Hunting Evander

Kim Knox

Narda is on a hunt.

Her target, Doran Van Evander, has holed up on a mining planet. But her hunt won’t be simple or easy. Planet Lisala-7 is in the grip of a festival, one they’ve made compulsory. Five days of licensed debauchery and now, with her body on fire from the touch of strangers, Narda must find her target before her time runs out. Failing is not an option. But in this game, who is the hunter and who is the prey?

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Hunting Evander

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Hunting Evander Copyright 2010 Kim Knox

Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book publication January 2010

The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Hunting Evander

Kim Knox

Table of Contents

Chapter One

About the Author

Chapter One

The seconds counted down and I frowned. Already I’d wasted too much time.

I stopped outside the bar and drew in a deep lungful of warm, filtered air. Running a hand through my hair, I glanced around me. The entrance to the bar had been set back beyond a bowl carved into the rock. Ice crusted the curves of the distant cavern roof. It clung to the cracks above the reach of the tech that brought warmth to the labyrinthine city below the miles of surface ice. The tunnels were empty at the late hour, the citizens of Lisala-7 finding pleasure in the outer-planet’s many dives. Only the whir of the air filters and the dulled throb of music cut the silence.

The Festival of Chiaran held the underground city in its grip and any who ignored the festivities were shipped off planet. No questions, no pleas. The Lisalans took their festivals, and this one in particular, very seriously.

I snorted. Of course, five days of licensed debauchery would be popular on any planet, but the Lisalans had made it compulsory.

I ran my fingers over the time-graft on my left wrist, the dark numbers turning over. Only twenty minutes left. My time was almost at an end and if it passed, I would forfeit the hunt. My mouth thinned. No, that was not going to happen.

I rolled my neck, the strap of leather tied at my nape creaking. I cursed. The skimpy halter-neck top barely covered my chest, exposed my arms and stomach. The shorts I wore were equally tight and revealing. I had to look the part. That was also compulsory. I stroked my fingers over the grip of the gun strapped to my thigh and felt better. Doran Evander—Van—lay on the other side of the pitted metal door. Find him and my hunt would be complete.

I pushed at the heavy door. The hinges creaked and rock dust drifted on the slight stir of the air. Throbbing music, the heavy odor of drugs and sex, hit me like a wall. I winced. Naturally, Van was hiding out here. Hell, he could’ve at least picked somewhere clean.

I stood to the side and the door thunked back into its frame. With my spine pressed against the smooth, cool rock wall, I let my eyes grow accustomed to the low light. The heavy beat of the music pounded through my blood and the heat of the interior pressed against my bared skin. Darkened shadows shifted, almost moving to the rhythms. Arms, legs, torsos…I couldn’t tell, and didn’t want to know. A bar counter stretched off to the left, its surface a soft, white glow. Bartenders served leisurely, as the clients who had made it to the counter didn’t seem overly interested in drinking.

I pushed myself away from the safety of the wall and headed for the bar. If anyone had seen Van stash himself away, then it was likely to be one of the staff on duty.

I insinuated myself between the bodies, planted my elbows on the counter and ignored the press of hot flesh against mine. The heavy beat dulled around the bar and I eased out a relieved breath. I could almost think again. The glow only illuminated those immediately in front of it. I glanced to my right and a caught a woman gripping the bar rail with whitened fists, panting, her body bared and only the movement of shadows behind her. Who and what drew out her increasing moans, I had no idea.

I looked away to catch the attention of one of the staff and jerked forward as a hand curved across my ass, long, warm fingers teasing, dipping between my thighs to almost find my pussy. Another hand eased over my hip and a hard, male body pressed up against my spine. I didn’t look down, but the slow slide of fingers over my bare stomach, the push of them under my leather top to cup my breast had me breathing fast. My belly tightened and I tried not to push back against the man’s hand between my thighs. It had been too long since I’d had sex…and hell, the thought of losing myself in the anonymity of the festival was tempting. But I couldn’t. I had a mission to fulfill.

A barman lifted an eyebrow, watching the fingers knead my breast. He met my gaze. “Not celebrating?”

I didn’t turn, didn’t see who stood close behind me, his heat washing over my skin, the rhythmic rock against my backside chasing fire through my veins. Hell, I wouldn’t be able to see him as the bar’s interior tech dropped shadow immediately behind me.

A single finger circled, teasing through the tight fabric of my shorts to stroke over my pussy, a hot palm cupping my ass. I swallowed and held down a curse. Damn him. If I found offense then I would find myself booted off planet. I had to ignore him…as much as my body was warming to his clever touch.

“I’m looking for the right man.” My words came out tight, quick, spoken to the barmen but meant for the man behind me.

“Another time then.” He growled the words over my ear and I shivered. His calloused palm eased back from my breast and the other slid over my ass. He squeezed. Hard. “Hope the one you’re saving this for is worth it.” He pressed a hot kiss below my ear. “I’ll find you if he isn’t.”

And then he was gone, his touch lost to the shadows.

I let out a slow breath, denying the raw heat in my flesh. Bloody festival. But then these people worked hard and long in the mines weaving through the ore-rich rock. They needed to find pleasure where they could. I ran my fingers over the time-graft and an image of Van flickered and then solidified. Tall, lean, dark with smooth features and a tattoo spiraling down his left arm. His image kicked the heat up in my gut and I let my gaze roam over him. Yes, he was far too fuckable. “This one, in fact.”

The man squinted. “Those tattoos. He looks Tesh-dian.”

“He is.”

Dark eyes fixed on me and he frowned. “You’re best finding your pleasure at the front of house. Only a fool messes with a Tesh-dian.”

“Then I’m a fool.”

“This is festival time. The goddess says I must give you what you desire, freely and without charge.” The barman shrugged. “If you want him, he’s holed up in room six.” He pointed to the right and I craned my neck to see an illuminated archway. “It’s through there.”

“Thank you.”

He snorted. “Thank me if you make it out alive.”

I pushed myself away from the counter and dropped into the shroud of darkness. The heavy air, the thump of the music and the stroke of strangers’ hands over my ass, my belly, cupping my mons, followed me as I pushed through the crush of writhing flesh. Lips brushed my skin, whispers, promises of how they would fuck me broke through the din and teased the shell of my ear.

My heart pounded and I wanted to deny how hot the wild, raw surge of sex held me. Fingers tugged at my clothes and I gripped my gun tight. That I couldn’t afford to lose. Holding tight to my weapon made it difficult to keep my stringy top in place and it came free with a hard yank of unknown hands. Other hands swept it away into the writhing bodies thick in the darkness.

My exposed breasts brushed up hard against a muscled back and my nipples peaked. Desire coiled tight in my belly. Yes, I’d left it too long. I was Ambran and I needed sex like I needed to breathe. The urge to press myself back against the strong hands cupping my ass was almost irresistible.

The surge of bodies pressed me up against the cool wall to the right of the glowing arch. A hot mouth found my breast, fingers sliding quick and sure between my thighs. He pushed aside my shorts and a strong finger slipped through my damp folds. My head fell back against the wall and I cursed, fighting the rapid rise of hot desire. Not here. I had a mission. My mission hid in room six.

I dropped down on my haunches, the mouth broke away from my flesh and I lost the delicious stroke of his fingers. I half-crawled beside the wall, my crouch weaving me past legs and what felt like the smooth caress of a slim tail skimming my bare spine. There were more than humans in the bar that night and I pushed down the ache to explore the available flesh.

I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me. Hunting during the festival was turning out to be so much more problematic than I’d first anticipated.

I edged around the corner, the glow of the arch washing light over the naked bodies biting, licking, fucking, the heavy scent of sweat and sex thick in the warm air. Soft curses broke from me. Did Van think I wouldn’t follow him into this den of sex? That I would be too caught up in the insane atmosphere to find him? I turned my wrist, the time-graft showing just ten minutes remaining. My mouth thinned. I’d never failed a mission yet…and I was not about to make this my first.

The shadows of the narrow corridor swallowed me and the press of bare flesh eased away. I pulled in a deep breath and risked stretching straight, the cut stone cool against my spine. For a moment, I let my eyes close and willed the fire in my blood to simmer down. Doran Evander was a cunning adversary. I could never forget that.

I unclipped my gun and flexed my fingers around the grip. Ahead, small square panels gleamed in the darkness. I edged closer and found the first one fixed next to the frame of a door. Room twelve. The next, room seventeen. More of Van’s handiwork?

Whatever it was, I had to find room six. I skimmed my fingertips over the panel and tech burned under my fingers. The number twelve pressed into my skin. I tried the next, the one displaying seventeen, and found eleven instead.

“They’d be too busy to look for room numbers, Van.” I muttered the words as I stroked every panel, feeling a different number to the one displayed. “The people here need more. You’ve never been very good with tech.” A hard smile touched my mouth. “That’s not where a Tesh-dian’s skill lies.” I touched a gleaming panel and six ran hot over my palm.

My heart kicked. I gave a final glance to my time-graft. Four minutes. Even inefficient as he was, he’d wasted my time. I was cutting it close, more closely that I had in too many hunts. I flipped the cover of the display panel, its white glow illuminating the circuitry buried in the stone. Something simple enough for me to reroute… The metal door creaked, hinges groaned, the heavy door pushed towards me and then flattened against the outer wall with a dull thunk.

I lifted my weapon. The room beyond was as dark as the corridor. Nothing moved within it. The distant thump, thump, thump of the music matched the fast thud of my heart.

“Lights.” Nothing. He’d disabled them. I eased into the room, pressing my back against the wall, searching the darkness with my gun. My remaining time counted down in seconds now and the fact pushed me into being reckless. “I know you’re in here, Van.”

Nothing…until the hinges creaked and the door slammed back into its frame.

My heart hammered in the sudden, heavy silence, my palm sweaty around the grip of my gun. I bit out a soft curse. He’d improved his tech skills and now I was trapped in the dark room with him.

The time-graft vibrated, marking the end of my mission time, and male laughter cut through the room.

“Time’s up, Narda.”

“Van—”

“The hunt is over for you.” Strong fingers gripped mine and tugged the gun from my hand. He dropped it and it thudded into the thin carpet. He pushed me into the cool stone of the wall, his chest pressing hard against mine and tugged at my shorts, ripping them away from my skin, his fingers finding my wet pussy. “Did you have fun on the way in? How many got their hands, their mouths here?”

Heat scalded me and I tried to ignore the wild fire twisting through my veins. His index finger teased my clit, spiking need through my flesh. “You’ll have to try better than that. I had a man at the bar with more skill.”

He grinned against my ear, his breath hot and quick. “Him.” His low growl prickled my skin. “Too distracted to recognize me, Narda?”

“You?”

The scent of his skin filled me and the ache for more of him, for him to take me, fuck me, burned through my body. I caught my fingers in his hair, pulling his head back. In the heavy gloom, I could just make out his smooth features and the hard gleam of his eyes.

“Can’t prey play with its hunter?” He broke free of my hold and nipped at my earlobe. I gasped. “And those anonymous mouths, hands, made you hot for me. How could an Ambran resist that much flesh? It made it all too easy for me to catch you.” He freed his cock and teased it over my mons. “This is what you wanted. For me to fuck you here, now.”

The need for him coiled tight in my belly. Damn him. Fire licked under my skin but I would never admit it. “You’ll do.”

“I’ll do?” The hot growl of anger under his voice shifted my hips against him and his cock pushed against my sex.

I sucked in a quick breath and couldn’t deny the deep ache in my flesh. With a low moan, I yanked his hair and found his mouth. His kiss, hard, wild, ruthless, was everything I yearned for from a Tesh-dian. He gripped my ass and I hooked my thigh around his, opening myself, and with one fierce thrust he buried himself in my pussy.

I arched my spine, taking him deeper, urging him to move, my tongue mimicking the action I wanted, needed. An Ambran woman’s fierce sex drive intimidated most human males…but not a Tesh-dian. I knew I was a challenge to him. And I wanted him to make me scream. His strong hand gripped my thigh, holding me before he pulled back and thrust again. He swallowed my groan.

I needed him to push me, fuck me, and drive out the tension that every mouth, every touch, every whisper had fired in my body. I urged him harder, faster, desperate for his strength, his anger. I broke my mouth from his, my breath ragged. “Fuck me.”

He muttered an oath and buried his face in my neck. “I’m in control now. Your hunt failed.” His thrusts increased, but I met each hard push of his cock. Delicious tension twisted low in my belly and I grabbed at it, wanting it, aching for it to explode through my flesh and overwhelm me. “You’re mine to do with as I please.”

His words sank into me and there…there…

I cried out at the violent rush of fire that swept over my body, Van’s hands biting into my flesh as he found his own release. I let my head fall back against the wall. A moment of sated peace settled in my flesh and I couldn’t help the smile breaking out across my mouth. “Glad I resisted the temptation of the other room.”

Van let out a slow, heavy breath and his forehead fell against my damp shoulder. Easing my leg down, he pulled free of me and wrapped my lax body in his strong arms. I teased my hands under his shirt, finding the smooth heat of his skin and traced a lazy pattern down the hollow of his spine. He pressed a hard kiss to my skin. “This drives me crazy.”

I rested my face in the hot arch of his throat. “Me too. Want to stop?”

Van’s low laughter warmed me. “A beautiful woman, practically stripped naked, pointing a gun at me. A Tesh-dian’s wet dream.”

“And it’s an Ambran’s fantasy to be overwhelmed.” I pulled in a deep, satisfied breath and kissed his skin, his familiar taste, his scent sinking into my body. I closed my eyes. “But four days is too long for a hunt. Far too long.” I smiled against his skin. “You almost lost me to a clever mouth and the promise of a tail.”

His hand stroked over my ass. “I would’ve ripped this place apart to find you.”

The first fresh stirring of my never-ending desire for this man warmed my belly and I rubbed my pelvis against his. His cock stirred. “Really?” I pressed a kiss to his skin and then another. “I thought that was my job.”

He jerked me up and my thighs locked around his waist. His erect cock teased my flesh and my belly tightened. I couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t wanted Doran Evander.

“Lights,” he murmured and a soft wash of white illuminated the small room.

Van’s dark eyes held me and the memory burned of how we’d met, of how he’d cornered me in a Tesh-dian pirate raid and fucked me instead of killing me. I’d never known such an incredible release…and I’d tracked him down to have him again. Van was rich and it seemed that I offered more of a challenge than any raid. We’d been playing our games for six months. It didn’t get old.

His mouth twitched and I saw the rise of desire in his gaze. “It’s your job only because I allow it, Narda.” He turned toward the wide bed. “I’m keeping you here tonight.”

I hit the mattress, the smooth material absorbing the impact of my body. I kicked off my boots and they thudded to the floor. I stared up at him, watching his strong fingers tug at his shirt. The first reveal of his skin and his spiraling tattoos caught my breath. I also never got tired of seeing his beautiful body. “I’m not your pet, Van.”

A dark smile cut his mouth and his gaze traveled the length of my body. My pussy clenched. “A Tesh-dian owns what he captures. It’s our oldest law.” He lost his trousers, his boots, and covered my body with his own. The touch of his skin arched me into him and my fingers traced his spine before I cupped his ass. Van’s eyes narrowed. “When this night is over, I hunt you.”

“That wasn’t our deal, Van.”

He caught my wrists in one hand and pinned them above my head. “I told you, your hunt failed.” He guided his cock and thrust deep into my pussy. His low, satisfied groan mixed with my sharp gasp. “Now it’s my turn.”

I locked my ankles behind his ass, urging him to move, but the man was solid muscle. I glared at him. “I hunt you, you fuck me.”

“You will run.” He thrust deep and the flow of heat through my body forced an unexpected cry. I ached to touch him, but his strength defied the movement of my hands, my arms. My heart pounded. I needed this, needed his strength, his power over my body. “You will hide.” Another stroke deep into my flesh and I found myself desperate to agree with him if only to keep him hard in my pussy. “The anticipation of my finding you, Narda. Imagine it.”

I did. The thought of me hiding, waiting, watching the seconds tick down and knowing that he hunted me, that he would find and fuck me, ran liquid fire through my flesh. My pussy tightened around him and he groaned.

His dark gaze held mine and the need there, his fierce desire, gripped me, and the first thrum of my release pushed me hard against him. “And you’ll expect to find me alone?” Anger surged through him and I grinned. “What?”

He took my mouth as he took my body, hard, fast, with a power that I couldn’t, didn’t want to fight. Tension twisted tighter and I tasted the first heat of my approaching release. I hungered for more. I moved with him, gripping his ass, pushing him, wanting, needing him to—

Wild joy swept over me and Van swallowed my cry, his powerful and now erratic strokes intensifying the tremors gripping my body. He ripped his mouth from mine and buried his face against my neck, a low moan escaping him. His fingers flexed around my wrists and he released them, stroking his fingertips down my arms, the unexpected sensation bucking my hips.

His soft laughter tickled my skin. “I never get tired of this,” he murmured. He let out a heavy sigh and rolled his weight from my body, pulling me tight against his chest. “Ever.”

His words almost echoed my thoughts and I wondered if there was a hint of telepathy somewhere in his blood. Which would be fun…especially as I had plans for him. I let myself snuggle in my post-orgasmic peace and placed an absent kiss against his collarbone. “I’ve snared myself a Tesh-dian pirate.”

His large hand squeezed my ass. “And I own this.”

I laughed and thumped him, but pressed myself against him again. I didn’t want to deny it. Van had worked his way under my skin. My perfect mate, knowing what I wanted before I did, satisfying me in ways an Ambran woman could only dream.

“Sleep,” he murmured, and pressed a kiss into my hair. The gesture warmed me and I let out a happy sigh. “In the morning it’s my turn to hunt.”

About the Author

Kim lives on an ancient boundary line, once marked by a Neolithic burial tomb. The tomb’s now a standing stone circle—thank the Georgians for that one—and stirs her mind with thoughts of history and ancient myths. She mixes the essence of the past into fantasy, along with the essential mix of magic and sex. She also writes science fiction romance, pushing out into the far future with effortlessly sexy men and the women who can’t resist them.

Kim is multi-published. You can contact her on her website or come and chat at her blog: www.darknessandromance.wordpress.com

The author welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Also by Kim Knox

Chosen One

Consort

Demonic Attraction

Flesh and Shadows

Ruthless Beauty

Skin Magic

Warflesh

Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

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Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Chapter One

About the Author