The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles 1)

“Agreed.” Viktis pulled off his belt, the leather whispering against the fabric of his pants. He coiled it up and set it next to his guns. “But first, let’s make sure we’re not interrupted.” He strode to the door and snapped the lock into place. “If they find the boy, they’ll bring him to me immediately. I’d hate to miss that.” He paused, his expression feral. “I’d hate even more for them to walk in on us.”

“There is no boy,” Renna reminded him, popping open the button at her waist.

Viktis crossed the room to stand before her. He played with the hem of her shirt before tugging it over her head in one smooth move. His graceful amber fingers caressed the bare skin of her waist, and she bit back a moan. Dear gods. Her whole body felt like it was on fire.

“If there’s no boy, what are you doing on that ship?” His voice was a warm murmur as he sucked her earlobe. “I saw the registration. It’s government-owned.”

“I’m working for them now,” she whispered as she returned the favor and tugged his shirt over his head.

Viktis laughed. “You’d never work for the government. No lies, Renna.”

She stared at the golden trail of hair peeking above his waistband. Ran a finger across the softness. Tried to calculate the odds. “Fine. I’m their prisoner. They caught me after my last job. It was a setup.” Her voice had a growl that even she couldn’t fake. At least there were a few kernels of truth woven in with her lies.

“Are you losing your touch, love?” Viktis traced the long scar on her neck. “I can’t believe you still have this. Can’t the doctors take care of it?”

She swallowed. “I like it. Gives me character.” Desperate to change subjects, she blurted, “Viktis, Hesperia is gone. Destroyed in an attack.” She bit back a groan. Stupid, Renna. Death and destruction were not the best way to seduce someone.

His hand froze as it traced her collarbone. “Gone? How is that possible? Who was it?”

“Don’t know.”

“That’s why there was radio silence so suddenly.” He shook his head. “We’d been tracking a government compound, but then there was nothing.”

His eyebrows furrowed, and Renna reached up to smooth away the wrinkle. “It’s not safe in this system anymore. No place is safe until we know who they are or what they want. We barely escaped the planet before it was destroyed. The boy is probably dead if he was on-world.”

“Shit.”

She smiled, languidly stretching her body until it brushed against his, trying to bring him back to the moment. She slipped a hand down his hard stomach, sliding it lower beneath his pants until she could touch him. Velvet and steel, just like she remembered. His hips jerked as he groaned, and a burst of heat built in her midsection.

He lowered his lips to her neck, his tongue flicking and caressing the sensitive skin beneath her ear. She sucked in a breath. A girl had to have her morals, but that line was getting further and further away the more he touched her.

“Who hired you to find him anyway?” she asked again, now that he was distracted. Now that they both were distracted.

He leaned back slightly so she had better access. “A third party mediator. I don’t know who the actual client is.”

Renna’s hand stilled against his swollen member, and Viktis moaned again, pushing against her. If she knew Viktis, there was way more to it than that, but she’d get the truth from him soon enough.

“Why don’t we get a little more comfortable?” she said, tugging on the waistband of his pants to propel him toward the bedroom. She led the way, making sure to swing her hips as she walked.

After three steps, Viktis growled and reached for her, but Renna moved out of his reach. It was time to rein this thing in. She needed to be in control. “Patience, love. Good things come to those who wait.”

“You’re killing me, woman.”

Her smile was wicked as she turned away and unlatched her bra. The straps slid down her shoulders, and Renna glanced back with a half-smile as she let the lacy black thing dangle from her fingers.

“Gods I’ve missed you,” Viktis growled, yanking her into his arms and pressing his lips to her collarbone. She shivered as his coarse hands glided against her bare skin.

Her gaze drifted down to his erection, and she smiled. “I can tell.”

The amber color of his skin and the muscles rippling beneath it made her mouth go dry. The angular planes of his legs and stomach. The hardness of his body against hers. He was perfect. And yet…

“Things were never the same after you left,” he whispered. His lips brushed against the skin of her breast before his tongue softly caressed her nipple.

She moaned, her fingers tracing the rigid plates on his head as they stumbled backward toward the bed. “You mean after you tried to kill me.”

“You know it wasn’t personal.” He flashed her a quick grin before resuming his tongue’s careful exploration.

“It never is, is it?” Damn him, he knew exactly what to do with it. Heat curled lower in her belly, and she forced herself to ignore it.

“This seems pretty personal to me.” His hands drifted lower, splaying across her stomach. She swayed, tugging him to the bed. She was running out of time.

And then he sucked in a breath. “What the…” His eyes widened a split second before he collapsed on the mattress.

Sound asleep.

ELEVEN

Renna pulled her clothes back on as Viktis snored loudly, his bare legs draped over the side of the bed. The man would sleep like the dead for at least another hour. A dash of sleeping powder from Antivia Nine when she’d brushed out his whiskey glass with her sleeve had done the trick. That poison bracelet had been a very good investment.

Her body still hummed from the Ileth’s touch, and she ignored the heat pooling between her legs. She quickly pushed away the tiny bit of disappointment that curled through her. It had been way too long since her last fling; some good, old-fashioned stress relief might have been nice. Romping in bed with a handsome man was never a hardship, but she was on a job and it was time to get what she’d come for. The cold shower could come later when she was safe on the Athena.

The desk was the only part of the room Viktis kept tidy. She slid into his chair and pulled open a few of the drawers. Nothing but a worn notebook with a list of past jobs and a few ratty receipts. Not surprising. Viktis had always kept most of his info on his tablet.