I know.
Sable’s fists clenched as Derek’s voice sifted like smoke through her mind. “Get out of my head!” she growled to the room at large. With deep concentration, she shoved him firmly from her thoughts.
“You know, baby,” he murmured. “We need to figure out how you throw off my call so easily.”
Her wide-eyed gaze shot to the doorway, shocked to find Derek lounging there with casual arrogance. Her traitorous heart leapt, happy to see him.
“Damn you, Derek.”
Chapter Three
Derek watched with rapt attention as Sable rose naked from the small bed and moved to the wardrobe. With the long fall of her dark hair and gently swaying hips, she was temptation incarnate. It took everything he had to maintain his casual appearance when the animal inside him longed to leap the distance between them and fuck her senseless. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get enough of her. He wanted her as badly as if he hadn’t just come his last drop a short while ago.
Tugging a short, sleeveless wrap off a hanger, she covered her lithe form and he bit back a groan of disappointment. When she turned to face him, her lovely face was studiously impassive, belying the rapid pounding of her pulse and the moisture he could smell pooling between her thighs. She was happy to see him, although she was trying hard to hide that fact. He hid a smile. She’d said she missed him.
“What are you doing stowing away on my ship?” she asked, walking past him.
“You can’t run from me, Sable.”
“I wasn’t running.” She growled in frustration as she realized they’d already made the jump to lightspeed. “Shit. What the hell am I going to do with you now?”
“I have a few suggestions,” he offered helpfully. “Clothing optional.”
She shot him an exasperated glance.
He strolled over to the captain’s chair and made himself at home. He’d checked out the rest of the Starwing while she’d been in the shower. The entire ship had been stripped of every comfort. Obviously luxury was something she could live without. Or was forced to live without.
“How much trouble are you in?” he asked quietly.
She shot him a startled glance. “What?”
Derek waved his hand around the sparse deck in an all-encompassing gesture. “You’re obviously in financial trouble. How deep are you under?”
“Why do you care?” Sable ripped the towel off her head and headed back into the bedroom.
“Who said I cared? Maybe I’m just trying to lighten my bank account.”
He heard her snort derisively and he laughed.
“I don’t want your charity,” she grumbled.
“And I don’t want your bullshit. Sometimes we get what we don’t want.”
Sable came back to the doorway, a reluctant smile curving her lips. It was the first time Derek had seen anything close to a smile on her face and he was awed by how it transformed her features from beautiful to breathtaking.
“Really, Derek. I don’t need your money.”
He frowned. “You’d tell me if you did?”
She laughed then, an enchanting sound that made him swallow hard. “No. I wouldn’t tell you.”
Derek pushed out of the chair with a curse. “Why the hell not?”
“I didn’t fuck you for your money.”
His eyebrows rose at the blunt statement. “Glad to hear it.” Really glad, but then he’d never thought that anyway. Sable was too independent. He paused a moment and then asked the obvious question, damning himself for caring about the answer. “Why did you then?”
“For that massive cock of yours, of course.” Her sapphire eyes glittered with wicked amusement.