Enslaved Read online

  She nodded, and he gripped her waist. What sounded like a soft sigh escaped her lips when he set her on the edge of the table and slipped between her parted thighs. Nevertheless, the sound—real or imagined—heated his blood.

  With her back to the door, she slanted him a cautious look, an expression he couldn’t remember seeing on her face until now. He grinned.

  “Is this your way of calling me out? Because I meant what I said, though I’d prefer to make good on my offer without the imminent Battalian threat.”

  He untied the wrap at her waist. The fragile material whispered across his fingers and pooled on the table. While the Battalia’s presence changed the rules of the game, and in his favor, he couldn’t help but resent that their search of the ship would prevent him from taking her right here.

  “Lorcan,” she prompted, trailing off when he smoothed his palms up the outside of her thighs and back to her ass. “Tell me this is part of your plan?”

  Hell, no.

  Planning implied he wasn’t thinking with the erection pushing against the seam of his pants, and he dared any man to admit otherwise with only three strategically placed triangles standing between him and every carnal thought he could dream up.

  Instead of admitting any of that, he went with, “You could say that.”

  She arched her back, exposing the slender column of her throat when he brushed his lips across her collarbone. “Do I at least get a peek at the playbook?”

  He glanced at the door, clenching his jaw when she shifted forward to fit snug against his cock. “Sort of making it up as I go.”

  Any more effort than that would require sacrificing his bone-deep awareness of her. He enjoyed the feel of her skin, the heat radiating off her too much to spare any extra brain cells to identify another solution for their current problem.

  He’d just have to work with what he had.

  “Brilliant,” she murmured, the last syllable catching in her throat when he opened his mouth at the sensitive curve of her neck.

  He lowered her to the table, sliding his hand under her knee and bringing it to his hip.

  Understanding dawned in her eyes. “You know, feeling me up in front of an audience is starting to become a trend with you.”

  Lorcan grinned. “Never hurts to stick with what works.” Because he couldn’t help himself, he nipped at her throat.

  Her answering sigh made his heart pound faster, made his system work harder not to get too carried away. Was that even possible with a mostly naked woman who’d just promised to deny him nothing?

  Voices sounded in the corridor, but he tuned them out. For once, losing himself in the moment would save both their asses—he hoped. He closed his mouth over the thin purple fabric at her breast, wetting the lacey material right through.

  She hissed out a breath, her fingers raking his shoulders. The scrape of her nails pulled him closer, nestling him hard against her. He bit down at the rush of lust that knifed through him. His arousal intensified and he rubbed his hard length up and down her cleft.

  Incredible. Even the threat of Battalia rebels storming into the room did nothing to hinder how much he wanted her. How much he wanted to be buried deep, sliding hard and fast.

  Wanted it so bad he ached to the core. He groaned against her neck, wondering how far she expected him to take this—more importantly, how far he could handle.

  Her knees hugged his waist, and she lifted her hips, rocking against him, driving his torment to the next level. The only thing standing between him and sheathing himself inside her were the pants he suddenly found more confining than a four-by-four prison cell.

  Registering that the voices were drawing closer, he shoved her knotted bottoms out of the way. As good of an excuse as any from his point of view. Kaela didn’t let up, rolling her hips forward, encouraging him to keep grinding against her. He flicked his tongue over the tip of her breast and she moaned.

  Seconds later, when the door finally slid open, he had one hand cupping her breast, her nipple wet from his mouth, and his other hand working his pants open. The rebels’ presence set the stage for getting the woman beneath him hot and wet, but if he had a fusion pistol within reach, he could have cheerfully shot the bastards for interrupting.

  Without being told, Kaela angled her face away from the armed men. It must have killed the sentinel to take her eyes off the only threat in the room. Unfortunately, that put getting them out of this squarely on his shoulders.

  Half a minute ago that had been fine with him. Facing three armed men with his proverbial pants down didn’t lend a lot of confidence to any situation.

  Kaela brought her arms up to cover herself, and he caught her wrists, pinning them to the table.

  “Did I give permission to hide yourself?” He didn’t wait for her response before regarding the men with an air of boredom. “This is a very poor time to run a security drill, gentlemen.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Two of the men’s gazes didn’t leave Kaela’s breasts when Lorcan spoke, and that was fine by him. The third man gave her only a fleeting glance before leveling Lorcan with a hard glare that bordered on hostile.

  “I assure you this is not a drill.”

  “No?” He looked back at Kaela. “You were right, though I still think I should have kept fucking you against the wall, drill or not.”

  “And you are?” the leader of the trio snapped.

  “Warron Barclay.” He acknowledged the man’s fusion pistol with an arched brow. “Is there something I need to be worried about?”

  “Who are you traveling with?”

  He nodded in Kaela’s direction, running a hand up her thigh to bring the men’s attention to the telling brand on her hip. “Just my slave.”

  “How long have you owned her?”

  “A little over a year,” he lied seamlessly. “A pricey wench, but worth every cent.” He straightened, but left his hand curled possessively around her inner thigh, keeping two of the men adequately distracted. “If you require a biomed reading to confirm my identity, might we expedite the process?”

  The men said nothing.

  “Don’t move one inch,” he growled at Kaela, adjusting his pants. “You know I hate to be disobeyed.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” the rebel insisted gruffly. “I suggest you remain here until you are given orders to return to your quarters.” Without another word, the men turned and left.

  The doors slid shut behind them, and Lorcan planted his hands on top of the table, let out the tight breath he’d been holding. “They don’t know what you look like.” The men would have wanted a closer look at her face if they knew exactly who they were searching for.

  She slowly sat up and straightened her clothing. “Or they were too busy looking at my breasts.”

  “They are…distracting.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “How could they know about you?” Although unlikely, Zypher was just unpredictable enough to pull a stunt like this, especially if he felt Lorcan’s judgment could be called into question where Kaela was concerned.

  Still, tipping off anyone, least of all the Battalia, carried the potential of making things worse instead of better. Zypher would have taken that into account, assuming he wasn’t letting his own judgment be clouded by what happened to Erik.

  She shrugged, but he didn’t buy into the clueless gesture. “Hell, I don’t even know what ship I’m on or where I’m headed.”

  “You mean you didn’t know until you accessed the AI console.”

  “Hmmm?”

  He crossed his arms. “You’re pretty slick. I almost didn’t catch it.” She’d accessed the visual feeds and flight logs nearly at the same time, and likely on purpose, hoping he’d be too preoccupied with the footage to notice her skim the brief details on the cruiser’s next destination.

  Looking unapologetic, Kaela changed the subject. “I guess I should thank you for playing along with me earlier.”

  “Who would pass up the opportunity
to get his slave naked on top of a table?”

  “I was talking about when we tried to leave the banquet hall.”

  “I wasn’t.” How they’d ended up here meant nothing once he had her legs wrapped around him.

  “And I’m not naked.”

  “Yet.”

  Her eyes flared, her gaze tracking his progress as he closed the meager distance separating them. “I think two public performances in one day meets my quota.”

  “Who said anything about public?”

  “You have a key to that door I don’t know about?”

  He shook his head, sliding his hand around to the nape of her neck. “Nope, but then I’m only requiring a little down payment on your proposition. Something to tide me over until you are naked and in my bed.” He leaned down, his lips grazing her ear. “That is, assuming you don’t plan to back out of our new arrangement?”

  Lorcan didn’t wait for her to answer before opening his mouth over hers, falling fast and hard into a kiss he’d been thinking about for hours. The woman could have shot him back at the merchant’s shop and he foolishly doubted even that would have lessened his determination to possess her. The longer she remained within arm’s reach, the more she drove him crazy.

  The rebel presence and their interest in Kaela, as unexpected as it was, forced him to reevaluate his plans. Like whether or not he could bring himself to use her as a bargaining chip if they ran into trouble, especially knowing the price she’d pay. With her breasts crammed between them, her tongue pushing past his lips and a fierce lust he had yet to satisfy, he refused to think about it, to think about anything at all.

  * * *

  Kaela took a deep breath, striving for calm. “I was really hoping we were past this.”

  The devastating smile curving Lorcan’s mouth fell light-years short of remorseful. Not good.

  “I meant what I said. No tricks.”

  “Oh, I believe you.”

  Sure he did.

  He admired his handiwork. “I just happen to like you…under control.”

  “Don’t you mean restrained?” She jerked at the bands locked around her wrists. If not for them being secured to a bolt on the wall above her head, she might not have complained—much.

  “That’s a matter of opinion.”

  And hers didn’t count according to the first ground rule he’d insisted she accept on the way back to his quarters. That had been ten minutes ago. Nine minutes ago he’d destroyed her with a long, deep kiss. At the eight minute mark she’d found herself under control. The last seven had been spent watching Lorcan decide what he really wanted to do with her.

  After how quickly things had heated up in the conference room, both before and after the Battalia, who had since given up their search and departed, she hadn’t expected Lorcan to put the brakes on. In fact, she’d been counting on things moving so fast she wouldn’t have time to wonder if she really was out of her mind.

  Not for the first time, she’d given her mission priority status, reevaluating her strategy and taking the necessary steps that would bring her closer to attaining her objective. Sentinels were expected to make hard choices, sacrifices…

  Oh, yeah, out of her mind.

  There was no other explanation for feeding herself bullshit about duty and sacrifices when all she could think about was Lorcan’s mouth. Wondering if playing his game had been her smartest move changed nothing. Keeping the man from inching any deeper under her skin was the best she could hope for.

  From this point on, he played a central role in getting her closer to Varek. Establishing a sexual relationship only added more credibility to her cover, made their slave-prime relationship more believable.

  Kaela closed her eyes. Out. Of. Her. Mind.

  He still hadn’t moved from his seat in the chair opposite her. For a man who’d taken her within an inch of climaxing just by rubbing against her on the table, he looked remarkably composed.

  Except for his eyes.

  The glittering blue depths never wavered, not once, sliding up one side of her body and down the other, drinking her in. She’d been caught and interrogated enough times to recognize the feel of someone carefully planning his next move, mentally weighing out the best approach to ensure he got what he was after. Sometimes that meant bribery, other times violence.

  But not once had she felt as threatened or vulnerable as she did right now.

  She let out the breath she’d been holding since his seductive gaze dropped to her breasts. “I do hope you don’t expect me to sleep this way.”

  “Assuming I’ll let you get any sleep at all, you mean.” He leaned forward, and she pressed her heels into the floor to guarantee she didn’t squirm where she stood.

  “If you’ve changed your mind about my proposition…” She trailed off, her indifference as forced as the nonchalant expression on her face.

  He laughed, finally pushing to his feet. “Not a chance.”

  “Suffering from performance anxiety?”

  “I’d like to think I disproved that theory right around the time I had you spread out on the table earlier.” He murmured the last few words against her ear, spanning one hand across her abdomen, the other playing with the tendrils that worked free of her braid. “Or have you forgotten the way you nearly came in my arms before we were interrupted? Back arched—” he trailed his fingers down her spine, “—nipples hard, aching—” he bent his head, sweeping his tongue across her cleavage, “—my name on your lips…”

  Lorcan caught her mouth in a searing kiss, silencing her denial that she’d said his name. Oh, she had—in her head. A hundred times, over and over, blown away by how turned on she could be trapped between a table and uncompromising male flesh while trouble brewed outside the door.

  He nipped at her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth. The hand slowly trailing down her front came to a stop when it slipped beneath the scrap material hiding her sex. Caught on the wicked edge of anticipation, she slammed her eyes shut, waiting for the teasing slide of his fingers along her cleft.

  “Too soon,” he growled, the reprimand sounding strangely self-directed.

  She tugged on the restraints that prevented her from catching his hand and pressing it between her legs. “So it’s the audience you’re missing,” she taunted. “No voyeur factor to keep things interesting.”

  He boldly cupped her breast, his thumb rasping across her stiff nipple. “Then how would you explain what happened in the merchant’s back room?”

  “Fluke?”

  His gaze darkened. “You enjoy baiting me.”

  “Fundamental character flaw. What’s a girl to do?”

  Lorcan snared her nipple between his lips, laving the tip with his tongue and sucking hard. She bit down to stifle the moan that rocketed up her throat. Everything from her mouth down snapped to a new level of awareness. She pushed up on the balls of her feet, offering more, pleading silently for him to take it.

  To take whatever he wanted.

  His towering frame pushed her against the wall, his thigh sliding between hers to rub against her sex. “I don’t think you really need this anymore.” Starting with the bottom knot, he unraveled the strings that made up the scandalous outfit, stripping away the last barrier between her and total vulnerability.

  He stood back, the clothing fisted in his hand as he raked his gaze over her. “Much better.”

  She didn’t dare let herself look away, afraid doing so would betray just how much she wanted this. Making a deal and begging for one—for him—were two very different things. One was a compromise, the other, a concession of power. Not for one second would she reveal just how close she treaded toward the latter.

  Lorcan yanked his shirt over his head. His pants came next, his hard length jutting from his body. The unapologetic display of arousal shot her past hot and bothered and straight into uncharted territory.

  “No audience required,” he clarified, his voice promising first-hand proof.

  The feverish ache deep in
her core intensified. She gave up trying to stand still, an impossible feat when his tongue skimmed the tip of her breast.

  He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Open for me, Kaela.” The strained command reverberated up her belly as he pressed his lips to her stomach. “I’ve waited long enough.”

  She widened her stance, and then his mouth took over, dragging a whimper to the surface. He parted her damp folds, first with his fingers, then with his tongue. Soft and slow, coiling the sweet tension gripping her muscles, then swift and brutal—taking, savoring, devouring.

  Her wrists burned from the pressure of jerking on the restraints, eager to sink her fingers into his hair, to hold him on his knees, his face buried against her. She squeezed her eyes shut, opening them a second later as the first waves of decadent pleasure streamed through her.

  He tipped his head back, his eyes locking onto hers as he swirled his tongue higher, closer… His lips closed over her clit, greedily pulling her into his mouth. Kaela cried out, bucking her hips forward for a deeper, harder stroke. She trembled with the force of wanting to come, the intensity of it almost too much to stand.

  He gripped the back of her thighs, holding her in place.

  “Lorcan,” she hissed, arching against his mouth.

  The sweep of his tongue turned ravenous. He lifted her leg, draping her knee over his shoulder, opening her further. His fingers brushed her sex, circling with lazy strokes that made her tug uselessly on the restraints.

  “Easy,” he murmured, and thrust two fingers inside her.

  Her head dropped back and she moaned at the curls of molten pleasure that coiled tighter. Easy? Was he out of his mind? Who could take it easy when they were shackled to the wall in front of a man on his knees licking his way up her cleft?

  He sealed his lips over her clit, sucking ruthlessly at the engorged knot as he continued to pump his fingers into her sex.

  “Don’t stop,” she pleaded, straining for release.

  He withdrew his fingers, his thumb trailing back and forth across her opening. “Not yet.”

  She looked down, watched him drag the flat of his tongue upwards in one unhurried pass.