Gambit by Kim Knox Read Free Book Online

acrid air that had her chest tight.
    “I was grown with stamina, lady.” His large hands cupped her shoulders, easing her from the path of the workers who trudged to the lifts.
    The open doors of the carriage gusted warm, sanitized air around her and she found it impossible to look away from him. Engines whined behind her, the carriage lifting as it readied itself to depart. The light gilded his face, dropped gold fire into his eyes and made even the foul air in her lungs bearable.
    “Ready?”
    He whispered the words against her lips, his breath sweet, intoxicating, and she tried to wrap her mind around his plan. Or what she thought was his plan. Shit, why didn’t she have Ladaian telepathy?
    Feet pounded up the hard surface of the platform and the whine of charging guns mixed with the growing rattle and hum of the sky track’s engines. Daned’s fingers flexed and tightened on her shoulders. His mouth hovered over hers, so close she could almost taste him, had to tease his upper lip with her own and urged him to deepen the contact into a kiss.
    “Captain Chae Beyon!”
    Their kiss melted into something more powerful, the burn of need firing through her blood. Any contact with him spun her mind with wild need, and she really needed to lose the gold and get the man properly naked—
    She staggered backward. Doors clunked shut behind Daned. Weapons’ discharge flared against the windows, making passengers shriek and leap from their seats…but the carriage shunted forward, tearing out of Darkhan Uul station.
    Chae let out a slow breath and rested her forehead against the arch of Daned’s throat. Her heart pounded, from being shot at or from his kiss, she wasn’t quite sure. She ran her hands down the strength of his arms, wanting to ground herself but feeling only taut muscle and satin-smooth skin. A dry laugh escaped her. “Think they were jealous, pretty?”
    “Lady?”
    His voice sounded calm, only a hint of curiosity—just as it should. But his heart beat as hard as hers did. “Never mind. Bad idea. Obviously Darkhan Uul has changed since I last took my pleasure there.” She settled into a seat and tugged Daned down with her. It would look strange for them to continue to stand in an almost empty carriage but, hell, she wanted to crane her neck back to stare at the few passengers remaining. She didn’t trust that the suits following weren’t still on the rail.
    She let her head fall against his strong shoulder and her voice dropped to a whisper. “If we ever get off-planet, you know we’ll have to do something about this.” She waved her hand vaguely. “Just warning you.”
    “No.”
    “No to the warning?” She smirked and walked her fingers up his bare thigh, his muscles twitching under her light touch. “You going to surprise me?”
    “I’m not your flesh-pet, Captain. Pleasing you is not my first priority.” He met her gaze and his dark strength peaked her nipples, the burn of gold seeping into her blood. They’d bonded and the tech had plans for them, whether Daned agreed to it or not. “We have a job to do.”
    “And I’ve yet to see payment.”
    Anger flared in his eyes. “You think I should be payment?”
    Chae ignored the sour taste in her mouth. She wanted him…but not like that. He wasn’t simply flesh and she couldn’t explain it to herself. Had it really been that long since she’d had a real human, one born not grown?
    “Stai, Baruun Urt.”
    Thankfully, the sky track’s announcement broke into her need to answer him and herself. She let out a slow breath and removed her hand from his thigh, wiping her fingers against the rough material of her trousers. She checked the seals of her bag, something unconscious and automatic. Food intact. Her fingers flexed. She’d called in her absolute last favor from a vendor touting outside the station. Who knew when she’d next eat?
    “Time to try to get off-planet,” she said. The carriage slowed and she straightened her shoulders.