Max Rage Read online

  “Is that all that’s hard?” Lisha asked as she stepped back into the doorway of the bathroom.

  She held her dress in front of her. She gave Rage a wicked smile as he looked her naked body up and down.

  “I couldn’t find a rag to wipe off the grease,” Lisha said. “Will my dress do?”

  “You get all your husbands this way?” Rage asked as he stood up. “Wear them down until they can’t resist anymore?”

  “Is that what I’ve done to you?” Lisha asked as she dropped the dress on the floor so there was no obstruction to viewing her perfect body.

  Thick in the hips and thighs, huge breasts, tone belly, muscles that rippled in her legs. Muscles in her arms that teased of strength that had to be experienced, not just stared at. Lisha’s wicked grin widened.

  Rage gulped.

  “You haven’t answered my question,” Rage said.

  “You haven’t answered mine,” Lisha countered. “Have I worn you down, Max? I sure hope I haven’t. I’m going to need you at full strength. Not just for the job tomorrow.”

  She crossed to him and Rage stayed put. When she reached him, Lisha traced her fingers from the grease smudge, down his chest, down his abs, and to his ever-present pair of jeans. Without taking her eyes off his, Lisha unbuckled his belt then undid each button of Rage’s fly. Rage did not stop her movements.

  “This was bound to happen, Max,” Lisha said. “You know that, right?”

  “I’ve had an inkling,” Rage said as Lisha pushed his jeans down past his thighs.

  She lifted a leg and hooked the waist of the jeans with a toe and kept pushing until the jeans were bunched around Rage’s ankles. Rage lifted one leg and Lisha expertly kept the jeans in place so he could step out of them. Then she lowered herself to her knees and slid his boxer briefs off.

  Rage gasped. He gasped a second time and reached back to grab ahold of the table as Lisha took him in. Rage steadied himself as the pleasure began to build. He’d never felt anything like it. It was confusing what she was doing with her mouth. Confusing and remarkable. Then he grunted and shook as Lisha held him, her hands gripping his ass so tight that Rage was certain he’d have fingernail gouges when he got a chance to check a mirror.

  If he got a chance to check a mirror. His climax felt like a small death. A small, incredible, pleasurable death. Rage had to struggle to stay upright, his hands gripping the table were all that kept him from collapsing onto his knees.

  Lisha stood up and licked her lips. Her grin had the power of a million suns. Rage nearly whimpered as she grabbed him with her hand and slowly, carefully, gently guided him across the room to the bedroom. Rage did not argue as she led him like he was on a leash.

  Once in the bedroom, Rage’s composure returned and he picked Lisha up then threw her across the room and onto the bed. She bounced a couple of times, laughed heartily, then lay there and waited. Rage crossed quickly and slid his hands up her legs to her thighs. He widened her legs and dove in.

  It was Lisha’s turn to gasp. She was very vocal about what worked and what didn’t, guiding Rage between cries of pleasure and intakes of breath. Rage obeyed, moving as directed, sending Lisha toward a climax that had her pounding the bed with her fists and screaming at the top of her lungs.

  She grabbed Rage by the head and yanked him up so she could look him in the eye.

  “Do not pause,” she hissed.

  Rage was on her, in her, and thrusting so fast that their bodies, joined as one, slid up the bed and collided with the headboard. Lisha reached back and gripped the headboard, wrapping her legs tightly around Rage’s waist. Their eyes remained locked on each other as they each raced to zeniths of immense pleasure.

  Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. He pounded. She rode. He flipped her onto her belly. She punched the headboard over and over. She flipped back, wrapped her legs again. Rage pounded. And pounded. And pounded.

  Lisha took all of his strength. She gave back just as hard, grinding and slamming her pelvis against his. She slapped him across the face and he grinned. She slapped him again and he caught her wrist then grabbed her other, and held her hands above her head as he rocked inside her.

  The bed underneath them cracked, groaned, then broke, sending them both tumbling to the floor, a mess of flesh and sweat and sex and laughter.

  Rage stood and picked Lisha up. He carried her across the room and pressed her back up against the wall. She straddled his waist, her legs once more locked tight around him. Rage thrust harder and harder and harder as he watched a crack develop in what should have been an indestructible wall.

  Lisha screamed as orgasm took her over. But she didn’t stop moving. She rode Rage until he screamed as well. Then she rode him down as he fell backward onto the floor, his legs losing all strength.

  His back on the floor, and Lisha on top of him, Rage tried to catch his breath. That was a losing proposition.

  “Not done,” Lisha gasped as she kept him in her. Rage struggled under her, the post-release sensitivity too much to handle. “Relax. Close your eyes. Just be.”

  Rage closed his eyes and tried to relax. That wasn’t happening. He grunted and moaned as Lisha continued on top of him, her back arching as she pushed down on his chest with her hands. Up and down she rode, slamming against his hips with every thrust.

  Rage could barely breathe. He could barely think. A white light was overtaking the darkness behind his eyes. A white light that promised everything he ever wanted, promised to fulfill his dreams and create new ones for him once those were satisfied. The light grew and grew and grew until Rage nearly shredded his vocal cords with a yell so primal that if he’d had the presence of mind to notice, he would have sworn that he moved the ship.

  Then Lisha was screaming and collapsing across him. Rage opened his eyes and saw the top of her head nestling under his chin as she relaxed against his muscles, her body sated and limp.

  “Holy shit,” Rage managed to croak through his hoarse throat. “I was an idiot for not letting you do that sooner.”

  “I know,” Lisha purred against his chest. “Always listen to me, Max.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Rage said.

  Lisha lay on top of Rage for a long while and he let her. There was no post-coital exhaustion threatening to drag him down to sleep. In fact, Rage had never felt so alive before in his life. Except on the battlefield.

  “This goddess—” Rage began, but Lisha quickly brought a fingertip to his lips and stopped the sentence.

  “No work right now,” she said calmly, quietly. “Right now, it is only us. No work. No job. No ship. No galaxy. Only us. We are one, Max. We are one.”

  “You can say that again,” Rage said and laughed.

  A few seconds passed and Lisha pushed up, her eyes on him, watching, studying, seeing.

  “Make love to me,” she said.

  “Yeah, pretty sure I just did,” Rage said.

  “No, Max. That was fucking,” Lisha said. “Pick me up, put me on that broken bed, and make love to me. Show me the gentle side to Max Rage.”

  “Not sure I have one,” he replied.

  “Oh, you have one,” Lisha said. “I can see it in you.”

  Slowly, Rage nodded then got to his feet, keeping Lisha wrapped in his arms the entire time. He carried her to the broken bed and lay her gently down on top. Then he covered her body with his.

  “Love me, Max,” Lisha cooed. “Love me like you’ve never loved a woman before.”

  A small alarm rang in Rage’s head, but it was way, way, way, way back in his mind and quickly died out as Lisha took him in her.

  The urgency was gone. The brute force of passion was gone. Rage rocked in her like the gentle waves of a seascape paradise. Lisha sighed and sighed, her body melting into the broken bed. There wasn’t a tense muscle in her body. She was liquid ecstasy. A woman that was one with the universe at that moment.

  They made love for close to an hour, each keeping a steady, constant, perfectly synchronized r
hythm that transcended anything that could even be called sex. Their entire beings became joined. Joined tighter than their physical bodies could ever achieve.

  Then, as one, and without warning, they climaxed together and it was over.

  Rage collapsed, careful to roll off Lisha before he crushed her. Not that the woman was so easily broken. She’d proved a physical equal to Rage in all ways. The two of them lay there, sweat pouring off of them in heavy rivulets. Lisha’s hand found Rage’s and her fingers intertwined with his.

  “That was all I’d hoped it would be,” Lisha said. “I haven’t had a partner like you in so very long, Max.”

  “I’ve never had one like you,” Rage admitted, although he hadn’t intended to. “You are incredible.”

  “Thank you,” Lisha said as she rolled over and wrapped a leg across his body. She sighed into his sweat-damp skin and closed her eyes. “Now we sleep. So much to do tomorrow. So much to accomplish.”

  “Yeah. Sleep is good,” Rage said. He shifted and got more comfortable. “We broke the bed.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Lisha replied.

  “Okay…” Rage drifted off and began to snore within seconds.

  Nineteen

  When Rage woke up, Lisha was gone and at the foot of the broken bed were two maintenance bots, their lifeless eyes glowing dully in the bedroom’s dim light.

  “Not what I wanted to see first thing,” Rage said as he sat up, put his feet on the floor, and stood.

  He expected to feel the after-effects of such a wild night, but he was surprised that his body felt more rested, healed, ready to go than he’d ever felt in his life. Not even coming out of a slumber tank after a brutal battle ever made him feel as good as he felt at that very moment.

  “Huh,” he said and walked into the bathroom.

  As soon as he was in the shower, the sound of the bots repairing the broken bed echoed throughout his quarters. Rage took his time under the cascading water. His skin was alive, his body invigorated, and his mind clear as hell. He internally chastised himself for not giving in to Lisha sooner. She was better than every intoxicant he’d ever taken and the side effects were downright therapeutic.

  Shutting the water off, Rage hopped out of the shower, dried himself, then walked back into the bedroom, surprised the bed was already fixed and the bots were gone. He dressed in his jeans and black T-shirt. There was a moment’s hesitation as his natural inclination to gear up in combat armor washed over him, but even with Fig handing Horloc’s surveillance systems, walking onto that station in full combat armor may have been a bit much.

  Not to mention the cover to get into Morlaw’s club would have quadrupled. Bouncers hated guys posing in their combat armor. Rage knew that from experience.

  So, jeans and T-shirt it was.

  Rage slid his feet into his boots, grabbed his rifle, slung it over his back, then left to find the others.

  They were easy to find. Rage heard the arguing almost as soon as he stepped onto the deck that held the lounge and dining room.

  “Rage said it stays here!” Neela shouted. “This job is hard enough with all the crazy elements that can go wrong without us dealing with bot prejudice! Watchdog will attract attention everywhere he goes!”

  “I do not believe that will happen,” Lisha responded calmly. “Max will agree.”

  Rage walked into the dining room to find Mosh scarfing up food, Fig sitting with wide fearful eyes, his plate untouched, and Neela and Lisha almost nose to nose while Watchdog waited in the corner of the room, his red eyes glowing bright and fixed on the two women.

  “Anyone want to ask me what I say or agree to?” Rage asked as he took his rifle off and leaned it against his chair. He went to get food from the buffet table. “Hard not to hear that my opinions are being made for me.”

  “This woman wants to change the plans and have Watchdog go with you,” Neela said. “She believes that—”

  “I can speak for myself, thank you very much,” Lisha said. She cleared her throat and eyed Rage. “I have received some information from my contact on Horloc Station that while it won’t be a problem for us to land, it may be a problem getting around the station. It is my opinion, and I am sure you will agree with me, Max, that Watchdog go with you for added protection and so he can handle tech in each sector when needed.”

  “What changed?” Rage asked as he took his mound of food and sat down. “My plan is still best even with any added threats.”

  “The pirates have docked with Horloc Station,” Lisha said.

  “And Tatti is with them,” Watchdog added. “Blasting the head off a vampire does not kill it. Nor does stuffing it into a refuse cube and ejecting it from the ship.”

  “Huh. Who knew?” Rage said as he took several bites of food and chewed slowly.

  “With the added threat of the pirates, I believe having Watchdog close by is the best decision for the job,” Lisha stated.

  “Okay, fine. Probably not a horribly bad idea,” Rage said. “Let me think about it.”

  “You do not have much time, Rage,” Watchdog said. “We dock with the station in less than three hours.”

  “Really?” Rage glanced around. Fig brought up a chrono display. The bot was right. “Damn. I slept like the dead.”

  That got a smile from Lisha. She cocked her head and waited.

  “Let the bot come along,” Rage said finally.

  “What?” Neela exclaimed. “Strategically, the original plan makes more sense. You will catch shit from the flesher bigots with a bot accompanying you and Mosh.”

  “Then he doesn’t accompany me and Mosh,” Rage said.

  “Excuse me?” Lisha asked, her smile faded.

  “He can follow, but he’ll be on his own,” Rage said. “We’ll stay in sight of each other, but he’ll have to look like he is not with us. Neela is right. Flesher bigots have a good foothold on Horloc. They want to hassle a bot and there isn’t much I can do to stop that. If he’s with us, then we’ll get caught up in the trouble. If that happens, then we won’t make it to Sector 42 or the strip club. So Bolt Butt comes with, but not completely with. A happy compromise.”

  “A happy… Who the fuck are you this morning?” Neela asked Rage. “You smoke something before you came in here?”

  Rage shrugged.

  Neela looked from Rage to Lisha then back to Rage. He shrugged again. Neela’s shoulders slumped.

  “Ah. Yeah. I see,” Neela said. She pointed back and forth from Rage to Lisha. “Now it makes sense. She infected you with pussy.”

  “Nah, I’ve had all my shots,” Rage said. “First thing Earth Corp does before sending a single soldier out into the galaxy.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Rage,” Neela said.

  “I know,” Rage said. “And there ain’t a damn thing you need to worry about. Having Bolt Butt come with only alters the plan slightly. As long as he can stay connected to the station’s tech, then he can do his part.”

  “Not to mention the added protection against the pirates,” Lisha said. “It was Watchdog that killed the space vampire last time.”

  “I thought it has been established that the pirate space vampire isn’t dead,” Fig said. He received withering looks from everyone. “Yes. Right. I’ll remain quiet.”

  “Good call, Pinky,” Rage said. “How about everyone take a deep breath, okay? Relax. This job is a cluster fuck from the get-go. Even if we do everything right on our end, it’s still Horloc Station. Shit will go wrong. If the boss lady thinks the bot has to go along, then we let the bot go along and hope he doesn’t get in the way.” Rage grinned at Watchdog. “Hear that, Bolt Butt? Don’t get in the way.”

  “I do not plan on getting in the way of anything,” Watchdog responded. “My goal and orders are to execute my duties to the utmost efficiency and intelligence. That will put me ahead of your abilities, Rage, since at least one of those abilities must be completely foreign to you.”

  “What was that?” Rage asked as he chewed a mout
hful of bacon. “All I heard was bleep bleep bleep bleepity bleep. Were you saying something important? Oh, wait, of course not.”

  “This is a bad idea,” Neela said. She pointed at Rage. “You know better than everyone that if your team leader gut tells you to plan a certain way, then you stick to that plan. A change like this could wreck it all.”

  “Not gonna disagree,” Rage said. “But plans changed when the pirates beat us to the station.”

  “How did they do that?” Fig asked. He held up his hands as angry looks turned his way. “Not backing down this time. Just trying to help. They boarded this ship, were fought off before they could take over and get into the systems, then they somehow know where the goddess is being held? How?”

  Rage paused in his eating and looked about the table.

  “That’s a good question, Pinky,” Rage said. “None of us found out about Horloc Station until we were on Sporkon Five. That was long after the pirates got their asses whooped and were sent packing. How did they find out?”

  “Are we being tracked?” Fig asked, turning to address Watchdog. “You swept the ship for trackers, right?”

  “Of course,” Watchdog replied. “The ship is swept regularly, even while traveling. We are shielded against long-range tracking, as well. If the pirates found out the location of the goddess, then they did so without any assistance from us.”

  “Are you certain, Watchdog?” Lisha asked. “Could they have access to tech that we cannot detect?”

  “No, my lady,” Watchdog said. “I am most certain about our security. We have not been tracked or followed.”

  “Then someone on this ship told them,” Neela said. “And it wasn’t me.”

  “Not me,” Mosh said. “Uh, what are we talking about?”

  “I have not communicated with anyone since taking this job,” Fig said. “Rage?”

  “Are you kidding? Like I need my life to be more difficult than it already is. I haven’t used the comms once since we left Sporkon Five,” Rage said. “Has anyone checked the comms logs?”

  “Yes,” Watchdog said. “Which is part of the regular security protocol. The only comms use has been from Cook alerting Horloc Station of our pantry requests. A grocery list. Other than that, there has been nothing.”