The room was small, a large cylinder in the center, steam hissing from the seals around the base. Rico stood with his back to her, tapping into a console, and the muscles shifted beneath his skin-tight clothing. Even from behind, he was quite the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, with broad shoulders, lean hips, and long, muscular legs.

After working for a minute, he swore under his breath and banged his fist down hard. “There, that should do it. Give it a few minutes to reset, and we can get out of here.”

He swung round to face her, leaning against the counter, his arms folded across his chest. His skin was slick with steam or sweat, his thick lashes spiky with moisture. Her gaze dropped to where the shirt clung to the hard muscles of his chest. She could see the outline of his nipples beneath the damp silk.

She swallowed and looked away before her gaze could drop lower. Instead, she focused on a large red button on the wall beside him. “What does that do?” she asked.

“Sets off the emergency cooling system.”

“Isn’t this an emergency?”

“Not yet.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Can’t you press it anyway?”

He shuddered. “I’d really rather not. Now, what did you want to know?”

She licked the moisture from her lips and saw his eyes follow the movement. She hadn’t thought it could get any hotter in here, but the temperature shot up. She forced herself to concentrate. She needed answers. Though if Rico suspected her of something, he was hiding it well.

“Do we need to call off the rescue?”

Surprise flashed across his face. “Why would you think that?”

She frowned. “That space cruiser—”

“—was nothing to do with you or the rescue,” he interrupted. “Just someone who reckons I owe them. That’s how I knew they wouldn’t shoot. This guy doesn’t want me dead. Well not yet. He wants me to pay him back—then he wants me dead.”

“Wasn’t it a Collective ship?”

“Yeah, but this guy has friends in high places.”

“So why didn’t they board us?”

He shrugged. “I guess he’s letting me know he’s found us, but don’t worry, this baby—” he patted the ship’s wall “—has some fancy maneuvers in her. We’ll shake them off.”

There was something not quite right here, but Skylar couldn’t work out what. Maybe the heat was getting to her, or the fact that Rico suddenly seemed much closer. She took a step back and looked around her—the thick haze of steam appeared to have dispersed a little.

“Is it done yet? Can we get out of here,” she said.

“Not yet.” He moved closer again and stroked her cheek. “Are you feeling okay?” Curling his hand around her throat, he cupped the back of her skull, massaging her scalp with his fingers. “Did you bang your head when you fell?”

“No. I bruised my hip, that’s all.” At the memory, her anger surged. “What in the name of Meridian were you doing? You could have killed us all.”

“I did tell you to strap yourself in.”

“Yeah, right, and that would really have helped if they’d zapped us into tiny little pieces.”

He laughed softly, and his hand slid down her body, to rest against her hip, rubbing the sore spot gently. “You want me to kiss it better?”

At his words, the muscles in her belly clenched. She had a flashback to the feel of his mouth on her, his dark head between her thighs. Her legs clamped together, and she almost came from the memory.

She needed to get her mind off sex. She couldn’t allow herself to relax around him. Closing her eyes, she ran a quick, calming mantra through her mind. When she had her unruly body under control, she brushed his hand away and stiffened her spine.

If she was sensible she’d leave right now, but this might be the last time she would see him alone, and there was something she’d wanted to ask him, a few things actually.

He was the oldest person she had ever heard of, yet he didn’t seem like the other long-lifers she had met. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask. I might not answer.”

“Do you like living forever?”

He slanted her a smile. “Well so far, I’ve always preferred it to the alternative.”

“But don’t you get bored?”

“No, I’ve never gotten bored. There’s a whole universe out there waiting to be explored.” He grinned. “Besides, I’ve learned to keep myself entertained.”

She decided not to pursue that. “So, did you choose to become what you are?”

“A vampire?”

“Yes, did you choose it because of the immortality.”

He shook his head.

“So why?”

For a minute, she thought he wouldn’t answer, and then he shrugged. “I was married once. She was killed, and I wanted revenge.”

His voice was expressionless, and Skylar had no clue what he was thinking. “What happened?”

“The Church—the Inquisition, to be precise—took her. They accused her of being a witch—”

“A witch?”

“She was a healer. The Church didn’t care that she helped people. They came for her when I was away. By the time I returned, she was dead. Tortured and burned at the stake.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be—it was a long time ago. Afterward, I went hunting for the darkness. If you look hard enough, you’ll always find it. You could say I sold my soul for revenge, but I had that many times over, so the bargain was good.”

The thought of Rico married made her feel uneasy, and the next question slipped out before she could stop it. “Did you love her?”

He shrugged. “It was a marriage arranged by our families, but I came to care for her.”

. . .

Her skin glowed with moisture, her hair slick against her scalp, her eyes huge and shadowed by the death of someone she had never known. A death that had happened so many centuries ago.

A wave of unexpected tenderness rose inside him. For some reason, Skylar pulled at emotions he’d thought he’d lost. Perhaps emotions he had never had before.

In view of what he suspected, it wasn’t wise to care for her.

But, dios, she had him tied in knots.

The material of her jumpsuit molded to her full breasts and slender legs. He breathed in and caught the lingering scent of her arousal on the warm air. She wanted him, and at the knowledge, his own body responded, heat coiling in his belly. He allowed his hunger to rise, pushing the doubts from his mind.

Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear. “Enough questions. You still owe me an orgasm.”

Her eyes widened, and he took advantage of her shock, slipping a hand between their bodies, between her thighs, feeling her tremble against him. He saw the moment she gave up the fight, all the tension draining away.

Pressing upwards with his fingers, he rubbed her core, and she moaned low in her throat. She was already poised on the edge, and she came quickly—her whole body shuddering with pleasure, a small scream escaping her throat.

He waited for the tremors to stop then kissed her lightly on the lips. “Two orgasms,” he murmured.

She raised her head. Her eyes half-closed, her face flushed. “And I always pay my debts.”

She dropped to her knees in front of him. He’d been hard since the moment she walked in the room. Now he throbbed with need.

He held himself still as her light fingers traced over the length of his erection. Her fingers fumbled on the fastening of his pants, but at last she peeled open the damp material and his cock sprang free.

She sat back on her heels for a moment staring at him. Her tongue came out, licked her lips, and he groaned. He couldn’t help himself. Reaching for her, he stroked his hand over one shoulder, cupping the back of her head in his palm, pulling her closer. Her warm breath teased across the sensitive tip, and it jerked toward her. Beneath her lashes, her hot gaze caught his as the blood pounded through his veins, pulsated in his cock.

Then she licked him.

He closed his eyes, rested his back against the wall as she explored him with her velvety tongue. Her touch was tentative at first. Rico was used to whores whose practiced mouths knew exactly what to do, but he found this far more erotic. She kissed the tip, and his hips pushed against her. She ran her tongue around the rim, and he bit back another groan.

Finally, she took him in her mouth. He opened his eyes and stared down the line of his body to watch as her red, full lips encircled his cock. His fingers tightened in her hair, pressing her closer, and she sucked harder.

He forced his hand to relax, stroked her hair, her throat, anywhere he could touch as he continued to thrust leisurely into that hot, wet mouth. The pleasure built inside him. He was so close now, his breath coming in short sharp pants. She cupped his balls with her hand, squeezed, and he exploded.

Pleasure shot through his balls, up his shaft, melted his spine. His back arched and he came. For long moments, he pumped into her mouth, unable to stop. Finally, she drew back, her tongue snaking out to lick her full lower lip. “Umm.”

“Umm?”

“You taste…” She licked her lips again and a tremor of residual pleasure shot through him, jerking his hips. “…delicious.”

At the word, another hunger rose, and his gums ached with the need to taste her. “Come here.” He tugged her to her feet, pulling her close against him. Everything was hot and wet. He kissed her mouth, her cheeks, burrowed his face in the curve of her throat, licking the moist skin, finding the point where the blood flowed close to the surface, touching his tongue to the pulse. She wasn’t fighting him off now, and he knew he could have her. His hunger rose as his fangs grazed the tender flesh. It had been days since he had fed, but still he couldn’t bring himself to make the final move.

If he tasted her, what would he discover?

Right now, he only suspected what she was. If he knew for sure, would he have to put a stop to this charade? Put a stop to Skylar? And even if he did prove she was a liar, it wouldn’t explain what she was really up to. He doubted he could make her talk, and he wanted to know.

Actually, he wanted her to tell him of her own free will, and for that he needed more time.

When he didn’t move, she wriggled against him. His hunger roared, straining against the fierce hold he had on his control. If she moved again, he knew he would lose it, take her. And then she ground her hips into him, and his control slipped away. There was only one sure way he could stop himself now. He stared at the red button on the wall beside him.

Dios, he hated cold water.

He shifted Skylar so he held her in one arm, and taking a deep breath, he slammed his other hand onto the button.

The effect was instantaneous.

Skylar screamed, and this time it wasn’t from pleasure.