7. PEACE
PEACE
T he next time I started to swim up from the depths of sleep, deep growly notes slowly coalesced into words. Dirty words. Dirty, filthy words that I didn’t know what to do with.
By all the burning suns, her skin is so fekking soft.
She’s sound asleep. I wonder whether I could slip my fingers under her waistband and feel that perfect ass.
No. Stop it. That would be all kinds of wrong, you fekker.
And she’d tear your lingams off if she caught you.
But fekk, those curves are luscious enough to feast on.
Maybe a little lick. That shouldn’t wake her up, should it?
Her nipples are as hard as lithsomorphrian shards.
Blessed sands! What I wouldn’t give for just a little taste.
But that would surely wake her up. Nope.
No sucking on her nipples. That would be a bad idea.
But if I could just get her leg to move up a couple of microns, I could die a happy male …
It was like listening to running dialogue at the beginning of a porno, but about me.
It was even worse when I realized that once again, his voice was in my head.
What the actual fekk was up with that? Could he hear me now, too?
I froze not knowing what to do. Part of me wanted to do exactly what he feared I would do and inflict serious damage to his, um, lingams—his cocks.
Rykantosian males had two, which I’d enjoyed in the past, but shouldn’t enjoy with my bounty. Right?
Buuut, his constant stroking over my body felt delicious. And he was so warm. He was like a personal electric blanket, and I was too cozy between the coats with him to relish digging out another heating unit from my bag in the cold.
I tried to blank out my inner monologue—just in case. I could just enjoy the sensations for a little while and not think, I was pretty sure. Yep, I could do that. There was nowhere to go, and rest was important.
Wasn’t letting the fugitive you were hunting feel you up breaking some recovery agent ethical code? I frowned. I should let him know I was awake and make him stop. I really should.
Who was I kidding? There wasn’t a bounty hunter code of ethics other than “catch the bad guy and make sure to get your credits before turning over the fugitive”. Especially from the Xantorans. Those fekkers were all liars and crooks.
Keeping my eyes closed, I ever so slowly tilted my hips and inched my knee higher until I felt my thigh brush his hard length under the rough cloth of his prison pants.
A low moan vibrated against my ear, so I knew this one was out loud.
I bit my lip to avoid smirking. If we were killed by this hostile environment, he could die happy now I suppose. Wasn’t I merciful?
I pushed my thigh a little higher and pretended to stretch.
Reaching one arm across his chest, I felt his muscles dance under my fingertips while I surreptitiously explored his pecs on the way to his brawny shoulder, before resting my hand there.
His heartbeat thundered under my ear, and two rods poked at my belly and my clit at the same time.
Holy mother, bringer of all light! The man was packing some serious heat. My mouth was suddenly dry, and I worried I might be pushing this game too far, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. My whole body screamed to quit playing, strip down, and mount this male immediately!
Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I fought the strange urge with all my might.
This was a big problem. I’d never felt like this before.
I wasn’t a virgin—I’d stopped on a few pleasure planets out of curiosity on my travels—but sex had never been very important to me.
The few times I’d engaged, I didn’t get what all the fuss was about.
Apprehending criminals was a bigger rush in my opinion.
But this male, he made every fiber in my body sing.
And I didn’t know what to think about that.
“I make your body sing?” An amused voice interrupted my naughty thoughts. A real voice. Fekking hells. I didn’t move.
“I know you’re awake. You’ve got a death grip on my shoulder, and you quit breathing regularly somewhere around ‘mount him immediately’.”
The air caught in my lungs came rushing out. Goddess fekk it all! “Well, it’s kind of hard to sleep when you’re feeling me up, fugitive.”
“I don’t think you minded so much based on what you—ow!”
Xyrox grabbed my wrist as I scrambled to a sitting position on his abdomen.
“Let go!” I tried to jerk my arm away, but stopped and gasped at what I saw on his chest where my palm had been resting a moment before. A perfect spiral with a symbol in the middle was tattooed in white on his sternum—an exact copy of mine. My mouth fell open.
“Where did you get that?” My voice shook as I slowly met his gaze.
Xyrox looked down at his chest, his vivid green eyes widening in shock. “I’ve never seen it before.”
I glared at him in disbelief. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not. Honest. That is not one of my tattoos. I felt my chest burn earlier, but I thought—I thought it was my imagination. I don’t know what this is.”
Swallowing hard, I tugged my wrist away from him, and he released me. I slowly pulled down the neck of my shirt just far enough to display the tattoo on my chest between my breasts—the perfect match for the one now burned into his skin.
“That’s incredible. Where did you get yours?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He carefully traced the swirling lines with his finger before his eyes returned to mine.
“I didn’t ‘get’ it?” I moved the fabric back into place to hide the mark. “I was found with it as a baby.”
“You may have had it since you were a baby, but someone gave it to you.”
I shrugged. “I know, but I don’t know where it came from, or even what it means. Who would tattoo a baby?”
“I don’t know. I also don’t know why I suddenly have the same one.” He grimaced. “Okay, I maybe have a theory. I’m not sure, but it’s the only thing I can think of that would explain this.”
The same thought was occurring to me, but I didn’t like it. I twisted my mouth before asking, “What’s the theory?”
“As you know, Rykantosian lore says, when you find your bonded mate the goddess marks you with matching symbols proclaiming your destiny. I don’t know anyone this has actually happened to, so I thought it was just an old myth.”
Yeah, he had the same thought as me. But it wasn’t possible. I shook my head. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. I know it sounds farfetched and bonded mates are extremely rare, but it’s the only thing that makes any sense.” He pushed a braid off my shoulder.
“Zame didn’t believe in superstitions and fairytales. I didn’t learn a lot of lore, just practical things,” I admitted. “Anyway, I’m not a Rykantosian. The kids in school made sure I was fully aware of that fact. I’m too … different. Your lore doesn’t apply to me.”
Xyrox’s dark brows slammed together. His fierce expression suddenly showed me a different side of him—the one I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.
But he didn’t argue with me. Instead, he asked, “Do you think it could have anything to do with being able to talk in our heads?” Xyrox pointed to his temple just in case I needed a visual.
I avoided rolling my eyes, but just barely.
“There must be a scientific explanation,” I answered, rising and pulling my puffy coat tighter around me. Another shiver that had nothing to do with the cold skittered down my spine.
But we didn’t have time for magical tattoos or illicit canoodling. We were on a hostile, barren ice planet, and I was freezing. “For now, I need to get this fire started again. I think there’s another heating cylinder in my emergency pack.”
Xyrox sat up and zipped up his own parka while watching me rummage. My thoughts were blessedly silent, concentrated as they were on finding the cylinder and staying warm without being attached to a big, red warm male body. Heating units were much less problematic.
“I’m not the one being problematic,” Xyrox said from behind me.
“Quit eavesdropping in my head,” I bit out.
“You’re thinking really loudly,” he complained. “You’re practically throwing the words at me.”
“I can’t throw words at you,” I retorted. “That’s not even a thing. Stop it. Turn off whatever tech you’ve got on you and it’ll stop.”
“I’m telling you, Peace, it’s not me. I don’t have any tech. This has never happened to me before. Not until I met you.”
“Aha!” I pulled the heating cylinder out of the bag in triumph and made my way back to the small heater.
“I’m not telepathic. At twenty-five years old, I would’ve noticed by now if I could read minds.
” I popped the cylinder in and, after a few clicks of the flint, lit the fire. “How did you know my name?”
“Maybe it manifested late or developed because of trauma? Were you hit on the head recently? Have you ever studied anything about the Pleiadians? I’m sure that’s your heritage with your coloring and all. And you told me your name.”
“I did not.”
“You did. Right before you fell back asleep. How would I know it otherwise? It’s not like that’s a name I would have guessed based on your personality.”
I gave him my best death glare but silently conceded he was right. “Fine, but I don’t give you permission to use it, fugitive.”
“Whatever you want, agent.”
“And how do you know so much about these Pleiadians?” I asked, trying to keep my genuine curiosity concealed from my voice. If he knew anything about my origins, I had to know.
“I told you. I was undercover and investigating Regent Jokull. He’s Pleiadian.
Most of the higher class is full of snooty, high-minded fekks and he’s one of the worst. He thinks they’re a superior race, so he’s trafficking in all kinds of nasty stuff, including people—women, children as well as running an illegal cloning and genetic experiment business.
I didn’t have the exact reason why, but I was getting close to figuring it out and having enough evidence to bust him.
He must’ve realized it, because that’s when I was arrested and charged with treason. ”
Falling silent, he clenched his jaw and gathered his braids in one large hand, tying them together with a strip of cloth he pulled from a pocket. The cloth looked like he’d torn it from his prison uniform.
That done he continued with his narrative. “Someone I trusted betrayed me to Jokull, and the next thing I know, the Tactical Universal Gendarmes broke down my door and arrested me for treason and cross-galaxy trafficking—the very things I was after Jokull for.
The trial was a sham. I wasn’t allowed to use a lawyer or challenge any of the witnesses who came in to testify against me.
The judge was clearly on the take. That’s how I ended up in prison, awaiting sentencing—either execution or exile to a penal colony that was the same thing, just slower. Escape was my only option.”
Struggling to process this new story versus the “facts” I had in my legal documentation, I studied Xyrox Quorath.
All my bounties told me they were innocent to persuade me to release them—and it never worked.
But for some reason, I believed Xyrox. The intergalactic tribunal system was infamously corrupt—callous prosecutors, blackmailed witnesses, judges willing to take a bribe to let the wealthy go free with a slap on the wrist, the famous avoiding charges altogether.
I shook my head. Don’t be na?ve, Peace. This is a good bounty, and you really need a new ship now.
While I ruminated, I nearly missed what he said next.
“In fact,” Xyrox continued, “I think this planet was one of Jokull’s experimental campuses before it shifted its orbit and froze over. I recognized the name. According to my sources, there are hidden labs and living quarters here. Maybe we can find something useful.”
That got my attention. “Why didn’t you tell me this before!
” Normally, I wouldn’t want to traipse around an ice planet with no supplies, but we had little choice.
“Labs? Equipment and housing? Really? Then what are we doing sitting around in this tiny, freezing cave? We need to search. Possibly the only people who know we’re here are the goons looking for me, there’s not much food or heat in the emergency pack, and we’ve already wasted a night. ”
A disconcerting feeling of warmth settled over me when Xyrox gave me a very large, white smile. “Then let’s get to it, Agent Veylora. After you.” He stood and gathered the blankets I’d pinned to the walls for insulation. When he uncovered the skinny opening to the cave at the back of the cave
Shooting him a tight smile, I squeezed through the opening. When the frigid air hit my cheeks like a slap, I willed myself to step forward and prayed for the best.