No Remedy Page 4

  “I don’t think the gate is a good—” Alec snapped his mouth shut.

  Byron almost forgave Mace for knocking him out when he saw the look of concern on her face. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing,” Mace growled. “We’re running out of time to make decisions. Is there a problem we need to be aware of, Alec?”

  There was something in her manner, the way she said certain words or looked at him in a particular way that tugged on Byron’s memory. He was sure he’d never met this woman before, but he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of familiarity. It didn’t sit right, and nothing bothered him more than not having all the information he needed.

  It was clear she wasn’t out to collect the bounty on Alec. The way she’d spoken to him when they’d thought Byron was still unconscious told him as much. For certain, she had an agenda, something he’d need to discover as quickly as possible.

  For the time being, she was useful.

  “Get us out of here,” Alec said in a resigned voice.

  Mace nodded, turning to face the computer. “Alec, ever fly a ship before?”

  “Not one like this.”

  “What about you, bounty hunter? Ever fly a ship?”

  Byron resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Move, Alec.”

  The space was confined, making it nearly impossible for him to avoid contact with the other man as they shifted around each other. Byron thought he’d long gotten over his lust for Alec, but the way his cock stiffened at the brush of his hip against Alec’s proved otherwise.

  Catching Alec’s gaze, he looked for any sign the other man had noticed, or perhaps even still reciprocated the long-smoldering attraction. What he read in Alec’s face was confusion and something remotely akin to dread. Not the reaction he’d been hoping for.

  “Sorry.” Alec dropped eye contact before sliding out of the way.

  As far as Byron was concerned, it was going to take more than a simple apology to make up for the past seven years.

  Forcing his concentration to the matter at hand, he took up position in the copilot seat and familiarized himself with the controls.

  “These commands are programmed in Zeten common language. Are you from there?”

  Mace pointedly ignored the question. “Bring up the scanner and tell me how quickly they’re approaching. I don’t think we’ll have enough time to make a gate jump.”

  “If you can distract them long enough, I’ll get the ship ready to go.” Byron quickly scanned the area. “There’s no one in the queue. I’ll start the process using a signal repeater. Just be ready to fly us in when I say to go.”

  “If you damage this ship, I’ll kill you.” Mace pressed the throttle to full, jerking them forward at a mad speed. “Alec, you better strap yourself in. The other room has a chair.”

  “I don’t think—” He froze as Mace and Byron turned at the same time to glare at him. “Okay, fuck. I’m going.”

  Neither of them moved until he left the doorway, allowing Mace to secure the door before swinging back into her seat. Her fingers flew over the controls. “Was he always that stubborn?”

  “Worse. At least he’s listening to reason this time. You must be a good influence, sweetheart.” He looked over to see a small smile on her lips.

  “Maybe he’s matured since you knew him.”

  “It would take more than seven years for me to believe that.” The computer beeped. “You need to stall them for ten minutes. That’s the soonest I can get us through.”

  “Time to dance.”

  He braced himself against the inertia pull. Mace threw the ship into a spiral dive as both hostile ships pulled into weapons range. The computer shouted at them, announcing the approaching laser fire. Mace easily shifted the ship to the side, avoiding the blasts.

  He was surprised when she took them directly toward the dimension gate but shot past it at a super speed. To their pursuers it would look as if they were heading deeper into the quadrant.

  “There’s an asteroid field not far from here. With any luck, they’ll think I’m heading there.”

  “And where are we really heading?”

  She shot him a full-blown, slightly evil grin. “Just wait and see.”

  Just you wait and see, Byron.

  He shivered as the male voice echoed in his head. One he hadn’t heard for a very long time. It had to be a coincidence.

  Mace held her course, speeding forward for what felt like an eternity, then jammed on the reverse thrusters as she yanked on their pitch controls. The nose of the ship jerked up, pulling them into a loop. The two ships chasing them shot past their location as she rolled the ship back to an even keel and headed directly toward the gate.

  “You better get it up now, hunter, or you’ll have totally ruined the best escape ever.”

  “You have self-esteem issues, don’t you?”

  She chuckled. “I wasn’t raised to be modest.”

  He had just enough time to activate the coordinates and open the dimension gate. Mace flew them through, dead center.

  The world around him stretched thin, only to open up and fold over on itself. He loved the sensation of the universe invading his body, bleeding under his skin until he felt like tiny particles of the world were embedded within his soul.

  Gods, he’d missed this. He’d been behind a desk for too long.

  Space snapped back to normal as they cleared the gate.

  Mace wasted no time maneuvering the ship away from the opening. “Where are we?”

  “Somewhere they won’t easily be able to follow. I used a guild scrambler to mask our destination. It will take them days to sort through the useless code and work out where we ended up.”

  “Good.”

  Whether it was instinct or simply amazing insight, they both moved at the same time, drawing their weapons on each other. Byron admired the speed and accuracy with which she could point a blaster. He could only imagine her training extended to firing.

  Lucky for him, he was just as good with a weapon.

  Mace cocked her head as she looked him in the eye. “So.”

  “So.”

  “You’re the ex?”

  “Yup. You the current?”

  “No.”

  Damn, Byron wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or not. “No, or not yet?”

  She smirked and shrugged. “That a problem?”

  “Not particularly. Though Alec does have a tendency to take off without notice.”

  “That couldn’t be because you did something requiring him to run for his life? With you being a bounty hunter and all?”

  Byron stiffened. “I never did anything to put him in danger. I . . . Things weren’t like that seven years ago. And for the record, I was only freelance back then. I mostly worked security for the Loyalists.”

  Mace seemed to consider his words before nodding slowly. “He’s quiet but not weak. I can’t see him letting anyone take advantage.”

  Advantage, no. Control, yes. There had been many nights when Alec had willingly dropped to his knees in front of Byron, begging him to give the orders, take charge. He’d worked Alec’s submission until Byron could anticipate every one of Alec’s needs. Byron had known when he needed a firm hand and when he’d simply needed guidance. Their relationship had gotten to a point where Byron was considering making it a permanent arrangement. He’d intended to formalize what they had together.

  Alec left before he could.

  “There is nothing weak about Alec.” He licked his lips. “But he sometimes can’t see friend from foe. I’m not about to let anything happen to him now that I’ve finally tracked him down.”

  “I have no intention of hurting Alec. I need his help.”

  “With what?” He wasn’t expecting honesty, so Byron was surprised when he got exactly that.

  “A friend of mine is sick. Alec’s research is the only thing that might come close to saving his life.” Mace sighed and released her iron grip on the trigger. She
pulled the muzzle of her blaster up so it no longer pointed at him. “Look, I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’ve had more than enough chances to do something to Alec if I’d wanted to.”

  Byron believed her, but he needed to make sure. “It’s an awful lot of credits.”

  “I don’t need them.”

  “Everyone needs credits.”

  “Not me.”

  Replacing his blaster into his holster, Byron let his gaze rake down her body. A leather vest covered her breasts and stomach, leaving her arms and throat exposed. She wore the look well. He could almost picture her on her knees beside Alec, sucking his cock until he came on both their faces. It wasn’t what he needed to be thinking about when trying to negotiate with somebody who was most likely a pirate.

  Ignoring his swelling cock, he held out his hand. “Let’s do this proper. Byron.”

  She stared at him for a second before accepting his offer of peace. “Mace. Pleasure.”

  When their hands clasped, Mace shivered with the contact, but she didn’t acknowledge her reaction. She broke away first and stood. “We better check on Alec. He’ll be thinking we’ve killed each other.”

  “Poor boy would be stuck out here with no one to fly him home. Where are you from again? I can’t place your accent.”

  The door automatically opened when Mace approached. “Zeten, but I haven’t been on planet since I was a kid.”

  He would have questioned her further, but she’d stopped dead in her tracks.

  “What are you—”

  “Alec!”

  Mace raced to Alec’s prone body. Byron was a split second behind her. He began to check his ex-lover’s body for injuries, moving down Alec’s sides and across his stomach. No obvious wounds. Mace cupped Alec’s face as she leaned over him.

  “Alec? Hon, are you okay?”

  Byron’s breath hitched when he realized Alec’s cock was rock-hard in his pants. Alec moaned loudly and bucked up, thrusting into the air. He half rolled on his side and pressed his face into Mace’s lap.

  She looked up at Byron as she gripped Alec’s shoulders. “What the hell is wrong with him?”

  “He’s fucking horny,” Byron muttered. “Boy, what is going on?”

  Alec moaned again, and his eyes fluttered open. “Dimension . . . jump.”

  Byron’s brain took a moment before he realized what must have happened. “Fuck. You idiot.”

  “What?” Mace fought to keep Alec on the ground but was overpowered when he rolled and shoved his face against her pussy.

  “Have you ever heard of Brasillian syndrome?”

  She looked up at him and blinked. “Bullshit.”

  “There have been a number of documented cases noted in the Loyalist record banks.”

  “Alec is not aroused because of a dimension jump. He would need to be Syrilian, and unless I’m blind, he doesn’t have green skin or a beak.”

  She was right, but Byron knew Alec had a habit of tinkering with his genetic code, giving him more than a few quirks and additional abilities he didn’t advertise to others. “Trust me on this one. We need to get him to a bed.”

  Mace jerked her head toward a door. “There’s one in the stateroom.”

  “Help me get him there.”

  “Let me program a course for the ship to follow.” She pressed her palm to yet another bio scanner, unlocking the inner door to reveal a short corridor. “Down the hall, cabin’s on the left.”

  Mace jumped back into the cockpit, leaving Byron to manage his former lover. He yanked Alec to his feet and fought off a groan when Alec ground his hard cock against his hip.

  “Bry, I missed you.”

  “Not yet. We need to get you someplace safe.” He looped his arm under Alec’s, pulling his body close. “I need you to walk.”

  “I want you to fuck me.” Alec leaned in too quickly, bumping his nose against Byron’s neck. “Remember how you liked to fuck me? Telling me what to do and how to do it?”

  The air in the corridor was stale yet cool—a blessing given how hot Alec’s skin currently burned. Despite his active libido, Byron had rarely found time in the past year to give in to his baser desires. He’d been too busy with his new job. And he hadn’t met a man or woman who’d caught his attention the way Alec had.

  Gods, he was already stiff as stone just thinking about some of the nights they’d spent together.

  Alec’s cool fingers worked their way beneath his shirt, and Byron shivered, a contrast to the heat roaring through his body. Alec bit down on Byron’s pulse point, while his tongue lapped sloppily at his skin.

  “Bry, I want you to fuck me while I fuck Mace. So good.”

  “I think your little spitfire would have something to say about playing one of your games.”

  “She wouldn’t. I can tell. Can smell her arousal. She just needs the right man. Men. Us.”

  Thankfully they didn’t have far to go. Byron pushed Alec up against the wall, holding him in place with a single hand to his chest. For the first time since this whole nightmare began, he was able to really look at Alec, at the man he’d become after leaving Byron.

  After running away.

  He was thinner, the lines around his eyes and mouth were more pronounced, giving him the appearance of being older than thirty-four years old. It wasn’t simply aging, though—Alec had fundamentally changed. His skin was darker than before, his hair nearly black instead of darkish brown. It could be nothing more than Byron’s memories not quite living up to reality. Or it could mean Alec had been tinkering again. Somewhere his glasses had fallen off. Byron would have to find those for him later.

  The glazed look in Alec’s brown eyes drove home how far gone he was.

  “I’m coming.” Mace raced down the corridor to them, opening the door the second she arrived. “The bed is straight ahead.”

  “Mace . . . come with me.” Alec tried to grab hold of her as Byron pushed him into the room. “I need . . . Stay with me.”

  Whether it was to keep Alec calm or out of a morbid sense of curiosity, Mace followed them into the room. Byron unceremoniously pushed him onto the bed, watching as Alec moaned and thrashed on the covers.

  “Now what?” Mace ran her hands up and down her arms. “Is there something we can give him to settle the symptoms? I don’t have a lot in the way of meds on the ship, but I can check the reserves.”

  “Darling, there are only two things we can do for our boy.” Byron held up his forefinger. “Lock him in here to suffer for a few days and pray he doesn’t kill himself. You got any lotion on board? Might help him out.”

  Mace’s eyes popped wide open. “And option number two?”

  Instead of holding up two fingers, he shrugged. “We can give him exactly what he wants.”

  She stared at him, her mouth opening briefly before she snapped it shut. Byron couldn’t be sure if fucking Alec into the mattress would work beyond taking the edge off. He’d only ever heard of the rare case of Brasillian syndrome, and the prognosis for those who didn’t get the fire out of their system wasn’t good. There was a reason the Syrilians rarely left their quadrant now. A decade earlier, a fluke mining incident had caused a deadly toxin to leach into the water supply reservoir for the capital city, killing millions within days. Shortly afterward, the virus resulting in Brasillian syndrome had swept over their planet, infecting most of the remaining population. The two disasters had crashed the Syrili system’s economy. Now, dimension gate travel was all but impossible for them without the proper treatment—and few Syrilians could afford it.

  While the Syrilians’ chemical makeup allowed them to survive in thin atmosphere and environments that would have been toxic to most species, the same genetic markers had triggered the seemingly mild intestinal virus to mutate and cause subtle but permanent changes in hormone and enzyme production. When those who’d been infected attempted gate travel, the dimensional shift activated the Brasillian syndrome; the victim’s hormone production raged out of control for days, accompanied by a
potentially fatal fever, and only a potent cocktail of endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin, and specific antibodies could ease the condition. The first few unfortunate sufferers had quickly discovered that when medicine wasn’t available, fucking could help them survive until it was. That was where Alec was.

  Byron pulled his goggles from around his neck and tossed them to the side. He quickly yanked off his shirt and threw it on top of them. He had started to work on his belt buckle when he looked back at Mace.

  “What?” The clink of metal on metal rattled in the room. “Unless you have the drugs in your stash, this is the best way to help him.”

  “You’re going to fuck him?”

  “Until he’s too sore, then I might have to let him fuck me.” It had been a long time since he’d had anything shoved up his ass. He figured it was only proper Alec be the one to reclaim that privilege. “It’s more efficient. More brain chemicals that way or something. It’s a much better bet than letting him try to jack off for days, anyway. Plus if he’s done what I think he has to his DNA, he might have that crazy Syrilian sense of smell now. It’ll drive him crazy being able to smell if we’re turned on and not be able to get at us, and that could make his condition even worse.”

  Most men and women of Byron’s acquaintance weren’t comfortable with his dominant nature, and he’d often had to hold back with his casual lovers. But Alec had thrived under that attention. Mace had a way about her—the way she held her body, the tilt to her head, and the way her gaze bounced between his strip show and Alec’s writhing form.

  I wonder.

  “He wants you too.” He let the artificial gravity do its job and allowed his pants to fall to the floor with a thud. “I believe you’d be useful.”

  Mace snorted and braced her hands on her hips. “And what would you know about something like that?”

  Despite her cocky outward appearance, he could tell she was intrigued. Now completely naked, he stood directly in front of her with his cock already hard and bobbing close to his belly. He knew exactly how he appeared. Mace didn’t blush, nor did she look directly at his erection or into his eyes.