Justin Read online

  But Deanna was damn stubborn. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Oh, right, tell a patroller I’d come back to hunt down a woman taken away from me at DNAmo because we got too close? I didn’t want Lillian to get any shit thrown at her because of me.” Justin tightened his grip on Deanna’s wrists. “I still don’t.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I meant, why didn’t you tell me? Maybe I wouldn’t have ridden you so hard.”

  Justin growled and tried to smile. “Don’t make my mind go there. I’m barely holding it in.”

  “What I’m trying to explain, Justin, is that if you really want to find this woman, I can help you.”

  “Help me? Help me how?”

  “I have resources, access to databases, clearances that you never will. If you want to find Lillian, I can find her.”

  She was serious. “Why would you do that?” he asked.

  “Because I read your DNAmo files. I don’t think it was fair to either of you that they split you up. And because maybe if you find her, you’ll go off and live with her somewhere, and stop screwing up my life.” Deanna was breathing hard, her body rigid under his, but her eyes were shining with tears.

  “Hey.” Justin let his voice grow gentle. “I know I got you into trouble. I’m sorry.” He should add, You go home and work on keeping your job, and I promise I’ll leave you alone.

  The words wouldn’t come out. Justin gripped her wrists, not wanting to let go. Having her walk out, and not come back . . . He didn’t even want to think about it. Patroller or not, Justin liked Deanna. Wanted her. Wanted her here.

  “I can’t lie to you,” Deanna said, so softly that Justin had to lean to her. “I know why you really want to find Lillian.”

  No, she couldn’t. Justin hated that she thought he wanted to find Lillian because he was still in love with her, but the real reason was too dangerous for her to know. “I told you,” he said. “I was lonely. I wanted to find out what happened to her.”

  “And you want to talk to her about your child.”

  Justin had her off the bed and hauled against the wall before he knew what he was doing. Terror beat through him so hard he couldn’t see.

  “What the fuck?”

  Deanna lifted her chin. “I figured out that Lillian had a baby, about nine months after she left DNAmo. I know that Lillian only ever did the sex experiments with you. I know that the baby would be about twenty-four by now, and I know that you went to the Vistara to watch a group of young women. Which one was yours?”

  Justin found his hand around her slender throat. “Don’t you touch her. Don’t you go near her. Do you understand me?”

  Deanna didn’t look away. “I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t, Justin. I know you’d be terminated if anyone found out.”

  “I don’t give a damn about me. She’d be killed. She’d be dissected, and studied, and not allowed to live . . .”

  His breath gave out, as though he’d just sprinted a mile straight uphill.

  “I know,” Deanna said. He still had his hand at her throat, but her voice was clear. “It’s not her fault.”

  “That her father is a fucking Shareem?”

  “Not her fault that the laws are all screwed up.”

  “What are you saying, Patroller? That I can trust you? That her life is safe with you?”

  “Yes,” Deanna whispered. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Justin stared at her, his lungs burning. She looked right back at him, no fear in her eyes. Worry, yes; fear, no. And truth. Deanna wanted to help him, just as she’d offered to when he’d been in her detention cell.

  Help me help you, she’d said.

  But that had been nothing to do with Sybellie. He had to protect his daughter, at all costs.

  “You leave her the hell alone. You leave Lillian the hell alone. You’ve never heard of her, all right?” He leaned closer to Deanna, her scent driving him crazy, but his fear making him even more crazy. “Stay the fuck out of my life.”

  More tears filled her eyes, but Deanna didn’t break down, not this tough patroller. “You asked me to come here tonight.”

  “I made a mistake.” Justin wanted to let her go, to back away, but he couldn’t, not yet.

  “Why did you ask me?” She blinked back the tears. “If you’re looking for Lillian, if you’re trying to keep me from figuring out what you’re doing, why did you ask me?”

  Because he’d wanted her. Deanna intrigued him, called to him. Kissing her in his living room then touching her in the car had aroused Justin’s deepest needs, not just for a woman, but for her.

  Maybe the danger of being with Deanna, because she was a patroller, excited him. Or maybe he wanted to dominate her to get her back for dominating him.

  He knew that neither of those explanations was true, even as he tried to make himself believe them. What he’d had with Shela had been wonderful, and Justin could feel something like that building between himself and Deanna. But he couldn’t risk it.

  Deanna’s body trembled under his hands. Her hair was down, wet, snaking around her body. When she’d worn the veil, she’d looked sweet and feminine, her eyes soft.

  Right now she was sexy as sin, beautiful innocence experiencing her first touch of a man. Justin wanted to reach for that sensuality and bring it out of her, show her how to revel in it, to show her how to find the deepest pleasure imaginable.

  He wanted to teach her, to unwrap her layer by layer, until she was totally open to him.

  He wanted Deanna.

  Justin made himself let her go. He stepped back, his gut clenching, his body shaking.

  “Go,” he said.

  She stared at him. She was naked, damp from the shower, delectable.

  “Go,” he said, the word jerking out of him.

  Deanna stood there, frozen against the wall, damn beautiful and looking at him like he was crazy.

  Which he was. Justin turned away, grabbed a tunic, pulled it over his naked body, and slammed out of the room. He barreled out of the whole apartment to the hot street, in the dark, where he started walking, who the hell cared where.

  *** *** ***

  Justin ended up at Eland and Jeanne’s. Jeanne had a nice little apartment in one of the better streets in Pas City, which had sun awnings and storm shielding. Jeanne never had to sweep out her front room after every sandstorm, as Justin did. Blowing sand had learned how to find every crack around Justin’s door and burst in, uninvited.

  Justin pushed the buzzer and heard Eland’s big voice through the com. “Enter.”

  The door rolled back, and Justin walked through a vestibule to a door on the far end. The front door closed and the rear door opened at the same time, ushering Justin into the living room.

  Eland and Jeanne were having sex in it.

  The big Eland sat on a straight-backed chair, with Jeanne straddling him. They moved rapidly, Jeanne working Eland deep into her.

  Her head moved on her slender neck, her naked breasts with dusky nipples pressing Eland’s chest. The heavy nipple ring in her left breast both pulled on her breast and ground into Eland, who didn’t seem to mind.

  Eland didn’t look around at Justin’s entrance. Eland’s gaze was all for Jeanne, his Shareem eyes fixed on her with deep love.

  A normal human would have averted his gaze, expressed surprise or disgust, or taken himself out of the apartment.

  But Justin was Shareem, and the pheromones pouring from Eland and Jeanne, thick and harsh, kept him in place. Plus, he was keyed up from his encounter with Deanna and Deanna’s revelations, plus he’d still not had full sex, and Deanna had left him burning.

  “You could have warned me,” Justin growled. He jerked the tunic from his body before he even realized he had. His cock stood out ramrod straight, and Justin closed his hand around it.

  Doing that made him remember how Deanna had touched him and brought him to peak in his living room. Which made him remember the fun in the shower, which brought him full circle to the angu
ish and fear of her announcement that she knew about Sybellie.

  Then his brain took him back to how much fun it would be for Deanna to be here sucking him off—and he her—while they watched Eland and Jeanne enjoying the hell out of each other in their living room.

  “That’s it, baby,” Eland said, still watching Jeanne. “Take me deep.”

  Jeanne was far gone in passion. Shareem were big, and Eland’s huge cock was buried pretty hard inside her. Jeanne’s skin shone with perspiration, as did Eland’s.

  Jeanne moved her hands on Eland’s neck, and Justin saw that cuffs enclosed her wrists with a chain between them. Real cuffs, not the playful, fuzzy ones Justin used. Eland was level three, which meant the rough stuff.

  Justin moved to the table beyond them, caught up lube they’d left there, and squirted it onto his hand. Watching was nowhere near as much fun as doing, but Justin leaned his ass on the table and tried to let the tingling pleasure of his hand on himself calm his fear. He needed to be calm to figure out what to do about Deanna.

  “I think he likes it, baby,” Eland rumbled.

  Jeanne, eyes closed, submersed in deepest pleasure, didn’t answer. It was an even bet she didn’t even realize Justin was there.

  Eland rose on strong legs and wrapped Jeanne’s legs around him. Her eyes opened wide as he pressed deeper still.

  “Justin,” Eland said breathlessly. “Plug.”

  A plug waited on the table, a small, flexible one. Justin caught it up, using the lube to wet it.

  Justin was ready to hand it to Eland so he could do the honors, but Eland put his hands around Jeanne’s ass and spread her a little. Eland’s lubed finger went between her buttocks, rubbing to soften and open her.

  “Put it in,” Eland said.

  He was far gone too. Justin placed the plug between two fingers, steadied his hand on Jeanne’s ass where Eland opened her, and slid the little thing into place.

  Jeanne squealed her pleasure and wriggled on Eland. A smile spread across Eland’s face. “Aw, yeah, that’s good. Thank you.”

  Justin backed off and let them have their fun, but he stayed within range of their warmth and let their pheromones and his bathe him in mindless physical pleasure. He closed his eyes, envisioning Deanna, on her knees, her mouth around his cock.

  Aw, fuck. Justin’s seed shot out of him and onto the floor, just as Eland and Jeanne hit their peaks together and hung onto each other hard.

  Justin let out a long breath, eyes still closed. He whispered, “Deanna,” and let his mind go blank for a few minutes.

  When he could think again, Justin unwound his sore fingers as Eland resumed the chair, Eland and Jeanne kissing and cooing.

  “Sorry,” Justin said.

  Jeanne turned her head, her hands still in the cuffs, her eyes heavy with afterglow. “For what?”

  “Your floor.”

  She laughed, which shook her body, and Eland gave Justin a beatific smile. “That’s what the towels are for,” she said.

  Justin looked down. Practical Jeanne had spread towels all around the chair, knowing that sex was messy. Wise woman.

  “I’ll just borrow your shower,” Justin said, heading for the back.

  The other two didn’t answer. They were cuddling and kissing, enjoying the moment. Justin didn’t mind watching sex, but what they were doing now was private, emotional. Loving.

  What he wanted to explore with Deanna.

  Justin soaped off in their shower, dried himself with the hot air dryers in the walls, and pulled on his tunic again. By the time he reentered the living room, the chair and towels were gone, and the lovers were lounging on the sofa.

  Eland had at least covered his cock with a loose pair of leggings, but Jeanne sat, naked and demure, against the pillows. She’d learned long ago not to be inhibited around Shareem. She had shining dark hair, mussed now from lovemaking, but none between her legs. Eland liked a bare pussy.

  Jeanne looked up at Justin, her dark eyes filled with contentment. “You changed your mind about the threesome, then?”

  “I came to find out if you’d spoken to your friend, the one who might have known Lillian.”

  “Too bad—about the threesome I mean. Yes, I did talk to her. She agreed to meet you. I was going to call you and then . . .”

  Eland was watching Justin with a measuring look. “You sure you want to find Lillian? DNAmo was a long time ago, and a lot has changed.”

  “I’m not looking for her to continue what we once had,” Justin said, knowing the truth of it. “If we had anything more than mutual loneliness in the first place. I want to talk to her, make sure she’s okay . . .”

  He closed his mouth under Eland’s scrutiny. No one knew about Sybellie but Braden and Elisa—and now Deanna. Justin had told the other Shareem that he’d returned to Bor Narga to hunt up Lillian, nothing more. They all thought him insane but accepted his explanation.

  Jeanne stood up, leaned down to kiss Eland, and gave Justin a wink. “We’ll meet my friend at Judith’s. Which means I have to wear clothes. Judith doesn’t mind me without, but people on the subway just don’t understand.”

  She laughed as Eland flicked her nipple ring with one finger, then she sauntered out of the room to get ready.

  “Seriously, Justin,” Eland said, once she’d gone. “I’m all for you finding Lillian, but be careful. The less the patrollers watch us right now, the better.”

  Justin knew what he meant. Rees, the Shareem who was more or less their leader, was a Shareem of no level—another DNAmo experiment gone awry.

  Recently, Rees had began working to get the Shareem off planet, to someplace they could live without so many restrictions. Not an easy task, and if any of them were caught, all Shareem could be terminated. Justin, who knew people on Sirius who could help the Shareem, had agreed to assist.

  But Justin couldn’t leave the planet right now. Not until he figured out what to do about Sybellie.

  And now Deanna knew about her.

  Jeanne returned, wearing a silk sheath that hugged her body but covered her to Bor Nargan standards. Eland donned a tunic, lent Justin some leggings, and they all left together.

  Chapter Ten

  Judith’s place was full tonight, with both Shareem and the dock workers, male and female, who liked to hang out there. Shareem attracted women, the male workers weren’t ashamed to pick up Shareem leavings, and the female workers sized up both Shareem and the human males.

  Judith gestured to a table in a shadowy corner where a Bor Nargan woman waited alone. Jeanne waved at the woman and led them there.

  When Judith brought ale to the four of them, she paused to duck toward Jeanne and kiss her full on the lips. “After?” Judith asked.

  Jeanne nodded without worry and sipped her ale.

  “Wait a minute,” Justin asked before Judith could walk away. “What happened to ‘Mitch doesn’t like it?’”

  “Oh, he doesn’t mind Jeanne,” Judith said. “He just doesn’t want a Shareem’s testosterone-laden hands all over me. Mitch likes Jeanne, and likes to watch us go.”

  Eland grinned at Justin. “It’s a great show.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  Once upon a time, Justin might have begged a front-row seat, but now that his life was complicated, Justin drank his ale and waited impatiently for the conversation to turn to what he’d come here for.

  Jeanne’s friend must have become used to Shareem—and Jeanne—because she didn’t look shocked in the slightest at either the kiss or the obvious appointment for a threesome later. Jeanne introduced the woman as Mira, a freelance sailor on transport ships.

  Mira’s face was lined with experience, age, and travel, but she had lively dark eyes, and her hair held no gray. Her job explained her unworried expression. She’d have been to many planets and seen practices far beyond what Bor Narga’s inhibited stance on sex allowed.

  “I think the woman I knew used to work for DNAmo,” Mira said once introductions were done. “She lived on Mad
allin Row with her mom and dad.”

  Justin’s heart beat faster. “That’s her. Do you have any idea where she is now?”

  “Sorry. Wish I did. She was a good friend.”

  He tried to hide his acute disappointment. “When did you last see her?”

  “About fifteen years ago,” Mira said. “I shipped out with a company that did runs in the Paladias system, and was there for a year or so. When I got back, Lillian’s mom had died—her dad had gone a few months before that, I heard from her neighbors—and Lillian had moved out. No one in the neighborhood knew where she’d gone. Someone said the mountains, but when I had the chance to go out there, a couple years later, I never saw her. I looked, but didn’t find her.” Mira shrugged. “She might have gone off-world. I didn’t try too hard, because my life had moved on, and I figured hers had too. But do you want me to ask around?”

  Justin turned his ale glass on the table. “I don’t want her getting into trouble because a Shareem is asking for her.”

  Mira sent him a little smile. “I can be discreet.”

  “Be really discreet.”

  “You can trust her,” Jeanne said. “She understands.”

  “I do,” Mira said. “So, Justin, you busy for the rest of the night? You for hire?”

  She made him sound like a taxi. Justin had urged Deanna to engage him for his services, but when Mira asked for it, the appeal did a complete turnaround.

  “Sorry,” Justin said. “Not tonight.”

  “He’s not been interested in sex very much at all lately,” Jeanne said. “Poor guy. He must not be feeling well.”

  “Yeah, that’s it,” Justin said. “I’m getting over something.”

  “You two leave him alone,” Eland rumbled. “Drink up. It’s on me. If you want a Shareem, I’m handy. But only with Jeanne too.”

  Mira laughed. “No thanks. You’re cute, Jeanne, but I don’t lean that way. Maybe later, Shareem.” She winked at Justin then absorbed herself in finishing off her ale and signaling for more. The woman was a serious drinker.

  Justin finished his ale more slowly, noting that Mira was on about her seventh by the time he quit the place and went back to his apartment to think about what she’d said.