Driven Read online

  "Kill or be killed?" She shuddered, looking at his tattooed arms and back in a different light. The faint scars on his body had never bothered her before. In fact, in a world of perfection, the reality of his skin and the uses he'd put it to had always stood out to her as very refreshing.

  "But killing your partner just because you made a bad mistake..."

  She thought of her ill-fated marriage, then nodded, a little more accepting. The night Dan had sent her down the stairs, she'd have killed him if she'd been able. To protect herself. Kill or be killed suddenly didn't sound so bad.

  "Most couples don't," he said suddenly. "We're not monsters, Linna."

  She looked him up and down. "No, Del. I would never say that."

  He hissed out a breath. "I left Xanderra because I didn't want to be bound to anyone. I figured I'd have a better chance here on Earth. Better chance to resist temptation."

  He gave a pointed glance at the futon where he'd almost lost control. "And I have...until you."

  She couldn't be sure if he were complimenting her or insulting her. Linna cleared her throat. "So you've never made love to a woman before?"

  His brows knitted. "Hell, no."

  The thought warmed her unexpectedly. "I wouldn't have known."

  He watched her for a moment before smiling slightly. "You don't need to know how to drive a hovertaxi to know what it feels like to ride in one."

  She still wanted him. Maybe more than before when her body's reactions had been overwhelming her. She looked over his muscled body and stared into the dark eyes that had given her so many warm glances.

  "How do you stand it? Being around it all the time, but never doing it?"

  He laughed and made a slow motion with his hand. "Got to be my own best friend, hey?"

  The thought made her stomach twist and turn at what that sight must be like. "And that's okay? You can do that?"

  He nodded and ducked his head, actually looking a little embarrassed. "I guess I'd explode if I couldn't."

  Linna thought of how he'd asked for a kiss the day before. "But you kissed me."

  "Self-torture. Kissing isn't fucking."

  She grinned. "And you kissed me again, here. And you touched me, too."

  Del spread his hands and shrugged. "Hell, Linna. I am a man." He put a hand to his crotch, which had begun to bulge again satisfactorily while they spoke.

  "The virus doesn't spread through saliva?" she questioned. "We're not bonded now."

  "I'm the only one who'd be bonded, not you," he corrected. "The virus isn't carried in saliva. If I kiss you, it's swapping spit. Not a problem. If I come in your mouth or go down on you...listen, Linna, believe me. Xanderrans have thought of every possible option. They just don't work."

  "I'm sorry." She thought. "No, I'm not. If you want to know the truth, Del, I'm not sorry. I've fucked hundreds, maybe thousands of clients over the past few years, but I'd forgotten what it was like to want someone. Since I met you, I've started to remember. I'm not sorry about what we just did, but I am sorry you couldn't enjoy it, too."

  He gave a small, nearly imperceptible shudder and his breath caught. "Ah, harah. Don't."

  She didn't mean to torture him, but emotions she usually had to keep firmly in check were burbling to the surface and she couldn't push them down. She didn't want to.

  "Del, I don't have many friends." She laughed ruefully. "Actually, I don't have any friends. But I can't count how many times you've come through for me--with a ride or with a smile when I've had an awful day. With a conversation that didn't center on yourself. You always took the time to talk to me like you knew I was real person, not just a Kompanion."

  "That's because I knew you are a real person."

  Her throat got tight and tears sparked her eyes. "But you never told anyone."

  "I didn't want to get you into trouble."

  "You were being my friend," she said and meant it. "If you hadn't opened the door for me tonight, I have no doubts I'd be dead. Adar and the Council are crazy serious about what's going on out there. They were using bullets, not stunners. I'd be dead."

  He shrugged. "I couldn't not open the door, especially when I knew it was you."

  "See what I mean?" she said softly. "We're friends, Del."

  He took a deep breath and straightened his broad shoulders. "I can be your friend, Linna."

  She stood, well aware of the way her breasts lifted. His eyes flickered there for a moment before he pulled his gaze back to her face. She took a step toward him. Del took a step back.

  It would have been funny, a giant of a man backing away from a much smaller woman like her, if she hadn't known the reason for his reluctance. She put her hands to her breasts, the nipples still taut with arousal. His mouth thinned. In the bluish light from the battery lantern, his dark eyes glimmered.

  "Let me be your friend, Del."

  He shook his head and took another step back. She could see his erection bulging through the fabric of his trousers and the sight gave her a small shudder. His cock must be huge, if it matched the rest of him.

  She slipped her hand inside her jumpsuit between her legs, still hot and wet from before. Her clit tingled under her fingers, but she didn't rub herself. Not yet.

  "Linna--"

  "I don't expect you to make love to me." Her smile felt a little sad. She brightened it by force. "I know you don't want to be bound to me. I wouldn't ask that of you. But you can bring yourself pleasure and I can watch you do that, can't I? I've been living as a Kompanion for the past three years. Believe me, I've seen it all."

  His voice was hoarse. "You don't have to."

  She looked at the bed, the rumpled covers. "You made me come, right over there. I haven't had an orgasm with a man in a very long time. I would gladly fuck you any way you wanted it just for that reason alone."

  He made a low, strangled noise in the back of his throat. Sweat shone on his forehead and upper lip, and Linna was pretty sure it wasn't just because with the power out, the apartment had quickly grown stifling.

  "It's not a pity fuck either," she continued, sensing his pride wouldn't allow such an offer. "When you kissed me yesterday, I finally had to admit to myself something I'd been pretending not to feel."

  "What's that?" His raspy voice sent a thrill through her, straight to her clit.

  "I've wanted you for a long time."

  He ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and blew out a gust of air from his full lips. "Damn."

  "Is that a good damn or a bad damn?"

  He put both hands behind his head, fingers linked, elbows in the air, and held that pose for a moment before dropping his arms to his sides. Linna couldn't help admiring the way the muscles bulged and worked in his arms and chest when he moved. He had a great body, perfect in its pure naturalness. Unenhanced.

  She was relieved when he smiled, the full force of the grin enough to again weaken her knees and send a burst of sensation straight between her legs.

  "Good." Del's gaze swept over her, centering on her face before dipping lower to her breasts, then between her legs.

  Shyness overtook her, foolishly, since she had made far bolder propositions to strangers. Linna forced it down and forced herself to look into his eyes. This was Del, her friend.

  "I want to watch you touch yourself," she told him.

  He answered with a groan. He licked his mouth again.

  Linna stepped up toward him and lifted herself onto her toes to touch her lips to his. Del groaned again. He didn't put his arms around her and she didn't push him to. She just kissed him. She let her tongue feather along his mouth before she dipped it inside to taste his deliciousness.

  Linna put her hand on his chest and felt his heart beating hard. Like her own. His nipple pebbled beneath her palm and she caressed the taut flesh, then trailed her fingers down the ridge of his belly muscles. The line of crisp, curling hair trailing down into the waistband of his trousers tickled the back of her hand.

  "Linna--" His voice was ha