Chapter 23
Reece didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He was in the shower with Fairchild, pounding her from behind with a hard, aching cock.
It wasn’t the shower he had a problem with.
Sure, it was a bit ostentatious. The bathroom in their suite was bigger than many hab units, and the shower itself was large enough to shelter a small family.
Still, Reece enjoyed the comfort it offered.
Instead of a typical showerhead, the water fell straight down from the ceiling like hot rain, and a fragrant mist swirled through the air.
Even the tile walls seemed specifically designed to enhance the experience, amplifying the wet sound of skin slapping skin, and the desperate cries bursting from Fairchild’s lips as he fucked her, and fucked her, and fucked her.
She wasn’t the problem either. Definitely not her.
She felt better than any woman he’d been inside before, and the way her nano-augmented muscles flexed around his thrusting shaft made him groan with enjoyment.
She braced her hands against the wall of the shower and looked back at him over one shoulder, her eyes at once fierce and begging.
Reece turned up the intensity, slamming into her even harder and faster than before. He could feel his balls tightening in preparation. No, the woman definitely wasn’t the problem.
The problem was the mission. The objective.
Slayn.
The bastard’s invitation had already been waiting for them last night when they’d returned from the competition.
They hadn’t won, of course—hadn’t even made it into the top three—but apparently Slayn had been impressed.
Reece had known he would be. Fairchild’s last-minute improvisation had seen to that.
The arms dealer wanted a date with Fairchild this evening, alone. They would share an intimate meal in his suite, followed by a dip in his personal swimming pool. No need to worry about bringing a bathing suit.
And after that, well…
The invitation hadn’t gone into explicit detail, but it was obvious what Slayn wanted. This was Calyxia, after all.
Reece shouldn’t have been bothered by that. If anything, he should have been experiencing the same old excitement he always felt whenever a mission was nearing completion. But this time, things were different.
Fairchild was different.
She was unlike any other woman Reece had ever met, and his feelings for her ran deeper than mere physical attraction. A lot deeper. He wanted to protect her, even though he knew she didn’t need his protection. And he hated the thought of another man laying his fingers on her, even for a moment.
Dutton and Nash were exceptions, of course, but any other son of a bitch—
Reece sucked all of that jealousy inside himself and channeled it into his fucking.
He gripped Fairchild’s hips and gave her three more hard thrusts, then he held himself balls-deep inside her and unloaded all his rage.
She came with him, screaming with pleasure as his hot load gushed inside her unprotected cunt.
Reece knew she had taken her pill for the day, but he wished she hadn’t.
There was a part of him that wanted to see her belly swelling up with his baby inside it, and he had a feeling Fairchild wanted that too.
He’d sensed it last night when he’d pretended to impregnate her onstage.
They might just have to make that happen for real, once they were back aboard the Allura and headed for Sector HQ.
But he was getting ahead of himself. First they had a mission to complete.
Once the flow of his orgasm had finally stopped, he pulled Fairchild back into his body, massaging her slippery breasts. Then he sent one hand down between her legs, where his warm, sticky cum was leaking out of her. She let out a breathless laugh.
“You were supposed to be getting me clean,” she said.
“Right,” said Reece. Then he leaned in close and whispered directly into her ear, knowing that the white-noise of the shower would mask his words from the microphones installed in the ceiling of the bathroom. “Be careful tonight.”
She answered with her pussy, squeezing and relaxing her inner muscles in the primitive dot-dash code they’d both learned as cadets…
I will.
Afterward, he helped her dry off, then they both exited the bathroom and stepped into the main area of the suite.
Reece was wearing a towel wrapped around his waist, but Fairchild wasn’t wearing anything at all.
Her bare skin still held a pinkish hue from the shower.
The cheeks of her ass were an even deeper shade of pink, thanks to the rough pounding he’d just given her.
Nash was lounging on the sofa, pretending to watch a financial report on the holoscreen. When he saw Fairchild, his eyes lit up, and he gave a low whistle. Dutton was over at the bar, mixing a drink. Reece gave Fairchild a smack on the ass and headed for the bar too.
Fairchild headed for the walk-in closet, swaying her hips as she went. Reece watched her go with an aching heart.
“Drink?” Dutton asked.
Reece nodded, trying his best to stay cool in front of the cameras. “Whatever you’re having, Dutt.”
“Black Sun. Good choice.”
The drink was good. Damn good. Dutton knew how to mix a cocktail, that was for sure. Reece was tempted to knock it back in one shot, but he forced himself to nurse it instead. He wasn’t trying to get wasted, he just needed something to take the edge off his nerves.
God. Reece couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous before a mission.
He was just draining his glass, when Fairchild emerged from the closet.
The dress she had on was blood-red, and it clung to her curves like a second skin.
If it had been any shorter, Reece mused, it wouldn’t have counted as a dress at all.
As she crossed the room, she performed a quick pirouette, letting the Mercs see every side of her.
“So,” she said, smiling. “What do you think?”
Reece set his glass down on the bar and met her in the middle of the room. He looked her up and down. It had only been a few minutes since he’d rutted her in the shower, but his dick was already lifting the front of the towel he had tied around his waist.
“I think Slayn’s not gonna know what hit him,” he said.
Fairchild answered in a voice that was sticky sweet, but Reece could clearly see the hatred burning behind her eyes.
“That’s the plan,” she said.
She’d kept her accessories to a minimum—a simple gold cuff twisted around her upper arm, a matching pair of hoop earrings, and a small pendant that hung down between her breasts.
That last item was no ordinary piece of jewelry.
It contained a small transponder that would allow Reece and his comrades to track her location via their handheld devices.
Slayn’s accommodations took up the entire top floor of the hotel where he was staying.
That made it impossible to know exactly where the date—and the hit—would go down.
Most likely, Fairchild would need to escape through a window once the target had been eliminated.
That would be easier than fighting her way out through Slayn’s security.
Reece and the others would have to position themselves where they could render support after the shit hit the fan.
It was going to require improvisation. Lots of improvisation.
Dutton had come around from behind the bar, and now he stood next to Reece, taking Fairchild in with his eyes. He was wearing his special glasses, but he didn’t need to see through her clothes. Her body was on full display.
“Damn,” Dutton said, his voice low and rumbling. “Slayn’s one lucky son of a gun.”
“Only for tonight,” Fairchild said.
Reece smiled faintly at the double meaning. After tonight, Slayn wasn’t going to be lucky at all. He wasn’t going to be anything.
Reece watched as Fairchild lifted herself up on her toes and kissed Dutton on the mouth. Then she turned to face Nash, who had sidled up behind her.
“Knock ’im dead, babe,” the young Merc said.
Fairchild kissed him too, then she turned to face Reece again.
He pulled her close and stared deep into her dark eyes.
There were so many things he wanted to say, but he couldn’t with all the cameras around.
Instead, he silently repeated what he’d said in the shower, and he could have sworn he heard Fairchild silently answer.
Be careful.
I will.
He leaned down and kissed her hard and deep on the lips, a kiss that he wished would never end. Then, at last, he pushed her away and gave her a playful swat on her backside.
“Get a move on,” he said. “You don’t want to keep your date waiting.”
She smiled and headed for the door, and Reece watched her go, half-hypnotized by the back-and-forth motion of her hips. When she reached the door, she turned and blew a kiss. Then she slipped out into the hall.
The countdown had begun.
Reece’s instincts wanted him to spring into action, but he knew the cameras were still on, and he suspected he was still being monitored. He turned to face the other two Mercs, trying his best to play it cool.
“Well,” he said. “Guess it’s boys’ night out for us. Any plans?”
“Figure I’ll hit up the casino,” Nash answered. “Try my luck with the dice.”
Reece nodded. He knew Nash didn’t give two shits about gambling tonight. But Calyxia’s top casino was right next to Slayn’s hotel. It was a good spot to post up until it was time to run.
Reece turned to Dutton.
“You?”
“Thought I might go for a little swim, get a few laps in.”
There was a large pool on the other side of Slayn’s hotel.
“Sounds good,” said Reece.
“And what about you?” Dutton asked.
Reece thought about it for a moment. The building where Slayn was staying had a triangular footprint. With Nash positioned on the east and Dutton to the west, that only left the north side uncovered. There was a large plaza with an outdoor market on that side.
“I guess I’ll just go for a stroll,” he said. “Check out some of the honeys.” He flashed a lascivious grin. “If our woman gets to fool around tonight, then it’s only fair that I get to do some fooling around of my own.”
It pained Reece to even say such a thing. There was only one woman on his mind, and right now she was heading straight into the lions’ den.
It was his job to make sure she got out in one piece.