Stealing the Dragon’s Heart by Kiersten Fay

15

Onnika had been gradually creeping closer to the two lead ships, drawing a crowd of spectators who were now riveted to the screen. Aidan was among them. Where had she learned to fly like that?

Her insane maneuver into the gully that at first had made everyone hiss with disappointment, thinking it was a mistake, had in fact been a stroke of genius. Her exuberant laughter was nearly drowned out by the crowd’s fervid cheers. Intrigued by the noise, more spectators gathered around. Her laughter continued as she danced through the stone arches and beyond. Aidan envied her joy.

This time, instead of taking the low road into the cleft, she went high, another good choice considering the vertical shaft at the end, which gave her no trouble at all the second time around. She was still smiling, even as her competitor, that asshole who had nearly knocked her out of the race at the start, eased up beside her, once more getting too close.

Aidan ground his teeth, knowing the prick was about to try something shameful again.

Even though the fiend’s ship must have been in her blind spot, Onnika glanced to her right with a look of annoyance. As they both blasted over the sandy plain, she dropped her altitude until she was but a few feet off the ground. He followed.

The distance between their wingtips narrowed. Aidan held his breath. But when the guy made his move, Onnika seemed to anticipate it, rolling her craft just enough so that his wing missed hers by inches. Then she retaliated…violently. Her wing punched down on top of his, sending his ship wildly off balance. With the ground so close, there was no correcting. His ship struck the rocky surface and tumbled head over end before exploding, leaving a scorched trail of fiery debris.

In the VR chamber, the man yanked off his visor with a loud expletive. The crowd cheered with ravenous glee. Onnika’s triumphant laugh now held a hint of smugness as she continued the race like she’d designed it herself. Who knew, maybe she did. He knew little to nothing about her, but suddenly he wanted to.

As she headed into the final lap, he took the opportunity to study her. The smile on her face spoke of pure bliss. It was a look he recalled wearing himself, once upon a time—one he hadn’t donned in a very long time. She appeared to be in her element, fully immersed in the world shown to her through the visor, as if she belonged there and would conquer every inch of it.

Aidan had actually stifled a yawn during his race, not that it hadn’t been challenging, but once again he couldn’t find that place where he lost himself in flight, where exhilaration met adrenalin, both shooting through his bloodstream like a drug. That place where the body became one with the machine, just as he became one with his dragon.

“Woo hoo!” Onnika’s fists shot into the air above her just as she crossed the finish line in first place. She slipped off the visor, shook out her wild mane of sugar-white hair, and then immediately shot him a look filled with vengeful vindication. It was a good look on her. Sexy and powerful. Not that he’d tell her that.

After gathering her voucher, she skipped down the steps, presenting it to him like a trophy between her thumb and forefinger.

He snatched it from her. “Only three more to go.”

Her expression fell, replaced by a glare. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want, a pat on the back? You lucked out and beat a couple of amateurs.”

“Luck!? That was some pretty great flying, and you know it.”

He shrugged. “You shouldn’t have been caught off guard like that in the beginning. You could have had the lead all the way through.”

“I…” she huffed. “Yeah, I know, but who’d have expected such a dick move?”

“You’re going to see stuff like that more and more as we head further into the race.”

A sly grin played around her lip, and he registered his own words. She leaned closer, and he caught the sweet scent of her pheromones. “I will?”

Damn that expression of hers. It sent the blood rushing from his head so fast he was nearly undone. He’d almost forgotten how good she was at playing men. As if she could proffer that seductive smile and bat those pretty lashes and he’d give her whatever she desired. He wasn’t about the cave so easily, even if he did want to spirit her to some private corner and see if those lips were as soft as they looked.

“If you and Caryn get three more vouchers.”

Her grin once again faded. He waited for her biting comeback, oddly eager for it.

“You!” A man hollered.

Both she and Aidan glanced over to see the angered pilot who’d lost his ship to Onnika’s retaliation stomping toward them. “You cheating little bitch. That voucher should be mine.”

Broiling with a sudden fury, Aidan wrenched his fist back and then cracked the man across the jaw. His body spun from the force of the blow before collapsing, unconscious. A few pedestrians backed away from the sudden violence.

Aidan shook out his fist and faced Onnika. Mouth agape, she gazed up at him with wide, reverberant eyes.

Suddenly his gut was tied in knots. “Come,” he said. “It’s time to see how the others did.”

Then she aimed that disturbingly disarming grin at him. “Is that an order, Captain?”

He eyed those glossy lips of hers. “It would be if you were part of my crew. Which you’re not.” Yet.

“I think you want me...” She turned coy. “On you crew, that is.”

He glowered down at her before turning to walk away in search of the others.

She followed, still content with baiting him. “Should I give you a kiss for defending my honor?”

It irked that his body reacted to her enticing words, growing tense with a desire he shouldn’t have. “It isn’t possible to defend the honor of someone who has none.”

Instead of taking offense, she appeared cockier than ever. “Then what would you call it, what you just did?”

“Being annoyed.” He spotted Zeek, Priya, Asher, and Vin sitting at one of the tables near a row of concession stands and headed their way. “Which I blame partly on you.”

“And partly on yourself for, you know, wanting me sooo badly…to be on your crew.”

He felt his lips tugging up at the corners, but fought it. He tried to telegraph his aggravation, but it was impossible when she turned playful like this. Her impishness was infectious. Forcing a stern look, he stopped and faced her, aiming to give her a taste of her own medicine. “If I wanted you…on my crew…I’d have you.” He leaned down to mutter in her ear, “In any position I desired.”

Instead of taking offense, her expression turned lively, as if she was delighted by his response. “Mm, I’ll just bet you would.” She nibbled her pinky nail.

His gaze fixed to the action. Fuck! Irresistible witch. How could she be so sexy with seemingly no effort at all? He turned to stride away, pretending his own words hadn’t just backfired on him in a big way. Now he was picturing them together, bodies coiling in all his favorite positions.

At the table, Zeek glanced up at Aidan’s aggressive approach. “Someone piss in your beer or something?”

Aidan worked to relax his scowl and strategically took a seat between Asher and Priya. The only other open spot was across from him between Vin and Zeek. Right now, he needed the distance before he did something stupid...like kiss that smug expression right off Onnika’s face.

Yet, she was too good at what she did to leave him in peace. On her way to sit, she ran her hand across his shoulders and leaned down to whisper in his ear loud enough for everyone to hear. “So, I’ll just give you that kiss later, then?”

He gritted his teeth.

Appearing too pleased with herself, she daintily took her seat, as if she hadn’t just shocked the shit out of everyone.

“Uh,” Zeek said, “why do I feel like I missed something important?” Everyone glanced toward Aidan, all of them confused except for Onnika, who exuded an irritatingly adorable arrogance. Was she really so confidant in her effect on him, or was this all an act?

He hated that he couldn’t answer that.

“Nobody missed anything. We each won a voucher at the VR race.”

Their shock transferred to Onnika. She coolly examined her nails. “You all should have seen it. I was amazing. Aidan did okay, too.”

Zeek pointed his finger back and forth between Aidan and Onnika. “I don’t know what’s happening here, but I like it. You sure we can’t keep her?”

Coated in humor, Onnika rested chin on her hand.

Asher commented sardonically, “The VR system this round must be designed for beginners.”

At the thinly veiled insult, Onnika’s lips twisted to one side. “It’s a good thing we can’t race against each other. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you, big guy.”

“I don’t get embarrassed when I wipe the floor with big-mouthed little thieves.”

“Wipe the floor all you like. Wouldn’t be with me. I’d kick your ass all the way to the finish line and back.”

Asher stabbed his finger into the table. “I am the one who would be kicking the ass.”

“Yeah, your own, when I beat you and send you crying to your mama.”

The others couldn’t conceal their humor at the exchange.

Asher dropped his fist to the table. “Right now, you and me. We go and we race, and we see who beats who.”

Now that Asher was riled, Onnika seemed more relaxed. She leaned back in her chair. “I’d love to, big guy, but in case you forgot, I can’t win the VR race twice. Them’s the rules.”

“Not here,” Asher replied. “Back on Dragoon. We had the same system installed for practice.”

Onnika lurched forward and planted both palms flat on the table. “No way! You have an AVFS on your ship?” Her expression exuded such awe and delight, was so attractively lively, Aidan had to look away.

“It’s not a toy,” he told them.

“No, you’re right,” Onnika replied placidly, then grew animated again. “You have to let me play with it!”

“Where is the other one?” Asher suddenly demanded, glancing around. “Cleaning out our coffers, no doubt.”

“Not so,” came Onnika’s lofty reply. “Caryn’s the good one.”

Zeek leaned over and gave Onnika what he probably thought was a smoldering look, wiggling his brows. “Then that makes you the bad one?”

Onnika bopped the tip of his nose with her finger. “You have excellent deductive skills.”

Zeek ate up the praise, clearly smitten. “I like her. Can we keep her?” He aimed a fat lower lip at Aidan.

Onnika unleashed a similar expression on him, though hers was awash with self-satisfaction. She leaned closer to Zeek, their shoulders touching.

Aidan had a tough time unclenching his jaw. “Enough, Zeek. How many vouchers did you get?”

Zeek barely registered the sharpness in Aidan’s tone, his answer blasé. “We each got one so far, except for Vin. He got none, zero, zip.”

“Give me time,” Vin said confidently. “I’m going to master that friggin’ ring toss.”

Asher cracked his knuckles. “You should enter a challenge that requires actual skill rather than luck.”

“Bashing in other people’s brains is a skill?” Vin countered.

“It is when I do it.”

“Well, not everyone has an iron-hard skull like your own, Ash. I’m sure that helps.”

“It doesn’t hurt…me.”

Aidan was only vaguely paying attention, too distracted by Zeek’s continued adoration of Onnika.

“You look thirsty,” he informed her. “I’ll buy you a drink, and you can tell me where you learned how to pilot a ship.”

“I’d like that,” she replied brightly. “Should we move to another table?”

“No!” Nearby conversation halted at Aidan’s outburst, and his crew once more stared at him like he’d lost his mind. He hadn’t meant to sound so severe, but he’d hit his limit with her games. Slashing his palm through the air, he declared, “No one is to spend any money on her or Caryn until they pay back what they stole or produce three more vouchers.”

Onnika penetrated him with a loathing stare. He glared back with equal fervor.

Caryn appeared at that moment, alongside Lear, her expression bright. “Oni, look what Lear bought me.” She held out her wrist, displaying a bracelet with what appeared to be locally sourced stone beads polished to a gleam.

“That was very sweet of him,” Onnika said, giving Aidan another censuring look. “Better see if you can get a meal out of him too, before Aidan orders him to let you starve.”

Awkward silence followed the statement, and again, the attention of the group landed on Aidan. How had she made him the bad guy here?

He pushed away from the table. “Forget it. Do what you want.” He could feel their perplexed gazes on his back as he marched away. His dragon stirred with burning ire. If he shifted now, he could raze this tent to the ground.

He should sign up for another event, maybe work off some of his aggression in the fighting pit, but his irritation led him to the nearby pub instead. He bellied up to the bar and ordered an ale. The first sip cooled his esophagus, the second, a bit of his wrath. After another moment, as if sensitive to her presence, he glanced at the entryway and saw Onnika standing there, those blue eyes sweeping the room until they landed on him. He had to wonder why some of the tension suddenly left his shoulders.

She crossed over to him and plopped that pert little ass of hers on the stool beside him.

“Hey,” she said in a solace tone, as though she had followed him for the purpose of comforting him or something. Or to manage him.

He set his drink on the bar. “You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Quit? What does this word mean?” She grinned, back to teasing him. At least this was familiar ground. A contrite Onnika was a stranger to him.

She swiveled around in her seat and propped her elbows behind her on the bar. “So, what happened back there? You get jealous or something?”

“I’ll bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“I might.”

He blinked at her. A sexy smirk played at one corner of her mouth, her eyes clear and focused, as though set on a bullseye. Yet another game.

“Well, don’t flatter yourself.”

“You know, if you wanted to be the one to buy me a drink, you could have just said so instead of getting all gruff like that.”

“I don’t want to buy you a drink,” he grumbled, but heard the false note in his own tone. Dear gods, did he want that? How easily she had him questioning his own conviction.

“Then why did you lead me directly to the closest pub?”

“Lead you? You followed me.”

“I followed your lead. Because you’re the leader, oh Cap-i-tan.”

“Is that your pattern? Target the leader and get him to fall for you before you take him for all he’s worth? Too late, you’ve already done that.”

That smirk of hers grew slightly. “You falling for me already?”

He shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

Her eyes twinkled as though he’d just paid her a compliment. “You’re really not going to buy me a drink after all that work you did luring me here? I’m mighty thirsty.”

“Plenty of dopes in here willing to trip over themselves just to hand over their wallets to you. Why don’t you focus your efforts on them?” He lifted his ale to his lips.

“Because I don’t want any of them.”

The liquid nearly caught in his throat. He swallowed hard. “Not going to happen.”

She sighed. “Then I guess you’ll just have to learn to share.”

Before he had a chance to argue, she snatched his glass and took a generous chug, then handed it back. He should be outraged, but he could only focus on the small bit of liquid that glistened on her bottom lip. Registering his gaze, her tongue protruded from between her lips to slowly lap it up.

The erotic sight mixed his roiling emotions into one confounding ball. Desire warred with anger at the notion that she was pulling his strings like a marionette. The need to know the taste of her lips battled his will to resist.

Need won out.

He gripped her nape and pulled her closer to him. As if expecting the move, she swiveled in her stool so that she had him trapped between her luscious thighs.

She smiled up at him enticingly. “You ready for that kiss now?” Her husky tone snapped the last of his restraint and his mouth descended on hers. Her lips were silky-soft and tasted of ale mixed with something sweet.

As she kissed him back, he could almost imagine her desire matched his. Her soft breaths mingled with his as they explored each other’s mouths and the tiniest of sighs escaped her. But when her hand splayed along his thigh, he felt the puppet master’s strings at work. A few more blissful seconds of this and she’d have him brain-dead and pliable to her will.

He pulled away, growling, “You rile the dragon in me, girl.”

Her cheeks were flush, and her eyes hooded as though she was as lost to lust as he. Impossible. Or was it?

He came dangerously close to returning his lips to hers, but somehow found the strength to release her.

At first, she seemed disappointed when he didn’t kiss her again, but then she quickly brightened. “Rile the dragon? Does that mean you can’t control when you transform?”

His words had been meant as a warning, but they only appeared to excite her further. “What do I look like? A pup?”

“I’ve never seen one of your kind in dragon form. To be able to fly outside the confines of a ship, in the open air, just from your own power. I’ll bet it’s amazing.”

It used to be. Now it barely got his blood rushing anymore. Yet, she did. He changed the subject. “Where did you learn to handle a ship?”

She shrugged. “In space, you either rely on others to get you where you need to go, or you learn to fly.”

“And where is it you need to go?”

She reached for his drink, and he found himself handing it over without protest. She didn’t even look smug about it, just took a sip and passed it back.

“Home.”

“And where’s that?” He already knew where the Pakovian home world was, but something told him to feign ignorance. Maybe she’d offer him some truth for once.

“To be honest—”

“I know it’s new to you, but it only hurts the first time, I promise.”

He received a wry smile for that.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. It’s not documented on any map that we’ve found. We were hoping to get a look at the Phase Nine schematics—”

His gut twisted. Still a lie, but she’d slipped up all the same. “Ah. Finally we’ve come to the real reason you tried to trick your way onto my ship.”

“Huh?”

“The Phase Nine schematics are the most elaborately documented and accurate map of the nearby universe, hell, maybe the whole universe. It’s owned by the commissioner, head of the coalition, and is doled out in chunks phase by phase, and then removed from ship records before the next one can be accessed. Password protected, heavily encrypted, they cannot be hacked or copied.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“Sure you didn’t. If someone did happen to somehow snag a copy, even a small chunk, it’d be worth a lot of money.” Universal maps were rare. Those currently in circulation were almost always flawed.

“That’s not what I’m—”

“And as for your home being undocumented?” He scoffed, then reached out to touch her three-pointed ear. She jerked away before he could, as though suddenly fearing his touch. He dropped his hand. “I know of your people.”

Shock filled her eyes, and maybe a little horror. Because he’d uncovered her true motive?

“Pakovian, right? The three points on your ears gives it away, and I know where your home world is, too. It’s not undocumented and it’s not hard to find. Your original story was better. A bunch of ruffians wanting to harm you? Really spoke to a man’s inner champion, but here’s a little something you should know about me. I’m no hero, and now I’ve learned all I need to know about you.”

Her eyes turned glossy, as if attempting to play on his sympathy. “Aidan, I—”

“We’re done here. You will not return to my ship. Find yourself another sap to latch onto.”

She appeared crestfallen, but he saw it as more games. More manipulation.

Downing the last of his drink, he slammed the empty glass on the bar before storming away. He expected her to be right on his heels, slinging those pretty words of hers, crying innocent. It would do her no good. He wouldn’t help her steal from the commissioner. That was one of those unbreakable rules that would lead not only to disqualification from Phase Nine, but possible jail time. Even having a thief like her aboard could make him an accessory.

He’d made it all the way to the marketplace before he realized she wasn’t behind him after all. Thank the gods, he thought. She was so good at turning a man’s head that capturing a man’s heart required little more effort. That kiss had been unreal. He still felt her on his lips. The warmth. The silky softness. Part of him wished that instead of speaking, they had just drowned in each other’s lips. As he’d left her sitting there, she had appeared small and fragile. Gutted.

Really gutted.

He stopped to wonder if that glossy sheen to her eyes might have been real.

No. It couldn’t have been. Could it? Likely it was her failure to fool him that hurt her so. Not his accusation.

He walked for several minutes with no purpose.

Had he jumped to conclusions too quickly? Did he really believe she was capable of accomplishing something no other man or woman had managed in all the years of Phase Nine?

She was clever. Scheming. Manipulative. Deviously sexy. Even only knowing her a short while, he felt certain there was nothing she couldn’t accomplish if she set her mind to it. Even with that, a scheme as grand as stealing the commissioner’s maps was simply inconceivable.

Didn’t matter if he had it wrong. Her character was clear. And her sister Caryn was already grifting Lear.

As soon as the thought appeared, he noticed a nearby seller’s booth displaying necklaces and bracelets. Without even seeking it, Aidan spotted a bracelet nearly identical to Caryn’s. He checked the price, surprised to find it only cost a fraction of a credit.

He suddenly felt ill.

A true grifter wouldn’t have settled for something so paltry. And any grifter worth their water—who had unfettered access to a wealthy, infatuated prince—would have angled for one of the expensive pieces displayed behind glass only inches away. Yet Caryn had seemed delighted with the worthless trinket.

Didn’t change the fact that Onnika had just lied to his face with the art of a pro. So good was she that she didn’t even blink, didn’t flinch, didn’t even avert her gaze as liars unconsciously did. No, Onnika was too good for such amateurish tells.

Even if she wasn’t after a copy of the commissioner’s maps, no matter what her motives, she’d just proven he could never trust her. Better to part ways with them both now, as he’d initially intended—

A flurry of sirens blared. Every viewscreen went blank before flashing the words: WARNING. LEVEL TEN SANDSTORM APPROACHING. FIND COVER OR RETURN TO YOUR SHIPS AT ONCE.