Page 11 of Stealing Mercury (Arena Dogs #1)

She stopped, studying him, eyebrows raised in delicate arches. “Now, you want to talk?”

He nodded, not trusting his voice.

“Okay,” she said. “I was just finishing this up, anyway.” She tapped something inside the panel, then closed it and put away her tools.

“In Haverlee—that’s where I lived growing up—sandsilk is one of the few resources we have in abundance.” She moved across the floor with athletic grace, to stand just out of reach. “It’s not as valuable as real silk from old Earth, but there’s a good market for it.”

He knew nothing of sandsilk or old Earth. It didn’t matter. He would gladly listen to her talk about them for the whole of their journey. “More,” he said, afraid even one added word would give away how badly he needed her to continue.

She edged closer and sat in front of his cage. “The thread is made by sandsilk worms.” She grinned. “I know it must sound weird, but the cloth is strong and soft.”

Moving slowly to avoid startling her away, he rolled up on to his toes and crouched near the bars. He wrapped his hands around the cool metal. “Why do you put on the colors?”

“The paint? Well, when I was a girl, I worked in the wormeries—that’s where they cultivate the worms that produce the silk— and I got paid in silk thread.

I was never good at dyeing and making the cloth, so I learned to paint the decorations.

” Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, leaving the soft pink flesh glistening.

“It’s the night sky over Haverlee,” she said. “The pattern I’m painting.”

She sounded suddenly hesitant. He hated the uncertainty in her voice.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. Her smile told him it was the right thing to say.

Once again moving slowly, he reached up and pulled at the knot of hair at the base of her skull.

The lush mass of brown spilled to her shoulders, revealing strands of red and gold.

He’d never seen anything like it. He pulled a handful to his nose and sucked in a breath, taking her essence deep into his lungs.

“But not as beautiful as this.” Her bright green eyes widened and her scent warmed, turning sensuous and receptive.

Lo moved to the corner of his cage and sniffed at her. Mercury growled a gentle warning. Sam flinched and Lo edged back. It shifted Sam’s attention to Lo, and the loss poked at Mercury’s pride.

“The place we’re going,” he said. “We go to be hunted. To die.”

She swallowed and her lips pressed together before she spoke. “I thought it was something like that, but don’t lose hope.”

He wanted to deny the possibility of giving up, but even as they spoke, Carn’s protein bar lay uneaten on the floor of his cage.

The odds against them weighed more heavily on him every day.

“The owners want us dead. Their greed is the only reason we aren’t dead already.

Humans will pay to be allowed to hunt us.

They’ll use human technology to track us and long-range weapons to shoot us.

We won’t make it easy for them, but...” Mercury refused to accept the obvious conclusion.

“How can you know that?”

“Drake. He enjoyed telling us how it would be.”

“Never give up.” She looked suddenly serious.

“Things will work out.” She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging them to her chest. Her scent changed with her mood, and he regretted his words.

He hadn’t thought it through before speaking.

He didn’t want to cause her unhappiness. He wanted to soothe her.

“Tell me more about your cloth. You’ll feel more relaxed, and your scent will be better.”

She scoffed. “Are you saying I smell bad?”

“No. Not bad. Your scent is always good. Sweet. Honey. Female. It’s best when you’re relaxed and talking softly.”

“Charmer.” She laughed with the word, but it wasn’t humor that made her eyes dilate.

He traced his fingers across her cheek, pleased when she allowed it. There was no sign of the bruise she’d gotten defending him. Her slender fingers traced the back of his hand, setting off sparks of need as urgent as if she’d touched his cock.

He traced a trail down the enticing length of her throat and across her collarbone, then back.

He let his fingers hover there as he watched the pulse in her throat race.

It amazed him that she would allow his touch.

Trust him with her vulnerable throat. It wasn’t a submissive offering, not born of fear. Only trust.

He drew a curve that followed the edge of the scoop neck shirt that had been hidden beneath her jacket. The path took him across the swell of her breast. Her breath hitched, and his cock jumped at the sound.

The bands of color on her arms seemed a more brilliant gold than they had minutes earlier.

He thought back to her earlier words and repeated them back to her as he traced along the edge of one of the stripes. “Do we have time for a biology lesson ?”

She laughed, a loud joyous laugh that came from her belly and made her cheeks red.

A loud pounding broke the spell.

***

Samantha silently cursed the timing and scrambled to her feet.

Finally, after days of trying, she’d started to build some trust with Mercury.

They’d even had what could pass for a conversation.

The pounding on the door doubled, making her flinch.

She pulled on her jacket, sealed it to the top and twisted her hair in a hasty knot, then jogged to the hold hatchway.

She looked over her shoulder briefly to see that the men were all on their feet but looking calm, then keyed in the open sequence.

She bristled as Drake shoved past her, barreling into the cargo-hold. He came to a halt in the center, twisting around, looking for trouble and gripping a stun-stick in one hand.

“Why in hell was that door code changed?” Drake stormed toward her. “I should be able to get in here whenever the fuck I want.”

His words rose and fell in the sloppy rhythm of a drunk.

Sweat matted his hair and slicked his shoulders.

He wore only baggy sleep pants, chest bare and sporting more muscle than she’d have given him credit for.

Still, next to the Arena Dogs, he seemed small.

Puny. But big enough to cause her some serious harm.

He’d been an ass from the start, but the longer he’d been onboard, the more he seemed to be deteriorating.

Apparently, the forced idleness of travel didn’t agree with him.

And since their discussion in the med-bay he’d started directing more of his venom in her direction.

Samantha pointed toward the auxiliary hatch in the corner of the hold. “I got some anomalous readings on the environmental controls and wanted to check them out. The environmental unit is through there.”

“It’s fucking hot in my quarters. Couldn’t sleep.”

And he’d clearly needed to sleep off the liquor and his foul mood.

“It’s hot everywhere.” When the resistance ship hadn’t shown up, she’d decided to lay the groundwork for a slowdown.

Maybe give them time. Now that Mercury had explained exactly where they were headed and why, she was doubly glad she’d set things in motion.

“It’s probably nothing, but I need to check it.

” She shrugged. “I changed the code and locked the hatch as a precaution, in case I find a bigger problem when I start pulling open access panels. Easier to keep things contained. Didn’t want one of you accidentally opening the hatch while I was working. ”

“I told you before, you shouldn’t be in here without me or Resler.” Drake gripped her arm and jerked her closer. A chorus of growls went up and his grip tightened painfully on her arm. He pursed his lips in a calculating expression and studied the growling men over her shoulder.

“We’ve argued this to death, Mr. Drake.” She jerked her arm free, drawing his attention back to her. “I’ll do what I think is right where the ship is concerned.”

The hold hatch still stood open, and the commotion must have roused Resler. He came stumbling down the corridor.

Samantha returned her focus to Drake. “Haven’t you told me those cages are secure? Besides, they,” she indicated the men with a nudge of her chin, “seem to know I’m not a threat.” She held her hands out to the sides. “No stun-stick, no problem.”

“No problem?” Drake’s face twisted in a parody of a smile, and he snickered. Samantha reared back away from his scowl and the sour breath that went with it.

“You’re stupid if you’re not afraid of my Dogs. They can turn on you faster than you can spit.”

Samantha’s heart pounded and her throat tightened. She’d never seen him so enraged.

He shoved her up against the bulkhead, just out of arm’s reach of Mercury’s cage. “Yeah, I’ll bet they think you look tasty.” The liquor on his breath made her gag.

Samantha could feel the agitation radiating from the caged men as they growled their protest at Drake’s rough treatment. She struggled, but she couldn’t budge the man. Resler might have more bulk, but Drake knew how to use his strength.

Drake laughed at her efforts. “What do you say, Merc? You think she’d make a good snack? Or are you sniffing after something else from her?”

Mercury snarled and snapped in response. “You’d make a better meal. Perhaps when we reach the hunting grounds, you’ll be the prey.”

Samantha’s gaze locked on Mercury, shocked that he’d respond to the taunts. Mercury barely looked at her. She could hear the others getting louder, then one loud howl drowned out the others.

Resler strutted to the farthest cage where Carnage’s howl ended in a snarl. “Well, if it isn’t our lazy Carnage coming back to life. What’s the matter? You hungry? Or you done missing your bitch and ready to fuck anything with a hole?”

Mercury growled deep in his throat. “Come let me out of this cage, you coward, and we’ll see who ends up fucked.” The words vibrated out of his still rumbling throat.