LURIN’S SURRENDER

By

Marie Harte

© copyright September 2004, Marie Harte
Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright September 2004
ISBN 1-58608-137-3
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter One

Captain Mara Seni swore as the ship encountered another round of hostile fire from the Melan rebels.

"Damned ex-patriots," she seethed as she fought to keep her ship in one piece. Not only had the rebels come out of nowhere in the middle of an asteroid storm, but they’d interrupted her crew’s attempts to subdue her thrashing and less-than-willing captive.

She narrowly guided the ship out of a speeding asteroid’s path and smiled grimly as she watched it destroy one of the three Melan ships tracking her.

"Damn it, release me, you heathen fethra," a deep voice bellowed angrily from the hallway. "When I get free I’m going to make you all pay for this," he roared, a deadly promise too intense to ignore.

Swearing under her breath, Mara jockeyed her ship out of the storm and quickly thrust into hyper drive. The minute her ship leapt out of the Melans’ sight, she exhaled with relief and left the controls to see to her prisoner.

She encountered him with the other three of her crew. She grudgingly respected her captive’s strength. He struggled under the two hulking Fas brothers and the quick-as-a-whip Catam of Mardu. She had ordered her crew to be firm and if necessary, a bit rough. After all, the prisoner had committed a ruthless crime.

"Ah, so the dark eyed woman was not a mere figment of my imagination after all," the captive purred and stared at her insolently as she approached. His light blue eyes fairly sizzled as they traced her from the top of her golden brown hair to the tips of her boots.

"That’s our captain," Catam said quietly and knocked the captive back with a hard punch to his midsection. "Show some respect."

The captive absorbed the blow but made not a sound. Again Mara studied him curiously, wondering how a man that looked like this could have turned into a murdering rapist.

He had dark blue-black hair and sun-kissed skin. His build towered over hers, and Mara considered herself a tall woman.

His muscular forearms led to thick biceps and a broad chest, visible through the sleeveless and ripped tunic he wore. His skintight rak-hide leggings suggested similar strength in his powerful thighs.

But his face. Stars, Mara thought, irritated for having noticed. With a face like that and a body to match, this man should never have to resort to rape. His straight nose and sharp chin framed an arrogant face. High cheekbones and cat-slanted eyes gave him an exotic look, made even more stunning by his thickly lashed electric-blue eyes and full, sensuous lips.

Mara watched those lips curve in sardonic amusement as she said nothing, merely studied the man before her.

"Like what you see?" His smooth voice beckoned her closer. For a startled moment she almost stepped forward. Then she mentally shook herself and stared angrily at her prisoner.

"You are Lurin Vez, are you not?" she asked throatily, suddenly conscious of her own sensuality.

His eyes lit but he said nothing, his gaze firmly on her mouth.

"He is," Nu, the elder Fas brother spoke.

"We searched his belongings earlier and found this," his brother Set remarked. He held out a system tag that clearly showed her prisoner’s likeness against the name Lurin Vez.

"Good." Mara smiled and the prisoner blinked, his gaze leaving her lips to peruse the rest of her face. "Nobless Cari Elaran has a bounty on your head," she said pleasantly. She watched but could detect no recognition in his shuttered gaze at the name. "We’ll have you at her estate in less than a week’s time, captive Vez."

"Why are you doing this?" Lurin struggled against the Fas brothers again, his muscles straining to regain freedom from the shackles at his wrists and legs.

"Come now, captive Vez." Mara shook her head in disappointment, making a mental note to continue to address him as "captive". He didn’t like it one bit. "You raped the Nobless’ virgin daughter and murdered her future mate. Surely you didn’t think that action would go unpunished?"

He stared at her in surprise, as if unaware of the heinous crimes he’d committed. Mara waited patiently for him to refute the accusations; she could read the denial on his face.

"That’s why you’re bringing me in?" he asked softly, his eyes intent on her face.

"Please, no more games." Mara felt an odd sense of disappointment. Most of her bounties protested innocence until confronted with their guilt. For some reason she thought Vez would be different. He possessed a core of strength that unfortunately went no further than the physical. "Nu, Set, take him to his new quarters. And Catam, make sure all is clear for our journey to planet Jaron."

Her crew did her bidding easily since the prisoner ceased fighting. Perhaps now that his crimes had been brought into the open, he realized he had nothing with which to bargain.

Mara smiled bitterly. She didn’t believe in bargaining with men regardless. She lived a simple life, a solitary existence devoted to her career as a bounty hunter. She had no use for pleasures of the flesh or emotional attachments. And though not overly satisfied with her lot in life, she did feel content.

Though her job brought bursts of excitement, Mara preferred when the job went smoothly. Relieved that the crisis with Vez had been averted, she headed to the galley for some sustenance. Since the capture of her prisoner, she’d been awake for more than two days.

His capture had been a thing of beauty, she recalled, and grabbed a tray of food before she sat down. Staring at the unappetizing fare, she thought about Vez and the circumstances surrounding the mysterious criminal.

From one of her many sources, Mara had received word that her latest quarry had been hiding out on one of the Melan moons, a smart move considering the Melans’ dislike for anything Elaran.

Disguised as a pleasurer, Mara had visited bar after bar on Sheias--the central moon to which all information funneled concerning planet Melan. Soon armed with his whereabouts, she’d easily infiltrated the rebel club where Vez had been drinking by himself in a corner. For the right price, a serving girl agreed to tamper with his next drink.

The drug had worked surprisingly well and the Fas brothers escorted him unhindered to her ship. They’d been sitting cloaked in space, waiting out the Melan rebel force’s movements, when her captive had revived.

She frowned and forced herself to eat. Vez had proven himself amazingly strong, almost defeating both Fas brothers until Catam had entered the scene. The Fas brothers hailed from Ragga, a planet known for delivering inhumanly strong species due to the minerals found in the water.

For Vez to have almost defeated not one, but two Raggas meant that he was no ordinary human. His unusual good looks could be attributed to any number of planetary inhabitants, but his strength made her wonder. Then there was the matter of his intoxicating voice. Something in his tenor denoted simmering power. A telepath, maybe? His overt sensuality though, bespoke of something more. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought him a Thesha.

A Thesha, sure. She scoffed at her overworked imagination.

The Thesha had been a legend for as long as she could remember. No matter that the nobles in the system still searched and raged about the sensually gifted race, Mara didn’t believe they existed anymore, if they had in the first place. Imagine a race of men able to pleasure a woman without cease. Obviously a tale created by deprived women.

"Captain?" Catam stepped quietly into the galley and waited for her to acknowledge him.

"Yes?"

"We’re set for Jaron. I enabled the communicator should you like to inform Nobless Cari that we’re on our way." His sensual, gold eyes brightened with intensity as he stared at her, and Mara had the uneasy suspicion that she would need to make at least one stop before reaching Jaron.

From the beginning of her captaincy, Mara hadn’t wanted to use a crew of men only, but her need for their strength and solidarity of warlike mindsets had made the decision to exclude females an easy one.

An unusual maiden, Mara had been trained in the arts of war since she was old enough to stand. Softness was not a part of her. When she felt such uncomfortable stirrings, she returned to her training. Unlike the men she worked with, however, she felt free of the lusts they often suffered.

She’d made sure to take on men she could trust, and though they never discussed such matters, Mara always made sure to stop at a pleasure point somewhere in space where her crew could see to their base needs. Left untended, she worried her men might grow lustful around her.

"Good work, Catam." She nodded at him. He watched her carefully while maintaining a respectful distance. Mara knew should she give him the slightest hint, Catam would take her to bed without question. Rumors of the sensual Mardu had at times made her wonder what held her back.

"I’ll go talk to the Nobless." She pushed away her half-eaten food and stood. "Oh, and Catam? Set a course for Nebe6 on our way to Jaron. You and the others have performed well this week."

At mention of the pleasure planet Nebe6, Catam smiled widely. He bowed and with a mischievous wink left her to reset course.

Mara shook her head. Males. They were so predictable. She left the galley and moments later entered her captain’s quarters. She sat down at the communicator and activated the vidscreen.

"Nobless Cari?"

She watched as the vidscreen revealed a handsome woman in her midyears. Nobless Cari had a head of dark red hair, brown eyes, and the gloriously smooth skin of a woman many years younger. Wealthy beyond belief, the Nobless had survived two past matings and now had only herself and her daughter Sara to care for.

"Yes, Mara," the Nobless answered in a voice used to being obeyed. "I’m glad you called. I trust everything is in order."

Mara ignored the Nobless’ imperious tone and focused instead on the other twenty thousand beks she’d receive once she pulled off this bounty. "Everything went like clockwork, my lady. We have Lurin Vez in captivity and should arrive within the next few days."

"Splendid, Mara," the Nobless commented evenly. Mara thought the woman’s satisfaction a trifle odd. If Mara had a daughter that had been raped, the rapist’s capture would stir more than a cool "splendid".

"I’ve got plans for him," Nobless Cari murmured slyly, her face darkening with an expression akin to ... desire?

"Yes, well," Mara trailed uncomfortably. "I just wanted to let you know we’ve got him."

"Wonderful. I trust he’s not overly harmed?"

What does that matter? He raped your daughter. "He’s not happy, but he’s in good health."

"Wonderful. We’ll see you soon. And for a job well done, I’m adding another five thousand on top of the twenty awaiting your arrival."

Mara watched in consternation as the vidscreen blanked. Something about this entire situation felt wrong. Mara had met young Sara. A quiet yet pretty young woman of eighteen, she was betrothed to a wealthy, older nobleman. Though Sara appeared the proper young miss, Mara had seen something in Sara’s eyes to suggest the girl had more fire under her skin than she allowed to show.

Foolishness. Shaking her head, Mara forced thoughts of the perplexing Nobless Cari and her daughter from her mind to focus on the present. She finished some administrative details she’d been procrastinating and decided to take some much needed rest. She paged Catam and informed him of her status, then made a last trip to ensure the security of her prisoner.

Around the corner from the crew’s berthing, Mara opened a small portal at eyelevel on the secured door of Vez’s cell. He lay on a narrow bed, his massive arms folded behind his head as he contemplated the ceiling. She shifted to get a better look. Sensing her movement by the door, he shot up in bed, his eyes locked on hers.

The quickness of his action startled her. He had seemed rested, half asleep, when suddenly he moved like one of Catam’s people, the Mardu.

Vez leapt off the bed and approached her. Though a door separated them, she felt as if he stood directly in front of her. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned, irritated that she had to look up to see his face.

Her captive smiled down at her, the expression not reaching his icy blue eyes.

"Ah, lady, how good to see you again," he said in a low purr. "Why don’t you come in and visit for a spell?"

His gaze beckoned and Mara felt an odd compulsion to do as he suggested. In his eyes she saw herself enfolded in his grasp, his large hands removing every piece of her clothing, his mouth trailing down her neck to her full breasts....

Mara shook her head, shocked to see her hand poised above the security console. She angrily moved away from the window and glared up at him.

"You, Vez, are going to receive Nobless Cari’s hospitality in just under a week’s time." Mara’s eyes darkened to black and her mouth flattened into a grim line. "And when the Nobless takes you behind closed doors, you’ll pray for mercy, something unlike that which you showed poor Sara and her mate."

"I don’t think so, beauty," he rasped, his voice all the more threatening for its soft intensity. He lowered his head so that they saw eye to eye through the opened window. "I think you’ve made a grave mistake, one that’s going to cost you." His eyes raked over her body and he licked his lips, an action that sent heat spiraling to her loins. "I’ll enjoy making you pay."

Mara simply stared at him, appearing unfazed by his threats. Ignoring her racing heartbeat, she raised a brow at him and grinned as if amused, then slapped the portal shut. She congratulated herself when she heard him curse.

Having faced down her menacing prisoner, she returned to her private quarters, determined to get at least a few hours of sleep. Confused at her odd reactions to Vez, she suddenly felt as limp as a rag. Apparently her sleepless nights had caught up to her. She stumbled into bed, exhausted and fully clothed, and fell immediately asleep.

Chapter Two

Lurin swore as he collapsed back into the bed too small to comfortably encompass his large frame. Damn, but that infuriating woman had twice now evaded his efforts to control her. He frowned in puzzlement. She looked like an average human. Average, he amended, in that she didn’t seem to pose any unnatural threat.

Her looks, however, were anything but ordinary. Captain Mara’s beauty was outshone only by her fierce pride and determination to meet him glare for glare. He’d been more than attracted when he’d first seen her dark brown eyes looking so distant and yet full of feminine appeal, surrounded by thick black lashes set under gracefully arched brows.

She had a classically beautiful face, a straight nose, high cheekbones and full, ripe lips practically begging to be kissed. Had he been able, he would now be sampling those sweet red petals, tasting her very essence and putting her further under his spell. But the infernal witch had rebuffed him!

If he could only understand how she did this. Human females could not refuse the Thesha. He had never heard of such a thing happening. And yet, the curvaceous captain with the dismissive stare had the ability to deny him, and had unfortunately been responsible for his capture.

He cursed the situation and his careless lack of attention. He really had no one but himself to blame. He should have known better than to imbibe so heavily that night on Melan’s third moon.

With Nobless Cari and her whorish daughter Sara chasing after him, he’d had the devil’s own time trying to remain discreet. How the Nobless had gotten wind of his Thesha heritage still baffled him. But somehow she’d discovered the Thesha’s signature birthmark. And when her sexually charged daughter had spied on him bathing in her home, his identity was revealed.

He’d only attended Nobless Cari’s birth celebration as a favor to a friend, a nobleman of good standing and utter allegiance to Lurin’s kind. Yet now Denal lay dead, with his murderess accusing him of the crime. And who would contend that the Nobless and her daughter spoke lies? Hell, the only thing working in his favor right now was the sultry captain’s ignorance of his bloodline.

Were Mara to learn of his true identity, she would most likely sell him to the highest bidder. Theshas had long since existed only as legend, having been labeled extinct long ago, and his people preferred it that way. Finding a live and healthy specimen, like himself, would bring the cold little captain more beks than she could possibly think to spend in her lifetime, much more than the Nobless was surely offering for his return.

He wondered if he could use that information to his advantage and sighed, realizing that to expose himself as a Thesha could only bring him more harm than good.

He had to get out of here! He swore again and flung a hand over his face to blot out the dim light from the floor illuminations. He knew in another few hours the lights would fade, as they had the previous night.

If only she hadn’t drugged him. Gathering his wits on board her ship, he’d found the large Raggas hard to defeat, and the added strength of the Mardu had been his undoing. His gift didn’t work on males, so if he couldn’t defeat them physically, he had to resort to weaponry. On the troublesome females he encountered, however, he employed his most valuable skill. Usually with little effort, he could make them mere slaves in both mind and body. But the captain’s reaction baffled him.

He had lost precious strength due to the drug’s effects, and he still hadn’t fully recovered. Perhaps that explained the captain’s resistance. He nodded, the notion pleasing him. Yes, that made sense. The woman was nothing more than a typical human, unaware of the magic around her.

Very good. His eyes blazed with excitement. He had only to get a hold of her mind, to tie her to him, and then wait to make his next move. Sooner or later she would have to sleep. And then, he thought with a small chuckle, then he would set the lure.

* * * *

Lurin waited until the darkness had enveloped him completely, his mind calm and at peace. He recalled the captain’s essence--her soft scent, her exquisite visage, her luscious body outlined in the masculine garb she tried to hide behind.

He released his mortal flesh and drifted through time and space, seeking Captain Mara. He moved through the walls and rooms separating them until he hovered just over her body. She lay fully clothed on her bed, her breathing deep and even.

Mara, he whispered, his mind reaching out to hers. He watched as her eyes drifted open, her mind still ensconced in the world of sleep while she heeded his mental call. Perfect, he thought with satisfaction. She couldn’t resist him after all. Remove your clothing, Mara.

He hovered over her and stared hungrily at the body she revealed. She slowly stripped off her boots, trousers and space jacket to reveal a shapely form in stark underclothes. Lurin’s eyes narrowed as he felt far more than he should have. Even distanced in his astral state, he felt his physical flesh harden, his cock fully aroused.

Remove the rest, he ordered in a voice harsher than he’d intended. Mara stilled her hands on the base of her undershirt before moving to accommodate his next, softly given command.

Take it off, slowly.

Lurin watched restlessly as Mara stripped completely bare before him. His eyes glittered with lust as they trailed over her soft face, lingering on the lips that begged to be kissed. He could all too easily imagine those lips parting to accommodate his cock, and he had to stifle a groan, surprised that she had such an effect on him.

His gaze traveled further down, past her graceful neck to her shoulders lightly sculpted with muscle. Captain Mara was no stranger to work, apparently.

His perusal heating his blood, he was unable to resist where his gaze wandered next. Two perfectly shaped, golden breasts shuddered under his scrutiny.

His gaze shot to her face, and he allowed himself a satisfied grin. Finally, the woman reacted as she should. Her mind and body were in his thrall, and Mara could not hide her obvious arousal.

He watched her nipples pebble into tight little buds, rosy sweets ripe for a taste. His mouth watered and his cock felt heavy, on the point of pain. He didn’t understand how she could affect his physical state, when by rights he was the Thesha commanding her compliance.

Nevertheless, he continued his study. His eyes moved over her taut stomach, down to the wealth of dark brown curls hiding her deepest secrets. Her legs were long and supple, and he knew a sudden urge to taste every inch of her, starting with the warm juices hidden behind her swollen folds.

Lurin shivered, dismayed at his burning body clamoring for attention as it waited and throbbed for completion. This was all wrong, and potentially dangerous.

In this precarious state, Lurin had to do more than simply tie Mara to him mentally, as he normally would have. He needed to ease his lust lest he waste such a valuable build-up of energy and weaken himself further. He couldn’t afford the energy loss, not when he needed to escape.

His lips curled. He felt no remorse for what he was about to do. She should have succumbed earlier to make it easier on him. Now he could do no less than satisfy them both.

He hovered over the unclad female, his energy touching her soft skin like a breath of warm air. She sighed and stretched, enhancing his hunger. He lowered his mouth and kissed her on the lips, feeling her mouth on his even though they touched through thought alone. In his room, his body responded, an electric rush of desire flowing through him.

Lurin enclosed her body in his warm aura and proceeded to claim Mara’s subconscious. He kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth, groaning at the glorious taste of her warm lips and tongue as she mimicked his actions. He found it hard to think, the taste of Mara bursting upon his tongue.

He felt his erection press against her body, could feel her full breasts pressing against his chest in the dream state. And he wanted nothing more than to thrust into her wet, hot sheath and come deep inside of her.

Unusually close to orgasm, he tore his mouth from hers and trailed his lips down her throat, amazed at the heat she wrought in him. Though separated from his body, he could feel his physical self straining, milky dew leaking from his ready cock. The ferocious need to copulate with Mara astounded him. This bond between him and the captain felt far too strong to be normal.

But his mind wandered when of their own volition, her hands moved between them. In her mind, her fingers curled around his shaft, squeezing and pumping. And when her fingers grazed his sack he groaned and pressed deeper into her touch. His large fingers reached down to stroke her dewy softness, searching out the hard nub of her arousal. She writhed in her sleep and spread her thighs to better accommodate him.

Lurin released his need, sharing his burning desire. His fingers increased their demand, sliding through her wetness, stroking her clit to a heated pitch. He regained control, mentally commanding Mara to pump his straining cock until he could no longer hold back.

All too soon she cried out in orgasm even as he came in her pleasuring hand. That fast, his astral self flew back into his flesh, his cry of ecstasy a groan of pleasure-pain as he felt his body jerk and pulse, his seed leaving him into nothingness, a mess spread over his belly.

The emptiness of his orgasm left him both sated and strangely unfulfilled. Though his body now lay flushed and replete, his mind and soul hungered for a closer taste of Mara. He had given her fulfillment, had strengthened himself from the outburst of climactic energy, but at what cost?

He needed her again, right now, and the urgency to take her unnerved him. Instead of making things better, he’d made them worse. Now more than ever, he needed to escape this imprisonment.

* * * *

Mara awakened the next day feeling strangely refreshed. She heard Catam call for her over the intercom and had just reached for the vidlink when she realized she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. Memories of her erotic dreams returned and she flushed, thinking that in her sleep she had discarded them.

"I’ll be there soon, Catam. Waken one of the Fas brothers to relieve you," she murmured, thankful she hadn’t activated the vidscreen.

As she took a solar bath and quickly dressed, Mara’s thoughts turned to her dreams. She didn’t understand why her mind had become so fixated on her prisoner. She’d seen attractive men before, men who didn’t have an execution awaiting them. But in her dreams Lurin Vez made her tremble, made her ache with desire. Even now her body warmed at memories of his heated mouth and stirring caresses.

She breathed deeply, needing to control her raging hormones before she dealt with him again. For some reason she felt the need to hear his side of the story about his crimes. And, she admitted to herself, she needed to see him again, to reconcile her dream lover with the prisoner entombed in the dark cell down the hall.

Chapter Three

Mara found Lurin--captive Vez, she reminded herself with a stern rebuke--lying as she’d left him on his narrow bed. He had removed his shirt, however, and his muscular chest looked maddeningly familiar. She eyed his tall frame critically, thinking he couldn’t possibly be sleeping in that condition, hanging half off of the bed.

She entered the room accompanied by Nu. The Ragga nodded to her and set a tray of food on the table by Vez’s bed. Then Nu stood protectively behind Mara, his arms crossed and awaiting trouble.

Vez stared at the ceiling and didn’t move until Mara kicked at the bed. Then he shifted slowly, unlike the quick reflexes he’d shown the night prior.

"Yes, Mara?" he asked insolently and sat up. Mara could only stare at the hard planes of his broad chest and taut abdomen. Physically at least, he seemed the perfect male.

"That’s Captain Mara to you, captive Vez," she reminded him coolly. Today the word "captive" didn’t make him angry. Rather, he smiled at her slyly, as if he knew of the desire she tried to suppress while she stared at him.

"My mistake, Captain." He nodded, a smirk lurking in his ice blue eyes.

Mara couldn’t help thinking that he seemed most content. Apparently Nu noticed as well for he eyed Vez with a puzzled frown. She glimpsed her captive’s sparkling eyes a moment before he lowered them to his food.

He had lost the drug-induced haze from the bar. And his skin seemed almost ... glowing. She blinked and his skin again looked normal. Puzzled, she stared at the floor illuminations. Perhaps the lighting in the room had made him appear healthier than he actually was.

Not knowing why but needing to know more about her prisoner, Mara sat down across from him and waited until he looked at her to speak. "Tell me your accounting of what occurred on Jaron two lunar cycles past. What led you to rape a young Nobless and kill her mate?" Mara asked with true bewilderment. She still had trouble believing it.

Vez lost the sparkle in his eyes and frowned. "Very well. But I’d like to be allowed to speak freely, without interruption." He eyed Nu with a healthy wariness.

"Go ahead." Mara felt an overwhelming eagerness to hear his tale, and she wondered at her motives. Why was it so important that Vez be innocent of his crimes?

"I was invited to attend Nobless Cari’s birth celebration at the behest of my good friend, Denal Donateral, Lady Sara’s betrothed."

Mara blinked in surprise. She hadn’t been given that information, only that Lurin Vez had somehow gotten access to the grounds before perpetrating his heinous crimes.

"I admit I ribbed Denal about the age difference between him and his young betrothed, but he laughed it away, falling on the old adage that true love conquers all." Vez rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it certainly conquered him," he said bitterly. "While he and I were walking through the Nobless’s grounds, we stumbled upon the ‘virgin’ Sara engaged in quite a bit of sexual roughhousing."

"Sara?" Mara’s voice rose in surprise but she quickly tampered her reaction, determined not to show too much emotion at his words. She heard a ring of truth in what he said, something in his voice that correlated with her own earlier speculations on the girl.

"Yes." His lips twisted in disgust.

"You’re sure it was Sara?"

He stared directly into her gaze. "I’m positive. Sara was facing us while a man fucked her roughly from behind. And if that wasn’t enough, another man joined her intimate party by sticking his cock in her mouth."

"Maybe they forced her against her will," Nu offered.

"Denal and I thought the same until we saw her smiling at them. She laughed and moaned, begging for more. The things she had them do," he paused, his face twisted with revulsion. "We stood there for quite some time. Suffice it to say, the girl was insatiable."

Vez’s eyes bored into hers and Mara saw the truth for herself. She didn’t understand how, but she could picture the reprehensible scene clearly in her mind’s eye. She glanced up but could see no expression on Nu’s face.

"But that wasn’t the worst of it," Vez continued grimly. "After Denal watched it all in silence, he and I returned to the Nobless’s palace. He demanded an immediate dialogue with the Nobless. I was not privy to the conversation, but I know Denal’s intent was to break the engagement.

"Unfortunately, that was the last I saw of him. The next day, I heard along with everyone else that his body had been found in the woods and at the very site where he and I had come upon Sara the day before."

"And you have no idea of what was said between Denal and Nobless Cari?"

"None," he answered curtly. "Denal was like a brother to me." His eyes softened as he remembered and Mara found herself drawn into his pain. "I hadn’t actually liked Sara prior to their betrothal, but she made him happy, so I was happy for him. But when they found him dead, I knew Sara and her mother had killed him."

"Sara’s grief was overwhelming, too contrived. And after I cast my suspicions to the local law, I found myself under house arrest. I barely managed to escape. And now here I am," he ended quietly.

Mara desperately wanted to side with him, and that in itself made her cautious. That blasted dream had skewed her judgment. A prisoner declares an unbelievable story to be true, and I’m falling for it. Instead of remaining unbiased, Mara couldn’t help remembering the taste of his mouth, the feel of his shaft pulsing in her hands.

Her impartiality was shot all to hell. And she didn’t like it.

Mara’s gaze hardened. "A pretty story, captive Vez," she said evenly. He shot to his feet and his eyes gleamed with frustration, betraying his anger that she would not believe him. Sensing that he was not in control of himself, she quickly stood as well and stepped back out of reach.

Nu quickly inserted himself between them, a stun phaser directed at Vez. Vez’s sapphire gaze met the Ragga’s at eye level, an odd occurrence for Nu, who normally towered over their prisoners.

Needing to defuse the situation, Mara tried the truth. "I’m not sure I believe you, Vez. I will say I don’t completely buy Nobless Cari’s story, but I’m not the law. I’m just a bounty hunter out to make a living."

As she spoke, Mara knew she lied to him and to herself. Though she didn’t often delve into the details of her captives’ crimes, she had faith in the legitimacy of the law’s claims. Her other jobs had felt right. This one didn’t. And it bothered her. But no need to let her prisoner know he’d succeeded in rattling her cage.

"So you don’t care that you’re sending an innocent man to his death?" Vez crossed his arms, his biceps clenched as if he held himself back through sheer will alone.

"Come what may," Mara said blithely. She refrained from shrinking at his narrowed gaze, at the force behind his glare. "I didn’t say I’m not interested. I might look into things, though for my own satisfaction and nothing more."

Her words seemed to irritate her prisoner rather than settle him. "I don’t think that wise, Captain." He shook his head. "You don’t know what waters you might be stirring. Nobless Cari’s influence knows no bounds," he warned. He must not have liked the look on her face for he cursed. Then the tension seemed to leave him and he sat back on his bed with a sigh.

Mara frowned down at him, wondering what game he played now. He’d tried to convince her of his innocence and he’d failed. But she said she’d look into it. The man wanted complete absolution or nothing? The hell with that. She hadn’t lived twenty-five years in the system without a shell of caution to keep her alive.

"Nu, take our captive to the lav. Get him cleaned up and exercised," she ordered. Nu nodded and yanked Vez to his feet.

In the blink of an eye, Vez suddenly stood before her. His hand reached out and grazed her cheek. The contact had her heart racing, the feeling of intimacy between them strong. Then Nu was cursing, shoving her prisoner on his stomach to the floor, the shackles reapplied.

"Oh, Captain Mara, you do please me," Vez whispered in a voice that should have been too soft to be heard, but Mara heard it all the same.

She watched Nu take Vez away and shook her head at the odd sensations coursing through her. The mere touch of his hand on her cheek had sent her blood pounding, her body pulsating with need. She swore under her breath. Never before had Mara fallen prey to the odd lustfulness that plagued her men. But it seemed her day had finally come.

She contemplated her new feelings and returned to the ship’s bridge. She found Set at the controls and nodded a greeting.

"Make course for the nearest pleasure point," she ordered, aware of the anticipation blooming on his face. Neither he nor Nu was very subtle. They both possessed insatiable sexual appetites, or so she’d heard rumored in the many pleasure clubs where she’d waited for her crew. The Fas brothers were close to legend.

"Almost Thesha," she murmured. She missed Set’s concerned look and scowled at her inane words. Turning to the current news on the info sector, she concentrated on possible future bounties, determined to relegate Lurin Vez to ‘mission complete’ status.

* * * *

Lurin closed his eyes and relaxed as the solar bath cleaned him of the grime that had built up, a conglomeration of dirt, sweat and semen that had accumulated on his body over the past two days. The semen he hadn’t minded so much, he thought, remembering Mara’s naked body.

He grabbed a shaving blade and began ridding himself of the dark shadow lining his jaw and lips. In the mirror he saw that the large man watching him hadn’t stopped frowning since they’d left Mara’s company.

"The captain is to be respected," Nu said firmly, his disapproval apparent as he glaringly eyed Lurin handling the short shaving blade. Nu’s phaser didn’t waver from Lurin’s chest, the weapon an effective deterrent to the escape plans Lurin had concocted.

He quickly shaved and let the blade fall back to the counter. He looked around for his clothes but couldn’t find them. Then his large guard threw a pair of rough trousers and a shirt at him, an outfit similar to the one Nu wore.

"It will fit, though you’re not as large in your upper body as a Ragga." Nu grunted and flexed his behemoth shoulders as he casually studied Lurin’s naked body. Lurin could only hope the Ragga hadn’t paid too much attention to the area above his groin, where an oddly shaped scar resided. But the large man didn’t appear overly interested in Lurin’s body. He tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Lurin to dress.

Thanking his stars that for all their roughness, Mara’s crew had been decidedly decent about his captivity, Lurin finished dressing and turned to Nu with a question.

"Your captain," he began and watched the man tense. "How does a woman who looks like that run two Raggas and a Mardu?"

Nu grinned showing bright white teeth. "She’s not as fragile as she looks," he said with pride. "And she’s the best captain I’ve ever had. She knows just when to give us leave." The minute the words left his mouth, he clenched his jaw, as if he’d said too much.

Nu walked Lurin back to his cell in silence and left him alone with his thoughts. Twice more during the day Set brought him food and left him alone. Lurin listened carefully but could hear nothing in the corridor. And to his disappointment, the captain hadn’t returned to visit him since their early hour meeting.

He didn’t like the fact that he missed her. Since when did a female control a Thesha’s emotions? His blood hummed as he recalled Mara’s delicious reaction to his sensual mind probe last night. And the physical touch he’d managed today, grazing her cheek, had only strengthened their bond.

He shook his head. She should have believed everything he’d told her today without question, but she hadn’t. Never before had his mind probe failed. Despite not being able to make her trust him, he’d told her the truth, word for word. And she hadn’t believed him. He thought back to her decision to dig around for more answers about his situation and felt a niggle of fear worm its way into his hard heart.

She was his jailer. He shouldn’t care if she got into trouble because of him. But he did. He didn’t want to see her in a cell like this, or worse, at the mercy of the perverse Nobless and her daughter. He flinched at the untold portions of the story he hadn’t given Mara.

After he’d seen his friend dead on Elaran land, he’d immediately confronted the law. But the Nobless clearly controlled the law on her corner of Jaron. Thinking he was going to see justice done, Lurin had accompanied the peacekeeper back to the Nobless’s palace, only to be forced to watch Nobless Cari sexually attack him, sucking him into oblivion.

Like a bitch in heat, her mouth wrung groans of ecstasy from the easily controlled lawman--a man supposedly beyond bribery. She’d made him come several times before succumbing to her own orgasm; all the while her eyes remained glued to Lurin’s face.

In that instant Lurin had seen the beauty of sex debased to its ugliest form.

Nobless Cari had not only received greater pleasure for his having watched, but she had plainly made her statement. The law and everything around Cari belonged to her and her alone.

But that had not been the worst of it. Tied down in restraints, Lurin had been stripped and examined, inch by inch, by Cari and her daughter. As they studied him, Sara slyly confessed her spying hole, which gave her a perfect view into the guest bathing chamber Lurin had been directed to use. Somehow she and her mother knew Lurin’s secret. But how could these women know of the Theshan birthmark?

Normally unmindful of his body, he’d felt violated at the thought of the craven mother and daughter planning to exploit his sexuality like a toy. And they’d done more than merely dissect him with their eyes. He shuddered as he remembered their coarse petting and fondling. Only the promise of sheer Theshan bliss had earned him any respite, and enough time to escape.

Escape had worked once because of his Theshan background, but he had no plans to reveal his Theshan nature to this crew. How then to make the captain do his bidding? He didn’t relish another binding lovemaking session in an astral projection. It had been too much for him, too draining and oddly enough, too exhilarating.

The feel of Mara under his body, simulated though it had been, had been decidedly addicting. She had a control over his body that no female had ever before possessed, and she was completely unaware of it. If she learned what she did to him ... no, Lurin had to exorcise the woman from his mind once and for all, by pleasuring her physically.

Physical contact was the surest way a Theshan could sever a mental link. And time was running out for Lurin. He promised himself that he would escape soon. He had only a few more days at most before Jaron neared.

As he pondered his situation, several male voices drifted along the corridor.

Finally, something to break the monotony of his thoughts.

"I for one am not going to question the captain’s orders to find a pleasurer." That was Nu. "Nebe6, here I come."

"I agree," Set said. "But I don’t like leaving her here alone." His voice lowered, his caution alerting Lurin of his comment’s importance.

Alone? Mara and me, together on the ship?

"Perhaps I should stay," Catam said softly.

"No, Catam. You need to go." Nu’s voice was firm. "If anyone should stay it should be me."

"Nonsense," came a sultry voice. Lurin’s body tightened at the sound of it. "You’ll all go. The day I can’t contain a prisoner, in the security of his own cell, is the day you fire me as your captain."

Lurin heard laughter.

"Are you sure, Captain Mara?" Nu asked. "I don’t like the way he looks at you."

"Looks at me? He’s just trying to wrest control of a bad situation. It’s nothing more than a power play," she scoffed, sounding extremely naïve, a condition that didn’t fit with her tough-as-nails demeanor. Lurin could picture the unease on her crews’ faces. Everyone but Mara could see her as a desirable woman, not merely the ‘captain’. At least her crew had some common sense.

"Don’t worry. I can handle captive Vez." Lurin gritted his teeth. If she called him captive one more

time ... "Now go," she ordered. "I’ll expect you back here tomorrow at first light. Enjoy. And Catam? Make sure you’re satisfied. There’s nothing worse than a Mardu on the prowl." She chuckled and Lurin heard the men laugh louder.

Their voices faded but footsteps, light and brisk--hers--neared his cell. He breathed in her scent as she passed and he blocked out everything but Mara, his cock stirring to life once more. Despite his uneasiness at how readily she affected him, nothing could dampen his anticipation of the night to come.

Chapter Four

Mara sighed as she enjoyed a long, luxurious solar bath. With her crew gone, she had the ship to herself. Well, almost to herself. She thought ruefully of Lurin Vez just down the hall. She still didn’t know how she felt about him.

On the one hand, she didn’t believe Nobless Cari’s story about Vez’s involvement in the crime of which he’d been accused, but she couldn’t take his words on faith either. To think that a Nobless could be responsible for so terrible a crime was unthinkable.

Unthinkable but not impossible.

She also hesitated to believe Vez because his mere presence did something to her. Mara closed her eyes as she pictured him in her mind. He was everything a woman could want: tall, dark and handsome, sexy beyond belief. She liked to think she had a decent imagination, but the things her mind had conjured him doing to her astounded her.

She had seen much on various pleasure stops and read about the physical act of coupling. She had yet to experience it herself, however. To have had such an erotic dream about her captive, especially one that brought her to orgasm, brought heat to her cheeks.

She tried to push thoughts of the blue-eyed criminal out of her mind but he refused to go. It was almost as if he whispered to her, "Come find me, I’m here waiting for you."

She swore softly as she realized she would not have a night of relaxation and solitude. For some reason her mind urged her to talk again with the prisoner. She felt more than a hint of uncertainty about Lurin Vez. He held a fascination similar to that of the mysterious Thesha.

The man was a criminal, wanted for murder, wanted for rape. She’d been around deviants before, knew how they thought and acted. Yet she felt no such ugliness from Vez. Instead, his male energy attracted her. Mara silently admitted that she wanted to couple with him.

She immediately shook herself free of such foolish thoughts. Her traitorous body had decided to come alive near this captive, but she needed to get a handle on her sensuality before she did something that could not be undone.

So telling herself, she wandered down to Vez’s cell. Glancing down at her clothing, she was conscious of her loose fitting over shirt and leggings--dress befitting a soft woman rather than a ship’s captain. But she would make no excuse for her appearance. She was, after all, taking a break as her men did, though in a decidedly different way.

She opened the small window on the cell door and saw Vez exercising in his cell. She watched in admiration as he continued to push up on his arms, his biceps bulging and his breath constant as he exhaled deeply with each repetition. She could almost see him moving over her with such intensity and blinked to remove the sudden and unwelcome vision.

As if he’d sensed her, Vez stopped and glanced up, his eyes shuttered but no less impacting. He stood and rubbed his body slowly with a towel, wiping the sweat from his broad chest. Mara kept her face composed as she watched him watching her through the window. She licked her dry lips and couldn’t help wondering if the dark hair on his chest was as soft as she’d imagined it to be.

"Captain Mara," Vez said softly, a grin tugging at his mouth. "Please, come in." He licked at his lips, mimicking her earlier action, and she wondered if he too felt the heat blazing between them.

She would have to be completely insane to open the door. She studied Vez. He still wore shackles on his wrists and feet, and a chain Nu must have rigged allowed him some movement off the bed.

Dare she enter? She tossed the idea in her mind. She would be able to sit on the chair across from the bed and still be out of his reach.

"Don’t tell me you’re afraid?" he mocked, his brows arched in disbelief over piercing blue eyes.

Mara squared her shoulders, knowing she shouldn’t bow to his taunting, but she nevertheless responded to the scorn in his voice. Control. I control my actions and the situation. She could handle one unruly male.

She touched the keypad and opened the door, closing it behind her and locking them securely inside. The closing of the door sounded loud in the sudden silence. Mara stood warily as she watched the intensity of Vez’s eyes blaze as he studied her, his eyes lingering on her chest.

Then his eyes rose again to meet hers and he smiled, like a predator having successfully lured its prey. "Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable." He motioned to the chair near her. Mara shook her head at his attempt at manners but sat anyway.

"I don’t suppose you could see fit to remove these?" He motioned to his shackles.

Mara shook her head. "No, Vez. Look, it’s probably--"

"Don’t you think you should call me Lurin? Vez is so cold." He shivered lightly and grinned. "Come now, Captain. You won’t remove my constraints. Won’t you at least consent to calling me by my given name?"

Mara sighed. "Fine, Lurin. Now that I’m here, perhaps you can explain to me how you found yourself in this mess in the first place. Let’s just say I believed your story earlier. If that’s the case, and you escaped, why are the Nobless and her daughter still after you? Why not leave you to the law?"

"I can’t say," he murmured and scooted to the edge of his bed. He stared at her, his eyes lingering on her lips. "You really have the most beautiful mouth."

"Lurin," she warned, but he ignored her.

"You know, Mara, I had the most extraordinary dream the other night."
At his words Mara stiffened. The air around her seemed to thicken and she felt decidedly uncomfortable, too warm sitting near and conversing with her half-clad prisoner. She stood to leave.

"No, don’t go yet," he said softly, his words a caress. Mara sat back down, her mind urging her to leave even as his words relaxed her already sluggish body. "Come closer," he whispered, his eyes electric as he stared at her.

He licked his lips again, his tongue grazing the soft pink flesh of his mouth and Mara barely stifled a moan. She felt hot and feverish and didn’t know why her body refused her commands. She stood slowly and walked toward him, her mind screaming at her to back away and leave this room.

When she stood within an inch of him, she chanced a glance into his face. He watched her, his breathing growing more rapid, matching hers.

"Mara," he crooned gently. His hands rose to grasp her about the waist. One of his palms spanned her hip and he tightened his hold on her flesh. "You are too lovely for words," he said and slowly drew her to sit next to him on the bed.

Suddenly they sat a breath apart, her body absorbing the heat of his bare skin, her heart beating twice as fast. She felt excited and afraid all at once.

What is happening to me?

His fingers rose and rested on her throat. Mara had the uncomfortable thought that with one hand he could crush her neck. Yet his large hand touched her reverently as he caressed her windpipe. Then his hand moved lower, resting just above her breasts. All the while he kept his eyes glued to hers.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she stuttered as his fingers suddenly moved down the slope of one breast, hovering just over her hard nipple.

"Nothing, Mara." His eyes followed the movement of his hand. "Did you know that your body is reacting to mine of its own accord? Amazing, but you’re drawing forth reactions in me that I’ve never felt before," he admitted huskily. His hand closed over her breast, letting its full weight rest in his callused palm.

Mara gasped as pleasure ran through her body, pooling between her thighs. She felt tingly, aroused and unbearably hot. Her clit throbbed and she felt slick with want.

"Stop," she said breathlessly, her eyes closing, unwilling to see the triumph on his face as he so effortlessly conquered her resolve. She didn’t see his eyes rove over her face hungrily, nor the descent of his mouth as it hovered over her own.

His lips touched hers hesitantly, growing bolder as she moaned into his mouth. With one hand stroking her breast and pinching her nipple lightly into a small bud of desire, he made her cry out for more. And as she opened her mouth, his tongue invaded, tasting and taking everything she had to offer.

His touch grew bolder, his hand moving to caress her other breast, bringing it to peak as well.

"I want to taste every inch of you," Lurin whispered against her mouth, his hand working magic, the cold brace of the shackles on his wrist a sensuous contrast to the heat of her body. "Take these off, Mara," he ordered firmly, his lips moving over her jaw to her throat, sucking at the pulse beating there.

Mara refused weakly. "No." She shook her head even as her hands moved to the small code box on the shackles. She knew Lurin watched her intently, memorizing the numerical code before his hands suddenly found freedom.

"Now the ankles," he said huskily, groaning as she bent over his thigh and brushed against the hard ridge jutting through his trousers. She released the last of his bonds and sat up, regarding Lurin with confusion.

"What are you doing to me?" Her breath caught in tense desire, aware that she faced a dangerous man, one fully aroused. She stared at the outline of his erection through his trousers, heard his chest expand as he breathed heavily. She glanced up, needing to see his face. His eyes looked slumberous as they gazed down at her.

He grasped the back of her head, running his hands through her silky hair. His eyes narrowed and he licked at his bottom lip. "You have no idea how much I need this," he murmured. Mara shivered under his voice and he grinned darkly. "Tonight is mine," he declared before dropping to his knees in front of her.

She could only stare at him, watching as his eyes raked her trembling body.

"I can’t wait any longer." His hands moved underneath her shirt to the waistband of her leggings. "I need you now." He yanked violently at her leggings and they suddenly came apart in his hands. He swiped them from her legs and stared up at her hungrily. "What do you wear under these?" he asked softly, his hands running over her thighs half-hidden by her overly large shirt. She had to bite her lip to keep from moaning aloud.

She shuddered as he nudged her thighs further apart, unable to do anything but feel. He quickly found that she wore nothing beneath her leggings when his hands found the wet heat of her. Mara couldn’t help a small groan as his fingers slid inside her, building a hunger she’d never before experienced. The hunger seemed to move through Lurin as well. His eyes grew brighter as his fingers began moving over her clit.

"You’re so wet for me, Mara," he said thickly as he inserted another finger into her tight, wet sheath. At the intrusion, Mara bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to lean away at the intensity of feeling and yet needing more of his touch.

"So sweet," he rasped, and she knew he watched her reaction. Then he did something unexpected. He pushed aside her long over shirt, exposing her feminine core to his view. She tried to cover herself but he wouldn’t let her. "So beautiful," he said and buried his head between her thighs.

Mara cried out his name as his heated breath warmed her clit, his mouth closing over the hard nub and sucking gently. He would not relent, but continued to tease her, his tongue licking her so expertly, bringing her to the brink of ecstasy but not edging her over, again and again.

"It’s not enough, is it, love?" he asked, and she mindlessly shook her head, needing something more. In answer, he returned his mouth to her sweet pussy and added his nimble fingers, filling the void so hungry for his presence.

The feeling of his finger moving in and out of her in addition to the pressure on her sensitive clit threw Mara over the edge. She clutched at the back of Lurin’s head, reveling in his silky hair as he brought her to a devastating climax.

She was barely aware when he removed his mouth after licking her, ingesting her essence as if it were a vital part of his needs.

When she turned her passion-clouded eyes to his, she noted no victorious expression, rather a hungry burning that blazed in his eyes. He licked at his lips, tasting her again while his eyes remained locked on hers.

"That was only the beginning." His deep voice rang with sensual promise. He stood and Mara studied his straining erection with fascination and curiosity. She touched him through his trousers and drew a shaky breath out of him. But it was not enough for either of them.

She reached beneath the waistband of his trousers, closing her fingers over him, and felt his heartbeat pulse through his large cock. He closed his eyes and groaned, and Mara started in surprise as a dewy wetness covered his soft tip. She stroked his long shaft, feeling a power she’d never before felt when he continued to groan, pressing deeper into her hand. She wondered if she could bring him to climax as he’d brought her, with her mouth. But before she could do more, he drew her off the bed to her feet, capturing her hands.

"No more, Mara. If you do, I’ll come right now," he said breathlessly, trying to calm himself. Then he lifted her in his arms and took her down the hall to her room. Mara didn’t notice how easily he overrode her security or wonder how he knew which room was hers. She could only think of what more he would show her.

Chapter Five

After setting her down on her feet, he closed and locked the door behind them. Then he quickly stepped out of his trousers and Mara stared in awe at his naked form.

"You’re so beautiful." She reached out to touch him.

"Not half as beautiful as you are," he said softly, aware he spoke the truth. He couldn’t believe how responsive her body was. He had used his Thesha power on her at first to override her resistance to his touch. But after the first few caresses, he stopped trying to overwhelm her mind and focused on her body.

Even now he felt rock hard, reveling in her taste still on his tongue. He sighed and closed his eyes as she ran her hands over his body. He’d been so close to orgasm when she’d run her hand over his cock, so expertly as though she’d done this before.

He opened his eyes and stared down at her. Her eyes had turned a deep black and her need burned into him. He could smell it on her body. She was wet and waiting for him, needing fulfillment that only he could give.

When her hands again found his erection, he let her play, knowing he needed to climax. Later, when he entered her for the first time, he needed to be in complete control. He needed to breach her maidenhead carefully, to give her the maximum pleasure possible.

Though his kind easily controlled women, it was not in their nature to harm. A Thesha could in no way injure another with his gift, not without severe repercussions.

"Why have you stayed a virgin for so long, Mara?" he asked huskily as she stroked him. He removed her long over shirt and stared hungrily from her full breasts to his cock, aroused even more as he watched her touching him.

"How do you know that I am?" Her eyes were intent on what she was doing to him.

She stroked his shaft, cupping his sack underneath, touching his velvet soft skin with such incredible finesse that he felt a sweat break out over his body at the sheer joy she evoked.

"I know," he gasped and pressed into her hands as she increased her pace. "Mara, give me what I need," he groaned and shuddered as she fondled him.

"You’re so hard," she said wondrously as her fingers again grazed his sack, drawn tight so close to climax.

He moaned her name and thrust harder, his hands grasping her shoulders for strength as her touch nearly brought him to his knees.

"Mara, honey, I’m going to come," he gasped, his climax upon him. He cried out her name and pumped into her hands, his seed pulsing over her, shooting against her golden skin again and again. He came so hard his knees buckled and only his hold on Mara kept him upright.

When he opened his eyes he saw her grinning at him, and it was a moment before he could speak. Never before had a woman brought him to such a state. Colors and sounds intensified, and he could actually see Mara’s aura merging with his own. She had actually tapped into his desires and fed them back to him two-fold. An unheard of ability in a woman.

He eyed her with a mixture of awe and wariness as he stumbled to her bed. Focused on his body, she didn’t see his expression as she wiped up his stickiness with her shirt and tossed it to the side. Then she joined him.

"So that’s why my crew is so eager to find a pleasurer." Mara tapped her chin, as if she’d just figured out a puzzle. She looked both innocent and erotic, willingly appearing as both woman and captain for the first time since he’d met her.

Lurin smiled. His wariness faded under the wave of contentment pulsing through him. Stars, he hadn’t felt this good in ages. How had this untried woman bested a Thesha? And yet, she remained a maiden. Thoughts of claiming her had Lurin’s body stirring to life once more.

Theshas had the rare ability to recover from sex almost immediately, making them wonders in the world of pleasure. Hopefully Mara’s innocence about such matters wouldn’t make her curious about his body’s rapid recovery.

Already he felt himself hard again.

"Mara." Lurin stared down at her. "You know I would never hurt you, don’t you?" he asked softly.

She looked bewildered. "I know. I don’t know why I let you free, but I trust you."

"Good," he murmured and leaned over her. "Because now it’s time to surrender to me, Mara. I’m going to give you such pleasure as you’ve ever known," he promised and saw an answering heat in her eyes. He wondered again how this woman could equally match his passion, but lost the thought when her thigh brushed his erection.

He leaned over and made love with her mouth. He had so many delicious things to teach her. He sucked at her tongue, mimicking the actions he would use when he thrust his cock into her pussy. She moaned his name and his heart rate increased. She had a body made for loving.

"Mara, you’ve got the sexiest curves." He sighed and kissed his way down her body. He stopped when he reached her breasts, resting his head on her chest as he looked up at her. "Your breasts are full and heavy." He closed his mouth over one taut peak, sucking greedily at her nipple as he laved it with his tongue.

Mara arched into him moaning his name, and Lurin felt the urge to thrust deep. But he held onto his control and pleasured her breast with his mouth, fondling the other with his hand. Mara squirmed and opened her thighs, needing more from him. He smiled around her nipple, aware of her readiness.

"Do you want me, Mara?"

"Please." She pulled his head up and kissed him desperately, her body moving against his, brushing his cock and making him groan in response.

"Please what?" he gasped. "Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you, sweet," he breathed.

"I want you inside me," she whimpered as he teased her. He rested the tip of his cock against her wet clit, sliding slowly but never giving her too much. The contact made him crazy to have her.

"How much do you want?" he panted, pushing harder against her swollen nub.

"All of you. Lurin, please," she gasped. "Take me now. I need you deep inside me." She squirmed to get closer to him. "I want to feel you come, spurting your seed deep within me," she moaned, grasping for his hips.

Unable to keep still, he pressed deeper into her. Mara’s words compounded his desire and he fought for control. "It won’t hurt, Mara, I promise you," he said, reminding himself to be careful, no matter how much it cost.

Then, with a Thesha’s skill, he thrust deeply inside of her, smoothly penetrating the thin barrier of her virginity. He stilled soon after, giving her body a chance to accustom itself to him. But Mara would have none of it.

"More, Lurin. I need you to move." She pumped her hips, gasping when her clitoris met the ridge of his body.

Lurin could do no less than accommodate her. And he moved in slow, long thrusts that took her right to the edge quickly.

"Mara," he rasped as he pumped into her, unable to stop his building tempo. "This is still only the beginning," he promised, knowing that his destiny was somehow tied to this sexually gifted woman.

She moaned his name and cried out, her arms and sheath tightening around him. Her contractions sucked him deeper and Lurin soon found himself following her into the abyss, lost in her warm body. He groaned and continued to thrust, her body milking him of every drop of his orgasm.

He stilled, finally, feeling as if he’d run for days, his heart racing like mad. He kissed her, satisfied beyond measure when she kissed him back. He felt whole, suddenly aware that before Mara, he’d been missing something.

She’s changed me.

Panic swelled within him, clouding the contentment he’d been given.

Lurin had been with many women in his lifetime. But none had ever given him more satisfaction than he’d given them. The lure of a Thesha was that he was sexually gifted, able to bring any woman to orgasm again and again without pause. But as he lay here with Mara, Lurin felt different. He felt tired, but more than that, he felt complete.

And it scared him to death.

Trust did not come easily to his kind. Should word of his existence come out, he would be a hunted man for the rest of his existence. Unable to fully share himself with a woman, he settled for pleasures of the flesh, fulfilling surface desires while hiding his aloneness.

After one coupling with Mara, he wanted to share his secrets, to truly belong with another. He sighed and rolled his eyes at his crazy thoughts. A short time ago he’d been imprisoned on her ship. Did he really think she’d accept the truth about him, when her first concern was turning him in for a fee?

Mara murmured something he couldn’t make out. Then she tightened her hold on him and fell asleep.

He couldn’t help hugging her close, nor could he stop himself from kissing the top of her head tenderly, even knowing how foolishly he behaved. Mara held some sway over his heart, and he told himself he needed distance to figure out his odd attraction.

Feeling her in his arms, however, dissuaded the notion of distance. Despite his unease, he resolved to push the worries of tomorrow aside. The situation with Nobless Cari would keep, as would the puzzle of Mara Seni.

For now, he would be smart to take advantage of the rare pleasure in her arms. He figured he still had some time before the rest of her crew returned. And he planned on using that time to further educate Mara in the art of sexual loving. But for now he lay and watched her sleep, unable to stop the threads of affection from growing and wrapping around her.

* * * *

"Are we ready to board, Captain?"

"Yes, my lady," Captain Gren answered with a bow. Lady Sara didn’t see the disgust in the mercenary’s eyes as he stared at her, nor the lust-filled gazes of the crew she’d recently commandeered.

Soon I’ll have my own Thesha, she thought hungrily. And I’m not sharing with my mother. Not this time. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened into a grimace. She might already be enjoying Lurin Vez had her mother not interfered. Damn the bitch!

Sara knew what to look for. It was she who had first spied the telltale birthmark on Lurin’s bare body glistening in the guest bath. After that, she’d paid keen attention to his effect on the women in her household. To a woman, every female relative, guest and servant had reacted predictably, fairly throwing themselves at the man.

But what a man. She sighed with pleasure recalling how finely built, how deliciously hard Lurin had been. Oh, he may have feigned disgust under her touch, but she knew he’d liked it. If only her mother hadn’t caught wind of her plans.

She pondered her mother’s involvement and shook her head, her eyes lighting as realization dawned. Of course! Lurin had undoubtedly been disgusted with Cari Elaran, not with Sara, the obviously more attractive and younger of the two.

Smiling, she glanced up to see the captain engaged in a low murmur of conversation with one of the men she’d appropriated for this mission. As far as her mother knew, Sara needed an entire contingent of warriors to see her safely to a neighboring planet to foster good relations.

"Good relations indeed," Sara fairly purred.

"My lady?" Captain Gren regarded her with that dismissive green-eyed stare that irritated her to no end. She would give a quarter of her inheritance to fuck the deliciously wicked captain, while he looked at her as if she was no better than one of the common whores littering the docks of the royal city.

"I wasn’t speaking to you, Captain." She glared at him and he turned away with a shrug.

If she hadn’t been so determined to keep this mission a secret from her mother, she would have kept Captain Feord on to lead the men. But Feord was nothing more than her mother’s bootlicking lackey.

It had taken no more than a few hours of mundane sex to assure Captain Feord that he was better off staying on leave. She had easily convinced him that Gren had the full support of the Nobless.

Sara eyed Gren as he finished making ready the boarding party. He made a striking figure. Tall and dark, his piercing eyes seemed to stare through her, simultaneously aggravating her and making her wet. Much as she longed to take a whip to his arrogant back, she couldn’t help speculating on his sexual prowess.

Her gaze traveled down his billowy shirt to the form-hugging trousers he wore as he walked toward her. Her mouth watered as she noted the long, thick bulge that lay between his thighs. Gren had an enormously large cock.

"No."

The harsh word brought her gaze to his face.

"Pardon me?" she asked icily.

"No. My job is to assist you in the capture of a missing prisoner. Nothing more."

The arrogant ass! "I don’t believe I asked you for anything else."

"In some things, words aren’t necessary." He curled his lip in disgust and left the bridge.

"Bastard." Sara seethed, the only thing keeping her from imprisoning and torturing the contemptuous captain the fact that no one had overheard his disrespect. If she didn’t need Gren’s expertise so much ... but no matter. Soon enough the job would be over, and then Gren would pay, and pay dearly.

Just the thought of torturing the brute made her clit hard, and she rubbed herself with excitement. Striding from the bridge, she grabbed the first warrior in her path.

"Inform Captain Gren that we stand by until I give the order."

He nodded and left in search of Gren. Sara walked further down the hall and found what she was looking for. Two burly warriors stood together in the hallway conferring over the mission.

"You two, come with me."

She liked the way they looked at her. Unlike Gren, these warriors stared at her with lust and approval. Predictable men, they were easy pickings. She entered her room with them close on her heels. Once inside, she closed the door behind them. With a grace and speed that clearly showed her practice in such matters, Sara stepped out of her clothing and reclined on the bed.

"I want it now, and I want it rough."

In their haste, the men ripped their clothing off, their cocks bobbing with excitement. Sara enjoyed her sexual standing among the men in House Elaran, and she’d been working these particular warriors since she’d boarded the ship three days ago.

Rising on all fours, she licked her lips, closed her eyes and groaned when a hard cock rammed up her ass. Then she opened her mouth wider to accommodate the cock being shoved against her lips. Lost in the experience, she imagined Lurin and Gren fucking her from both ends instead of the sweating beasts pumping like mad.

* * * *

Captain Gren frowned and nodded upon receiving Sara’s message. Dismissing the messenger, he stalked to the galley, bypassing several men wagering on Lady Sara’s voracious appetite.

Considering he’d missed the last two meals in order to maintain control over this motley, undisciplined group of cutthroat "royal soldiers," Gren decided that if Lady Sara thought she had enough time to fuck two more crewmen, he certainly had enough time to eat.

He sat alone, glaring at the men nearest him and sending them scuttling to the safety of the far tables. Apparently his reputation preceded him, in addition to the fact that he’d broken a crewman’s arm the first day. The little bastard had thought to cry mutiny. On the first day!

Gren thanked his stars continually that this position was only temporary.

A fight broke out among the crew in the hallway, disturbing his fragile peace. Deciding to let them kill each other, he focused again on his food.

Pinching the bridge of his nose to stifle the headache gathering, he swallowed the unappetizing fare on his plate, needing its bolstering strength, and resolved to see this mission through to the end.

Sara bedamned. Nobless Cari was counting on him. Not to mention the others.

Chapter Six

Mara sighed and snuggled deeper into the mattress. Though she didn’t normally sleep on her stomach, she couldn’t deny the comfort or the strange warmth stealing through her.

Still foggy with sleep, she didn’t at first register how wet and needy she felt. Something pressed her down even as a hand spread her thighs further apart. She turned her head and would have closed her legs when a feather-light touch caressed her clit, sending her pulse racing.

She blinked as the world began to focus despite the buzzing in her ears. Then a moist tongue traced her earlobe and thrust deep into her ear.

She bucked against the male form lying atop her, needing more than his tongue.

"Shh, be easy, sweet," Lurin whispered seductively. His breath caressed her sensitive neck and she arched up against him, eager to feel more of his body.

Acceding her demands, he pressed his hot cock between her buttocks, rolling and gyrating between them, as if teasing himself as much as he teased her.

"More, Lurin," she murmured throatily.

He chuckled, a dark sound that vibrated through her loins and pierced her heart. Stars but he felt good, better than anything she might have fantasized.

He lay completely on top of her, allowing her to feel all of his weight. At first she felt smothered and found it hard to breathe. But as she opened her mouth to object, he quickly nudged her thighs further apart and thrust into her, levying on his elbows to defer his weight.

"Ah yeah, sweet. Tight, so tight." He rocked harder, pounding into her and thrilling her with his groans of satisfaction.

He slowed and reached one hand around her waist, down through her dark curls. His fingers questing for her plump nub, when he found it, he pinched and toyed with her until her walls were slick with want.

"You’re so wet. I want you to come all over me when I explode in you," he gasped. Suddenly he stopped, and keeping the connection, shifted and pulled her up onto her hands and knees.

"Much better."

She silently agreed. He returned to fondling her clit, but this time instead of thrusting hard into her, he slowly slid all the way in before pulling out one inch at a time. Again and again, he thrust with excruciating slowness while he rolled her clitoris.

"Lurin, you’re torturing me." She tried but couldn’t get him to move any faster. The knot of tension spread out from her loins, consuming her in a burning fire that grew brighter and hotter.

Reaching through her legs, she urged his hand to move quicker, fitting his fingers over her clit with more pressure.

"Is that what you need, love?" he asked, his voice gritty with pleasure.

"Yes," she hissed, and reaching past his hand she fondled his sack, feeling the taut globes tight with desire. At her touch, his thrusts increased. No longer slow, they were fast, hard and deep.

The pounding of his cock and the pinching of her clit were too much and soon she was crying out his name as she climaxed, her sheath clamped around him in ecstatic surrender.

He continued to pump, his thrusts prolonging the rapture, until he too cried out. With a deep push he shot inside her, his body shuddering as he came hard.

Moments later they remained joined as they panted for breath. Mara could feel Lurin’s large hands fondling her buttocks as his still hard cock flexed inside her.

Amazed, she glanced over her shoulder and saw his lips curl, his eyes slumberous.

"Lurin?" Though she’d never experienced sex with anyone but Lurin, she had heard enough to know men didn’t normally have his stamina.

"I can’t help it, Mara." He began thrusting again, and to her surprise, her body responded. "With you I can’t stop wanting."

He paused and flipped her onto her back, then he mounted her and rode her fast, coming within her moments before she came.

Limp now, Mara could only stare up at him in wonder. As before, sex between them stirred something in her that made her question everything. Like a weakness invading her mind, thoughts of Lurin consumed her.

"Who are you, Lurin?" she couldn’t help but ask.

He gazed down at her, his eyes enshrouded in mystery. The bright blue of his gaze reminded her of the electric bursts on Mardu, ruptures of energy that blazed so brightly they lit up the sky for miles.

"I think the question is, who are you, Mara Seni?" Lurin asked, his mood sobering as he stared at her.

Not wanting to but feeling the need for some distance, Lurin withdrew from her warmth and immediately knew a sense of loss. Steeling himself against the urge to sink back into her body, to burrow deeper and deeper until he reached her soul, Lurin searched for his answer in her eyes.

Dark and fathomless, Mara’s gaze possessed as many secrets as he himself held. Shocked at the thought, Lurin belatedly realized he hadn’t thought to use his Thesha skills to persuade Mara to bed him. The little vixen had drawn him well enough on her own. And the ties between them grew stronger.

"What?" Mara levered up on her elbows and leaned away. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like I’m some kind of alien species you’re trying to figure out. I’m a woman and it’s called sex, Lurin," she quipped in a derisive tone, sounding every inch the imperious captain.

Lurin narrowed his gaze. "You want to play ‘captain’ now, sweet? But it’s a little late to chain me, don’t you think?" he purred.

The closeness between them vanished as if it had never been, and suddenly Mara looked angry.

His cock stirred, the unruly beast, and Lurin had to fight from fucking her again. This time it would be hard and possessive, to establish dominance, to establish right. As much as he knew he could make her want it, he wouldn’t take her that way.

No. With Mara it was all or nothing. She had to want him freely or the sex would be empty. Just thinking such thoughts made Lurin want to throw something. Since when did he care about sex feeling "empty"?

"Like I give a shit," he murmured, glaring down at her. I have enough problems to deal with.

"Excuse me?" Mara’s anger intensified into outrage.

"Oh hell, never mind." He rolled off the bed and searched for his trousers. In the midst of donning his pants, he looked up to see Mara dressed in a large shirt, holding a phaser pointed directly at his heart.

"I have several questions you’re going to answer. First though, I’d like you to explain that last comment, prisoner Vez." Her voice sounded even though her eyes shot daggers at him.

"Prisoner?" His eyes blazed. The little witch! Without regard to her weapon, he advanced until the phaser kissed his chest. "I can imprison you with the whisper of a promise, sweet," he said silkily, menace filling his words.

He stared at her, connected with her on another plane and suddenly he was Thesha, glorying in his power once more. Mara swayed and her phaser dropped to the floor.

"No, sweet," he whispered and kissed her, ravaging her mouth, invading her essence with his own. "You belong to me. You’re my prisoner."

Lost in his gaze, Mara nevertheless recognized his authority. Her will yielded and she struggled, but could gain no foothold on her ability to focus, to hold a straight thought. Images, scents and the feel of Lurin saturated her mind, both frightening and exciting her.

"Kiss me," she demanded, when what she really wanted was to punch him.

He smirked, an expression of curled lips and blank eyes that made her cold inside. When he kissed her, the heat of his touch in contrast with the emptiness of his action scared her all the more.

"Don’t you like it, Mara?" He licked at his lips and kissed her again, harder, punishing. Then he broke away and swore. "Hell, I don’t like it." He thrust her from him and suddenly the strange compulsion to kiss him faded. He thrust his hands through his hair, looking frustrated despite the bulge growing in his trousers.

Stars but they’d made love enough times that the man should have been unable to get hard. "How is that possible?" she couldn’t help but ask, pointing to his groin. Then the unexpected happened. She felt herself growing wet in response to his erection, regardless of the fact that she felt angry and a bit afraid of his power over her.

"You don’t want to know." He gave her a dark look and stalked to the portal showing deep space and a glimpse of Nebe6. "When will your crew return?"

Mara blinked. "Ah," she looked around for her timepiece and spying it, put it on. "They should be back in another few hours." He glanced at her with surprise, and Mara cursed her stupidity for telling the truth.

"Really? Then I suppose we have some time to kill. What will we do to wear away the hours?" His words were suggestive but the glint in his eyes told her he was baiting her.

She took the bait, anger clouding her better sense. "I don’t know what you did to me, but it’s not going to happen again. The sex was good, but it’s over now." Who am I kidding?

His lips tightened into a grim line. "Good? Come now, Mara. You can admit the sex was spectacular. That’s one particular area I’ve never had any problem with."

She blushed. She couldn’t help it. Captain of her own ship, a professional bounty hunter, and angry as a raider, yet she blushed.

He laughed when he saw it, and the darkness clouding his expression eased. "Good. For a minute there I wondered where the woman in Captain Mara had gone."

"She’s right here," she said through clenched teeth. How had this man, this irritating clod, made her lose her mind to passion? She’d never heard of a telepath having such skills. It defied explanation, unless he was ... Thesha? Where the notion came from she had no idea, but she dismissed it as she stared at him.

No, Lurin was no Thesha. They didn’t exist. The mind trick he’d just pulled, getting her to free him from his cell, those were stunts a clever telepath might know. If he were Thesha, he’d be able to control everything she said and did, according to legend. Just the thought of being so powerless sent a chill through her blood.

Lurin continued to stare at her, his gaze no longer bright and shining but shuttered.

"So what now, Captain Mara? You don’t honestly expect me to go back to my cell in shackles to await Nobless Cari’s justice, do you?"

Mara sank onto the bed and kept a cautious eye on Lurin. "No, I don’t. But I don’t plan on setting you free, either." He eyed the phaser she’d dropped on the floor near the bed.

Spectacular sex or no, Mara commanded everyone on board her vessel. And technically, Lurin was still her prisoner. She eyed her phaser, then Lurin. "Don’t even think about it."

"I’m not." He scowled and sank into a nearby chair. After a moment of silence, Lurin stared at her with an intensity she found unnerving. "What do you want from me, Mara?" Strangely enough, he looked as puzzled and put out about the whole situation as she felt.

"I’m not sure," she paused, searching for an answer. I want you to make love to me. I want you to fill the empty spaces within me. Make me into the sensual, loving woman I know I can be. Ignoring her innermost desires as she had for most of her life, she fell back on the job. It was so much safer. "Why don’t we focus on your case with Nobless Cari?"

He shrugged, and she could tell that though he’d asked the question, he too wanted to avoid discussing what existed between them.

"What possible reason could the Nobless have for putting a bounty on your head? Jaron law took responsibility for you the moment you killed--allegedly killed--" she forestalled his interruption, "Master Denal. No matter what you saw in the woods, your word won’t stand up to that of the Nobless, not on Elaran land. So why did she hire me to capture you?"

"I don’t know why she hired you." He looked confused but Mara sensed something amiss with his answer.

"She’s offering me a great deal of currency for you," Mara offered. Lurin gave her an innocent look. Damn. He was holding back.

"Tell me the truth, Lurin."

"I did already. What? You want a more detailed accounting of Sara’s rendezvous in the woods? Why don’t I show you instead?" he suggested and nodded at his groin. "I’m ready for it if you are."

And that was another problem. She was more than ready for him, again. Mara clenched her thighs together but unfortunately Lurin saw, for he stood slowly and began fondling himself.

"Come, Mara. Our little argument’s stirred me." He stroked himself through his trousers and his gaze probed hers. That quickly, Mara’s nipples pebbled, craving his touch.

Determined to remain aloof, to prove that she didn’t want or need him, she shook her head.

He grinned at her challenge and neared the bed. She remained seated, and his groin reached her at eye level. He stopped in front of her and pushed his trousers down, exposing his gloriously hard cock to her gaze.

Mara’s mouth watered and she was unable to tear her eyes away. She heard his breathing quicken and watched as his hand moved faster, reveling in the feel of her eyes upon him.

"So you don’t need me, Mara?"

He pumped up and down, squeezing and rubbing his cock in front of her face. He was close enough to taste, came the traitorous thought, and she licked her lips.

He groaned and worked faster, teasing her.

"You know you want this," he rasped. "I can smell your need, Mara. Go ahead, touch yourself. Tell me you aren’t wet, drowning for me."

Pumping his cock with one hand, he used his other to force her hand down between her thighs. Unable to resist, she pushed the over shirt aside and began rubbing her clit, smoothing through the thick folds of her sex.

"That’s it, sweet," he urged breathlessly, his cock impossibly hard. He removed his hand from his cock and she could see him pulsing, his throbbing rod waving in front of her, begging her to taste. "Put your finger inside your slick pussy," he ordered.

She did and his cock seemed to swell. She could see a drop of moisture beading at the tip.

"Yes, sweet." He watched her fingering herself and began pumping again. "I’m going to come all over you," he whispered, "but it won’t be as good as when I come in you."

Staring at her mouth, he seemed to read her mind. "Want a little taste?"

He looked impossibly large, swollen and thick, and Mara needed to taste him. He guided his cock to her lips and she licked him from his tip to the base of his shaft. Salty and sweet, and impossibly male.

"I want to fuck your mouth so badly," he groaned and held himself as she licked him. She drew out the contact and he shuddered.

"No more," he rasped and began pumping his cock in a frenzy.

Mara was beside herself. Seeing him pleasure himself and tasting him while fingering her clit stimulated her beyond control. She came suddenly in a rush. Lurin followed soon after, jerking so that his cum saturated her over shirt, his seed clinging to her breasts and stomach through the thin linen.

Sated yet unfulfilled, Mara knew the experience fell short of full bodily contact with Lurin. But stubborn, she refused to submit to him again. She didn’t know why he’d turned from an exquisitely sensual lover to a cold, callous man. And she tried to convince herself she didn’t care.

Catching her breath, she watched as his cock slowly went limp. Reaching down, he pulled up and fastened his trousers.

He said nothing but she could feel his gaze on her as she shrugged out of her shirt and dressed in clean clothing and boots. She kept her phaser close and tucked it into her belt when fully dressed. Still Lurin said nothing.

Uncomfortable under his knowing gaze, Mara opened her mouth when a sudden jarring knocked both Lurin and her forward.

"What the hell was that?" Lurin stared at her in shock.

Feeling just as surprised, she raced to the portal and looked out. Then she gripped her phaser and moved to the door.

"We’re being boarded, and it’s not my crew."

Chapter Seven

Conscious that Lurin wore a pair of trousers and nothing more, Mara sent him to Nu’s room, where she knew he’d find clothes to fit. Without waiting for him, she hurried to the bridge, knowing she had little time.

"Who do you think they are?" Lurin asked as he caught up with her.

"I don’t know. They’re too quiet for pirates, and if they were law they’d have signaled first." She ran a quick scan on the docking vessel. "Standard warship," she muttered in frustration.

A grating whine, the sound of metal hulls scraping together, alerted them both to the impending boarding of an unknown enemy.

"It’s got to be Nobless Cari." Lurin glared at the console outlining the warship.

"That makes no sense." Mara shook her head, fighting impatience. "As far as she knows, I’m just a few short days from delivering you into her keeping. Why would she interfere now?"

"To get out of her fee, maybe?"

"No." Mara clutched her weapon. "But we can reason the who’s and why’s later. Right now we have to prepare for a fight."

"A fight?" Lurin stared incredulously from Mara’s determined gaze to the console. "You’re kidding, right? It’s the two of us against a warship carrying any number of warriors. And you don’t even trust me with a weapon."

Mara opened her mouth to argue but couldn’t refute his logic. "Good point." She handed him her phaser.

Her skin felt tingly and her blood pounded through her veins. She could feel the adrenaline kicking into high gear at thoughts of the upcoming battle, as well as a rush of nerves. Reminding herself not to glory in the adrenaline high, she focused on calm and reason.

Reaching into a concealed weapons stash, she grabbed another phaser and two battle knives, handing one to Lurin.

"Just in case."

He nodded.

"This is my ship and I’ll be damned if I’ll give her up. We’ll take them one at time through the stairwell. It’s the only obvious pathway to this deck of the ship. There’s no way they can know about the crew entrance hidden on the port side."

She ran out of the bridge, figuring they had little time to do more than stage themselves.

"Wait." Lurin grabbed her shoulder, effectively halting her. She turned impatiently. "A kiss for luck."

The most incredible thing happened then. He kissed her deeply, and Mara felt a subtle heat infuse her body, a heat curiously different from the sensual haze he usually stoked.

Her heart seemed to stop, then began pounding as if she’d just finished a race. She could feel a subtle difference inside of her, as if a part of Lurin now dwelled within her blood. She stared up at him, for the first time truly questioning if Lurin Vez was more than a telepath.

"Be safe," he ordered. His eyes lit brilliantly before they calmed into a flat, navy blue, a color unlike any he’d worn before.

Still staring, she had to forcibly close her mouth and move into her position. She and Lurin lay prone at the top of the stairwell, each peering over the ledge to the floor of the second deck below. The inner seal of the docking wall had been breached, and already Mara could see several warriors in royal Elaran yellow combing the floor.

She and Lurin sat at an angle to one another, allowing their fields of fire to cover much of the second deck, with Lurin’s attention on the actual stairway and hers on the floor itself.

She prayed they wouldn’t do too much damage to her ship while defending it.

"Here they come," Lurin murmured.

Surprised, Mara watched uneasily as a gaggle of warriors approached the stairway in a rather unbalanced affront. They moved without precision or discipline, and she wondered if the uniforms they wore were real or just an artifice to confuse the wary.

Lurin fired first, and a man went down. Return fire immediately ensued and Mara had her hands full protecting her position while firing on the others that appeared from out of nowhere.

Where the hell had those dozen men come from?

She felled another man, suddenly realizing that her phaser had been set to high stun.

"Damn it."

Lurin continued to fire. "What’s wrong?"

"I’ve been stunning these men. That’s okay as long as they’re not here for more than a few hours."

"Great." Lurin swore and fired again. "Are you noticing that men seem to be appearing out of nowhere here?"

"I noticed." A shot singed her shoulder and she scowled at the warrior who fired at her. Curiously the wound didn’t hurt, but she was too worried about the disappearing enemy to wonder about it.

"And we’re so glad you noticed," a deep voice sounded from above her.

Before she could move, a blade pressed against the side of her jaw. "Freeze or I’ll cut your throat. You too, Vez. One move and she’s dead."

Odd that the man used a threat against her to stay Lurin. Odder still that the threat worked. Their weapons were kicked away.

"On your feet," the deep voice rumbled. "Turn around slowly."

With their hands on their heads in a show of universal surrender, Mara and Lurin turned to greet this new threat. Lurin stepped closer to Mara, subtly positioning himself between her and the giant of a man smirking at them.

"How touching." The slash of what probably passed as a smile didn’t reach his cold, jade green eyes. "Loverboy’s protective."

Several men around them laughed, and Mara wondered at their sudden presence. The warriors surrounded her and Lurin, but she hadn’t heard them mount the stairs and she hadn’t seen them near her crew’s hidden stairwell either.

She’d hit at least seven of the enemy, who still lay unconscious on the lower deck. Lurin had a slew of men littered on the stairway. So where had everyone come from?

"I’ve got ways around teleport-blockers," the man holding the blade answered her unspoken question.

Mara gritted her teeth. She’d spent a lot on those blockers, assured that they were the latest in technology. There was no use now hoping for her crew to arrive. If the Fas brothers and Catam showed, they’d no doubt be captured by the warriors wandering freely on her ship.

"So what do you want then?" Mara glared at the man facing her. At least he’d lowered his blade.

He stood as tall as Lurin, and she grudgingly acknowledged his rugged features as attractive. But whereas Lurin’s face had a sensual cast, much of the sensuality in this man was overlaid by the cruelty in his gaze.

His scarred hand holding his blade attested to battle experience, as did the muscular frame filling his Elaran uniform. Mara noted his rank, something about him didn’t fit with the rest of the thugs infesting her ship. He seemed too controlled, too intense.

"Let her go," Lurin interrupted the silence that had settled. "It’s me you want."

"Actually no," the captain mused. "I don’t want you, but my employer does. She," he drawled with a nod to Mara, "is a small part of my payment." He flashed white and even teeth from a mean smile.

The men surrounding them were no match for Lurin’s speed. With a surprise lunge, he knocked the captain to the floor. Mara instinctively moved forward to help Lurin but was grabbed on either side by Elaran soldiers.

On top of the captain and taking advantage of the fact, Lurin landed two hard blows before the captain bucked him off.

The men around them cheered and Mara realized no one intended to stop the fight. At least Lurin had a fair chance at winning. As soon as she thought it, she saw her error.

Lurin was by no means a small or inept fighter, but the captain obviously lived to brawl. He moved with a grace that belied his size. And his coordinated punches and kicks flowed like a lethal dance.

He countered every punch and kick Lurin threw. Oddly enough, he did little more than block Lurin’s attacks. Mara kept waiting for him to engage but he kept curiously distant, as if not wanting to hurt his opponent.

Lurin must have noted as well, for his eyes narrowed into brilliant pinpoints of blue light as he studied his adversary. He chanced a brief look at Mara out of the corner of his eye, and gave his opponent the opportunity he needed.

The captain took advantage of Lurin’s lapse and shot forward with a sharp blow, aiming for Lurin’s throat. Lurin, however, anticipated the move for he easily dodged the attack and swept low, knocking the captain once more off his feet.

The constant cheering grew ominously silent. The captain, however, surprised everyone. Instead of leaping to his feet to continue the fight, he laughed, a hearty chuckle at odds with his stark manner.

Mara shared a baffled glance with Lurin. When she looked back at the captain, he was eyeing them both with a speculation that unnerved her. Unsure what came next, Mara blinked when the captain shot Lurin with a phaser that appeared out of nowhere.

She froze, unable to believe Lurin could be dead. Everything inside of her rebelled at the very thought. Then the captain nudged Lurin’s crumpled body with his boot and she heard a low groan of pain. She couldn’t help the relieved breath that escaped.

"Take Vez to the Lady," he ordered the men nearest him. "And be easy as you guide him back. Too many marks on him and she’ll transfer the pain all too readily to the one responsible."

"Aye, Captain Gren." The men dragged Lurin away, leaving Gren and a few others behind.

Captain Gren watched until Lurin disappeared into his ship before turning to Mara. She tried to wrench free from the warriors holding her, with no success. No doubt she’d have bruises later, as tight as they were gripping her arms.

Gren glared at the men and they immediately released her. "You’re a very special woman, Captain Mara Seni," he rumbled. His eyes looked like shards of green glass, clear and sharp. "You get to fill my nights with pleasure."

She couldn’t explain it, but suddenly she felt his interest, and an odd lust filled the very air she breathed. It was ridiculous, she knew. She was no empath, had no telepathic abilities whatsoever. Gren stared at her intently, as if waiting for some reaction from her. And she knew he had somehow invaded her mind.

She mentally compared him to Lurin. In size and strength they were equal, but Gren didn’t make her feel what Lurin did. She grudgingly admitted feeling drawn to Gren on a purely physical level. The man had a rough, sexual presence that he wore like a cloak, much like Lurin.

But Gren was not Lurin.

Lurin had never seemed like a criminal. Her first impression of him had been that some mistake had been made. Gren, on the other hand, looked every inch a black-hearted killer for hire.

"Why so quiet, Mara?" Gren’s eyes narrowed. "Missing your strapping prisoner so soon? Don’t worry, Sara will take good care of him."

"Lady Sara?" He couldn’t be talking about her employer’s daughter.

"She didn’t get enough of him the last time. I do believe she intends to fuck him the entire way to Jaron." The men around them laughed and Mara saw red. Cursing, she flew at Gren, reaching for the spot just under his ear that would render him unconscious. Then she would grab his phaser and....

As if he read her mind, he sidestepped her attack and swiftly shackled her arms behind her back. As much as she struggled, his hold was unbreakable.

"You’re so predictable, Mara," Gren murmured and ran a callused finger over her cheek. "But I like them feisty." Then he ripped a hand through her shirt, baring her breasts to his gaze.

"Take her now, Cap’," one voice cried.

"Fuck her hard, show her who’s boss."

"Aye, then leave us seconds, Cap. We’re your men," whined another.

Fury and terror warred in Mara’s heart. Gren didn’t respond to his men. His eyes remained glued to hers. When he cupped her breast and toyed with her nipple, she found to her horror that it peaked in response. Lust consumed her, and her body welcomed his touch while her mind shrieked at her to abhor it.

"Ah, yes, my lady captain," Gren murmured. "You’re very fortunate indeed."

She opened her mouth to protest, vaguely aware of the lewd comments and lust-filled gazes of those around them. A sudden haze enveloped her and she struggled to think clearly. She had a vague impression of having experienced this feeling before. Then blackness consumed her, and she thought nothing more.

* * * *

Damn, the urge to fuck her was strong. Way too strong. Gren hefted the woman over his shoulder and teleported them both back to his ship. He checked with Sara’s chief and found that the rest of the men were boarding.

"Let me know when we’re set to go," Gren ordered. "And position two men outside my door. Lex and Shan should do."

The chief nodded and Gren left in search of his room. He passed several warriors and noted the interested glances thrown to the delectable prisoner over his shoulder.

He gripped her ass to hold her in place, and his hand burned where he touched her, aching to feel the warm, pink flesh beneath the clothes. He quickened his pace and finally entered his room.

"Hell." He dumped her unceremoniously in the middle of his bed and cursed again when her ripped shirt revealed two luscious, coral tipped breasts. "I should get a medal for this."

Unable to resist, he closed his eyes and released his mortal flesh. Hovering over her, he touched with his mind, forming a bond with Mara’s subconscious while preserving Lurin’s claim on the woman.

He really shouldn’t take such liberties, but hell, he was Thesha, after all. And sex was as necessary to his kind as breathing. Justifying his actions, he palmed one of her luscious breasts, and felt her hard nipple score through his thoughts to his physical flesh.

He floated above her, studying her, trying to figure out what made her so different from other women. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he could sense her perfection, could almost see it glowing from within her.

Shaking his head at Lurin’s luck, he gently kissed her on the forehead. But the taste of her sent shivers through his body, and helpless, he closed his mouth around the taut peak of an aroused breast.

Her skin was as smooth as Taury silk, her taste like the finest Kaeyon wine. She had his cock stiff and hurting from the spiritual bonding, and he closed his eyes, reveling in her scent and taste.

To imagine physically joining her ... then he caught a familiar masculine scent and blinked. Shit. What the hell was he doing?

With a groan Gren drew back into his body. He was throbbing, needing release, and more than anything he wanted a warm woman. He was getting damned tired of his hand.

Before he let his baser instincts rule, he grabbed a blanket and tossed it over Mara’s naked breasts. Trusting in his discipline, he readjusted himself in his trousers and breathed deeply, searching for calm. He glared from Mara to his erection, willing his stiff member to subside.

"That’s all I need. A cock that won’t quit around Lady Sara."

Just the mention of Sara’s name had him flaccid in no time. He shook his head and bound Mara to the bed. His mind probe would have her unconscious for as long as it took to placate Sara and check on Lurin.

Little enough time had passed that Sara could have harmed her prisoner. But she was a creative woman, and with enough time and opportunity, he had no doubt Sara would find a way to enslave Lurin Vez, her new pet Thesha.

Gren left his room with a warning to the two guards outside his door.

"If anyone save me enters these quarters, your lives are forfeit."

They nodded vigorously and stared straight ahead. From the rabble he was forced to use as crew, the two he left to guard Mara were the best he had.

Again cursing the fate that had him working for the Nobless, Gren stalked to Lady Sara’s quarters and entered without permission.

He grimaced at the sight that met his eyes. Sara and Vendon, her closest advisor, were in deep conversation overlooking Lurin on Sara’s bed. He lay on his back naked, his hands and feet spread wide and tied to the four posts of her bed.

"I can’t believe you did it," Vendon twittered, rubbing his bald head. He looked like the small concubines that inhabited Rasha 12, the pleasure moon in the fifth quadrant. With painted lips and rouged cheeks, Vendon’s artifice only accentuated his effeminate build.

He glanced up and his eyes brightened when he saw Gren. Holding in a snort of disgust, Gren nodded curtly to both Vendon and Sara, ignoring the wicked gleam in Vendon’s eyes.

"Captain Gren, what a pleasure. I was hoping you would come," Vendon dripped with sexual invitation. Sara smirked and batted her eyes at Gren, her stare openly carnal, worrying him.

"I was just telling Vendon what a superb job you’ve done, Captain Gren." Gone was the shrill little bitch that’d threatened him earlier. And his guard rose another few notches. "You deserve a reward."

"I’m receiving payment for this job."

"Something more is in order, wouldn’t you say, Vendon?"

The man licked his lips and Gren did his best to ignore him. He had to get Lurin safely back to Jaron before this farce could end.

"Just what did you have in mind, Lady Sara?" Gren probed cautiously.

She twisted a lock of red hair around her fingers as she regarded him with interest. Vendon positively drooled.

"Since Vez won’t regain consciousness for another few hours, I have no one to play with now."

Gren felt sweat break out on his brow. His encounter with Mara was still too fresh, and the images Sara unknowingly projected were so strong he couldn’t control his erection.

"See, Captain Gren? You do like me," she said with a throaty laugh.

With her and Vendon’s attention on him, they didn’t see Lurin’s eyes flicker open. He blinked and his gaze caught Gren’s.

Don’t move and for star’s sake close your eyes! Gren sent him.

Immediately Lurin shut his eyes and resumed slow, deep breaths. Why didn’t you tell me you were one of us?

"Captain? Is something wrong?"

Gren needed to focus. Vendon was almost on top of him and the sybarite’s hands were an inch from touching his chest.

"I’m fine." Gren’s voice sounded gritty and he hoped they chalked the tone to lust. Sara seemed pleased. She smiled and began to disrobe.

"I’m so happy we’re all in agreement then." Vendon said as he focused on Gren’s swelling cock.

Helpless to the desires surging in the room, Gren was unable to control his libido. He felt on fire, and without some relief soon he might very well succumb to Vendon. That thought shook him and forced him to focus.

"Vendon, get out," he ordered.

Vendon pouted but Sara laughed and shooed him out the door.

"You can play with him when I’m done, I promise," she whispered loudly. "But only if...." she finished too quietly for him to hear.

Gren wondered just what Lady Sara thought she could wheedle out of Vendon.

"I’ll hold you to that," Vendon said and with pursed lips, stalked out the door.

Once it closed, Sara unfastened the rest of her garments and stepped out of them toward Gren.

Disgusted by her avarice and ill intent, he nevertheless needed what she offered. You owe me big for this, Lurin. Her hands made quick work of his trousers and she was grabbing him, exclaiming over his size and girth. But underneath the raw sex, her malicious spirit tainted him, repulsing him as her aura bled over into his.

I’m sorry, Lurin sent. I won’t forget this. If I was in better shape, I’d....

Gren lost the rest of Lurin’s words as Sara’s mouth engulfed him.

Chapter Eight

Mara woke in an awkward position. She lay on her back, her arms drawn over her head and tied to a post in the corner of a large bed. She twisted and felt a rough cloth over her breasts.

"What in the world?"

As she recalled the preceding events leading to her capture, she had a vague sense of soft yet burning lips over her breast, of an ecstatic heat and a merging of desire. But it faded the more she thought on it, and she could only be glad she wore the rest of her clothes.

At least that bastard Gren hadn’t raped her yet. Struggling against her bonds, she didn’t notice when the door opened.

"Welcome to your new home, at least, for the next few days." Gren stood over her, his arms akimbo. He looked haggard and had a strange glow, and she wondered if he was using one of the many illegal substances that floated through the system.

"What do you want, Gren?"

"I want…." He paused and sank onto the bed next to her. He either didn’t notice or he ignored her cringe. Instead he rested his head in his hands and breathed deeply. Then he looked into her eyes.

The room seemed to tilt and he seemed to sway. The next thing she knew she was no longer tied, sitting up in the bed with the blanket around her and he was rubbing her arms.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?" she asked and licked at her lips, conscious of a great thirst.

"Don’t move." He left her side and returned quickly. But she had no energy to do more than lift her hand to her head.

"Did you drug me? Is this how you get your kicks? By drugging and raping unwilling women?" She tried to sound harsh but her words emerged in a croak. She greedily drank the water he gave her before wondering if she’d done something foolish. What if he’d drugged the water?

Seeing her suspicions, Gren laughed and stood, looking much more like the man who’d captured her than the tired man a few moments before.

"I wish I’d met you before Lurin."

Her eyes flew to his. "Lurin? How is he? Where is he? What have you done to him?"

Had she the energy she’d stand up and wallop him. As it was she concentrated on sitting upright in the bed.

"Mara," Gren began before pausing to grab a remote control from the side of the bed. He pushed a few buttons and a subtle hum emanated from beneath the bed. "I don’t have much time. The discordant pulse breaks the overhead eavesdroppers," he said pointing to discreet metal plates in the ceiling, "but it won’t last long."

"What--"

"The only thing I can tell you is that I’m on your side. Lurin has more friends than he knows. And I’m doing all I can to save him from Lady Sara." He grimaced.

"Is he all right?"

"He’s fine for now. You should be more worried about you, Mara."

"Why?"

"Because my claiming you was the only thing stopping Sara from giving you to the crew."

"The crew?"

"The entire crew." She swallowed and he nodded. "I’m sorry for my rough treatment earlier." He coughed and motioned to the blanket that parted to reveal her breasts through her tattered shirt. "I had to make it look real."

"Make what look real?"

"My claim. Listen closely, Mara. I know you’re still shaken. But this is all part of the plan. We have to return to Jaron to clear Lurin’s name. And you have to go along with everything I say and do."

Mara didn’t understand any of this, but her instincts told her to trust Gren. She had no choice but to trust him. "Gren, my crew--"

"Was intercepted before they could return to your ship. They’ll be waiting for us on Jaron. I thought a little back-up wouldn’t hurt." He grinned and Mara blinked in astonishment. Gone was the curt, cruel Captain Gren and in his place sat a warm, gorgeous warlord.

His gaze sobered and he leaned closer. "I know you and Lurin are, ah, close, but we may be forced into some situations beyond my control. Don’t worry, Mara. I’ll do my best to protect you. And I’ll always make it good for you."

Mara took affront to the "I’ll do my best to protect you." She’d been protecting herself since her thirteenth year. She opened her mouth to say so when Gren froze and tilted his head. At the same time the buzzing under the bed stopped.

"What--"

Before she could finish, Gren tore the blanket from her and flattened her under him on the bed. His mouth closed over her breast and his hand dove beneath her trousers to her wet, hot core.

Thoughts of Lurin faded under a forceful cloud carrying images of Gren to the forefront of her mind. Stunned under the wash of imposed feeling, she didn’t protest Gren’s touch.

His roughened fingers grated over her clit and she helplessly arched into his touch. His warm mouth suckled at her nipples, drawing forth responses she’d only recently acknowledged.

She felt his cock as hard as steel pressed against her thigh. He was far from unaffected. She thought she heard him groan her name before another voice interrupted.

"Really, Gren. Wasn’t Sara enough for you? Rumor has it her stamina has never been matched."

"Ever hear of knocking, Vendon?" Gren asked in a breathless voice. He kept his attention on Mara while he spoke, his lips trailing from her breasts to her neck, lingering at her pulse point.

"It’s not your ship, Gren. Remember that."

Gren ignored him and continued his sensual assault. His lips found the curve of her ear and he blew hot puffs along her sensitive canal. Heat pooled in her loins and Mara arched into his questing fingers, not caring about Vendon’s interruption. Contrary to her usual desires for discretion, Mara felt absolutely free from all constraint. Only Gren’s touch mattered now.

His fingers slid easily through her cream, and despite the interruption she drew closer to orgasm.

"Come on, Gren. Fuck her already." Vendon tried to sound bored, but she could hear the excitement in his reedy voice.

"Get out. I’ll join you and Lady Sara in the galley later." Gren removed his hand from under her trousers and ground his pelvis against her mound. Mara knew that although this had started as an act, Gren was as aroused as she by the foreplay.

"Fine," Vendon said in a sulky voice. "But one of these days you’re going to be mine, Gren. And when that day comes, I’m going to have you on your knees." That said, he left the room and Mara heard the door slide shut behind him.

"He-he’s gone, Gren," Mara rasped as she helplessly pressed closer to his erection.

"I know." He gazed into Mara’s eyes. "You don’t know how much I want to fuck you right now. You smell so good," he groaned and inserted a finger inside of her.

"I know it’s not me you want to see when you close your eyes. But I need you Mara. For Lurin’s sake, don’t fight it."

The haze that clouded her mind grew darker, thoughts, images and tastes of Gren filling her mind until nothing but Gren existed. He resumed his caresses, sliding his finger in and out of her pussy while his mouth toyed with her breasts. Then he added another finger, stretching her, making room for his cock.

She felt incredible, close to soaring. His hands were working magic. When they stopped she groaned with disappointment. Her body felt hot and needy, desperate for more, desperate for Gren.

"Look at me, Mara," Gren ordered. "I’m going to fuck you hard, and you’re going to come. My cock will fill you, nothing but Gren. And when we’re done, you’ll forget all about it."

"Gren," she managed though in the back of her mind she fought to be free. Lurin....

"I know, sweet. But he’d want you to find pleasure. Just relax and feel."

Without another word he removed her trousers and tattered shirt and nudged her thighs wide, baring her mound to his gaze.

"So wet," he murmured and brought his mouth to her curls. His tongue easily found her clit and he began toying with her, licking and nipping with his teeth. The sensations were extraordinary.

She levered on her elbows and watched his dark head between her legs. She watched him unfasten his trousers and push them down. Wishing she could see him, she said so.

"Look at what you’re getting soon," he whispered in a harsh voice, thick with need.

He stood and she watched in awe as his rock hard cock grew as he stroked it. Seeing her amazement, he smiled and knelt, resuming his position between her thighs. His mouth suckled at her clitoris, and with every lap of his tongue she saw his arm move, as if stroking his cock.

The thought of him stroking himself while tonguing her excited her further, and she lay back and reveled in the experience. Gren was so gorgeous, so wonderful, and soon all hers.

So close to the edge, she felt something give inside of her, felt him take it before she crested the peak and came in a gush. In a blur, Gren mounted her and began fucking her, the intrusion of his thick cock both welcome and invasive, almost bruising in his rough intensity to climax.

But the pleasure-pain pushed her further, making her come again around him before he pulled out and spilled all over her belly. He shuddered and then stilled, stomach to stomach with Mara.

"You have no idea what you’ve done," he said in a low voice and sighed. "Gods, Mara, I needed that."

"Me too," Mara said drowsily, incredibly sated and sleepy.

"It’s done now, sweet. Let the memory and the tension fade. Go to sleep, Mara. You’ll need your rest for what tomorrow brings, trust me."

Seeing that she obeyed, Gren spoke to Lurin, hovering in the shadows. She may be yours, but she gave me what I need to help me deal with Sara and to get us all out of this alive.

He could feel Lurin’s dislike for the situation.

I know, Lurin thought. I don’t begrudge you such relief. It’s just that....

I know. She knows it as well, deep down. Though if you were a normal Thesha, you wouldn’t mind sharing. Gren felt Lurin’s strong aversion to the thought and laughed aloud. Unable to resist, he taunted the man. Damn but she’s tight.

She was a virgin before I met her. Lurin seethed with resentment that Gren had sampled what belonged to him. Though he tried to shield his thoughts, Gren read them.

It’s more than that, Lurin. And you know it. She’s special.

Gren could see Lurin’s expression and wanted to laugh. Confusion, anger and possessiveness fought for dominance on his face. The poor bastard won’t admit he’s met his match, Gren thought to himself.

Feeling for him, Gren decided to give him a moment of privacy. I’ll be in the lav if you need me.

Lurin watched Gren go and silently thanked the large man for his consideration. Much as he wanted to tear Gren limb from limb, he couldn’t.

In Sara’s room, he’d watched helplessly from the bed while Sara used and took from Gren, sucking his cock and swallowing his seed as voraciously as she swallowed the light within him. Sara Elaran had been damaged somewhere in her past, and her sexual dysfunction passed the misery in her soul onto all she touched.

Gren had enjoyed physical gratification while his spirit shuddered under Sara’s pressing darkness. Yes, Lurin could well understand Mara’s draw for a Thesha in Gren’s condition.

Tired, depressed and empty, Gren had needed Mara’s purity, her healing essence. Gren, the only one capable of protecting Mara and him at this point, needed to be at full strength. Lurin could only be thankful Gren had inserted the compulsion to forget the incident in Mara’s mind.

Gren’s control over Mara bespoke his immense power. The man had easily compelled Mara to have sex with him, whereas Lurin had had trouble gaining her cooperation at first. Though Lurin had been suffering the aftereffects of drugs at the time.

Yet later, Lurin hadn’t needed to use much of his power at all to earn Mara’s affections. Despite her resistance to his mental probes, their lovemaking had happened naturally, without force or coercion.

Lovemaking. He frowned. He constantly thought of Mara in terms of love and affection. He’d never before cared enough to label his feelings, yet the thought of sharing Mara with another man bothered him more than he could say. He wanted to fight one of his own kind, for stars sake.

In an effort to downplay Gren’s impact on Mara, he rationalized that while Gren had sex with Mara, Lurin made love to her.

He shook his head, aware of the irony he faced. A Thesha ruled women’s minds and hearts. A powerful creature capable of total control, a Thesha determined who to love and who to control. Yet with Mara, the decision was out of his hands.

Lurin could do no less than make love to her delectable body, to feel her heart and soul entwined with his. The luscious bounty hunter ensnared him with her warmth, her strength and her integrity.

Next to Mara, Sara looked like Rak fodder. Lurin shuddered. Thoughts of Sara made his skin crawl. And speaking of skin ... he took one last lingering look at Mara and flew back into his body. Just in time, too, for Sara hovered anxiously above him, waiting for him to wake.

Chapter Nine

Mara woke disoriented. But when she realized she couldn’t move her arms, she recalled her precarious situation. Gren and Lady Sara’s warriors boarded her ship, took her and Lurin hostage, and were escorting her to planet Jaron?

She shook her head free of the fog still blanketing her thoughts. Strange. She remembered waking to Gren’s enlightening explanation of his part in all this. And then, nothing. A big blank spot sat in the middle of her memories.

Her eyes narrowed as she tugged at her wrists bound to the bed. She remained clothed, though she wore an over large and foreign shirt, most likely Gren’s. Though tied up, she felt relaxed, her muscles loose and her mind free of worry.

She immediately grew apprehensive. The fact that she could possibly feel okay about her present situation clearly pointed to someone tampering with her mind.

As her concerns mounted, worry for herself was quickly overshadowed by worry for Lurin. Gren had mentioned Sara. Did that mean she was on board? And if so, how safe could Lurin be around that woman? When questioned, he’d alluded to mistreatment at Sara’s hands. Who knew what that sick woman was doing to him now?

The sound of the door sliding open interrupted her thoughts. Gren entered dressed in Elaran finery.

"Good. You’re awake."

"What did you do to me?" she asked suspiciously. "Why don’t I remember my time aboard this ship?"

"What is it you think I did, exactly?" His voice was completely innocuous, but Mara knew he hid the truth--it gleamed in his eyes, bright with humor and something else she couldn’t quite name.

"I think maybe I don’t want to know," she murmured. When he grinned she thought again how attractive he looked. If not for his actions in capturing her and Lurin, she might actually believe his intentions were to help them.

She had no choice but to trust him, and it galled her to be so out of control of the situation. Mara couldn’t recall the last time she’d been on the receiving end of an order. Oh, she served her clients well enough, but she gave the orders on her ship. The clients merely represented the mission’s end.

Staring at Gren, she thought how earnest he’d sounded about wanting to help Lurin. But why? That was the question she needed answered. It made no sense that Lurin would attack an ally, and he’d been close to putting his fist through Gren’s face.

"Why are you doing this?"

Gren’s eyes narrowed and he looked up at the metal disks he’d earlier identified as "eavesdroppers". "I told you before, Mara. Lurin belongs to Lady Cari for crimes committed against her family. You, unfortunately, got caught in the middle of it all. But don’t worry love," he said with a grin, his voice full of promise, "fucking me more than made things even. And we still have another day before we get to Jaron."

"Another day?" Mara’s eyes widened. Fucking him? There’s no way I could have forgotten that. Deciding he was playing games, she ignored that remark. "You’re telling me I slept for two entire days on this ship?"

He shrugged and sat down in a chair across from her. "All the excitement in meeting me that first day must have tired you sorely. You seem well rested now though."

Mara stared at Gren in bewilderment. Trust me, he mouthed, and eyed the eavesdroppers again.

"Like I have a choice," she muttered.

"There’s the spirit." He chuckled and stood. "Now let’s go see Lady Sara. She’s got a few questions for you."

He waited until she reached him before pulling her into his arms. She stiffened and would have kneed him when he whispered into her ear, "Follow my lead with Sara. And whatever you do, don’t react to anything she does with Lurin."

Mara slowly relaxed and nodded, beginning to believe Gren really meant to protect them. She burned with curiosity to know Gren’s reasons behind his aid, but would have to wait until it was safe for the answers.

As they walked down the corridor, she noted the leers and lewd comments thrown her way and glared at the men she passed. Gren ignored them.

"Some crew you have here," she scoffed.

"They’re not mine. I’m merely leading them for a short while."

"How lucky for you."

She noted a small grin that he quickly coughed to cover when a short, bald man wearing a royal Elaran robe approached them.

"Vendon." Gren gave him a curt nod.

Vendon. Now why did that name sound familiar?

Vendon sneered. "I trust you’re done fucking her brains out? Why you’d choose her when Lady Sara and others with royal connections are available, I’ll never know." He stepped with them toward a door at the end of the corridor. "She’s been waiting for you. Vez is awake but not moving, and she’s not happy."

Mara listened while trying to keep herself as small as possible, not wanting to draw more notice. She needn’t have bothered with Vendon. The man hadn’t blinked since landing eyes on Gren. He waited until they passed by him to Sara’s room, then left toward the bridge.

After she and Gren entered Lady Sara’s room, however, she found herself under the careful scrutiny of Cari’s daughter.

"So, you captured Lurin Vez?" Sara walked in a circle around Mara, eyeing her up and down with wary curiosity. "Did you try him on for size?"
Mara did her best not to be obvious, but she couldn’t help glancing at Lurin’s naked body on Sara’s bed. She met his gaze but couldn’t tell if he was awake or not. He didn’t move, and his chest seemed still as well.

"Is he alive?" she couldn’t help but ask.

"I think so." Sara sounded uncertain and Mara wanted to throttle her. "Gren?"

Gren approached Lurin and felt for his pulse. "He’s alive. Probably still having problems with that drug you gave him. I told you tying him up would have been the better option."

Sara ignored his frown and turned her attention back to Mara. "So did you fuck him?"

A feeling of distaste passed over Mara. While she hadn’t been experienced before Lurin, she hadn’t been naïve either. She’d never been uncomfortable hearing sex talk. But Sara made it sound dirty, like something to be ashamed of.

Mara straightened her shoulders and looked Sara straight in the eye. "No," she lied, "I didn’t fuck him. He’s my bounty, nothing more."

The crazed look in Sara’s gaze faded and Mara knew she’d sounded convincing.

"He belongs to your mother, Lady Sara," Mara tried in her most autocratic voice. "Why have you interrupted my mission?"
"Don’t talk down to me, you little slut," Sara spat. "You’re nothing more than my mother’s bitch sent to fetch my man. You’re not even smart enough to know what you’re bringing in."

"Lady Sara," Gren warned.

"No, Gren. I want her to know what she lost." Sara laughed in a crazy shriek. "You had a Thesha by the balls and you didn’t fuck him once!"

Mara frowned. "Thesha?" Obviously Sara was more than a little crazed. Glancing at Gren proved her theory correct. He looked at Sara in concern. "But they don’t exist, Sara."

"But they do," Sara replied sweetly. She sauntered to Lurin and pointed down at a faint marking across his groin. "See this? This is how you can tell a Thesha from a normal male. This scar is actually a birthmark. See the faint blue lines that circle above his pubic bone, at the bottom of his abdomen?"

Mara stood too far from Lurin to tell, but she recalled seeing the marking. At the time she’d been too interested in other things to worry about a scar. Now that she thought about it, it didn’t look like any scar she’d ever seen. That still didn’t make him a Thesha, though.

"Lady Sara," she began, thinking that Sara had some serious problems.

"Don’t try to tell me I’m crazy. I’ve been with a real Thesha before. Oh yes, they exist." Her mouth twisted. "My mother imprisoned one a long time ago on our estate. A live Thesha. She thought losing my virginity to one would be the ultimate gift she could give me. It turned out she was right."

Gren and Mara glanced at one another.

"He fucked me so many times I lost count. I bled and I bled and he never stopped. Thesha never stop. They’re always hard, always hungry for more. And they’re so very gifted." She paused, lost in the past. "Such exquisite pain he shared with me."

"If I recall, Lady Sara," Gren said quietly. "The Thesha are rumored to gift women with pleasure. They don’t cause harm. And they certainly don’t associate pain with sex, according to legend. I’d say you had the unfortunate happenstance to mate with a crazed man, a man nothing more than an unstable human."

"No, Gren. That’s where you’re wrong."

Mara stared from Sara to Gren, wondering how the hell she’d gotten mixed up in such a strange situation. It was bad enough she’d felt far more than she should for Lurin, a man with a mysterious past and an uncertain future. But to bring the Thesha into the odd mix was almost more than she could take. She’d lost her ship and her freedom, and now Sara strove to take away reality.

Talk about out of control. Mara’s life couldn’t get more unstable. Then Sara mentioned Theshas again and Mara wondered if she was perhaps suffering from a never-ending nightmare.

"I know the Thesha are real." Sara remained stubborn. "And so does my mother. Why do you think she wants Vez so badly? She knows he’s Thesha."

Lurin was Thesha? No way in hell.

"She’s enthralled with them. It was she who taught my precious ‘birthday gift’ all the naughty little tricks he worked on me so long ago. I think Mother believes herself part Thesha."

Mara blanched at Sara’s perverted tale. That a mother should knowingly inflict such pain on her daughter....

"That proves that the man who abused you was no Thesha," Gren persisted. "Thesha cannot be taught anything. Remember the myth, Sara. Thesha control women, not the other way around."

"Really?" Sara looked pleased at his words and Mara felt a chill shiver down her spine. "If Vez is no Thesha, then he shouldn’t respond when I do this."

She took a strange looking knife off the table beside the bed and held it over Lurin’s scar. Gren’s face drained of color and Mara had to force herself not to run to Lurin and defend him. Don’t react to anything Sara does to Lurin, Gren had said. It was killing Mara not to.

"With this sacred knife I’m halfway to controlling my very own Thesha." Sara’s eyes were calculating.

"I think you’re crazy," Gren said bluntly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"We’ll see, won’t we?" She lowered the blade and trailed it over Lurin’s scar. Three times she traced the scar before she drew a thin line of blood over the mark.

The moment she did so the scar raised and turned a dark blue. It wasn’t disfiguring, but it made the birthmark plain to see. It now looked like an intricately designed tattoo.

Mara’s unease heightened at Lurin’s reaction to the blade. Sara looked thrilled at the sign and squealed with delight.

"I can’t believe he’s all mine! You haven’t told Mother that we’re not coming home yet, have you?"

Gren said nothing. He continued to stare at Lurin, a blank look on his face.

"Gren?" A movement from Lurin drew her attention. "Oh, look, he’s finally coming around," Sara said with a malicious grin. Just then Lurin blinked, his eyes no longer dazed and empty. Instead his blue eyes blazed with hunger.

"Look at your new master, Lurin Vez." Sara brought her face close to his. "Refer to me as Mistress Sara."

"Mistress Sara," Lurin responded in a throaty voice so unlike the powerful man Mara had known. He sounded subservient and she didn’t like it one bit. Subservient. The ramifications of Sara’s actions and Lurin’s response struck Mara all at once.

"Stars no! He’s Thesha!"

"A bit slow, aren’t you?" Sara remarked with half-hearted scorn, her attention fixated on her new slave.

Mara mulled over Sara’s description of her own encounter with a Thesha. In contrast, Mara had been in control of her responses to Lurin, and she’d felt no pain whatsoever, only agonizing pleasure.

"But," she paused, still warring internally over her disbelief. If Lurin were Thesha, then her reactions to him had been what, coached? Had he scripted her feelings for him as well?

"But what? But you were too slow to see you were sitting on a bek-mine? Think of the currency you lost, the pleasures of the flesh you missed out on because you were too much in a hurry to do Nobless Cari’s work." Sara bit out her mother’s name. "Well now look at you. Lurin’s mine, and you’re nothing more than Gren’s whore."

Mara opened her mouth but one look at Gren and she closed it.

"Lady Sara," Gren spoke in a deep, soothing voice, "Vez is no more Thesha than I am. It’s more likely that knife you carry contains some drug lessening Vez’s inhibitions. Try it on me and I’ll probably react the same."

Sara laughed. "I don’t think so, Gren. I’ve seen you naked, and you don’t have the mark. No, I’m not going to waste time with you when I’ve got a Thesha here to please me." She tucked the dagger in a drawer beside the bed and whispered in Lurin’s ear.

To Mara’s amazement, he sat up and began caressing Sara’s breasts.

"Suck them," Sara demanded breathlessly, her voice hitching on a moan when his lips covered one tip, then the other.

After all the horrendous ways Lurin had described Sara, Mara knew he had to be powerless to touch Sara so. She felt sick as she watched the sexual contact, as she saw Sara kiss Lurin full on the lips.

"Steady," Gren murmured under his breath as he caught her by the shoulder. Aloud to Sara, he said, "Are we here to simply watch or did you have something more in mind?"

His tone sounded suggestive and Mara stared up at him in shock.

"Actually I had something very specific in mind," Sara said and ordered Lurin to drag her under him. She moaned and rubbed her body along his, drawing out the movement.

Mara couldn’t believe the scene in front of her. Lurin had an enormous erection, his cock swollen as he mounted Sara, pushing aside her loose clothing as he readied to fuck her. He looked up at Mara and she could saw a yawning emptiness in his eyes.

"Wait a minute, Lurin," Sara said with a smile and pushed him off of her. "I want this to last." He stood, his cock bouncing and he groaned when Sara squeezed him. As she fondled his cock, cupping his sack and licking along his shaft, she continued to glance over at Gren and Mara.

She paused only long enough to say, "Gren, tie up Captain Mara. But put her where she can watch."

Gren tied Mara loosely to a protruding hook in the far corner of the room, in full view of the bed. "You have to get that dagger," he whispered as he bent over her to finish the knot. He left her enough slack that escape would prove easy enough.

"Now come over here. I believe you said something about wanting to do more than watch." Sara watched him approach like a viper eyed its prey. When he stood before her she dropped the rest of her clothing.

She ordered Gren to disrobe and Mara watched with helpless fascination. Gren and Lurin were strong, handsome, sexual creatures no one woman could dream of controlling, and yet Sara did so with little effort. With just one hand she continued to toy with Lurin, a man beyond the scope of normalcy.

A Thesha! Mara still couldn’t believe she’d made love with a myth, a legendary pleasure-giver. Though when she thought about it, being Thesha explained a lot about Lurin that she’d earlier questioned.

That first dream she’d had of him had seemed so detailed, so real. And the fact that she’d felt compelled to visit him in his cell. He must have used his gift to force her to him. She couldn’t help remembering that surge of energy he’d shared with her before Gren and his men had boarded her ship.

And there was his ability to remain aroused, to continually want sex when a normal man should have been tired. Even as she watched his body respond to Sara’s handling, she remembered the feel of Lurin in her own hands.

Anger festered at Sara’s involvement. But Mara had more to worry about than Sara. The charges against Lurin were serious, and Gren intended to take them both back to Jaron to face the law? Why didn’t Gren simply take control of Sara now? Then she thought of all the warriors still aboard the ship, and the fact that even if they somehow escaped, Lurin would still be a wanted man.

She looked from Lurin’s blank face and muscular build to Gren. Though both men had powerfully built bodies and striking features, there was something more about Lurin that pulled her. Had it been his Thesha heritage all along?

He had surely used his gift to manipulate her, and anger burned at the thought of his deception. Yet when she and Lurin had been joined as one, she had felt his soul, had sensed his core of strength and honor.

Did she feel for Lurin as a result of his manipulations, or had she truly fallen in love with Lurin Vez, the man? Just saying the word ‘love’ made her doubt her own sanity. She’d never been in love with anyone in her life. Yet the crazy way she felt about him made her question her emotions.

With that thought in mind, she held onto her doubt about her feelings, while she couldn’t doubt the fact that he’d had ample opportunity to escape but had instead chosen instead to stay and fight along side her.

Whether his nature as a Thesha would be a detriment or not, she didn’t yet know. Deciding to withhold judgment, she remained ambivalent about his heritage and her growing "love", if that’s what it was, for him.

Uncertainty about Lurin faded as she watched the scene unfolding near the bed. Sara would pay for her actions, one way or another. She slithered against Lurin and a wave of jealousy engulfed Mara, adding to the quagmire of confused anger filling her mind.

Sara gyrated between both Gren, who now stood naked before her, and Lurin. To Mara’s shock, both men were hard and thick, pressing against Sara’s lithe body. They ground against the pale miss, their darker skin an odd contrast to Sara’s glossy white flesh, pure in color but not in spirit.

Disgusted at Sara’s indecency, Mara subtly chafed her wrists, loosening her bonds. Staring at Lurin, watching his sensuality exploited under Sara’s malevolent urgings, she couldn’t help once again remembering Lurin’s actions on her ship. Her mind told her to focus on now, but her heart refused to let her.

She knew he’d wanted to escape his imprisonment. And had his intention been to slake his lust on her before leaving, he still could have done so without giving her such pleasure. Once free, he could have tried to wrest control of her ship. There had been several instances where he could have subdued her. But he hadn’t.

He must feel something for her. Why else would he have fought by her side on the ship instead of escaping in one of the life pods? He had to have known she had them; they were standard on all space vessels.

One of her wrists escaped the rope and she hurried to free her other hand. Sara took no note of her. She was sandwiched between Gren and Lurin, pumping Gren’s cock while Lurin rubbed against her ass. She moaned with desire, urging Lurin and Gren to do the same.

Frowning, Mara noted that neither Gren nor Lurin looked upset at the contact. Lurin wore no expression on his face, but Gren looked entirely too enraptured by her touch. Then he glanced over his shoulder and gave Mara a desperate look urging her to hurry.

She breathed a small sigh of relief. Sara’s eyes remained closed and Gren pulled her face down to his cock, glancing subtly over his shoulder at Mara.

"Come on, Sara. Let us fuck you. Take my cock in your mouth and Lurin can fuck you from behind. You know how much you want this," he hissed, a strange energy in his words.

Mara faltered halfway to the bed and stared at Gren. If she didn’t know better she’d think he might be Thesha. She shook her head and resumed her course, rejecting the idea. Oh sure, the ship was full of them, of these beings that supposedly didn’t exist. If Gren really were Thesha, why didn’t he simply order Sara to free them?

He drew Sara onto the bed, positioning her so that her back was to the bed stand, with Lurin further blocking her view of the contained dagger. Gren shoved his cock in Sara’s willing mouth and began moving in and out. Lurin remained still until Sara gaspingly ordered his participation. With no expression whatsoever, he began fucking her from behind, his groans of pleasure a tinny echo of Sara.

Trying to tune out the groans between the threesome on the bed, and deliberately avoiding the sight of Lurin and Sara together, Mara hurried toward the bed stand on her hands and knees.

She glanced to her left and saw Gren pump into Sara’s mouth, saw Lurin’s buttocks flex as he thrust into Sara’s pussy, and her mouth tightened. She felt herself grow wet despite her dislike of the situation and she hurried to put a stop to it.

She kept low past the bed and reached into the bed stand drawer, feeling for the dagger. She swore under her breath when her finger bit into the point of the blade, but she recovered it with all due haste.

The moment her fingers closed around the handle, Lurin froze. Mara held up the dagger for Gren’s perusal and heard him exhale with relief.

Sara was so intent on Gren’s cock that she didn’t notice Lurin’s lack of participation. But when Gren stopped moving, Lurin withdrew from her body and pushed her away, and she blinked up at him in surprise.

"What--" Sara stared from Lurin’s hate-filled eyes to Mara and the dagger clenched in Mara’s fist. "Kill her, Lurin!" Sara tried.

When he didn’t react, she rose on her knees, her breasts heaving in a passionate parody, no longer with lust but with anger. "Gren, kill that bitch and bring me that dagger!"

Gren simply stared at her, and the precarious situation must have dawned on her for she opened her mouth to yell for help. Gren didn’t let her. He leapt forward and pressed hard on either side of her neck, and she fell unconscious to the bed.

"And that was the easy part of the plan." Gren shook his head and reached for his clothes.

Chapter Ten

Mara stared at Lurin and Gren as the two hurriedly dressed. "Well that was awkward."

Gren chuckled as he belted his trousers while Lurin choked out a pained laugh.

"Come here, Mara." Lurin held his hand out waiting patiently.

Relief seeped through her as she stared into his once-more bright blue gaze. She didn’t question her deep need to see Lurin unharmed. Instead she focused on his deception, on the manipulations and liberties he took with her heart and mind.

"I think you have some explaining to do, don’t you?" she asked calmly, when she really wanted to punish him. The thought of Lurin in his cell, trapped again in shackles, had a certain appeal, especially being at her mercy.

"Now, Mara," Lurin replied, looking a bit unnerved at her unwavering stare. He glanced toward Gren as if for help, but seeing the man occupied with Sara must have changed his mind. He gave Sara a look of repulsion and grabbed Mara by the arm, dragging her away from the bed.

"Get your hands off me." Mara yanked out of his hold. "I think you forget yourself."

Lurin’s eyes glowed and Mara took an unsteady breath. She’d forgotten for a moment how powerful Lurin truly might be. She swallowed audibly and stood her ground, determined not to show her unease.

"Damn it, Mara!" Lurin stepped back from her and swore up and down. "I am not going to hurt you! I’m Thesha, not some monster. And certainly not a murdering rapist."

She opened her mouth to retort, not clear on what she meant to say when Gren interrupted.

"You two stay here. Sara won’t be waking for hours yet and I need to take control of the situation, especially with Vendon." He grimaced and moved to the door. "No one will enter except with me, and I’ll let you know when I return. So whatever you do, don’t leave this room. It’s the only place you’re truly safe."

Gren exited, leaving them alone together. Mara glanced at the bed and saw Sara’s wrists and ankles bound, a blanket covering her entire body. An anxiety she hadn’t been aware she held eased and the knots in her stomach released.

"She won’t be any more trouble," Lurin commented quietly, his breath fanning her ear he stood so close.

Mara turned and Lurin stared into her eyes, the bright blue of his gaze gleaming with sensual promise. Despite her distrust of his motives, warmth unfurled in her belly. He stepped closer and they touched, breast to chest, thigh to thigh. She blinked as she felt his erection prodding her, amazed that he could be so aroused after all Sara had done to him.

"You can’t be--"

"I am, very," he said with a smile, his teeth white and even and drawing closer to her lips. "My mind is fuzzy about what Sara did, but my body remembers it well. It was hell, because I could feel her touch when all I truly wanted was you."

His words had the desired effect. Mara’s limbs felt weak and she melted, her womb clenching in need. "You’re making me feel this way, aren’t you?" she accused, but her voice sounded more husky than firm.

He slowly shook his head, his lips brushing hers before he drew slightly back. Then he smiled, a loving grin that sent shivers down her spine. "That’s just it, love. I’m not. I know you won’t believe this, but I only used my gifts on you to get you into my cell that night your crew left the ship. Since then, everything between you and me has been real, exceedingly, arousingly real."

Mara wanted to believe him, but something held her back. And then it didn’t matter anymore because he kissed her and she was lost.

His lips consumed her, lighting a fire through her entire body. Her blood burned for his touch, and he answered her longings by stroking her arms, her shoulders, the tender flesh of her neck.

He devoured her, licking and nipping and robbing her very breath. With wicked hands he divested her of her clothes and immediately sought her hot, wet core.

"Yes," he hissed as his fingers penetrated her folds. "You’re wet and ready for me, Mara. Damn, but I need you now. I can’t wait."

He ripped what little clothing remained on him off and dragged her against him, kissing her senseless. She felt the wall against her back without knowing how she’d gotten there. But she had no more time to think, for he lifted her and wrapping her legs around him, aligned his groin to hers.

She felt him probe her entrance, teasing and testing and she groaned her desire.

"I need more. Please, Lurin."

"Yes, love. Have it all." He thrust up into her, hard, and she almost screamed at the pleasure of feeling him within her again. It felt like forever since he’d been a part of her, and as he hammered into her she could have wept at the perfection of the moment, at the sheer, unadulterated passion.

Hard and fast, mercilessly pumping he rammed into her, letting her weight rest fully over his cock, bringing him into the deepest part of her. Mara could only moan, enraptured by his desperation for fulfillment.

His passion fueled her own and she came suddenly, the spiraling pleasure bursting into a shower of ecstasy. Lurin joined her, groaning her name as he pumped, continuing to move until he found his own peace.

They stood entwined, their hearts beating as one, and Mara again felt that deep spiritual melding that begged her to believe Lurin cared for her, deeply.

"I do, love," he whispered and brushed his lips over her forehead. "I care for you so much it scares me."

Mara blinked up into his mysterious face, his masculine beauty shining with ethereal power. "Are you reading my mind?" She wanted to fault his intrusion, but couldn’t help the tingle of belonging, the closeness his intrusion belied.

"I can’t always tell your thoughts," he said and eased from her. He led her to the floor and drew her beneath him, leaning over her like a possessive lover. "When we make love, when we become as one, then I am able to sense your thoughts and feelings."

"Legend says the Thesha can read minds at will. I guess you’re not as powerful as I’ve heard?" she teased, but she needed to know. Her hands drifted to his shoulders and she caressed his soft skin, marveling at the softness of his flesh over the corded muscle beneath.

"Actually we are." He flashed her a grin and nipped at her neck. "But something about you, Mara...." he trailed and stared at her. "The moment I boarded your ship I tried ‘making’ you believe me. But I couldn’t get through to you."

"Twice I tried to bind you to me, in the Theshan way. And twice you denied me. I blamed it on the drugs you’d given me."

She flushed with guilt under his accusing eyes, aware she had no reason to feel at fault when she’d been doing her job.

"I’m not blaming you," he said to forestall her comments. "I’m trying to explain something important here."

Mara closed her mouth and listened, aware that while Lurin spoke, his cock, swollen and thick, teased at her curls, pressing and demanding her response. Amazingly she grew wet again, and wondered at her body’s reaction.

"It’s you, Mara. Until I joined you in that dream state, I couldn’t be sure. But there’s something about you that’s different from other women. I don’t know if you affect other Thesha this way, or if it’s because--"

He stopped speaking and his eyes widened. Mara waited but he said nothing, merely stared at her with surprise and a bit of ... alarm?

"Lurin? What is it?"

His lids shuttered his expression and his lips parted, his tongue wetting his dry mouth.

"No, let me do that," Mara said and reached for his neck. Lust swamped her and she gave in to it readily, not understanding how she could want him so badly after the pulsating orgasm she’d experienced. She didn’t want to question the feeling, however, and claimed Lurin’s mouth as her own.

He groaned under her assault and her power grew. She might not be Thesha, but she knew Lurin wanted her, needed her as much as she needed him. And that gave her all the power in the world.

"I want everything, Lurin," she told him between kisses, not understanding this frantic desire to bind them but conceding to it regardless. "I want your lips, your cock," she whispered against his ear and arched into his burning erection. She swallowed a cry when he slid into her, filling her again.

She stopped him, however, with her next words. "I want more. I want your heart, your mind," she paused and licked at his lips, capturing his tongue and teasing it with strokes of her own. She tilted her hips and pushed Lurin out, then sighed when he thrust deeper and groaned.

She broke the kiss and flexed her fingers in his silky black hair. "I want all of you, Lurin. Everything you have to give."

His eyes blazed with something she couldn’t quite name and he began pistoning his hips, faster and faster, deeper and harder. "Yes, Mara. All of me."

He tensed and came, pouring into her a warmth that filled her, consuming her.

Mara cried out at the excessive feeling but he didn’t stop. He pulsed inside of her. She thought he might be withdrawing when he swelled and sank deep, groaning her name as he did so.

"Mara, sweet, you give me so much," he rasped and withdrew. "It’s only right I do the same."

* * * *

He stared at her and knew she was The One. How could he have been blinded to that fact when everything about her screamed her importance?

Her dark eyes shone with acceptance, and though he knew she hadn’t declared her abiding love, her heart didn’t lie.

He couldn’t believe that something so dark and troubling, the death of his good friend, had turned into the best thing in his life. His soul mate, Mara Seni, lay trusting beneath him. She matched his hunger, reveled in his touch and gave him such ecstasy as he’d never thought to have.

No matter what happened to him in the future, he wanted to remember this moment. He wanted to give her everything she asked, and more.

His cock throbbed and he had to remind himself to slow down. He had another few hours before Gren would return.

"Look at me, Mara." Lurin drew her gaze back to his eyes. She’d been staring hungrily down at his cock. "This energy between us, it’s very real."

She nodded and tried to drag him back down to her.

"No, sweet. This time it’s all for you. Everything." Everything I’m capable of giving, he told himself.

He fused his mouth to hers and teased her mound with the tip of his cock. His hand guiding his shaft, he found her clit and rubbed gently. She groaned into his mouth and he stole her very breath.

Alternatively tender then possessive, he captured her lips, tasting her sweet mouth before capturing her tongue, leading her into another realm altogether. Never before had he given so much to another, opening his heart and sharing his spirit, trusting her as much as he could trust anyone.

Mara was no conquest. She had conquered him. Her soft lips melded to his, perfectly joining and parting without him having to lead her. As if she had been made for him, she complemented his body, his wants and needs.

Mara’s hands wandered to his hips and pulled him closer. Her action shifted his cock so that he slid into her and she gasped, arching into him. But Lurin pulled out and slid down her body, lingering over her breasts.

"Sorry, love, not yet." He licked one nipple and watched it pucker, then blew a soft breath over it and watched it peak.

Mara moaned his name and Lurin sent her a subtle push, a touch of his desire that spurred her own. Skimming her thoughts to find what she desperately wanted, he grinned around her nipple. She wanted everything he was doing, and more that he had already planned, further evidence that she truly was his other half.

Giving himself to Mara’s pleasure, Lurin lightly pinched her nipples, a pleasure-pain that intensified her sensitivity to his touch. She almost bolted off the floor when he nipped at her breast while his fingers speared her wet sheath.

"Not yet," he taunted as he played with her pussy. "You’re not ready."

"I’m more than ready," she moaned and tried to glare at him through passion-filled eyes. "Now, Lurin. I want you."

"Soon, sweet." He continued to suckle her breasts, bringing her closer to orgasm. He didn’t use his gifts to superficially enhance her pleasure. Instead he gave her the whole of his attention, an erotic gift only a Thesha can give to one he cares about.

Lowering a trail of kisses down her stomach, he sent her the warmth of his love in a blaze of heat. She twisted and groaned, begging him to fill her. Still, he caressed her with his lips, seeking her feminine core that he’d been too long in tasting.

When his mouth traced her mound, she ground into his face, and his heart seemed to stop when her creamy essence touched his lips.

Full of Mara’s spice, a heady scent of sex and love and strength, Lurin lost control and suckled her clit with a fervor that quickly brought her to climax. As she screamed his name and came in a gush, he continued to lick her, lapping her sweet cream with another, gentler push, this one to calm her inflamed nerve endings, that he might send her over again and again.

The more he tasted her, the harder he became until he could no longer contain his own release. Wanting to spill inside of her, to share with her his bliss, he quickly covered her body with his own and thrust deep, fighting the need to come.

"Lurin, I love you," she cried as he thrust long and slow, killing himself with the need to give her Theshan ecstasy.

"And I you," he couldn’t help admit before taking them both over the edge. With a final stroke, Mara came. He could see the stars bursting inside of her, could feel her walls squeezing him tight, forcing him to join her in their shared erotic rapture.

He erupted, coating her with everything he had inside. He could feel his essence leave his body, that special part of him he always kept apart from his sexual partners. A tinge of unease filled him even as he felt Mara accept him, heard her whisper his name in awe as his presence stole through her body.

Mara drifted into sleep with a smile on her face, while Lurin held her tight, fighting the demon of doubt. He admitted he loved her, knew it deep in his heart. Hell, he’d shared his soul with her, an act he’d never before committed or wanted to commit.

Yet he couldn’t help wondering if trusting her would prove his downfall, as it had to so many Thesha before him who’d thought themselves "in love".

He had known Mara for such a short time, making their intense spiritual connection something to question. As much as his heart and soul knew she was The One, his mind continued to probe at the potential danger in loving her, both to himself and to his people.

Eventually Lurin drifted into sleep, and his dreams were of Mara. Sleeping with her in his arms calmed his fears and they lay entwined for hours, adrift in a haze of wonder and pleasure until reality threatened.

Lurin woke sensing someone nearing the door.

It’s me, Gren sounded in his mind. But I’m not alone.

"Sweet, we have to move," Lurin prodded Mara, cursing himself for not being more aware. Hell, he had claimed his soul mate in Lady Sara’s room, on the floor. How much more did he need to remind him of their perilous situation?

Mara moved slowly as she donned her clothes, and Lurin could only be grateful for Gren’s presence among the enemy. Lurin retied her loosely to the post she’d escaped from and lifted her chin to stare into her eyes.

Heavy lidded and slightly clouded, Mara’s gaze reflected a woman thoroughly loved. He could see his energy sparkling in the depths of her dark brown eyes and despite his misgivings, he smiled with pleasure and pride.

He had a soul mate. Mara now belonged to him and no other.

"Play along, love. Know that now I’m in charge, and Sara’s merely the puppet." I love you, he thought as he stared at her. He lingered for a kiss, praying it would not be their last.

Hurry the hell up. Vendon won’t wait any longer, Gren growled.

Lurin flew to the bed and dove under the blanket, covering Sara with his body as he mimicked the act of sex. He disliked having to get even this close to her, but dry humping and groaning was better than actually fucking her.

"Open your eyes, Sara," he commanded in a throaty voice that reverberated in her mind. He could feel Mara’s eyes on him and knew she felt the energy pulsing through the room. "Do whatever I tell you, Sara. Think what I tell you to think. And do not, under any circumstances, cause harm to befall Captain Mara Seni."

"Yes, Master," her voice echoed his, her ringing cadence the only sign of his influence.

He gave her several other commands mentally, since Vendon and Gren suddenly walked through the doorway. Sara complied beautifully, climaxing without his touch at memories of her time fucking several of her faceless soldiers.

"Still at it?" Vendon asked incredulously. "Really, Sara. Even for you this is remarkable."

Lurin guided her responses.

She breathed heavily before glaring at Vendon. "He’s Thesha. What did you expect?" Her eyes flew to Gren and she licked her lips. "There’s always room for one more," she said with a sultry wink.

Very funny, Gren sent Lurin. "I’m much too busy readying the ship to dock on Jaron, Lady Sara."

After a slight pause, Sara leapt from the bed and cursed Gren up and down.

"You whoreson bastard," she seethed. "How dare you ignore my command?"

"He follows Lady Cari’s wishes," Vendon said protectively.

"I don’t care!" Sara then attacked Vendon with such speed and ferocity that she managed to blacken his eye and split his lip before Gren and Lurin pulled her off. "You’re supposed to be on my side! I hate you! I hate her! I want you both dead!"

Laying it on a bit thick, eh?

Lurin refrained from smiling. I need Vendon to report this back to Nobless Cari.

Well wrap it up. We’re nearly there and Mara looks ready to tear free from her bonds and beat Sara to a pulp.

Having been focused on controlling Sara, Lurin failed to notice Mara’s jealousy. He felt absurdly pleased by her reaction, though she shouldn’t have been so concerned. Hadn’t he told her he had control of Sara? Surely she didn’t believe he’d actually fuck the royal daughter?

No, I didn’t think that. A feminine voice invaded his mind, shocking him to silence. But if you don’t soon get her under control and away from you I’m going to split her in two.

Lurin coughed to cover the laughter that threatened to spill, and mentally prodded Sara to dress and make ready for their imminent landing.

"We’ll see my mother shortly," Sara bit through clenched teeth as she pulled on clothing from one of her many closets. "But this isn’t over. He’s mine." She stared at Lurin with manic possession evident on her twisted face and stomped off to the lav.

Gren and Vendon shared a nod.

"See what I mean?" Gren said under his breath, loud enough for Lurin to hear.

Vendon’s gaze narrowed on the closed door of the lav before he reluctantly agreed, to what Lurin didn’t yet know.

"I’ll tell the Nobless," Vendon said quietly, listening to the racking sobs and shouts of rage emanating from the closed door. "It’s up to you to see that everything goes smoothly. Another ten thousand beks if you can get Sara to her mother without undue attention once we reach Jaron."

"Done." Gren stared at Vendon’s retreating back until the little man left the room, the door sliding shut behind him.

"We haven’t much time," Gren said before he froze and stared hard at Mara.

"What?" she asked defensively as she freed herself from her bonds.

"Smells like sex in here," Gren muttered. You bonded with her already? he sent Lurin. She feels like you, smells like you and sure as hell resonates with your power. Must have been some bonding.

It was, Mara answered with a smug smile.

Gren cursed in shock and looked accusingly at Lurin. "How the hell did she hear that?"

"I have no idea. But maybe I should warn you to watch what you say," Lurin said tapping his head, "when you’re not speaking out loud."

Mara, finally freed from her bonds, approached Gren with a suspicious scowl. "You’re no telepath." She studied him with an intensity that made Lurin uncomfortable.

Gren started for the door before Mara spoke again, and Lurin frowned, knowing what was coming next.

"What exactly happened while I was tied up in your quarters, Gren?"

"Ask Lurin. He was there," Gren said as he escaped the room. We’ll arrive on Jaron in another hour. Make ready. And try not to be too angry, Mara. Lurin can explain.

Chapter Eleven

They walked in a single file through the underground royal tunnels into Nobless Cari’s private wing of the palace.

Unfortunately, the mental bond that had existed between Mara and Lurin faded, and Lurin had yet to explain just what Gren meant when he’d told her not to be too angry.

The more she thought about that missing period on board Gren’s ship, the more she wondered if her dreams had in fact been real. She didn’t want to admit to herself, and certainly not to Lurin, that she’d imagined having sex with Gren.

She tried to ignore images of herself and the large captain entwined, of Gren’s mouth covering her breast, of his large cock filling her again and again.

She flushed and stared at the floor as they walked further down the passageway. Granted, Lurin had awakened her body to pleasures beyond imagining, but could he perhaps have over stimulated her sexual desires?

She subtly glanced at the warriors following her. She considered one or two of them attractive, but had no urge to couple with any of them. Why then did she envision herself having sex with Gren? And why did the she feel more turned on than dismayed by the idea?

She flushed guiltily, glad that Lurin’s attention was focused on Sara. She would hate for him to know she apparently lusted after Gren. Just then Vendon murmured something and scooted closer to the powerful captain. She wasn’t the only one lusting after Gren, not to mention Sara’s craven desires.

The small entourage entered the palace through a series of curving passageways until they came to a set of large double doors, guarded on either side by two hulking Elaran warriors.

Vendon scurried forward and said something to one of the warriors, and suddenly the doors opened, allowing sunlight to filter through the shuttered hallway.

The warrior behind her prodded her to move and Mara glared at him over her shoulder before following the others into the golden chamber. She stared around her, awed at the ornate architecture and overwhelming display of wealth fettering the walls.

Dozens of collages, paintings and crystalline statues littered the room, all showcasing the same theme: Nobless Cari in all her glory. In youth and at present, always without flaw, the woman appeared almost goddess-like in the art around her.

Even her current position, resplendent on a velvet divan being waited on by two handsome, half-naked men, looked more like an artful display than reality.

As if posing for the small group that awaited her attention, the Nobless took her time selecting a tray of sweets.

"Vendon, so wonderful to see you again," Cari said in a throaty voice. She slowly sat upright and rose, letting her sheer, silken gown flow artfully down her legs as she stood to better impose her authority.

"Captain Gren," she drawled, her sharp eyes stripping him from head to toe. "I had no doubts of your success." She stared at Lurin with a greedy smile.

"Of course you didn’t," Sara snapped. "You had this bastard under your thumb." She gestured rudely to Gren. "And Vendon would never think to betray you, would he?"

"No, he would not," Vendon said carelessly, sharing a smile with Cari. "The trip was uneventful. Sara, of course, fucked every man on board, to include our captain." He stared wistfully at Gren. "And apparently Vez is indeed who you say he is, for once she had him she took no one else to her bed."

Mara thought it interesting Vendon didn’t speak of Lurin’s heritage in front of the warriors. Did Cari want it kept secret?

"Vendon?" Cari arched her brow at the warriors guarding the prisoners.

"You warriors are dismissed," Vendon ordered.

Mara watched as they left, leaving Gren and Vendon and the two massive man servants to guard her and Lurin.

"Captain Mara," Cari said, turning her focus, "how unfortunate that you involved yourself in this mess."

Mara blinked. "Involved myself? You hired me, Nobless Cari."

"I don’t recall doing so." Cari stared down at her buffed nails.

"You paid me twenty thousand beks upfront, or has that escaped your notice?"

"Really? I’d venture to guess that if my legal advisors looked into the matter, we wouldn’t find twenty thousand beks. If anything, we’d probably find whatever payment Lurin Vez used to bribe your compliance in his attempted escape."

Mara could only stare, her mouth agape. What the hell was Cari trying to pull?

"You’ve not only framed an innocent man, but you’re going to put me in chains as well?" Mara seethed. "And you think you can get away with that?" The Nobless was unbelievable!

"Really, Mara. Save the dramatics. You’ve been found guilty of conspiring with a murderer, and the best you can hope for from Elaran law is a life sentence. At worst, you’ll be beheaded come tomorrow morning."

Mara clenched her jaw, praying for patience. She could only be glad her crew had been spared this lunacy. She saw Gren glaring at her to behave, and looked past him to Lurin, who stared blankly at Sara, still playing his part.

"And when I find the rest of your crew, I do believe I’ll add them to my collection." Cari winked and indicated her servants.

The woman thought to threaten not only Mara and Lurin, but her crew as well? She recalled Lurin’s vague description of the degradation he’d already suffered at Cari’s hands and she saw red. Normally cool-headed, Mara’s temper reached its boiling point, especially since she knew there was a very good chance Cari could get away with it all.

"To hell with that," Mara growled and in a burst of speed attacked Cari. She landed a fist in the Nobless’s face before the woman’s servants restrained her, using all their strength to keep Mara’s writhing frame away from their mistress.

Cari shrieked in outrage while Sara laughed and applauded. Neither Lurin nor Gren moved to help, though Mara thought she saw a hint of strain on Lurin’s face.

"Bravo, Mara. That’s at least one thing you’ve done right since capturing my Thesha." Sara clapped.

"You’ll regret that." Vendon shook his head. "Felan and Maltor," he said to Cari’s servants, "take her to The Cell."

As Mara struggled for freedom, twisting against their absurdly strong holds, she saw Lurin’s eyes blaze to life before fading quickly under Cari’s sharp gaze. Cari stared at Lurin for several moments before shifting her attention back to Mara.

"You’ll regret you ever met me, you little bitch." Cari smiled and gently caressed Lurin’s stubbled cheek. "Let’s play, Lurin, and see how much fun we can have together."

That easily, she dismissed Mara, and Mara increased her struggles, only to find herself helplessly trapped and moving deeper into the darkness of Nobless Cari’s palace.

* * * *

Lurin strove to keep calm.

If one of those bastards hurts Mara, I’ll kill everyone in here, he promised Gren, doing his best to ignore Nobless Cari.

Easy, Lurin, Gren quickly answered. I have it covered. Trust me. Don’t do anything stupid, not when we’re so close to the end.

"I know you can hear me, precious Thesha," Cari murmured and stroked the other side of Lurin’s face with her long, painted nails. "Sara, make him heal my bruises."

Sara pouted but did as her mother bid. "Heal her, slave. And do it quickly."

Lurin kept Sara in character, making her defiant and sulky per Gren’s orders. It worked like a charm. As he healed the bruise clouding Cari’s eye, he noted Cari’s complete acceptance of the situation. Now how to turn that to his advantage....

"Amazing," Vendon breathed and licked at his lower lip, his eyes glazing over as he stared at Lurin’s nearly naked form.

Lurin silently cursed Gren again for making him wear the ridiculous loincloth.

It’s a distraction we need, Gren emphasized. And you have to admit, you’ve got Sara, Cari and Vendon out of sorts.

Thinking he’d rather not be the center of attention, Lurin forced Sara into an argument with her mother.

"He’s mine, Mother. Mine. I found him and I fucked him. You can’t take him from me." Sara sounded desperate underneath the angry bluster, and Lurin realized she truly meant what he prodded her to say.

"I don’t care, Sara." Cari gestured Vendon to her side. "You might control Lurin now, but remember I control everything else in your pathetic little world." Cari sneered at her daughter. "What happened to you? You were my pride and joy before you started fucking everything on two legs. Really, Sara, we do have an image to maintain."

Lurin felt the animosity brewing in Sara and let her vent on her mother, using only a light touch to guide her.

"Come now, Mother. Do you really think we’re so different? You think people don’t know what you do in the private recesses of this palace?" she scoffed. "Rumor abounds about your perverse appetites. And who should know better than me? I am what you made me, after all. And I choose not to hide who I am."

Cari’s lips tightened and she retorted something vile back at her daughter. Lurin tuned them out to concentrate on the situation at hand.

Gren, where did they take Mara?

Gren seemed to have a hard time taking his gaze from the drama brewing between Cari and her daughter. They took her to a level beneath us, to Cari’s private cell. Don’t worry. I’ve got men there as we speak.

You’d better, Lurin growled.

I have to say, this jealous streak you’re showing is really entertaining. Gren let the humor leak through his thoughts, irritating Lurin to no end.

They lay one hand on her and you’ll answer to me. The real threat behind his words startled Gren enough that he blinked and turned his head to gaze at Lurin in surprise.

I’m joking, Lurin. Stars, get a grip. Mara will be fine. It’s you we need to save.

Well what are we waiting for?

Sernal, a neighboring peacekeeper. He owes me a favor. As soon as he and his men show, we can tie this up. Gren rolled his neck, the tension in the room obviously affecting him.

Lurin felt slightly queasy himself. The effort to control Sara had worn his energy down so much that his safeguards had weakened, causing him to suffer the brutal animosity and dark energy brewing between mother and daughter most keenly.

He swayed on his feet, the action tearing the others out of their argument. Then to his alarm, his vision grayed before blackness enveloped him.

* * * *

Gren stared at Lurin with real concern, not understanding how his grand plan had so quickly disintegrated. Dammit. He needed Lurin to control Sara. Gren couldn’t handle both Sara and her mother, not with all the hatred surging in the room.

He’d done extensive research on Nobless Cari prior to taking this job, and what he learned made him cringe. Cari was not Thesha by any means, but her darkness of spirit was powerful, and consuming if not countered effectively. Even now he felt her drawing part of him to her, like a spell master from the gates of hell.

Focusing on the situation, he lifted Lurin in his arms and placed him on Cari’s bed, per her order. Vendon clumsily bent to "help" and ended up knocking into Gren, pinching at his forearm.

Glaring at the little man, Gren watched with some satisfaction as Vendon hurriedly scurried back to Cari.

The woman glowed with Lurin’s vitality, bubbling over with coils of malicious intent, strengthened by Theshan healing.

"Sara, go see how our prisoner, Captain Mara, fares in The Cell," Cari ordered, countering Sara’s refusal. "Don’t worry, Lurin will still be here when you return, as will Captain Gren. Won’t you, Captain?"

A hard glint shone in her brown eyes, a hint that Cari definitely had something up her sleeve.

"As you wish." Gren bowed. He watched as a sulky Sara grudgingly left the room. Only he, Cari and Vendon remained, with an unconscious Lurin on Cari’s bed. Now he had a ripe opportunity to take charge of the situation, if only he could rid himself of the nasty feeling he’d missed something important.

"Gren, I hear you’ve been most inhospitable to Vendon."

Gren stared from Vendon to Cari, unease snaking through him. They stared at him, as if waiting for something to happen, and he knew Vendon’s clumsiness had not been an accident.

A burning sensation flared from the pinch in his arm throughout his body, slowing his heart rate and clouding his mind.

"What the hell did you do?" he asked angrily as he stalked Vendon.

Cari watched with beady eyes as Gren lifted Vendon off the floor by his collar. Vendon moaned with what should have been fright, but instead sounded oddly like arousal.

"It’s a funny thing, Gren," she said. "I have yet to see you naked, but I’d be willing to bet you have no blue marking on your groin."

Gren wavered and dropped Vendon, his strength suddenly deserting him. He sank to his knees and clutched his head. His vision blurred and an incessant buzzing sound affected his balance.

Cari knelt beside him, stroking his hair. "Sara made no mention that you might have any extrasensory abilities.

And there’s nothing about you that even hints at the possibility you might be Thesha, yet I have a strange feeling that won’t go away." She pushed him to his back on the ground, and he lay vulnerable beneath her.

"What did you give me?" he managed, feeling incredibly woozy.

"It’s called shei-root, a priceless and unique herb found, supposedly, on the Theshan people’s original home world. Strange that it should affect you, Gren," she purred.

"Please, Cari," Vendon whined as he hovered near her. "You promised."

She smiled, her eyes bright with victory. "So I did. You may disrobe him, but do nothing else. Not yet." Gren watched helplessly as Vendon eagerly stripped him of his clothing. "Can you imagine, Vendon? Two Theshas at my beck and call? I’ll be as much a legend as them, more even!"

Vendon’s greedy hands lingered over Gren’s trousers until Cari reminded him to be quick.

"Don’t try me, Vendon," she said lightly. "You can look, but you can’t touch. Not until I’ve broken him in."

"Yes, Nobless." Vendon bobbed his head and licked at his lips, his eyes focused on Gren’s naked flesh.

Cari ran her hands over Gren’s chest and down his abdomen. She rested her palm over his cock, and he couldn’t help his groan when he felt himself harden despite his resolve not to.

"Didn’t I tell you, Gren? Shei-root not only disarms, but also acts as an aphrodisiac. You’ll be hard as a stone all night long," she ended in a whisper. "Just wait for all the lovely things I’m going to teach you."

Gren managed to loll his head to the side, only to see Lurin still unconscious on the bed. He didn’t understand how he’d failed so miserably, when his plan had been working so well. He could only hope Mara found a greater success in her situation.

With one final effort, he closed his mind and body to the world around him and sent his spiritual self on a quest to find help, and fast.

Chapter Twelve

Mara cursed Felan and Maltor with an extensive vocabulary built over several years of hunting the scum of the System. For the most part they ignored her, but when they finally reached their destination, instead of dropping her and leaving, they closed the door behind them and ogled her with reptilian grins.

"I think she needs a lesson in manners, Maltor. What say you?" Felan leaned against one of the black stone walls lit dimly by two charel crystals.

The room was actually larger than she’d expected. But when she saw the reason why, she couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped.

Maltor crossed his arms over his chest and blew her a kiss. "I agree with you, Felan. Captain Mara, you shouldn’t have struck our Mistress."

He idly crossed to the rack holding various tools designed specifically to inflict maximum pain. Reaching up, Maltor grabbed a short whip studded with numerous spikes along its tip.

"This is one of Nobless Cari’s personal favorites." Maltor flicked the whip to within an inch of Mara’s face. "It will definitely leave scars, in case you were wondering."

Mara swallowed the knot of fear choking her and told herself she’d been in worse situations. None came to mind at present though, and then her mind completely blanked when Felan began undressing.

He dropped his trousers, his cock stiff with excitement as he eyed Maltor and the whip.

"Do it, Maltor," he said and began stroking himself.

Maltor’s eyes brightened as he stared at Felan. He nodded and two lightning-fast strokes later, Mara wore a tattered shirt. A small cut welled with blood above her left breast, now exposed due to Maltor’s handiwork.

"So much for Gren’s plan," she mumbled under her breath, trying to maintain a semblance of control over her fear. To be honest, she feared Felan and Maltor’s sexual advance more than she feared the whip. To dirty what she and Lurin had shared with a rape, she didn’t think she could handle that.

They neared and she braced herself for the worst, raising her fists in a fighting stance, balancing on the balls of her feet, when a most welcome interruption arrived.

"Who dares command my cell?" a gravelly voice preceded the menacing form that entered the dim room.

Shadows played across the krell skull he wore over his face as a mask. The krell’s large horns and three rows of teeth made the intruder seem more demon than man.

Felan and Maltor, however, bowed respectfully and gave the intruder welcome smiles.

"Forgive us, Master Utal, but Nobless Cari ordered us to bring the woman to the cell. We thought to teach her a lesson for her earlier disrespect to our Mistress," Maltor explained.

Utal’s eyes looked black under the mask, and his next words confirmed that he had no soul. "Then use the hooks instead of that pussy whip." He handed both Maltor and Felan a black, three-pronged hook barbed at the end and took the whip.

Felan opened his mouth to speak when the whip cracked. He shrieked instead. The whip cracked again and a second thin line of blood trailed down his face. Maltor, too stunned to react, received a similar wound accompanied by several more in rapid succession, which left him too wounded to move.

Mara had stood frozen in shock witnessing such brutality, but now that Utal bent over to tie Felan’s hands, she gathered her courage and bolted for the door.

Master Utal moved in a blur and she found herself in his arms, caged by his massive strength. She fought for freedom, ignoring his murmurs until he shook her hard.

"Relax, Captain, it’s me," Catam’s voice sounded from inside the skull.

Almost afraid to hope for salvation, Mara slowly wound down and stared into his eyes. He shifted so that the light hit him and she noted the golden gleam of Catam’s gaze studying her.

His hold gentled and he let her go, his gaze traveling over her with concern. He reached up and removed the skull, breathing deeply as he did so.

"Damn thing itches like crazy," he muttered and unable to help herself, Mara laughed out loud with relief.

"Uh, Captain?" Catam waited until she looked back up at him. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and wiped at the blood smeared over her chest.

"Why don’t you take my shirt?"

She graciously accepted the garment, belatedly aware that her ripped shirt showed more than Catam should ever have seen of his captain.

As if he read her thoughts, he grinned. "I can’t say I wasn’t hoping to one day see you with your clothes off, but this isn’t what I’d had in mind."

She chuckled again, his lighthearted teasing doing wonders to ease her mind. Gren had at least proved right about her crew.

"Not that I’m complaining, but what took you so long?"

Catam flushed. "It’s a long story. Suffice it to say Nu and Set are steamed I assumed Master Utal’s role. They’re currently busy occupying Sara and at least a half dozen Elaran torturers a few doors down."

"Shouldn’t we go help them?" She tugged Catam’s shirt around her, the heat of his body making the shirt warm, soothing the chill that had threatened earlier.

"They’re fine. In fact, I deliberately riled them to make them stronger. You know how rough they can get when their blood is really pumping."

Mara nodded. "I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Catam."

"Same here. When Captain Gren ran into us a few days ago and explained things, I thought he was half-crazed. But when he introduced us to the real Lady Sara, we knew we had to go along with him." Catam paused and frowned. "I’m sorry there was no way to tell you what was happening. I’ll bet Gren’s arrival shocked the hell out of you on the ship."

"You could say that." Felan groaned and she and Catam shared a look.

They exited the cell, locking the door behind them as they left.

"This way," Catam said and guided her to the loud noises behind an overly large metal door. He banged on the door and it opened slowly.

Nu peered out at them and a grin lit his face when he saw Mara.

"She’s here, Set," he told his brother. "You can let that one go. He’s not going anywhere."

Nu opened the door wider to allow them entrance, and Mara gaped at the sight that met her eyes. Set dropped an Elaran soldier to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Several men appeared to be dead, while a few groaned pitifully amidst the torture racks and chains all around. Sara lay unconscious on the floor.

"Captain Mara," Set exclaimed and grabbed her in a massive hug. He set her down after Nu socked him in the ribs.

"She can’t breathe you idiot."

"Sorry, Cap’. We were worried maybe things weren’t going so well for you." He glared at Catam. "But that whoreson Mardu wouldn’t let us help you. Instead he stuck us with this mess."

Mara eyed the littered bodies. She counted more than the six Catam mentioned. She counted twelve, including Sara.

Catam shrugged. "You did a decent job taking care of them. What’s the problem?"
"We’ll settle up later, Catam," Nu said in a low voice. "But first I want to hear about the Captain. And what the hell happened to Vez, our prisoner? How did you get down here?"

Mara shook her head. Fear for Lurin returned and she urged Catam and the others to follow her. "Not now, Nu. I’ll fill you all in once we’ve saved Lurin and Gren."

"Lurin? You mean captive Vez?" Nu asked in astonishment.

"Later, you rock," Catam growled and earned a glare from both Fas brothers. "Just follow the captain and we’ll get our answers later."

They grudgingly agreed and Mara hurried, feeling an urgency to find Lurin and Gren that scared her.

* * * *

Gren groaned and tried to move but his limbs refused to obey. Pain and pleasure mixed as Cari sucked his cock so hard he wanted to curl into a ball for protection as much as he wanted to come.

"Let the pain take you, Thesha," Cari whispered and lifted herself over him. She’d already come twice from rubbing against him while she used a knife to slice him to ribbons. Blood covered his body, looking worse than the actual wounds. The constant stinging hurt, though, and Cari’s gratification from his pain sucked the energy from him in waves, weakening him further.

She poised herself over him, holding his throbbing cock in her bony fingers as she stared into his eyes.

"Call me by my name. Say it."

Gren gritted his teeth, refusing to call her Mistress even if it killed him. He felt as if his dick was ready to fall off, it hurt so badly. He had been hard, without relief, for too long, and she prolonged the agony, not letting him come while taking her own enjoyment.

His search for help had yielded him little. As weak as he was, he’d barely been able to find Mara, let alone coax her into returning to him. And Lurin ... he was worried Lurin might not wake. Gren sensed nothing from the Thesha, when there should have at least been a faint heartbeat or lift of spirit with which to connect.

He felt a lashing blow to his left cheek and blinked up into Cari’s furious gaze.

"You will answer me, slave."

Gren’s body shuddered as she teased him with her pussy, drawing down and making him arch to maintain the contact with his sensitive shaft. He hated the fact that she made him want her. He hated his lack of discipline and the fact that he’d relaxed his guard and let Vendon, of all people, close enough to do harm.

Gren would have killed Cari and himself in the process, if it hadn’t been for Lurin lying helpless on the bed. But as Cari postured over his erection, his shame grew until he thought death might be preferable to this.

"Let him go."

Mara? He stared up at Cari’s fuzzy image and felt her literally draining him of energy. He heard a man curse and then felt Cari lifted off his body.

"Shit. He needs aid and quickly." Catam timed Gren’s pulse and tried to stop his bleeding. "He’s dying, Mara."

"No," Gren rasped weakly. "See to Lurin. He’s worse off than I am."

Mara hurried to Lurin’s side and blanched when she felt the stillness surrounding him. She reached for his arm and it felt cool, his heat gone.

"Lurin," she whispered and stroked his face with gentle hands. "Come back to me. I need you here," she urged over and over.

Still she felt nothing.

"Gren, I don’t know what to do," she cried, knowing she was losing Lurin.

"Call out to him with more than words, Mara," Gren managed. "Show him the way back."

She heard Catam curse, heard him welcome someone else into the room, but she knew little time remained. Realizing Lurin came from a world steeped in energy, she closed her eyes and looked deep within herself. She had no idea whether or not she’d be successful, but she’d die trying if need be.

His manipulations and past subterfuge no longer mattered. Faced with a life without Lurin, her love quickly buoyed to the surface. Placing her hands over his heart, she broadcast waves of adoration.

Lurin, return to me. Please. I love you. Don’t leave me, not like this.

She continued to bathe him with her love, letting her energy flow into and around him. Amazingly she could feel it working, could feel her body, mind and spirit merging with his. And while it felt unnerving to be so open with another being, it also felt right.

Now if he would only accept all that she freely gave. She could feel the small piece of him that remained apart from her. And if he wouldn’t open himself to everything she offered, she had a horrible feeling he wouldn’t survive.

* * * *

Lurin struggled against the darkness until he had nothing left with which to fight. Cari was a vampire, a demonic soul-sucker whose menacing spirit spoiled everything she touched.

Weak already from having to control Sara, he had no way to fight Cari’s evil with his life ebbing more and more. He felt so alone, so cold. He needed help. He needed ... Mara.

He could no longer sense her, and it crazed him. They had bonded in Sara’s cabin, so he should have been able to sense her no matter what. Why then could he no longer see her? Panic flared at the thought that she had somehow died and left him behind.

How could he hope to live without her? He tried again to astral project, but to no avail. Weakness consumed him until he knew nothing but pain and sadness before an emptying numbness stole his mind.

An involuntary spasm opened his eyes a fraction to let him see Gren covered in blood, Nobless Cari over him feeding off his pain.

Lurin was responsible for this. Because of him, Mara had been captured and perhaps even killed, and now Gren lay dying. Lurin wanted to cry but couldn’t, the loss of what he might have had with Mara burning his insides with cold.

He wanted so badly to return back into that mystical world where he and Mara, his soul mate, had bonded. Had he the opportunity, he would bare himself to her, leaving himself vulnerable to her love and her pain, accepting her as she had accepted him.

He longed to feel Mara with him, touching her flesh to flesh and soul to soul. He imagined her within him, bonding all over again, releasing the distrust that kept him from finding true happiness.

The numbness taking control of him ceded and a great pain stole his breath.

"Lurin, come back to me," he heard whispered again and again until she seemed to shout at him.

Warmth burgeoned inside of him and he arched uncontrollably, heat breaking through the cold aloneness of distrust. The pain was excruciating, but the fact that he actually felt anything at all made him want to shout with joy.

"Please Lurin. If you really love me, come back to me."

At that moment he surrendered everything he had to Mara. He gave her his heart and soul, shared his innermost thoughts and secrets. He held nothing back. She experienced every ugly thing he’d ever done, every sexual act and every beautiful climax he’d bestowed among his female conquests.

He heard her gasp and he felt her shock. He was past caring about the risks. He knew, deep down he knew, that she accepted him. Only a woman in love would forego a life of riches for a man accused of murder and rape.

Suddenly, his heart began beating again. He inhaled deeply and heard her whisper his name in wonder. She leaned over his chest, hugging him tight and as his strength slowly returned, he hugged her back.

He was dimly aware of the noise around him. Instead he drowned in Mara’s scent and in her touch. His heart healed, his spirit followed until he felt whole again.

He opened his eyes to find the room filled with strange men. Blinking, he wiped one of Mara’s tears from his cheek and smiled at her, bemused at the radiant grin she returned.

"Catam, Nu and Set saved me from having to kill Cari’s man servants."

"They’re dead then?" Bloodlust filled him as he recalled Felan and Maltor’s hands on Mara.

"Not quite. But Catam put them in an awful lot of pain."

He grunted. Not the punishment he would deliver once he was up and about, but it would have to do for now.

"Who are these men?" He noted several men wearing utilitarian gray uniforms buzzing around the room.

"They’re System law, courtesy of Sernal, Catam’s brother."

"Catam’s brother?"

Mara explained. "Gren’s contact Sernal is a Mardu lawman. Apparently he’d heard rumblings of Elaran misdeeds even on Mardu, so he had no problem helping Gren out with this. I’m not sure how Gren and Sernal are connected, but at this point I’m not questioning such a good thing."

"Gren’s all right then?"

Mara’s lips tightened. "He’s been better, but he’ll be okay. A med tech is seeing to him now."

Lurin braced himself on Mara’s arm and slowly sat up. He heard Gren cursing before he saw him, and the man’s profane grumbling made Lurin breathe a sigh of relief.

"He must be okay, he nearly took that tech’s head off," Lurin said with a sigh.

Catam and the Fas brothers approached with a nod at Mara.

"Glad to see you made it," Catam said.

"Thanks, I think," Lurin said with a grimace. His head pounded with a massive headache.

"Sorry for everything on the ship," Nu said, looking uncomfortable. Both he and his brother seemed repentant for their part in his capture. Curiously, neither Mara nor Catam had apologized for their involvement.

Reading his expression, Catam shook his head. "Oh no. I’m not going to apologize for doing my job. And I’ll smash you in the stomach again if you disrespect my captain."

Mara chuckled and the Fas brothers cracked a smile.

"I’ll only agree because I won’t allow anyone to disrespect Captain Mara, soon to become my wife."

Chapter Thirteen

Nu and Set stood flabbergasted, but Catam rolled his eyes.

"Like she could hold out against one of them," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Mara asked, her eyes narrowed and switching from Catam to Lurin and back again.

"Nothing." Catam shrugged and gave Lurin a catlike grin. "Congratulations, I think."

"Come on, Mara," Lurin cajoled, wishing now he hadn’t blurted his desire in front of her crew. "You love me and I love you. What could be more right?"

"What indeed," Gren added in a gruff voice as he hobbled to join them.

"You look like shit," Nu said bluntly.

"You really do," Lurin had to say.

"Thanks," Gren said sourly as he wrapped a bloodstained blanket tighter around his body. "You have to ask her to marry you, you idiot. You don’t just tell a woman she’ll marry you."

Mara smiled, and the warmth in her grin stirred Lurin’s loins. "It’s okay, Gren. Lurin belongs to me now, so I figure that’s the last order he’ll be giving for a long, long time."

Her crew hooted with laughter, and Gren chuckled before groaning with pain.

I owe you one, Gren, Lurin said soberly.

Look, promise me you won’t tell Mara about what happened in my quarters and we’ll consider the debt repaid. I definitely don’t want to be on the receiving end of her wrath. He shifted, clutching the blanket tighter as Catam stared at him.

And what’s with the Mardu? he added.

"Lurin?" Mara stared from Gren to Lurin with a gleam in her eye.

"Yes, love?" I have no idea why Catam is staring at you like that. Make that, staring at us like that.

"Remind Gren that I can hear him when he speaks."

The others looked puzzled, but Gren’s eyes widened.

Shit.

Exactly, Mara purred. My memories seem to have returned fully, thanks to Lurin’s energy transference during his revival.

"I think I need that med tech again," Gren murmured and ambled as quickly as he was able from the group.

"What was that about?" Nu asked, confused.

"Who knows," Set said. "Gren’s an odd one for sure, but he’s one hell of a warrior, considering he’s not from Ragga. Did you see when he...?"

Lurin ignored his ramblings, his gaze drawn to Mara’s smile.

"So Lurin, how do you feel about space travel?"

He grinned at her, sending her explicit images of what he planned on doing to her in the very near future.

"I love it," he answered with a naughty smile. "But how will we manage with your crew, especially since Catam won’t stop staring at me?" He turned his gaze on the Mardu.

"It’s all right, Catam. Lurin never did any of the things he was accused of," she reminded her crewman.

Catam shrugged. "I know, Mara." He leaned closer. "True Thesha are incapable of harming women."

Lurin blinked and Mara’s mouth dropped open.

"How long have you known?" Lurin asked quietly. He glanced at the Fas brothers and saw them heavily involved in a discussion about Gren.

"Since the beginning." He seemed to be enjoying Lurin’s surprise.

"You son of a--"

Mara interrupted. "How did you know?"

"I’m of the Xema class," he said quietly, a smirk teasing his lips. "We know things." And so saying, he gracefully bowed and left them with congratulations as he pulled the Fas brothers with him.

"Xema class?" Mara asked.

Lurin stared at Catam’s back. "My people consider them cousins, if you will. I’ll be damned."

"That little sneak," Mara huffed. "When we get back to my ship, I’m going to--"

"Make sweet love to your husband." He sent her several more pictures that had her blushing like fire. "I believe Sernal has the wherewithal to marry us, love, at least he does according to Gren."

"Gren I’ll deal with later," Mara promised. Then she leaned down and kissed Lurin with such passion his arousal flared like lightning. "We have a marriage ceremony to enact. And the fact that you’re wearing a loincloth just adds to moment."

Lurin laughed and knew peace, now that he had Mara in his life, and in his heart.

Later that night when he crested ecstasy with his wife in his arms, he knew for certain he’d surrendered his heart and soul to the one person in the universe that would ever truly understand him: his soul mate, Mara Vez.

The End