In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,31
drop from his cheek and then kissed him so he could taste himself. It had been a long time since he’d allowed anyone to kiss him. His encounters with other men were usually furtive things, quick and dirty and over before the guards could catch them. No time for soft, sweet kisses that made his fucking toes curl in his boots.
When Bonnett at last let him up for air, he plastered himself against the wall at his back and tried desperately to catch his breath. Bonnett leaned back to look at him and gently patted his cheek.
“There. I’ve been wanting to shut you up for a long time. Looks like I finally found something that worked. Although I think my typpid in your mouth would work even better. We’ll see about that.” He stood back and grasped Rasc’s arm to guide him out of the alley. Rasc was proud that he only stumbled over his own feet a couple of times as Bonnett led him to the door and released him to the guards standing there.
“Take him inside to his cell but have a care with him. I think he may have hit his head in the fight. He’s a little dazed. Make sure he makes it to his bed safely.”
He turned then and left Rasc to the not so tender mercies of the guards, who, the second Bonnett’s back was turned, shoved Rasc toward the cells. So much for “having a care with him.” Setin was waiting for Rasc inside and jumped to his feet to help him in the door and to sit down on his bunk.
“Where were you, Rasc? I looked all over for you, but I couldn’t find you.” He peered down at him. “Are you all right? You look like something happened to you.”
Rasc glanced up at him and flopped down on his spindly bed. “Something did happen. But I’ll just be damned if I know exactly what it was. We need to get out of here, Setin. The sooner, the better.”
Chapter Seven
One week later at the penal colony on Gatifrey…
It didn’t seem as if much time had passed at all, and yet Rasc and Setin had been on Gatifrey for almost a week, if you counted in Alliance time, which was what Rasc was still most comfortable doing. Anyway, even that much was too fucking long on this planet, with weather that could be as hot as blazes in summer yet bitterly cold once the sun went down. And not once had he heard from Colonel Kylon Fucking Bonnett. Not a word. Not only that, but there was still no ambassador in place either. The former ambassador was still on compassionate leave.
Not that he’d expected to get daily messages or reassurances from anybody. But that night in the alley, he’d thought maybe Bonnett was implying that he cared at least a little. But since he and Setin left Laltana, he hadn’t had any communication from either him or Prince Larz. He was beginning to think he’d dreamed the whole thing after all, and that there wasn’t going to be an extraction or any friendly ambassador coming to help either.
He and Setin had damn near frozen to death that first night they arrived, and it was supposed to be mid- summer on the planet. They’d been issued only a blanket each to keep the cold away in the old stone cells of their prison. That night they’d had to huddle together on one bunk to keep warm, an experience that hadn’t been overly pleasant for either one of them. Or maybe Rasc was just projecting—come to think of it, Setin hadn’t complained, though Rasc had certainly done enough bitching about it for both of them.
The next day, their first full day in the penal colony, a blaring horn had sounded soon after first meal, which had been shoved through a slot in their door. The doors to the cells sprang open and a voice speaking in Gatifreyan blared out something about an exercise yard. Not only was his Gatifreyan rusty, but the speakers weren’t exactly the latest technology either, so the sound came out muffled but with the accompanying squeaks and whines of audio feedback. Rasc and Setin followed the slow exodus of men passing their cell out through the door and Rasc grabbed Setin’s arm to hold him back so they didn’t join the general population right away—not until he could get his bearings and a feel for things.
At first, they seemed to be