Friction

Friction Kim Knox

Book two in the Planetary Bodies series.

A deal is a deal. But when that deal includes appearing in Tomas Thorne’s office ready to offer herself for his…consumption, Shan Rayner runs, hides and has no intention of going through with it. That is until she’s hit by sheen, a turbulent force from the Uranian lower atmosphere. A force that brings her darkest desires to the surface. Need swamps Shan and she finds herself outside Tomas’ office, all too ready to agree to anything he wants. Absolutely anything.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing

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Friction ISBN 9781419933844 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Friction Copyright 2011 Kim Knox Edited by Grace Bradley Cover art by Syneca Electronic book publication May 2011 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

FRICTION Kim Knox

Friction

Chapter One Thorne’s executive was typical of his taste. Flawless, immaculate and wrapped up in the latest Jovian fashions, all black-grown silk and hints of diamond. Her desk plate labeled her as Lucinda Grey. For a long moment, she simply held Shan’s gaze, her artificially blue eyes glittering in the pale glow of her light-screen. “Do you have an appointment with Director Thorne?” Shan didn’t. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was standing in the noisy outer office of the director of Uranian operations. She should’ve been aboard the Theseus. Had been aboard…running through the final system checks before they scooped their next helium-3 and hydrogen deuteride payload from the turbulent atmosphere of Uranus. She could still feel the press of the cramped compartment that stank of metal and hot humans. Their bosun, Callie Thiago, had been on a mission to pump Dareh Andersen for gossip about the woman who’d practically scarred him with her teeth the week before. She did love her downtime gossip. “Perhaps you’re in the wrong office?” Lucinda’s tone scraped Shan’s nerves with excruciating politeness and total derision. It broke into her memory. Shan focused on the woman, hiding her dislike. She’d withered men with lesser looks. As if anyone could mistake Lord Tomas Thorne’s office. It sat at the top of the operations tower that dominated Miranda’s rugged landscape. Shielded glass swept around it in a great curve, the lights and habitation structures far below it his to survey. Shan loosely linked her fingers behind her back and straightened her shoulders, aware that the rest of the staff followed her every movement. “Please tell Lord Tomas that Engineer Shankara Rayner is here to see him.”

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The seated woman blinked, all calm authority evaporating as her eyes widened and something like panic shot across her face. Her gaze darted around the wide curve of the suddenly silent outer office. She pushed herself to her feet. “Engineer Rayner?” Thorne had offered Shan a deal five years before. A deal from which she had run. A deal that had eaten at her thoughts ever since. He had obviously left her name with his executive. Shan flicked a glance at the rest of the staff, seeing more than one blanched face, some of them already half standing. And he’d left her name with everyone else too. Shan focused on the woman in front of her. “Engineer aboard the CMC Theseus, five Terran years service.” She held out her left hand, palm up, the ident-chip a raised bump under her middle finger. “You can scan my credentials.” “That will be unnecessary, Engineer Rayner.” She pressed her lips together and her hand shook as she keyed instructions into the light-screen wrapped around her metal desk. “Director Thorne is expecting you.” “Of course he is.” Her nerves formed a sudden fist in her stomach. Why wasn’t she on the Theseus? The sudden memory hit her, of an enveloping light and heat, of the burst of ship’s claxons and then Len getting them safe, getting them home to their dock. Jannes had ordered everyone off the ship and she’d staggered to her rooms. Minutes later, she was showered, dressed in the dark, conservative suit Thorne had left in her wardrobe five years earlier and was on her way to his office. Shan restrained the need to curse. She’d worked a mine-ship long enough to know exactly what had happened to her. She did not need that complication in her life. Lucinda moved around the wide desk, the tight silk of her suit inhibiting her body. Another Thorne preference. Her own suit, slick satin that bound her legs in a tight skirt and wrapped a corseted jacket around her chest, trapped her. Her indrawn breath reminded her just how much. “If you would follow me, Engineer Rayner.” 6

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Lucinda wiggled her way toward the arch of double doors set behind her desk. Shan ignored the noise of the office as light-screens powered down and staff left their posts. Thorne didn’t want witnesses…though gossip would be rife. The executive swept her hand over the seam of the doors and the soft hum of the opening mechanism warmed the air. Silently, the black doors swung inward. Shan willed her rapid heart rate to slow, but her will didn’t seem to be working. She had to work with the fact she knew what this was, that everything that followed would be temporary, a blip that would become no more than a waking dream. Or a nightmare. The room beyond was low lit, the curve of transparent shielding capturing the bluegreen bulk of Uranus, its rings and the shine of distant stars. A large desk dominated the otherwise empty room. Thorne gave a negligent wave of his hand and the layers of his light-screens folded and faded. He sat back in his heavy chair and pressed his index finger to his lips. His dark gaze was speculative. “Thank you, Lucinda.” He looked beyond his executive to the open doors behind her. She took the hint and backed out of the room. The doors closed softly…and there was the distinctive thunk of a heavy lock. There was no going back. Not that her pride would let her. “Shankara. A pleasure.” His voice was smooth and aristocratic, a dark, melted chocolate that warmed her, sinking deep under her skin. Her body was attuned to him. She’d made the mistake of following his broadcasts and interviews. With her eyes closed and the screen filtered to emit only his voice, she’d found pleasure more than once. Now she was paying for that illicit indulgence. Shan focused. Light gilded his features, emphasizing his stark beauty. The reality of him was terrifying. “A pleasure for you maybe.”

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Her attention moved over his desk, grasping at anything that would push back her riot of nerves. She fixed her gaze on the smooth metal curve of a Corinthian helmet, a careless treasure littering his desk. It was probably priceless, yet he had it as an overlarge paperweight. Her gut squeezed. It wasn’t the reassurance she was looking for. Thorne’s lips twitched. “You’ve finally come to your senses then?” “I’m not here out of choice, Thorne.” His finger curled away from his mouth and a faint line creased his forehead. “Sheen?” Shan’s fingers itched, but she resisted the urge to rub them together. She’d been trained from a young child never to show her nerves. Confidence at all times. Even when Thorne’s deal beat at the forefront of her brain. If she entered his office, then she was his. She glanced at the smooth blue-green atmosphere of the planet hanging over them. It was all its fault. “So it would seem.” She paused. He didn’t appear surprised. Little hints of anger in the tightness around his eyes, the slight pursing of his lips said he wasn’t pleased about it. “You believe me.” Thorne stood and her nerves kicked hot through her blood. The need to run almost choked her. She fought it. She was here. She would see the deal through and go back to her life. Shan watched him close the distance between them. His immaculate suit, from the material and cut, screamed it came bespoke from Earth. He could afford the best. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, his stark, lethal elegance drawing her as it always had. “Oh sheen is real.” A dark smile touched his mouth and Shan ignored the hot little curl low in her belly. “Whether it’s due to planetary intelligence—as the cultists claim— or simply a physical reaction to something in the atmosphere, my scientists have not yet ascertained.” “You’ve investigated?” 8

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He stopped, close enough that if she reached out she could touch him. She didn’t. And she stopped her fingers from pressing into her palm. She had to stay relaxed and calm, even if his voice threaded delicious heat through her body. He brushed a quick finger along her shoulder, flicking away…something. The light sound, his touch, the brief scent of his cologne threw her memory back five years to when she had last stood in his office. “If it affects the running of this operation, I investigate, yes.” Shan wet her lips and Thorne’s eyes fixed on her mouth. They’d only kissed, but she’d never forgotten his scent, his incredible taste, the feel of him pressed against her, the promise of just how good it would be to have him, fuck him hard on his desk… She swallowed and her cheeks burned. “We should get this over with.” “So I’m something that must be…endured, Shankara.” “Just Shan.” “Never just Shan.” Her skin prickled at the dark timbre of his voice. “Sheen hit the Theseus. It brought me here, and I have to work it out of my system.” Thorne’s gaze narrowed. “And you think you’ll be able to walk away afterward?” “I know I can. I did before.” “Ah, the stubbornness of the Rayners.” His finger traced her cheek, not quite touching, the sense of it driving warmth and need down into her flesh with a sharpness that surprised her. “In you, it’s also been mixed with fierce pride.” “And your arrogance is legendary.” Thorne inclined his head, his slight smile deepening. “That wasn’t a compliment.” “I hold together the exodus of the human race from the solar system. Don’t you think I have the right to be arrogant?”

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Shan pushed down a growl and stepped back from him. She tugged at the first ornate hook of her jacket, easing the pressure of the corset constricting her ribs. The first full breath she’d taken in what felt like hours eased the fast prick of her anger. “We fuck, deal done. The sheen is resolved and you and I agree—” “No.” He caught her fingers on the second hook, his hand warm and firm. “Our families bound our bloodlines. Like it or not, we’re married in their eyes.” She wanted to yank his hand free, but that would involve touching him. The heat of his skin, the press of his knuckles through the thin silk of her clinging shirt already had her heart beating too hard. “What century do you live in? I agreed to come out here, agreed to their deal, because I wanted the chance to work, to use my training. I did not ship out to be your trophy and broodmare.” “Shankara…” He said her name unlike anyone else. She had to admit that his voice had pulled her to the Uranian system just as much as the promise of work and adventure. Not that she had any plans to go through with their families’ idea of a marriage. None, even when he’d pushed her up against the edge of his desk and taken her mouth… “Undress me.” She blinked. “What?” Thorne slipped his hand under the pale silk of her shirt, his palm hot against her stomach. She pulled in a quick breath, startled by the sudden intimacy. He took a step closer. “It’s a right for which a husband can ask.” Passion heated his gaze and she couldn’t deny the desire pushing through her own body, deepened by the slow, slow circles Thorne drew against her skin. “And I know you’re curious.” “So arrogant.” Shan hadn’t meant for her voice to come out as a husky whisper. She swallowed and wet her lips. The quicker he was undressed, the quicker she could fuck him. A smile touched her mouth. “Fine.” She glanced up at the curve of clear shielding that swept over the office in a great arc. “And you don’t care that any passing ship or carrier will see you naked?” 10

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“Do you?” “Care that anyone sees you naked? Why should I?” He took another step closer, his hand pushed around her ribs. The low light dropped silver into his eyes and his mouth dipped to hers. Their lips didn’t touch. It was suddenly hard for her to breathe. “Is that a hint of the sexual voraciousness of an atmos.miner?” His breath stirred her skin. “How bad have you been, Shankara?” What did he want her to say? The truth? That yes, she’d had her share of men, but had found none of them satisfying? Or did he want the legend that tagged behind all miners, of wild orgies and perversion? Thorne was Director of Operations. He probably knew more about her life than she did. “You tell me.” “So you believe I observed your every move?” He paused and there was a stillness to him that forced her pulse to jump. “That I know exactly when and where and who fucked my wife?” “We’re not married.” Thorne’s thumb slipped under the second hook on her jacket and pushed it free. The third and fourth followed, his hand dipping under the loosened material to cup her breast. He tensed and his mouth parted for a silent moment. “For ease of movement, you understand.” His words were little more than a murmur and he stood back from her, depriving her of his heat and touch. “And now it’s your turn. Undress me, Shankara.” “I don’t use that name.” She heard the edge to her voice and knew it was frustration. Thorne was under her skin again, as sharp and as painful as his name suggested. “My name is Shan now.” “You are The Lady Shankara Rayner, second daughter of the fifth Duke of Mare Novum.” He lifted his chin. “You are also the Marchioness of Mare Nubium.” “Again. We are not married.”

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“As I said, you’re stubborn. Proud.” He lifted his arms, his hands outspread, and his dark smile twisted her insides. “I’m waiting. You are very aware of the deal we struck.” “Undress you.” Shan rolled her neck, wanting to ease the tension in her body. Thorne laughed. “Do you always approach sex as if it’s something onerous?” “Only with you.” “I’m hurt, Shankara.” The tip of his tongue touched his upper lip. “But not hurt enough to let you go.” With her jacket loose, it was easier to breathe, to move and she strode toward him. Only ever confident. Just as she’d been taught. She snapped open the top button on his high-collared jacket. “Is it honor?” Her gaze narrowed on him as she pressed her palm against the hard plane of his chest. “Family blood and code?” She tugged more buttons free to expose the smooth whiteness of his collarless shirt. “Or just your own perversity?” “You suspect perversion?” She pushed the jacket from his shoulders and let it fall to the carpeted floor. “The aristocracy is rife with it.” “Yourself included.” “I’m sure you know exactly how much and with whom.” She fisted her hands in the smooth cotton and pulled. Material stretched, buttons broke and she exposed smooth, brown skin. His scent, the tantalizing mix of his skin and sandalwood pushed deep into her lungs and filled her with the urgent need to taste him, to let her mouth, her tongue, her teeth find his collarbone and drop kisses and bites over firm muscle. Her breathing quickened, her hands almost trembling as she twisted the cotton of his shirt. The attraction she had to him unbalanced her. And she hated that. She needed to regain her sense of self. “You said it would be on your desk.”

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“I did.” He turned her and walked her toward the hard edge of his desk. All too quickly the raised edge hit the back of her thighs. “And I’m always a man of my word.” Shan had a few moments to find her sanity. She couldn’t let him get to her. Fuck him and get out. That had to be her plan. He was not her husband, no matter what either of their families thought. What he believed. And this was Tomas Thorne, one of the most powerful humans in the solar system. A man like that had to entertain himself somehow. Manipulating her would not be it. “Why did you agree to my father’s offer?” “You want to talk about your father?” Thorne blinked and a disbelieving smile touched his mouth. “Now?” Shan eased her fingers back from their fierce grip on his shirt. She teased the smooth material between her fingers. “You get what you want.” Looking up at him through her lashes—a deliberate flirtation—she wet her lips. “That is, me. Shouldn’t I get something in return?” “Aren’t I enough?” That was a loaded question. Being the partner of a man like Thorne would open up the worlds to her, luxury and society hers to take. It was often tempting. But she would be chattel, traded as a part of negotiations between the Houses of Rayner and Thorne. “You want the Rayner title. Why be a marquis when you can be duke?” “I haven’t deprived your sister of her birthright.” She couldn’t help her sour laugh. “Do you ever give a straight answer?” Thorne teased his thumb across her bottom lip, light and tantalizing. “Would you want that, Shankara? For me to be just like every other man? One cowed by you?” His mouth hovered over hers, his breath warm and sweet, the promise of his kiss so close her hearth thudded and the quick push of need low in her belly tightened her flesh. “Or would you prefer me as I am?” “Arrogant beyond measure?”

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“Shankara…” She couldn’t help it, she closed her eyes, the dark pleasure of his voice sinking deep. “Why, Thorne?” “Business after, pleasure first.” He took her hand and guided it to his waist. The satin warmth of firm muscle caught her breath and she brushed her mouth all too briefly against his. His order was just as firm. “Get me naked.”

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Chapter Two Her hand trembled as she glided her fingers over his ribs. She snagged his shirt and pushed it back, Thorne moving with her, distracting her with the torment of his notquite-touching lips. He was a bastard…and she snapped her teeth at him. His reflexes were sharp and quick and he jerked back. He grinned at her. “Now, no biting yet.” Shan pulled him back toward her by his belt. “Later then?” “Only if you’re good.” She unfastened his trousers and let them drop down over his hips. He kicked them and his shoes free and stood only in underwear that hugged his body. He couldn’t deny his interest. That was certain. She teased a slow finger up the length of his erection, her mouth dry, her blood hot. “What now?” She glanced up at him, enjoying the slight glaze in his eyes as she continued her light strokes. “Are we almost done?” “You have no idea.” His hand covered hers. “And I’m still dressed.” “Is this what you like, Thorne?” She hooked her fingers into the band of his shorts and eased the smooth material away from his skin. She wanted to look down, to appreciate the body only her light touches had found, but he was still too close, too distracting. “Exhibitionism?” He grinned and stepped away from her, the soft glow of light creating shadows over his bared flesh. Shan hadn’t known what to expect. Yes, his elegance when dressed stunned her, but he was rich, could afford clothes that hid every blemish. The man her eyes feasted on was beautiful, all sleek muscles and honey-brown skin. He didn’t say anything as she let her gaze slide over his chest, following the line of dark hair down to his navel. His erection taunted her. Her mouth thinned. “You want my admiration.” “Do I have it?” 15

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Only her childhood training kept her from lashing a few choice curses at him. “You know what you look like, Thorne.” He snapped his fingers and a sudden heat flushed her skin, a resonating hum and a rush of air sweeping around her. She stared down, startled, and watched her clothes, the ones Thorne had left in her room, simply fall away in fading strips of darkness. She stood only in her panties. Even her boots had…evaporated. Shan made no attempt to cover herself. He wanted to stare. She let him. He had been waiting five years, after all. His dark gaze slipped over her skin and the cool air of the office forced a shiver through her. It was the strangest encounter she’d ever had and it had her blood on fire. They stood naked in his office for all the passing world to see…and yet she didn’t care. She wanted him. She could blame that on the sheen. “So now we get it over with?” “You’re always so honest, Shankara. Why are you denying that this is exactly what you want?” Thorne eased his hand across her waist and dipped his fingers under her panties, pushing them down. His breath was hot against her cheek as he pressed the warmth of his body against hers. The coolness of the raised desk dug into her thighs. “It’s what you want.” “Yet here you are.” “Something…” Her words failed as his hands gripped her ass. “Dragged me here.” “Sheen works on a kernel of sexual need. Your darkest desires.” His fingers teased her thigh up and he settled into the cradle of her hips, his cock pressed against her mons in a way that pushed pleasure through her body. “It’s never random.” “So I could’ve had anyone scratch the itch?” His lips brushed hers, the contact sudden and electric. She gasped and he smiled against her mouth. “And again. Here you are.”

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Thorne eased her back against the desk top, the sensation of smooth, cool stone sharp on her warm skin. His fingers teased over her thigh and skirted her mons, drawing light patterns against her flesh with the tormenting promise of finding her… His index finger dipped between her folds, the quick burst of hot joy jerking her against him, her hands grabbing at his shoulders. She had to kiss him, to deepen the contact…and the first touch of his tongue against hers, the remembered taste, the heat, the wrap of his scent around her forced her breathing to quicken. Yet, this time she had more than that. His skin against hers, warm and wanted. With the press of another fingertip into her sex, the increasing sparks of joy threatened to rush her release through her body with embarrassing ease. Her soft groan increased the push of his fingers, the tightness in her belly fusing her thoughts and bringing a rhythm to her hips. She ran her hands down the smoothness of his back, the ripple of muscle and tension only deepening her need. Thorne broke their kiss, his breathing quick. “I’d forgotten you tasted so good.” His admission burned through her, coalescing with the hot play of his fingers in her flesh and she couldn’t deny the fast bolt of blazing white heat that suffused her body. A cry burst from her and she shook, clutching at him as the short rush of fire and light took and left her. For a second, she leaned against him, the tip of her tongue touching her dried lips. The ache to have him hadn’t gone, if anything she craved more of him, a fuller, deeper release that would consume her. “More.” Thorne’s soft laughter wrapped around her and his fingers teased down through her folds. Fresh sparks ignited her flesh and she twisted her ass against the desk. He pulled a soft, unsatisfying kiss from her mouth. “So you want me, Shankara?” “Yes.” “Is that the sheen talking?” “You know it is!”

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Thorne’s face was in shadow, but there was a hardness to him, a tension to his body that only sharpened her need for him. Her breaths were fast as she glanced down and watched him stroke his palm over the length of his cock. “Then I have to drive that from you.” “Really?” “I could stop—” Shan grabbed him, fisted her fingers in his hair, drove him against her mouth and body. His cock teased her, the blunt head almost, almost pushing against where she ached for him. She hooked her leg behind his muscled thigh, urging him forward, wanting him inside her, fucking her, taking her, making her come so hard she’d see stars. “Thorne.” She growled his name against his mouth. “Fuck me.” “What will you give me?” The question ran hot through her. In that moment, she’d give him absolutely anything if he would only satisfy the wildness threatening to consume her. But she couldn’t promise him that. A man like Thorne…it was too dangerous. So she used the only weapon she had. “Tomas…” “Sneaky.” The word burned and his body tightened, his fingers digging into her hips. “And not allowed.” “Tomas…” She dragged his name out, a long, slow drawl that forced his mouth to thin against hers. “To—” “Enough.” The head of his cock pushed into her body, stretching her, firing pleasure through every inch of her. He groaned and she watched his anger ebb away. He leaned over her, forcing her back, to cling to him, to urge him to sink hard and deep. Thorne planted his palm against the table, his other hand still at her hip. “Does sheen make you so sweet?”

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“Should I be insulted?” His laughter rumbled against her chest and the friction flared heat in her belly. “Take it how you want to.” The light rising up from his desk gilded his face and dropped silver into his eyes. His expression, the want, the desire in his gaze flickered nerves in her stomach. “As I take you.” “Your arrogance…” Her words failed as he pressed kisses to her neck, his tongue teasing a wet line to the curve of her shoulder. “What about it?” His breath against her skin forced a delicious shiver. The slow rhythm of his hips increased the hot throb pulsing through her veins. “Admit it, it turns you on.” “No.” Thorne met her gaze, held it as he sank deep into her flesh. The intimacy of it, his watching his effect on her, tightened her grip on him, her hands, her thighs holding him. A dark smile touched his mouth. “Really?” And she didn’t want to admit how hot and wet he got her. How a smile and a word could have her release pushing to be free. She’d never met another man like Tomas Thorne. Never would again. “I stay away for a reason.” His smile deepened. “Fear.” “What?” Anger mixed with the rush of need. “You don’t scare me.” He stroked into her and the roll of his hips sparked fire. She couldn’t hold back a soft moan. “I terrify you, Shankara.” His mouth touched hers, the exquisite heat of his skin, his taste, the promise of another release burning at the edge of her senses. His thrusts increased and his fingers bit into her hip, holding her, securing her. “Because I know you.” “No…” She dug her fingers hard into his shoulders, hard enough to bruise and fought not to come. “No. You don’t.” “I kept your secret.”

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He nipped at her bottom lip. She ached to take his mouth, to lose herself and him in a riot of heat and light, but this was her only time with him. Fucking him on his desk had been the deal. A one-time thing. She had to…savor it. “I buried who and what you are.” “You…?” He kissed her, something thorough and demanding, taking her breath and her body, holding her, fucking her, denying her any reply. She clung to him, unable to fight him, not wanting to. Her body burned, her flesh tight and aching. Thorne’s fierce thrusts, the moans she swallowed, only heightened the push of joy up through her flesh. She grabbed at it. She had him. In that moment, he was completely hers. Shan broke their fierce kiss and her cry echoed. Wild pleasure took her, filling her mind with overwhelming light, wiping all thought and leaving only bliss. Thorne buried his face against her neck, his final few erratic thrusts intensifying the delicious pleasure still rolling over her. With a low groan, he came. He pulled her hard against him, his teeth grazing her skin, marking her. She closed her eyes at the thought of being his. Solely his. And let the final echoes of her release wash through her. Shan pulled in a shaky breath and tried to push such thoughts from her head. Thorne wasn’t a man she should want or need. His desire for her was all about the power. Her family had given her to him and he didn’t like the idea of his…possession having her freedom. She blinked. Her mind cleared and his last words pricked at her. “What do you mean you buried what I am?” Thorne let out a long, slow sigh, the air stirring her damp skin and reminding her that he was still so deep inside her. He dropped a light kiss against the line of her neck, the contact stinging. “You don’t think your being lunar aristocracy just magically concealed itself, do you?”

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He eased back from her, dark humor glinting in his eyes. “How would the other atmos.miners feel about you slumming with them?” Shan’s mouth thinned. “It wouldn’t concern them.” “Then I’ll make that information public, shall I?” She tensed, her blood hot and hating Thorne. She was an engineer. A bloody good one. But she was also the daughter of a duke and that came with baggage. She’d never liked the assumption she was as rich as Croesus, cared only for sex and high-speed craft and that she was dense as Jupiter’s lower atmosphere. If her crew and the other mineships knew her heritage, she could kiss her freedom goodbye…and spend what money she did have on a team of bodyguards. Aristocrats made lucrative hostages in the outer solar system. “You know I can’t live my life with that knowledge being public.” Her stomach knotted. “Are you going to use that against me now?” Shan put her feet on the floor and rubbed her backside, the creases from the edge of the desk hot and sore. She ignored the stickiness of her thighs. Her best plan was to get out of his office, get back to her room and wait for the sheen to work through her crew. Thorne watched her, his gaze cool and predatory. “Now there’s an idea.” A corner of his mouth lifted and she hated the way her body reacted to him, the want that still lingered. “A simple way to keep you coming back for more. Why didn’t I think of it earlier?” “Because you like these games.” Shan bent to pick up what remained of her clothes. Which wasn’t much. “It’s what you do.” “You think so very little of me, Shankara.” “I try not to think about you at all.” He laughed and she ignored the twist of anger in her belly. Everything she said seemed to amuse him. The man knew every button to press, whether to enrage her or

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have her melt into a puddle of need. She clung to the training she’d received as a child. To show grace even when she wanted to kick someone hard in the balls. She straightened, the fragments of her clothes folded over her arm. She was naked, but she willed herself not to care. “Our deal is complete, Thorne. I dressed in your clothes, I let you take me on your desk. Now it’s over.” “And you intend to walk out of here like that?” He waved his hand up and down her body. He shrugged and stepped back from her. “Go ahead. It’ll only improve my reputation.” Shan gritted her teeth. Her education left a lot to be desired. “I’ll take your jacket.” “I can give you more than that.” The salacious hint in his words had her palm and fingers itching to smack him. But the little niggle at the back of her mind wanted her to push for an answer, because if she did, then she wouldn’t have to leave. Leave him. Her body still craved him. But then that was nothing new. It seemed as if her body had always wanted him. “Such as?” “My…rooms are below.” Shan let the air pull in and push out of her lungs, the soft huff of it mixing with the hard pounding of her heart. She watched him watching her, the cool, calm predator. The decision had always been hers, or that was the way he seemed to frame it. It was probably why he was in the position he was in, and so good at it. “Your rooms?” Thorne flicked a glance across the open space of his office. “Then I have your agreement?” Shan wiped her hand across her mouth. He wanted her to say it. How very…him. “All right. Yes.” “Then follow me.” He trailed his fingers down her folded arm and pulled her hand free. He enclosed her fingers in his and tugged her forward.

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The dim light traced the lithe perfection of his body and Shan let her gaze drift down his spine to the classical curve of his ass. She wondered whether the sheen had fully left her as she had the urgent need to lick and kiss and sink her teeth into a rounded cheek. Would Thorne allow such intimacy? He’d controlled everything about their encounter and none of it had involved her being allowed to explore him. Shan held down a sigh. Her desire for Tomas Thorne was screwed on every level. She should’ve walked out of his office naked. That would’ve involved less humiliation. Thorne stopped and drew her close to him. The heat of his skin warmed her and she resisted the need to press herself against him. They’d just had sex and they were— legally—married, but that didn’t mean she could find comfort in him. Yes, she still had too much of the sheen in her if she was aching to be held by Thorne. She met his cool gaze. “What now?” “Now, we drop.”

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Chapter Three A wrap of light swept around them and with a quick gush of warm air, the floor fell away. Instinct made her grab for him and he grinned at her as he held her close. Air rushed over and around her naked skin, catching her breath, making her heart pound as they dropped at a controlled speed. “Not used to an anti-grav lift?” He smirked at her. “The height of modern convenience.” “Especially when naked?” “Oh, especially then.” They jerked to a sudden stop and Shan’s knees buckled. He held her up, his fingers digging into her hips. His hold loosened and the light caress over her skin to the curve of her ass flickered a fresh wave of desire. She felt his cock stir against her belly. “Our deal is done, Thorne.” “Why deny what we have, Shankara?” His fingers traced up her body and stopped just below her jaw. The path he had taken tingled, little shivers coursing through her at his light touch. He lifted an eyebrow as he curled a tendril of loose hair behind her ear. “We could enjoy my desk every night.” “I came out here to work, not to be your legal plaything.” His mouth thinned and his hands left her body. He gave a short wave and the white glow shrouding them faded back. “I don’t play.” He padded away and Shan blinked. “You’ve played me.” Thorne didn’t reply. He disappeared around a curved wall of dark rock, edged in soft, golden light. Shan caught her fingers in her tangled hair and stared after him. She

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didn’t know what to do, and for her that was a strange and unusual sensation. She always knew what to do. Her tongue tasted her top lip, the hint of him still there on her skin. With a quick intake of air, she turned away and found the vast stretch of a shielded window. Thorne’s rooms had been built into the cliff face, the lights of the metal habitation blocks gleaming, shuttles and private craft filling the lanes, their design blurred by speed. From the level of the cliff, it appeared as if the room wasn’t too far from her own modest place. Not something she’d thought of Tomas Thorne. But then, he was a highprofile man. Who else would think of him slumming down with the grunts? She walked across the thick carpet and dropped into a heavily padded chair. The sweet scent of Jovian linen lifted into the air and she breathed it in. No, he hadn’t denied himself every luxury in his little hovel. Shan closed her eyes and worked to find her calm center. The wild burst of sheen was done; it was over. It was the only thing that had brought her to him. She could walk away as she had before. She would walk away. She had her life aboard the Theseus. And she liked the life she’d carved out for herself. Good friends, a job she excelled at…and the occasional anonymous screw. Her calm evaporated. Shan opened her eyes and stared up at the smooth blackness of the ceiling. The soft glow of the lights flared against her vision and she welcomed the diversion, let her gaze follow the arcs of light that haloed against the rock. Anything other than think about why she hadn’t found any permanence in her love life. A smile cracked across her mouth. As if anyone aboard the Theseus had a love life. “Here.” Thorne tossed a dressing gown to her and she caught its soft mass. A curl of disappointment twisted. He was dressed in one, the belt cinched tight around his waist. No more lushly naked man for her to feast on. No more memories to lock away for her, her fingers and her toys. “You may want to shower. I can have clothes brought here.” 25

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“Thank you.” She pushed herself up and swung the dressing gown around her body, slipping her arms into the long sleeves. His scent, the familiar touch of his skin mixed with sandalwood enveloped her and for a moment she closed her eyes. It would be easy to say yes to him, to take a place on his desk, as much an object as his prized Corinthian helmet. “You can change your mind, Shankara. It is allowed.” The trace of humor in his voice made her decision for her. He pursued something denied him. That was all she was. She opened her eyes and gave him a short smile. “I don’t need to.” “So…” His tongue wet his lips and he tilted his head. “Should I now offer you another deal? The last one involved your freedom…from me.” He straightened. “I can offer you the same arrangement. And I will continue to keep your life before your time here and your title hidden, buried.” “I’m not making another deal, Thorne.” “Then I can’t guarantee your anonymity.” “Is that a threat?” “I don’t make threats.” A laugh broke from her. “Like you don’t play games.” She shook her head. “Enough. What our families agreed was wrong. And they’ve hardly garnered any prestige as no one knows that we are married.” “I know.” Shan pulled the belt tight on her dressing gown, feeling the hard tug of it around her waist. The soft cotton caressed her skin and she knew she’d associate her time with Thorne with illicit luxury. “We’re not husband and wife.” “I have the documents to prove that we are.”

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She frowned. “What do you get out of this charade? Really?” A wry smile quirked her mouth. “It won’t be an heir, and it can’t be more power—Mare Novum has fallen onto hard times—so what? A perverse thrill at knowing I’m tied to you? An antiquated sense of ownership?” “Have you finished?” He pointed back toward the curve of black rock wall. “The shower’s through there.” Shan released the ties of her dressing gown. “You said business after.” “Did I say we’d reached after yet?” “We, this, is over, Thorne.” She walked past him. “I intend to wash, dress and get back to my room and wait for Jannes to give the all-clear for sheen. We’ve been fortunate to avoid the idiocy of it for so long.” “Fortunate…” She glanced back at him. “What? Did you plan this?” “I’m honored that you think I could plan a sheen event.” His fingers touched the base of her spine and she jerked forward. The hint of steam and the scent of sandalwood filled the damp air, drawing her toward the arch of the bathroom. She wanted to wash him from her skin and with it memory and all thought of how a freak pulse of energy from the Uranian atmosphere had screwed with her life. Thorne hadn’t finished. “I am aware, though, that Frederick Jannes has better luck than most at having his crew not torn apart by it.” “This won’t tear us apart.” “Then I won’t quote you the statistics on how many return to their ship.” He stopped in the archway. “The burst of energy that enveloped your ship was formidable.” “You don’t know the crew of the Theseus.” Shan wiped her hand over the mirror, pushing away the obscuring steam. She stared at her swollen lips, the bruise on her

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neck where he’d marked her. Her gaze dropped to the gleaming sink. “We’re naturally resistant.” “Yes, I see that.” He lifted an eyebrow. “That’s why you’re not about to get naked in my bathroom.” She turned to the long, clear cubicle and pressed her palm to the opening panel. The door slid back and the first burst of warm water splashed to the smoothed-rock floor. She shucked off the dressing gown and stepped into the sprays of water. And ignored him. The suddenness and heat broke a gasp from her and she breathed against the rush in her body. Water showers weren’t a luxury as such—Miranda did have a thick crust of ice, after all—but Thorne still managed to push his wealth and power into the device. Perfect pressure, more jets, the touch of mint in the air all impressed on her how different Thorne’s life was from her own. A brush of chilled air caused her to shiver and the door to the cubicle clunked back into place. Caught in the sharp beam of the overhead light, she found him watching her. Water plastered his hair to his head and face, ran in fast rivulets down his sculpted torso. She had another daydream in the making right there. Shan pushed the wet tangle of hair away from her face. “Well?” “You have to think of your options, Shankara.” She ran her fingers across the smooth rock, dipping into one of the lit alcoves and finding a bar of soap. Lather bubbled up from her palm as she held it under the water. “I don’t need options. I’m already employed.” “And if Jannes succumbs? What then?” He took a step closer, the steam eddying around him. “You jump from ship to ship, waiting for the next burst of sheen. And every fresh bolt brings you here to me.” Heat burned in his gaze. “Every one of them.” Shan’s gut gave a hard twist, the thought of that future of losing her crew, of feeling the involuntary tug that dragged her to his office, of having no say in her lust for him.

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To have such loss of control. The thought ran her blood cold. “I’m an engineer. There are positions going out on Umbriel.” “You want to live on Umbriel?” His hand cupped her jaw and the wet contact skittered down through her flesh. Had she always reacted this way to him or was it still residual energy from the bloody planet? “It’s a lawless hole. It functions well that way, but still, I wouldn’t want to live there.” His other hand found her hip and drew her against the slick wetness of his body. She pulled in a quick breath, still not used to the feel of her skin against his. His lips touched hers. “You know you don’t have to do this.” “What deal would you offer me this time?” Anger crackled under her words and his fingers dug into her hip. She ignored the stir of his cock against her belly. “Some sort of sinecure with your office? The pet engineer you keep and screw on your desk when the feeling takes you? Or the trophy wife, all fashion and vacuous smiles? “I’m not your possession, Thorne.” A smile cut across her mouth. “I can’t even call you by your first name. What does that say about how strange, how controlling you are?” “What you feel, what you want scares you. And you’re not used to feeling scared, are you, Shankara?” Her training stopped her from bringing up her knee and connecting it to his balls. She wanted to push him away, storm out, tell him to do something disgusting with this Corinthian helmet…but she didn’t. There was a grain of truth in what he said. The idea of being his, of admitting an out-of-date and convenient arrangement of power and blood got her…hot, disturbed her. She had to be honest enough with herself to admit that. And there was something else. Thorne terrified her. He was right. He knew who and what she was…but it was more than that. And that “more” had made her run from him five years before. He saw her as aristocratic chattel, something to be owned. While that—she now had to admit—

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was hot, she wanted him to feel more than simply a salacious pride in his possession of her. From everything she’d seen of him, she knew that would never be possible. “I’ve always wanted you to accept this situation of your own free will.” He tasted her lips, teasing a light kiss that ran a warmed pain through her. With a soft sigh, he stepped back from her and even with the hot spray of water, a shiver ran over her skin. “I can’t. Not this.” Thorne gave her a short, tight nod. “Your clothes are already waiting for you.” His mouth twitched. “And I’d advise staying out of the Uranian atmosphere. It will bring you back here.” “How can you be so certain?” “Trust me.” He slicked his hair back from his face with both hands. He found another bar of soap and lathered his taut stomach. “I need to wash. I have a meeting with a group from Triton.” Shan watched the white run of foam and bubbles slip down over his belly and hip, and slide down the long length of his thigh. Watching him was addictive. And another brush with sheen would have her back in his office, filled with lust and with no choice. “Why can’t I use your first name?” Thorne looked up from soaping his shoulder, holding her gaze as the water slicked the lather away. “It’s my grandfather’s name. He was a bastard.” He stared at the soap in his hand, his thumb running over the frothing bubbles. “He ignored my father to pass his title on to me. It was his right. Still…” His nail dug into the soap and his mouth thinned. “He thought my father weak, unable to make the hard choices needed to head our family and its businesses.” “So you don’t want the reminder of him?” “In a way.” He dropped the bar of soap back into its alcove and palmed a dash of shampoo. “I’m his image, in looks and character. I can make the hard choices as easily as he did.” He scrubbed his hair. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

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The spray pummeled her skin, the hiss and steam shrouding them. Seconds pulsed by and Shan’s thoughts whirled. Something had opened in Thorne—maybe the privacy of his shower or their recent involvement—and she doubted she would ever get him to be this candid again. “Am I a hard choice?” His fingers stopped in the tangle of his hair. “Yes.” “Why?” He turned his head to a spray of water and rinsed his hair clean. Shan waited, her heart in her throat. In the shadows and intimacy of the cubicle, she could imagine a life with him—a real one—with something more than lust holding them together. But he wasn’t compatible with the way she lived. An engineer with her skill level was in high demand. She pushed down the little voice that said it wasn’t just that. No, she didn’t want to have the fact it wasn’t something Thorne would agree to pushed into her face. It appeared he wasn’t going to answer. His short burst of sharing was over. “I allowed you to walk out of my office.” Shan blinked. “What?” “You believe that I want to own you. I don’t.” A stone sank into the pit of her stomach, her blood suddenly hot. Pain tightened her chest. Had her assumption that he wanted her been wrong? A part of her had cherished the idea that though he could never feel more for her, at least she had his passion. Shan pressed her lips together and was happy to blame her reddened eyes on the sting of the water. It wasn’t crying. She never cried. That was something else they’d trained out of her as a child. “Good.” Her hand felt for the shampoo and quickly rubbed it into her hair, the action pulling her thoughts away from the stab of her disappointment. She’d get over it. She’d stayed away from him for five years. That had taken more willpower than she’d known she’d possessed. But she could do it again. This time for good.

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Closing her eyes, she let the thick jets of water clean her hair. Her breaths pulled in and pushed out and she found a calm point. She might hide her history, but its lessons were useful in keeping her safe and sane. “Isn’t that what you wanted, Shankara?” His voice was too close and her heart missed a beat. She stared at him, the wreathes of steam and water spray wrapping around them both, cocooning them. He drew a finger along her shoulder, the touch forcing a gasp. “Though the thought of owning you, having you completely to myself, not having to share…” His chest lifted and his hand cupped her upper arm, his thumb stroking her wet skin in disconcerting circles. “It’s tempting.” He paused and a muscle in his jaw ticked. “You have no idea how much.” “I don’t understand. I thought…” Shan gritted her teeth. More of his games. He was risking bodily harm. “You offered me a deal, Thorne. We would go our separate ways, but if I ever wanted to honor the deal our families made, I had to come to you. And even then…it was only about the fucking.” “Would you have accepted anything else?” “This isn’t just about me.” “I let you go—” “Let?” Thorne gave her one of his slow smiles and the irritation twisted hot in her stomach. His fingers slipped over the curve of her breast. “I could have seduced you, there and then, taken away your choice, but I didn’t.” Shan swallowed, her skin alive with his touch. “Your arrogance is showing again.” “I agreed to become your husband.” His mouth thinned briefly. “And I take my vows seriously.”

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Shan blinked and opened her mouth, but no words came out. That couldn’t mean… “You’ve been celibate?” She thought his face flushed, but in the shadows, she couldn’t be certain. “Thorne…” “We’re starting to wrinkle.” He waved his hand and the jets of water died away to a trickle and stopped. The steam thinned and Shan shivered. Thorne opened the door, grabbed his dressing gown and bent to pick up hers. He wrapped it around her body, waiting for her to find the sleeves before he tied the belt. “You haven’t had sex with anyone for five years.” “Shankara…” She ignored the stir of his voice, the insane fact not letting her thoughts go. “Why?” “I follow tradition.” “You?” She took the towel he offered and wrapped up her hair. “What’s the real reason?” Thorne scrubbed his hair dry with a dark towel and threw it against the sink. “As I said, I didn’t enter this situation lightly.” “As opposed to me?” He padded away, his wet footprints drying quickly against the dark, warmed stone. He didn’t give her a reply and she hated the sour twist of guilt that knotted her stomach. She hadn’t been…faithful. It hadn’t even been a consideration. He had never been her husband. “Staying faithful wasn’t the deal, Thorne.” “It was for me.”

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Chapter Four His quiet reply cut her. The need to swear burned on the tip of her tongue and she wiped her hand across her mouth. He had been…waiting for her. Her heart kicked and the sour feeling rose, almost choking her. Somehow, she felt worse than before. Knowing that he’d been faithful to her stabbed more than the moment she thought he hadn’t wanted her. Shan watched him pad through another arch into his bedroom, golden light warming the darkness. He moved with efficiency, laying out fresh clothes on his valet. His face was expressionless and she wished the insanity of sheen gave her some extra insight into his mind. Nerves cramped in her gut, mixing with the sour burn of her guilt. And she swore, if this was another of his mind games, there was nowhere he’d be able to hide from her and her set of very sharp ceremonial knives she kept in a box under her bed. “Then what deal do you want now?” Thorne paused as he slipped his pressed shirt onto another hanger. He held her gaze and her heart missed a beat. “I’m open to negotiation.” “My remaining an engineer is not open to this negotiation.” Something glittered in his gaze and there was a slight curl to his lip. Shan knew she’d already given away an advantage, practically admitted that there was no real negotiation, that—she pressed her lips thin—she’d just agreed to something with him. “Agreed. So…what are your terms for this arrangement?” Her mouth was dry. She closed the distance between them, giving herself time to think. It wasn’t something she’d ever considered. Getting naked with Thorne had loomed large in her fantasies, but it had never pushed beyond wild sex, hadn’t pushed into imagining an actual relationship. “I’m not ready to be acknowledged publicly.” She 34

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linked her fingers to stop herself from twisting them nervously. “This is a strange situation, Thorne. You have to admit that.” “Again, agreed.” He dropped his shirt beside his suit on the bed. “Non-disclosure with the provision that you are no longer open to sleeping with other men.” Shan was glad her cheeks were already hot from the shower. She wasn’t quite sure why she was blushing. Maybe it was the undercurrent of anger in his voice, a bitterness that forced memories of her numerous encounters. “No others.” She pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth, the fear of voicing her next term hot in her blood. “And honesty. Between us. Always.” Thorne rubbed his hands together, the sound of skin against skin suddenly catching her attention. “All right. Is there anything else you want, Shankara?” “Call me Shan.” “Shan…” His slow, deliberate drawl ran heat through her flesh and she drew in a breath. His voice simply…did things to her body. “How long?” She unlaced her fingers and willed more strength into her voice. “How long would you want this to go on? How does it end?” Shan’s heart pushed into her throat at his silence. A part of her wanted him to put a date on when it would finish, because frankly, the whole idea of Thorne filling her days and nights terrified her. She had to be honest with herself. She was already half in love with him. Spending more time with him could encourage the other half. Then there was the part of her that didn’t want him to say when…and to admit he had feelings beyond lust and duty. Thorne took her hand, his thumb drawing slow circles against her palm. He stared down, not meeting her gaze. A ripple of need warmed its way through her body. “I did a deal to let you go once. I’m not open to that option this time.”

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He was hiding behind his words. Shan’s mouth almost fell open, the realization hitting her hard and sharp. He was as scared as she was. “Then you want me. Heart and soul.” His thumb stilled and for a long moment he was silent. “I always have.” Tears blurred her vision. “And we needed an interfering energy burst to get us to admit it.” She tugged at the belt of his dressing gown, pulling him close. She pressed her body to him, her hand snaking around his neck to tease the damp tendrils of his hair. She met his gaze, his still guarded, not yet used to being open and honest with her. As she wasn’t with him. But now was the time to start. “I want you naked on the bed.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?” “Sex is a part of this arrangement…Tomas.” His mouth thinned, but he tugged the belt free from his dressing gown and stepped back from her. The loose material slipped from his shoulders and the light gilded his lean beauty. “Did I mention I like you admiring me?” A smile broke across her mouth. “I had an idea, yes.” She teased a finger over his collarbone, tracing a slow, slow path down over his sternum to the taut muscles of his stomach. “And in the spirit of being open and honest, I want to kiss and lick you.” Her smile grew into a grin. “Right now. All over.” “I can agree to that.” A soft laugh escaped her. “Is every conversation going to involve serious consent?” “Perhaps.” The light caught his features and there was a dark heat to his gaze, a twist to his mouth that promised so many wicked things. His head tilted. “Or perhaps, I’ll make it interesting when you’ve finished your tour.” “Interesting?” She shucked off her dressing gown and let it fall to her feet. She took slow steps toward him, her mouth dry, her body hot and heavy with anticipation. “How so?”

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“Well—” A quick breath of air escaped him as she pushed him onto the mattress. His backside hit the bed. “You finish one of the short tours. Come back tired, grubby and your head stuffed with Callie’s gossip.” Shan pointed for him to lie down. “Did you plant spyware on the Theseus?” Thorne shuffled over the sheets, settling himself back against the pillows. He smirked at her. His arrogance had her wet. She supposed it always had. And his beauty—and his erection—were all hers and she intended to have him. “Is that your way of following me?” He didn’t answer that question. “You’d loosen your collar at the door, not paying attention to the darkened room. The silence.” “Turn over.” His tongue wet his lips, but he did as she asked without comment. He shifted his hips, no doubt trying to find a comfortable position for his cock. Light traced his smooth skin and her need to taste him, to run her tongue along the length of his spine urged her to move. She knelt on either side of his ass. “So…I’m in the dark and heading for a shower. I’m tired, aching but my body is tight because I haven’t been fucked in days. My fingers tease down.” She pulled in a breath, caught in the fantasy. “I’m wet, ready.” “Yes…” His words trailed away and Shan knew it had everything to do with her mouth on his shoulder blade and the glide of her fingers over his ribs. He rolled his hips, his ass pushing against her sex and she let out a soft sigh. “But you’re not alone.” His words were a soft growl and Shan closed her eyes. He knew her fantasy as he knew everything about her. Thorne was hot and hard beneath her, wanting her and using the sultry darkness of his voice to push desire through her flesh. “I’m not?” “I’m waiting in the shadows. I’ve been watching you.” He paused. “I lock the door. You’re not escaping, not this time.”

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Her mouth stilled on his spine, the taste of him mixed with a hint of sandalwood and mint hot on her tongue. She could almost feel it. The press of him in the darkness, his need, his desire. The fact he would take her, hard and fast against the nearest wall made her heart beat faster. “I turn you to the rock, pull down your trousers and fuck you, Shan.” His hips moved under her and she eased down his torso until her mouth found the curve of his cheek. She teased her teeth across the hard muscle of his ass, forcing his rhythm to deepen. “No words, just slick bodies and pure, sweet lust.” She heard the satisfaction in his voice. “You’re tight and wet and mine.” Shan’s blood pounded, her flesh aching with the need to have him, to find joy and delicious pleasure. But she wanted more. Thorne deserved more. He’d waited a long time. “Turn over.” She felt the shiver run through him and smiled against his skin, before lifting herself away and letting him roll onto his back. Her fingers teased along the length of his erection and Thorne sucked in a quick breath. She looked up at him, the desire in his gaze making her skin hot. She ran her nails along his inner thighs, causing him to twitch and she eased his legs apart. She held his gaze as she knelt between them. “I’ve imagined you here.” His low admission forced her heart to skip a beat. “Where? Here?” And she ran the tip of her tongue along his cock. Thorne’s low curse and the buck of his hips made her grin. His hands fisted the sheets. “Yes. Just like that.” “I promise, there’s more.”

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She licked the blunt head of his cock, a slow swirl that pulled a desperate groan from him, before she took him into her mouth. Thorne swore. His trembling fingers threaded through her hair, stroking her, his entire body rigid and straining. Her tongue teased him, her free hand playing over his thigh, drawing slow patterns over his skin. Thorne caught his breath and she smiled at the tremors she felt in his strong muscles. Shan traced her tongue around the sensitive tip of his cock and held his gaze. The naked want written on his face forced a hard twist in her belly and the need to have him scream her name, to lose everything he was in her surged through her. “Tell me, in detail, what you want.” He groaned. “You want me to talk?” “Your voice.” She teased him with her tongue, enjoying the sudden buck of his hips. It was time for a bit of that honesty they’d agreed to. “I’ve come to it more than once.” Thorne drew in a sharp breath, his chest lifting. “My broadcasts…?” “Stored them.” She licked a wet line from the head of his cock to its base. “Sometimes you’d make me come so hard…” Thorne manhandled her up his body and his mouth found hers in a fierce kiss that rushed wild fire through her veins. His hard hands gripped her ass, forcing a rhythm of movement over his erection. It tightened her flesh and she rolled her hips with him, eager, desperate for him to find her and fuck her. She had to have it all and her mouth broke from his. “Talk to me.” The soft light gleamed in his eyes and Shan squealed as he rolled her. He pinned her arms above her head. “What would you like me to say?” Shan drew in a breath, pulling in his scent, loving the press of his hot skin against hers, the tangle of their legs and the promise of his erection so close to where she ached

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for him. But his voice. In the shadows of his bed, he was her fantasy made flesh. “Anything.” She pushed his hair back from his temple. “Tell me anything.” Thorne’s firm lips curved up into a thoughtful smile and there was something in his gaze that made her chest tighten. His lips brushed hers and he moved his hips, his cock easing over her slick flesh. Shan arched up to meet him, almost involuntarily. “You got me hard when I first saw you.” His hand slipped between their bodies and found his cock. He teased her with it, promising to sink deep, but not quite… It was exquisite torture. “You stepped off the transport, looking so bloody aristocratic.” He growled against her mouth. “I wanted to clear the hangar and fuck you right there.” “Why didn’t you?” She ground against him, the head of his cock pushing hard into her. “It would have been…hot.” He sank into her, his long sigh brushing her skin. “I can still do it.” Shan wet her lips, meeting his slow strokes. His power turned her on. She was the daughter of a duke, the need for it was in her blood. “How would you?” “You really want to know?” His hips rolled and the sure, deep thrust drove her pelvis off the bed. A dark smile touched his mouth and he was the director, the one who controlled everything in her world. His teeth grazed her bottom lip and she ached to kiss him, but she wanted his voice more. “Yes.” “I set up a special directive.” His lips found her ear, his breath hot and quick against her skin. She shivered, the sudden tremor through her flesh only driving her harder against his increasing strokes. “Directive-seven-zero-one. Secure Shankara Rayner.” He paused and her heartbeat ramped, the tension in her flesh twisting tight. “Forcibly if necessary. For the attention of Director Thorne. Two guards. A third if she tries to escape.” Shan swallowed, her voice almost lost. Fire licked low in her belly with the promise of her release. “You wouldn’t…”

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“You know me, Shan.” Her name was a hot tease against the shell of her ear. “You know I would. “All hangar traffic is blocked and the level evacuated. Just me, you and the three guards.” She felt his sharp grin and he pushed hard into her, urging her closer to wild joy. “Because you’d run, wouldn’t you?” “Yes…” She met his every thrust. “Yes, I would.” “Good.” He arched over her, his face close to her hers. She let her hands chase over the slick heat of his body, urging him harder, faster, the threads of her orgasm winding through her belly. “Then you’d be mine.” His voice held the hard edge of satisfaction, his breath quick, ragged. “Up against the nearest transport.” “What…what about the guards?” Thorne’s smile was devilish. “What about them?” Sparks danced under her eyelids as she fought not to come right then, her body on fire, every stroke of him into her driving her need to let go, to scream his name. His recorded voice was nothing compared to the dark and dirty reality. “Thorne…” His name came out as a beg. She sought his mouth, hot, deep kisses stoking the fire in her veins. He matched her wild pace, her kisses, the slick slide of their bodies deepening the powerful ache in her flesh. She could feel her release, so close, so close she tasted its fire. Thorne broke his mouth from hers. “You’re not getting away from me again.” His low growl flashed heat up through her body, the first burn of her orgasm exploding under her skin. He drove her higher, faster, the smash of pleasure pushing her hard against him, making her arch her spine, her vision shot with blistering white light. She shook and Thorne held her, his mouth on her ear, whispering impossible words…

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It was too much. She lost all control and cried out, the maelstrom of joy and heat taking her. A heartbeat later Thorne found his own release, his arms tightening around her, his lips, his teeth finding her shoulder, marking her. The brief flash of pain caught with her echoes of pleasure. Shan let the weight of him, the reality of him push her into the mattress. She couldn’t keep the grin from her mouth and her cheeks ached. A long, slow sigh escaped her. She watched him, lifted the sweaty curl of his hair from his temple and pressed it back. “You have a meeting with a group from Neptune.” Thorne rolled off her and pulled her close to his chest, his lips light in her hair. His fingers stroked the length of her spine in a slow, easy caress. “I do,” he murmured. “Our life goes on.” She kissed his skin, his scent wrapping around her. “It goes on together.” He didn’t reply and his silence forced Shan to look at him. He’d said he loved her in those whispered, impossible words. He couldn’t be regretting that could he? It had been in the heat and wildness of his release, after all. His dark gaze held her and the affection and love she found there stopped her heart. “I love you,” he said, his lips brushing her mouth. “And for what is technically an arranged marriage, that came as a complete surprise.” “You love me?” “A planet pushing us together and you still don’t believe me.” Shan kissed his collarbone, the taste of his skin, damp with sweat and the lingering scent of sandalwood and sex was sharp on her tongue. “Sheen,” she murmured. “Why us? Why pick out the Theseus?” “When I know, you’ll know.” He stroked a slow hand down her spine to the curve of her ass. His fingers idled there, drawing patterns against her damp skin. She was sated, but still little pulses of

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desire beat deep into her flesh. She rolled her hips and felt him beginning to harden against her belly. She smiled. “I didn’t expect this either.” Shan tilted her head up, enjoying the glow of light against his skin. He was beautiful. And he was hers. Nerves pressed into her stomach, the fact that Thorne had already said he loved her not easing the words from her own mouth. She had to be honest with him. She’d agreed to that. “I love you.” Thorne stared at her. His hand gripped her ass in hard reflex and emotions darted though his gaze. “You…?” He hadn’t expected her to? He’d offered her everything of himself and expected nothing in return? A hard fist of pain formed in her chest, made up of guilt and being totally unworthy of this man. She stroked his jaw. “I’ve always wanted you. I didn’t want to admit how…hot being bound to you was. To you or to myself.” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t deserve you, but I do love you.” Thorne gave her one of his wicked smiles, one that curled fresh heat down to her toes. “Lucinda.” He glanced away, giving his executive a moment to reply. She didn’t. He carried on anyway. “Move my appointment with the Triton group to tomorrow morning.” “Understood, my lord.” Lucinda’s voice came clipped and quick. “Thank you.” Shan couldn’t keep the smile from her face and she teased her thumb over his bottom lip. “I have you for the rest of the day?” “You do.” She frowned. “We don’t have to become planet-worshippers now, do we?” Her frown deepened. “Do I have to be polite to our pilot? Because, with Zev, that will be…difficult.” “I’m sure we don’t.” He brushed her tangled hair back from her face. “And I think she won’t have much concern for that right now.”

43

Kim Knox

Shan’s eyes narrowed on him. Her crew were all caught in the wild pull of the planet, in the thrall of sheen, but if anyone had an idea why them, and why it had taken all of them out, it was him. “What do you know, Thorne?” He gave her one of his familiar dark smiles and rolled her beneath him. “Business after, pleasure first.” Shan couldn’t argue.

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About the Author Kim lives on an ancient boundary line, once marked by a Neolithic burial tomb. The tomb’s now a standing stone circle—thank the Georgians for that one—and stirs her mind with thoughts of history and ancient myths. She mixes the essence of the past into fantasy, along with the essential mix of magic and sex. She also writes science fiction romance, pushing out into the far future with effortlessly sexy men and the women who can’t resist them. Kim is multi-published. You can contact her on her website or come and chat at her blog: www.darknessandromance.wordpress.com

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

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Also by Kim Knox Chosen One Consort Demonic Attraction Flesh and Shadows Her Dark Soul Hunting Evander Painted Promise Perfecting Naia Ruthless Beauty Skin Magic Warflesh

Print books by Kim Knox Creamy anthology Succulent anthology

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