THE OFF WORLD COLLECTION (Short, Steamy Science Fiction Romances) (Off-World Series) by York Rebecca

Author:York, Rebecca [York, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Light Street Press
Published: 2014-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Other guys had already retrieved their haulers from the parking area reserved for the new husbands. Caleb got stuck in a line of vehicles and had to wait his turn to stop at the gate. Nervously he drummed his hands on the steering lever. The sooner he could get airborne and fly Beka away from the chaos around the spaceport, the better.

When he finally pulled up at the gate, he jumped out and started for the place where he’d left her. As the scene in front of him registered, his heart skipped a beat, then began to pound in double time.

A luggage jockey was standing behind Beka, one hand on her arm, pulling her back against his body. In his other hand was a beamer, pointed toward the crowd. The man had a wide-brimmed hat pulled down over his face, partially hiding his features, but Caleb knew who he was. Jerry Costa, devil weed take him, one of the guys who hung around the spaceport making a hardscrabble living from pickup work. He’d started off like everyone else, with a homestead. But he’d done a crappy job of managing his property. After his stock had died and his crops had failed two years in a row, he was forced to give his acreage back to the company that had financed the settlement of Palomar. Since then he’d been a town rat. What did he think he was going to do now, take Beka to the hovel where he lived? Or did he have some hidey-hole nobody knew about?

As Costa held Beka like a hostage, he looked around, his gaze challenging.

“Back away,” he growled, “Before somebody gets hurt.”

Most people took a step back, probably figuring his beamer was illegally set to kill. And why get yourself drilled trying to save someone else’s gal?

The blood had drained from Beka’s face. And her eyes had grown large as they darted around the retreating spectators. When she finally spotted Caleb pushing his way through the crowd, he saw a look of relief flood her features.

Silently, she mouthed his name.

He wanted to sprint forward shouting curses at the slimeball who had her, but getting himself killed wasn’t going to do her any good. Instead he stayed in the crowd, easing his beamer from his holster as he approached.

With the weapon in his hand, he made it to the front of the throng, putting himself in Costa’s line of fire.

Forcing the anger out of his voice, he called out, “You don’t want to do this, Jerry.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Like I’d tell you.”

Beka’s gaze was on Caleb, and he saw something in her eyes, something urgent. He didn’t know her well, didn’t know how she would react in this situation, but as he stared at her, he saw her glance down to her right near her feet. She flicked her gaze up to him, then looked down again, and he saw her body shift slightly. After several long seconds, she made a moaning sound and went limp, falling to her right, knocking her captor off balance.

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