Page 33 of Tempting Jupiter (Arena Dogs #2)

Chapter Twenty-One

After five nights with Jupiter and Seneca, Feeona should have been sleeping, but that feeling of waiting for the other boot to drop plagued her the moment the ship got quiet.

She was awake when the alert-tone whistled softly through her quarters.

Jupiter’s ears twitched and his eyes opened. She smiled to put him at ease.

“Alfred’s letting me know it’s time to go attend to navigation.” She propped up on one elbow and leaned over to plant a kiss on his broad nose. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a little while.”

His nose scrunched and he chuffed in the back of his throat.

A second chuff softly echoed from the other side of him.

Seneca lifted his head and acknowledged her with a lazy blink of his eyes.

The light was on dim, but that just added sexy shadows to the sleek masculine skin on display.

They generated too much body heat to need covers, so nothing blocked her view of the curve of Jupiter’s shoulder and hip as he lay on his side.

Or the rippled muscles of Seneca’s abdomen and the tempting vee that drew her eyes down to his soft masculine flesh.

Feeona looked away before she risked shrugging off what needed to be done in favor of another round.

She wasn’t sure she was ready for more just yet.

With nothing to do until they reached Petro-5 sex had become one of their favorite ways to pass the time.

It left her body achy and sore, but in a good way.

The more time she spent with them the more strongly she believed that Jupiter and Seneca loved each other, but neither would act on those feelings. Was she making the situation better or worse?

She stepped over the clothes they’d thrown on the floor and snagged her robe on the way to the door. She didn’t allow herself to look back as she pulled on the soft material that covered her down to her thighs.

When she made it to the pilot’s station, she checked the navigation controls and made the necessary adjustments. They’d come out of skipspace and transitioned to standard propulsion without so much as a bump.

“Alfred, please verify that our guests are still in my quarters and alert me if that changes.”

“Verified. Instructions understood.” Alfred’s reply came without delay. “It’s not polite to spy on others, Feeona.”

She couldn’t complain at the admonition. She’d been the one to teach it to him. “That’s right, Alfred. But every rule has its exception.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Close the door to the pilot’s station, please.”

The door slid shut. It was unnecessary. The doors to her quarters were already shut. There was no way Jupiter or Seneca could hear her, but caution was a habit that had served her well.

“Alfred, display any incoming coms.” A list of respondents filled the main screen. She’d gotten a message from each of the contacts she’d broadcast to before their last jump. “This is good. Let’s hope someone can come through for us. Display full messages in sequence please, Alfred.”

The first came up on screen. “Would you like me to read the replies to you, Captain?”

“If they’re all this brief it’ll be quicker to do it myself.” The first message read simply, Not Interested. –DQ .

The next six were equally succinct. Then the no’s got longer.

Damn it! It didn’t surprise her, she was offering a high-risk deal, but that didn’t make her any less frustrated.

The best response she’d gotten was a request for direct contact from one of Roland’s oldest friends.

She wanted to be optimistic, but after so many blunt refusals it wasn’t easy.

“Alfred, attempt a direct contact with Gulliver. He says he’s in the area.” She stretched to open her personal storage compartment and pulled out Jacky the Unicorn. She adjusted her robe and hugged the soft stuffed toy to her middle, ready to settle in for the wait.

“Connection ready, Captain.”

“That was fast.” He must have been waiting. She shoved Jacky behind her, twisted her hair back in a knot and straightened her shoulders. “On screen one.”

Gulliver’s rugged face flicked onto the screen in front of her. His hair and beard were still salt and pepper, but the lines in his face had deepened further than last she’d seen him.

“Are you alright, bonnie-girl?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Do you have to assume I’m in trouble?”

“Hell, yes.” His eyebrows lifted so high they disappeared into his still full hair line. “When you reach out to half the sector, offering up the Hawley for funds, yes.”

“You’re exaggerating. It wasn’t that many.” She should have known Roland’s friends would spread the news to Gulliver. “And I’m not selling the ship, just putting her up as collateral for a loan.”

“Same difference. Never bet what you’re not willing to lose.

” He scowled and it bunched up one side of his puffy, reddened face.

He had the look of a man who’d enjoyed his liquor all his life.

Even when less damaging intoxicants were available, he and Roland would pass an evening together over a carton of scotch. “I know Roland taught you that lesson.”

Feeona forced her arms to her sides and lowered her shoulders.

Body language for beginners had been another lesson Roland had taught her.

She wasn’t above leaning on their long history and his lifelong friendship with her mentor, but she needed Gulliver thinking of her as an open-book teenager again.

“So, how about it? Are you going to be my knight in shining armor?”

“I’m sorry my bonnie-girl. It’s not my way to do bad business and fronting you money for the Hawley is a deal so stupid I wouldn’t do it even for my old mother.”

Feeona’s jaw tightened and she smiled to hide the frustration bubbling up inside her.

Showing emotion would only reinforce his opinion of the deal she’d offered.

“You know I’m good for it, Gulliver. I’ve never had a shortage of work and I don’t run out on my debts. I’m just pressed for time right now.”

His scowl softened. “You’re a thief and a grifter, my girl, and that line of work is never certain.

” He shook his head. “And before you go defending yourself, think on it. The Hawley is essential to your business. Give her up and you’ll have a hard time making a living.

More than that, she’s your home. Could you really giver her up, if it came to it? ”

She blew out a breath that lifted the strands of hair that had come loose around her face. “It won’t come to that. One job and I’ll have your funds back to you.”

“Will you, then? And how do you plan to get work when bounty hunters from Madeley-4 to Ellington Colony are looking for you?”

Damn. That was news she didn’t need to hear from him. “I’m resourceful, Roland always said so.” And she wasn’t giving up. Gulliver was the only one on her list who’d even bothered to talk to her.

The older man nodded. “Yes, but I’m no fool.”

“What if I make it a sale, plain and simple? I’ll send you an electronic deed as soon as the funds are transferred.” The words were out of her mouth before she’d thought them through.

Gulliver frowned. “Do you mean that, bonnie-girl?”

Did she? Would she really give up the Hawley to get just one more shipment of kids off Petro-5? It could take her years to earn enough to purchase a suitable ship before she could haul another shipment. Would she risk that to keep Jupiter and Seneca safe?

“Yes. I do mean it. I know an electronic title wouldn’t normally be enough, but I swear to you, Gulliver. I swear to be good to the deal.” It would take her a few weeks to distribute the cargo and get the Hawley to him, but there was no need to go into that. “Please.”

She didn’t bother to hide the pain in her heart. The pretense of keeping emotions out of it had long since failed. Maybe her pain would translate into sincerity.

She waited, watching untold thoughts flash across his face as they came and went in his head.

He licked his lips then smoothed his beard. His head shook, providing her answer even before he spoke. “Just can’t do it. Come visit me awhile. I’ll keep you hidden and safe and you’ll still have the Hawley when your troubles blow over.”

Would they blow over? She had a feeling Roma had a long memory. What had she gotten herself into?

“Thanks for the offer.” Her emotions were running strong, but gratitude wasn’t among them. “I’ll find another way.”

She reached out and cut the connection manually.

“Damn it.” She pulled Jacky back into her lap and hugged him tight.

He’d been a gift from Roland that first year.

His colors were faded, but he still had his shiny black eyes.

“My options have gone from bad to worse, Jacky. Worse than worse. Damn, damn, damn.”

“Perhaps a cup of tea would make things seem better, Captain.” Alfred’s calm suggestion made her snort despite the constriction in her throat.

“I don’t think that’s going to do it, Alfred.

” She shoved Jacky back into his bin, then got to her feet and rubbed at the tears that were definitely not falling down her cheeks.

“I’m going to go break out a carton of Roland’s scotch.

I want a connection to Morgan St. Germaine open when I get back.

” She needed some liquid courage before dealing with the vilest man she’d ever had the misfortune to meet.

“You said we weren’t dealing with Morgan ever again, Captain.”

“Desperate times, Alfred. Desperate times.”

***

Two shots of scotch, a trip to one of the downstairs lavs, and a rushed round of solo brainstorming later, she’d come up with the best bad plan she could. And she’d made her deal with the devil.

“No matter how much Roma Rex offers or threatens, you will give me a chance to outbid them.” Feeona kept her expression light, her voice firm and all thoughts of consequences and worry out of her mind. Okay, maybe the last part of that was a total lie.

She sat in her pilot’s chair, feet on the floor, back straight but angled toward the recorder.

She’d wound her hair in a braid around her head and added a quick spray of makeup.

She did her best to emote congeniality while squashing out any sign of softness.

It was a hard look to pull off, but acting was always part of the gig.

“Of course, Poppet. Everything will be just as you wish.” The man on her view screen was slender and polished. “You have finally come to me after these many years of staying away from the trade. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to jeopardize the business we could do together.”

Morgan didn’t look like evil. He looked like a wealthy merchant—something that was true as far as it went.

The clothes he wore had no doubt been hand tailored and they flattered his otherwise unremarkable image.

He was younger than most of Roland’s cohorts.

Naively, she’d once thought it was his age that had prompted Roland to keep him away from her.

He never looked at her with fatherly affection like Gulliver or the others.

When she’d learned the truth, she’d realized he’d been protecting Morgan from her as much as the other way around.

She’d been more of a hot-head then. If she’d known Morgan’s merchandise was people, she would have shoved a pointy object through his cold heart.

Morgan had been after her to smuggle for him since the day Roland died.

He didn’t know her reasons for dismissing him out of hand and so he’d been relentless.

Telling him she didn’t deal with slavers hadn’t been enough of an explanation for him.

To him it was all just business. His lack of comprehension served her purpose now.

With no better alternatives at the moment, she couldn’t discount him as an option when her kids’ lives were at stake.

If there was another option, she’d find it and walk away from the deal that had her insides so tangled she feared the contortion might be lethal.

“Good, and don’t you even think of caving into any of Roma’s threats.”

She hadn’t wanted to tell him about Roma, but logic told her that Roma would insert themselves into the situation no matter how cautious she was.

“I don’t scare that easy.” Morgan grinned, reminding her of a clee-cat—opportunistic and fearless, the cats were known to take down prey triple their weight. “Those Roma pussies put their trousers on one leg at a time, like the rest of us.”

“Excellent, then we have an agreement.” Feeona’s self-loathing compounded with the words. As much as she might tell herself this was only a back-up plan, there was no Plan A in sight. Dread squeezed her heart with the merciless grip of the damned.