Read Online Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 by Cathryn Cade - Free Book Online
Authors: Cathryn Cade
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dispenser. It felt expensive, not the cheap stuff she was used to. It smelled like the ship’s owner.
She ignored the shiver of pleasure this gave her. At least on this trip, she was traveling in luxury. But as the hot water poured over her, it couldn’t reach the chill at her core.
As she’d faced the clandestine jury who could give her freedom, Joran Stark had been honest about the risks.
“I wouldn’t want to be lied to,” he’d told her. “So I won’t lie to you. This is probably the most dangerous thing you’ll ever try to do. Darkrunner is a live charge—and no one can predict how or when he’ll blow. I suggest you don’t ever let him learn why you’re on his ship. But there’s another reason we chose you. You, ah, you resemble Kiri.”
Okay, she’d wanted honesty, she’d gotten it—with laser-like force.
So when Darkrunner looked at her, the admiration in his gaze wasn’t really for her, it was because she resembled someone else. He was out here for another woman: Kiri, the woman he’d loved and lost.
Or as Joran Stark had put it, ‘he’s a very dangerous man who likes fiery brunettes with hot bodies, lush lips and big golden eyes.’
Nice, but still, it only meant he might want to fuck her, but not the way he wanted Kiri. And it didn’t mean he wouldn’t follow through on his threat to dump her if she screwed up. She might be in the lap of luxury here, but she was still surrounded by vipers.
She hit the controls to clean after her and left the lav.
In her cubby, she pulled on a gold knit top that an ex-lover had given her, saying it was the color of her eyes, and a pair of black tights. She finger-combed her short hair into its usual head-hugging waves and padded along the passageway to the galley.
Trix slept across the passageway, but her hatch was closed, so Scala didn’t bother her. Instead she counted paces along the corridor to the other hatch on her side, and swore under her breath. The other sleep cubby there was twice the size of the others. Quarking great, that meant she was sharing a lav with Darkrunner himself.
She sure as hells didn’t want to stumble in on him. A sudden vision of the ganger’s hard, lean body naked and wet assailed her. Damn, she really wanted to know how far those tattoos went, possibly more than she wanted a drink of cool water. She was thirsty in more ways than one.
But if she was smart, that was one river from which she wouldn’t be drinking.
The galley was as immaculate and gleaming as the rest of the ship, from the cerametal fitments to the real wood veneer on the recessed storage cabinets and refrigeration unit. There was just room for six at the narrow table, if they snuggled.
She rubbed her knit-covered arms with her hands. Quark, it was chilly in here. She’d have to find the air controls or layer up.
“Access holomenu for contents of storage units, cooking capabilities and recycle directions,” said a sultry voice.
“Bottled water,” Scala said, looking around with admiration. With a craft like this, one could travel the galaxy and want for nothing. It was as far from the succession of old scows on which she’d spent the last two years as a diamond was from a chunk of space rock.
A recess in one of the cabinets lit up, and a bottle of water slid into view.
Scala grabbed the water and twisted the recyclable wax top open, tipping her head back to take a long drink. She sighed with pleasure. Mmm, nice and clean and chilled, with no odd taste as if it had been recycled through old metal.
“Food menu,” she decided. She watched with sheer, greedy pleasure as a holovid list scrolled through a list of packaged meals and snacks. “Berry and yogurt drink. And a sandwich—poultry. And a chocolate crisp. No, two chocolate crisps.”
Maybe the crisps would be the kind with little chunks of real chocolate. The poultry wouldn’t be real, but that was okay, she wouldn’t know the difference. As a child, she and
She ignored the shiver of pleasure this gave her. At least on this trip, she was traveling in luxury. But as the hot water poured over her, it couldn’t reach the chill at her core.
As she’d faced the clandestine jury who could give her freedom, Joran Stark had been honest about the risks.
“I wouldn’t want to be lied to,” he’d told her. “So I won’t lie to you. This is probably the most dangerous thing you’ll ever try to do. Darkrunner is a live charge—and no one can predict how or when he’ll blow. I suggest you don’t ever let him learn why you’re on his ship. But there’s another reason we chose you. You, ah, you resemble Kiri.”
Okay, she’d wanted honesty, she’d gotten it—with laser-like force.
So when Darkrunner looked at her, the admiration in his gaze wasn’t really for her, it was because she resembled someone else. He was out here for another woman: Kiri, the woman he’d loved and lost.
Or as Joran Stark had put it, ‘he’s a very dangerous man who likes fiery brunettes with hot bodies, lush lips and big golden eyes.’
Nice, but still, it only meant he might want to fuck her, but not the way he wanted Kiri. And it didn’t mean he wouldn’t follow through on his threat to dump her if she screwed up. She might be in the lap of luxury here, but she was still surrounded by vipers.
She hit the controls to clean after her and left the lav.
In her cubby, she pulled on a gold knit top that an ex-lover had given her, saying it was the color of her eyes, and a pair of black tights. She finger-combed her short hair into its usual head-hugging waves and padded along the passageway to the galley.
Trix slept across the passageway, but her hatch was closed, so Scala didn’t bother her. Instead she counted paces along the corridor to the other hatch on her side, and swore under her breath. The other sleep cubby there was twice the size of the others. Quarking great, that meant she was sharing a lav with Darkrunner himself.
She sure as hells didn’t want to stumble in on him. A sudden vision of the ganger’s hard, lean body naked and wet assailed her. Damn, she really wanted to know how far those tattoos went, possibly more than she wanted a drink of cool water. She was thirsty in more ways than one.
But if she was smart, that was one river from which she wouldn’t be drinking.
The galley was as immaculate and gleaming as the rest of the ship, from the cerametal fitments to the real wood veneer on the recessed storage cabinets and refrigeration unit. There was just room for six at the narrow table, if they snuggled.
She rubbed her knit-covered arms with her hands. Quark, it was chilly in here. She’d have to find the air controls or layer up.
“Access holomenu for contents of storage units, cooking capabilities and recycle directions,” said a sultry voice.
“Bottled water,” Scala said, looking around with admiration. With a craft like this, one could travel the galaxy and want for nothing. It was as far from the succession of old scows on which she’d spent the last two years as a diamond was from a chunk of space rock.
A recess in one of the cabinets lit up, and a bottle of water slid into view.
Scala grabbed the water and twisted the recyclable wax top open, tipping her head back to take a long drink. She sighed with pleasure. Mmm, nice and clean and chilled, with no odd taste as if it had been recycled through old metal.
“Food menu,” she decided. She watched with sheer, greedy pleasure as a holovid list scrolled through a list of packaged meals and snacks. “Berry and yogurt drink. And a sandwich—poultry. And a chocolate crisp. No, two chocolate crisps.”
Maybe the crisps would be the kind with little chunks of real chocolate. The poultry wouldn’t be real, but that was okay, she wouldn’t know the difference. As a child, she and
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