Stranded & Seduced Read online

  Hulk wasn’t at his normal post. Before she gave the matter much thought, Cimmaron was sneaking up the stairs, using careful foot placement so they didn’t creak. At the top, she halted. No Hulk. She checked left and right then darted to her left, keeping close to the wall. To her frustration, all the privacy screens were in place. She kept moving until she came to the last room.

  The privacy screen was fully open. Cimmaron peered through the glass window. A very large bed filled a good portion of the room. It was low to the ground and covered with a deep green cover so dark it was almost black. On the far wall, she noticed a computer, but she was too far away to see the keyboard. Her fingers itched with the need to explore at closer quarters. After glancing in both directions to see if anyone was watching, Cimmaron crept closer and tried the door. The handle turned at her touch, so after another quick glance up and down the passage, she slipped inside.

  Immediately, her heart skipped a beat, her stomach prickled, and worst of all, her nipples pulled to hard nubs.

  Tamaki.

  She whirled around, expecting to see him standing behind her, but the room was blessedly empty. Slowly, her breath eased out. She inhaled and the lightheaded sensation eased. She laughed, a low, tinkling sound of apprehension. Guilty conscience. She knew she shouldn’t be up here. She walked a slow circuit of the room. It was beautifully decorated, the walls a shimmering green, a lighter color than the bed covering. Beside the glass window, a dark green button shone like a jewel. After a slight hesitation, she pushed it. The privacy screen whirred across the glass windows, hiding her presence from anyone outside.

  Cimmaron prowled the perimeter, feeling suddenly edgy and hot. Her uniform clung to her skin, almost as if the shrinkton fabric had decided she’d lost weight. It chafed her sensitive nipples, and each step she took brought a new wave of heat. She paused in dismay. It felt as if she was coming into heat again. The pills must have been faulty. Tamaki had mentioned the male who ran the apothecary didn’t have any more in stock at present. Phrull, what the hell was she going to do? For every step forward, it seemed as if she took six backward. At this rate it wouldn’t matter if she managed to save enough money for passage from Marchant because she’d be mated.

  The sensual tingle in her nether region intensified, making her long for sex. One male’s face sprang to mind, and she muttered a curse under her breath. Tamaki Grierson haunted her dreams as it was, and now he was stalking her waking hours too.

  Cimmaron checked out the computer. There were several buttons, but she had no idea what each was for since they didn’t bear labels. They were probably for music and to control the lighting. She turned a slow circle to survey the room. It was disappointing really. She had no idea what the big secret was and why this floor was off limits to staff. Since there was a bed, it was obvious people used the room for sexual liaisons. She spied a drawer built into the wall, and pushed the green jeweled button to open it. Yup. The array of sexual aids, ties and restraints confirmed her theory.

  The click of a door behind her made her leap in fright. She whirled about, clapping her hand to her chest.

  Caught in the act.

  Damn.

  “What are you doing here?” Rico demanded, his brown eyes narrowing in dislike.

  Cimmaron had no idea what she’d done to him, but he made no secret of the fact he didn’t like her.

  “I’m…ah…cleaning.” Pity she’d left the broom in the cleaning cupboard downstairs because it would have backed up her story.

  “Right,” Rico snapped. “On the bed.” He stomped toward her. “Put your hands in front of you.” He pushed a button and chains appeared from a concealed alcove above the bed. Rico grabbed them, and before she had a chance to protest, slapped them around her wrists.

  Cimmaron leapt off the bed, but the chains jerked her up short. “Let me go. Now.”

  “I think not. We don’t want our trade secrets blabbed to the competition before we open this room for hire. I told Tamaki you were trouble. Who are you working for?”

  “No one,” Cimmaron said. “I’m not a spy.”

  “Yeah, and I bet you can’t fly a spaceship either,” he said.

  There was no mistaking his tone for anything but snide. She drew back her fist and let rip with a good solid punch aimed at his nose. The chains clanked and halted a full range of movement. She missed, jarring her arm instead. It hurt like hell.

  “You can’t free yourself, so you might as well sit there.” Rico wandered over to the drawer she’d opened earlier and drew out a jade green scarf. He turned and smirked at her. “Nice jade green to go with the rest of the room. What do you think?”

  “Bugger off.”

  “Hmmm, that’s not very nice.”

  Phrullin’ man was playing with her. Frustrated by her inability to move and her stupidity in allowing him to restrain her in the first place, she glared at him. If he came within kicking range, she was gonna get him. Right in the gonads, she thought with relish. And she’d enjoy his pain.

  He strutted closer, the confident smirk still in play. Bastard.

  Cimmaron tensed, ready to lash out, then the strangest thing happened. A shaft of pure sexual need slammed into her, punching every conscious thought from her mind apart from the need to mate. There had to be something wrong with the pills Tamaki had procured for her. They didn’t work too well. She was starting to feel like a wind-up toy. Instead of dispersing, the desire thrumming her body grew stronger. She could smell him—or was it because he’d moved even closer. Rico reached out and smoothed a lock of hair from her face, his touch gentle. Soothing. Loverlike.

  Phrull! Cimmaron realized she was purring and bit down on her bottom lip. Hard. When she glanced down, she noticed her skin was starting to glow. Funny how gold looked so good with green.

  Rico cursed without warning, and Cimmaron jerked her head back, startled. For a long, pregnant moment, they stared at each other. There was a flush high on his cheeks and his brown eyes were full of heat. She sucked in a hasty breath. Please let him touch her again. Her breasts lifted as she fought to free her hands and touch him. To her relief, Rico cupped her cheek and trailed his fingers across her face again. Smiling, he tied the scarf around her eyes, shrouding her sight. She felt the press of lips against her. It wasn’t enough. She needed more. A whimper escaped.

  “Please.”

  Rico let his hand drift lower. Callused fingers brushed across her collarbone then lower, tracing the blue strip of fabric covering her breasts. Her senses heightened by the dark, she waited for his next move. Her nipples hardened to tight points, pressing against the fabric painfully. Cimmaron murmured her acceptance and wished he’d take a more aggressive approach. As if he could read her mind, he bent his head and took one fabric-covered nipple deep into his mouth. The jolt of pleasure was almost too much. Her knees buckled and she sank back onto the bed. Rico followed and slipped one hand beneath the blue fabric to cup her naked breast. Cimmaron moaned.

  Suddenly, Rico’s hand jerked from her body.

  “Phrull.” He jumped away from her as if she were one of the deformed from the planet Lepro. After taking a deep, shuddering breath, he stood, his footsteps sounding hasty as he strode across the artificial wooden floor. A lock turned and connected with a definitive click. The phrullin’ bastard had left her.

  Stranded.

  Again.

  * * * * *

  Tamaki looked up at the sharp knock on his office door. Rico looked downright distraught. His friend’s mouth worked but no sound came out. Rico started to pace back and forth in front of Tamaki’s desk. He dragged a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in tufts. Finally, he dropped onto a chair.

  “What’s wrong, man? You took terrible.”

  “I found Cimmaron upstairs in the new room.” Rico ran his hand through his hair again, this time in a different direction.

  Tamaki smothered a grin. Rico looked like a hedgehog. “It was only a matter of time before she discovered what we do upsta
irs. She’s been like a dog with a bone. I think it keeps her mind off her problems.”

  “She’s a witch,” Rico burst out. His gaze slid across Tamaki’s face before shooting to his feet.

  Alarm surfaced in Tamaki. “Sit. You’d better tell me what’s happened.”

  Rico dropped into one of the seats opposite Tamaki again. “I found her in the room. She was behaving strangely, checking everything out. I think she’s a spy for Gynorm Enterprises.”

  Tamaki picked up a quill and tapped it on a piece of erasable parchment. “Go on.” From Rico’s agitated manner, he guessed there was more.

  “I chained her up.” Rico shrugged irritably. “I thought you’d want to talk to her.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t know what came over me,” Rico confessed, “but all of a sudden I wanted her.”

  “Wanted her?”

  “Stop repeating me, dammit. Sexually! I wanted her sexually.” He shook his head, a picture of misery. “I love Marianna. I’ve no idea why I kissed her. I touched her, dammit. What am I going to do?”

  Jealousy seared Tamaki’s gut, and he had to force himself to sit still and not react. Rico had kissed Cimmaron. A growl rumbled deep in his throat. His woman. He hadn’t been patient all this time to let another man claim her, and especially his best friend. He studied Rico’s downcast head. Not that Rico seemed thrilled with the prospect of stealing Cimmaron from under his nose.

  Tamaki frowned and tossed ideas around before a plan formed. “Can we do without Cimmaron behind the bar for tonight?”

  “Yes, I think so. If it gets busy, one of us can help out.”

  Tamaki nodded. “I think we should let Cimmaron stew for a while upstairs. We won’t open the new room to clubbers until tomorrow and keep it out of bounds for the moment. Are the privacy screens up?”

  “Yeah, I locked the door too.”

  Tamaki nodded. “She won’t come to any harm?”

  “No. I mean, she’s restrained but she can move easily enough and lie on the bed.”

  “Good. Once the club closes, we’ll go and have a chat with Cimmaron Zhaan.”

  Chapter Five

  Tamaki knew he should have felt guilty—hell, he did feel a little remorse, but Cimmaron deserved this scare. She was gonna be spitting mad when they released her. He looked forward to seeing her, and part of him wanted to experience her anger alone. But he also wanted to see how she reacted to Rico. He hoped it was merely time for her to take another pill, her hormones working overtime to get her to mate, but it was possible she really was attracted to Rico.

  Rico stalked into the office. “Everyone’s gone. I just locked the door behind the last security man. The travel tubes are on lockdown until tomorrow.”

  Tamaki added his signature to a supplier contract and rolled the parchment, ready for dispatch. “I’m done.” He stood and made for the door. Outside his office, Rico fell into step beside him. They ascended the spiral staircase together and turned left to the newly decked-out room.

  “I still think green was a good choice for the color scheme,” Tamaki said when they passed the privacy screen.

  “I like it.” Rico halted outside the door and scanned his finger. The lock disengaged, and he pushed the door open. They stepped inside the room.

  Cimmaron lay on the bed, her uniform in disarray and her skin glowing a brilliant gold shade. She must have heard them enter because she turned her head toward the door. She licked her lips and writhed, the motion setting the chains binding her clanking.

  “Holy shit.” Rico pushed past Tamaki and hurried over to the bed to unlock the chains. They fell to the floor with a metallic rattle. He removed the scarf and leaned over her, his brow creased in concern. His fingers trailed over her forehead before glancing over his shoulder at Tamaki. “What’s wrong with her? What have I done?”

  “You know she’s from Dlog?”

  “Yeah. Oh, you mean she’s in heat?”

  “I think so. She’s desperate for a mate.”

  “Not in heat,” Cimmaron panted. “Not.”

  “But you’re burning up. You’re glowing more golden than usual.” Tamaki touched her forehead too. Pleasure bloomed inside him. He glanced at Rico to see if he’d noticed the reaction and saw Rico was breathing hard. Tamaki grimaced. He knew exactly how his friend felt. It was as if every trace of blood had pooled in his groin. His cock jammed against the placket of his trews, painfully hard. All he wanted was to rid himself of his constricting clothing and feel the fresh life force against his skin, even if it was conditioned and blown through the units.

  Through narrowed eyes, he watched Cimmaron rip off the strips of fabric around her chest, letting swollen breasts spring free. At least they didn’t need to worry about an unwanted pregnancy because if Cimmaron was accepting both of them, she was right. This wasn’t the mating heat. This was something else entirely.

  She then knelt on the bed and cupped a breast in each hand. Almost sobbing, she offered herself to him and Rico.

  Unable to help himself, Tamaki leaned forward and twirled his tongue around her golden nipple. Jealousy hit him when Rico did the same, but Cimmaron distracted him, stroking their heads, running her fingers through their hair and encouraging them with her soft whimpers. He suckled her breast, but it wasn’t enough. His clothes weighed him down, sexual heat prickling through his body until he thought he might burst out of his skin. Tamaki suspected both Cimmaron and Rico felt the same way.

  He pulled away to strip off his clothes, pinching her glistening nipple when she started to protest. Rico ripped off his clothes too, tossing them carelessly on the floor, then as one, they turned back to Cimmaron. They unzipped one thigh-high boot each, casting them aside. The boots thumped when they hit the floor. Rico pulled away the strips of uniform that tangled around her body while Tamaki dealt with the skirt and the brief black panties she wore beneath. Finally, they were all naked.

  Such a huge relief.

  They toppled onto the mattress in a tangle of limbs. At the back of his mind, Tamaki wondered at the strength of their reactions, but he tossed the thoughts and lingering jealousy aside as unimportant. All he could think of right now was skin-on-skin and touching and tasting.

  “Pretty.” Cimmaron pressed close, rubbing her body against both of them and purring loudly as she fingered the family tattoos both had on their right arms. “I like these.” The golden glow of her body bathed them, patterning their skin with glints of rich color. Hands stroked breasts, massaged cocks and stroked dappled skin.

  “They’re our family tattoos. On our planet the tattoos tell of our family histories, our tribe.” Tamaki had trouble forcing the explanation out, the thoughts foggy and fading like mist as he gave his body over to the driving urge for sex.

  A harsh breath escaped, blending with Cimmaron’s lazy purring. It could have come from Rico or it could have come from him. Tamaki wasn’t sure. A hand caressed his flanks. Masculine or feminine? He wasn’t sure of that either. All he knew was the urgency ripping through him had his hand trembling when he smoothed it over her shapely ass and upper thigh. He followed touch with kissing, moving his lips down her body, licking and nipping at her flesh. Tamaki tugged her legs apart, pushing her flat on her back at the same time. The bed creaked and sheets rustled as Rico and Cimmaron rearranged their bodies. Tamaki leaned over Cimmaron’s lower body, nuzzling at her pelvic bone and nipping lightly at the hair-free flesh. The scent of her aroused sex was like a drug that reacted on all of them.

  Tamaki kissed and licked the delicate flesh of her inner thighs and glanced up at the same time. The rich rush of desire filled him. Rico winked at him before bending his head to take the swollen tip of her breast deep into his mouth. The sight of her golden flesh and Rico’s darker skin made him even hotter. Raw need struck him like a rip wind. Urgency beat at him. He had to touch her intimately. Had to.

  Giving in to the driving need, Tamaki licked a path the length of her cleft, tasting and lapping up her juices. She
mewed, her body writhing under the twin assault of his touch, Rico’s touch.

  Tamaki’s heart battered his ribs and sweat broke out on his brow. He wanted to stake his claim in a more physical manner. Now. He had to do it now. His cock ached, his balls painfully tight and drawn up high and close to his body. He parted her folds, baring her swollen nub to his gaze. Unable to resist, he lowered his head to taste her golden flesh again, massaging her clit with the light sweep of his tongue. Her flavor was wild and spicy, something he could become addicted to so easily.

  Tamaki settled in, tasting and teasing and driving himself crazy in the process. He slid one finger inside her pussy. Cimmaron was so wet her flesh parted easily. So he added two more fingers to the mix. A guttural groan sounded, and Tamaki looked up her body. She’d taken Rico’s cock deep into her mouth, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked. Rico’s head was thrown back, an expression of intense pleasure on his face.

  Tamaki’s cock bobbed, a tear of pre-come forming on the tip. He fisted his hand around his shaft and pumped once. The friction was exquisite, but he knew it could be even better. Tamaki moved between Cimmaron’s legs and guided his cock to the mouth of her pussy.

  He thrust slowly, gritting his teeth as her flesh tightened around him, gripping him firmly, sweetly while she stretched to accommodate him. Tamaki kept pushing until he filled her. He shuddered, feeling a ripple clamp down on his cock. He withdrew and plunged deep again, setting up a rhythm designed to drive them both to climax. Not that it would take long. He gritted his teeth, fighting the surge of pleasure shimmering through his balls, just out of reach, so he could enjoy the intense sensations for longer.

  “Deeper,” Rico growled, his voice thick with passion.

  Cimmaron swallowed him down, automatically following instructions. Elation, along with drugging pleasure, shimmered through her body, her breasts, her pussy. She swirled her tongue across the crown of Rico’s cock, enjoying the taste of him as much as she loved the full sensation of Tamaki filling her pussy. A purr rumbled deep in her throat. Rico pulled back and thrust inside her mouth again. She squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated on every joyful sensation. The taste, the feel and the sounds of fucking as the three of them moved together, striving for the magical moment of fulfillment.