Driven Read online

  Del put his hands on his hips. "I won't be anybody's slave."

  Sarken laughed. "That's what I said, too, man. But let me tell you, when your dick is hard as marble and your balls are fit to busting, and all you can think about is having a woman wrap her lips around your ramrod and suck you off...there ain't much else you can think about. Lunavoss is a good lay."

  "No lay can be that good."

  Sarken face went unreadable again. "It's better than nothing. At least she doesn't expect us to love her. For the rest of my life, I don't ever have to be in love again. That's worth just about any price, man."

  Sarken went back to his own repair tasks. Del thought about what the other man had said, but he couldn't agree.

  Linna had finished up cleaning the galley only to discover the next shift of meals needed to be prepared. The Oss had minimal replication facilities. Garlinda showed her how to operate the re-hydration unit, and where to find the bins of freeze-dried meal packs. The Oss had only a crew of twenty, including the non-essential operating crew of the doxy and the two galley drosses. The Oss was primarily a cargo hauler, though, which meant non-storage space was minimal. The dining room could only hold five people at a time. The crew ate in shifts. No sooner did one shift finish than it was time for the next to come in. Linna now knew why Lunavoss needed two drosses.

  Garlinda had left her to finish the next two shifts, then returned to take over so Linna could eat and sleep. The problem was, Linna couldn't sleep. The bunk she'd been assigned to was squeezed in between crates and barrels of supplies, smack up against an exterior wall. The entire bed shook and vibrated constantly. Instead of soothing her off to sleep, it was keeping her awake.

  That and her thoughts about Del. She'd quickly discovered that time had little meaning onboard the Oss. Since she hadn't seen a window since she'd been aboard, night and day didn't exist, and the ship was never in darkness. Because the crew was so small, the duty shifts were long and unrelated to any clock Linna was familiar with. The Oss operated on spacetime, not hours, and Linna had no idea of how long she'd been aboard. It could have been a day. It could have been a week.

  Long enough to wish for a real shower instead of the light bath Garlinda had shown her to. The unit had cleaned everything, even Linna's filthy jumpsuit, but left her unsatisfied. Now she tossed and turned on her vibrating bed, thinking of Del.

  What would the captain do to him when he refused to have sex with her? Maybe he wouldn't refuse. Linna shook her head. No. He had to.

  But why? Just because he'd refused her didn't mean he'd refuse everyone else. Lunavoss was beautiful. And sexy, Linna had to admit. She'd managed to seduce the other Xanderrans on board. Maybe she'd be able to do the same to Del.

  No matter how much she pretended that thought didn't sicken her, it did. Linna sighed and turned on her side, eyes wide and staring into the steady blue light that filled her small compartment. She wanted Del for her own.

  Linna sat up. She had to tell him that. Before he gave himself to the captain, Linna needed to tell him what was in her heart. It might not make a difference...but then again, it might.

  "Have a seat." Lunavoss indicated a comfortable-looking chair next to her.

  Del shook his head, stance straight, hands clasped behind his back. "I'll stand."

  "Suit yourself." Lunavoss sat back in her own chair, her long legs crossed at the knee. She wore the same thigh-high boots as she had before. The heels looked sharp enough to stab a man through the heart. Her ebony hair flowed over her shoulders, down her firm, full breasts, to her trim waist. Along with the boots, she wore a sheer body stocking that did nothing to hide her bare flesh beneath.

  She arched her back, giving him a better view of her breasts and the rosy, erect nipples beneath. "Your name is Delek?"

  "Yes."

  "I like that name."

  Del said nothing.

  Lunavoss shifted in her chair and spread her legs. The pink slit of her sex winked at him through the sheer material of her body stocking. Her clit was as erect as her nipples, pushing against the fabric. She ran a finger down her throat, over her breast to circle one puckered nipple, then down her belly and finally, rested it on that taut bud.

  "I think you know what I want," she said. "There's no use in playing games."

  "No games," Del agreed. He forced himself not to look at her tempting display, even though the scent of her was beginning to drive him a little crazy. "You're Saurani, aren't you?"

  She laughed, a tinkling, sparkling sound that made his cock twitch. "You're very good, Delek. Not many people have guessed that."

  "I've met Saurani men before."

  "Really?" She raised one brow. "Sauran is a long way from Xanderra."

  "So is Earth."

  "So it is." She spread her thighs a bit wider and stroked her finger in a circle on her erect clit. Her other hand toyed with her nipple. "But have you met a Saurani woman before?"

  "No."

  "But you know of my people."

  Del nodded, not sure he could answer without sounding hoarse. Her musky scent, the smell of sex, surrounded him. He forced himself to focus on her face, not her lush body or the things she was doing to herself.

  "Then you know we're blessed with not just one pleasure point, like so many other humanoids. I have one here between my legs." She let out a low moan. "And one on each of my breasts." Another sigh. "And one in the back of my throat. Another deep inside my cunna. I'm absolutely made for balequili. For fucking, you call it."

  She writhed a little more on her seat. Sweat broke out on Del's forehead and ran in trickles down his back. Saurani men and women released pheromones that made them irresistible.

  Lunavoss stood. Her high-heeled boots made her tall enough to face him eye to eye. Her tongue swept across her red lips and her green eyes flashed. She didn't touch him, but this close, the smell of her was enough to make his dick surge to life.

  She put a hand between his legs. Del's hand came down on her wrist. For a moment, they strained against each other before she took away her hand.

  She smiled. "I'm sure the crew has already told you. I get what I want."

  "Want something else."

  "I don't think so." Her shrewd expression didn't take away from her beauty, but it did help Del resist her a little more. "You're on my ship by my good grace. You said you'd work for passage. I intend to collect the debt you owe me."

  "I didn't promise to work for you forever, and you know that's what will happen if I give you balequili. If I fuck you."

  Lunavoss pouted. "You'd still be free to leave the Oss once we dock on Xanderra. Or anyplace else you want."

  Del barked out a laugh. "I'd still be bound to you."

  Lunavoss shrugged and turned away from him. She paced toward the table next to her bed, where she picked up a carafe of blue liquid and poured herself a drink. "Only for sex."

  "Some life I'd have," Del said.

  Lunavoss tossed back a shot of the drink, then gave him another narrow-eyed glance. "Some life you have now. You're well past the age when most of your kind have chosen their partners. You ran away from your homeworld. You make your living doing scut work.

  "Don't think I don't know what those tattoos of yours mean, Delek. You're not common born. So what are you doing here, doing crew work on my ship in return for passage off a world you don't belong in? If you haven't found your partner by now, what makes you think you ever will?"

  Linna's face flashed in his mind.

  Lunavoss laughed out loud, poured another shot and handed him the glass.

  "You're thinking of that Earther cyborg, aren't you? Don't be an idiot, Delek. If you'd wanted her, you'd have had her already. Don't fool yourself."

  "She's working for her passage too," he said as evenly as he could. He didn't drink the shot. "And I'll still work on your crew. But I don't want to be bound to you."

  "But you do want to taste my cunna, don't you?" Lunavoss strode toward him, eyes gleaming. She took the glass fr