Free Marked for Pleasure by Jennifer Leeland

disintegrators jerking Rhea against the harness straps.
    Then the shuttle jerked once, and the familiar whine of the engines made her sigh with relief just as the speed took her breath away. She glanced toward the cockpit and got a glimpse of the streak of stars, the gate entrance, and finally, the disappearance of Sethos space from the screen.
    “Where to?” Lander asked.
    “I want neutral territory.” Conner's voice sounded hard and unfriendly. Rhea wondered why, since Lander just saved their very naked asses. But she was well aware she was completely in the dark.
    “The Kyria system?”
    “That will do.”
    Rhea flicked the straps away and strode to the cockpit. “Okay, I'd like some explanations, please.”
    Conner shot her a glance and nodded. “You deserve one.” He stared at the other man. “This is Leo Eyler, also undercover, also black ops, also looking for the same killers, and incidentally, my best friend.”
    “All that is still true,” the other man said.
    “Really? Then why have I thought you were dead for the last three years?” Bitterness tinged Conner's tone, and Rhea blinked. Three years ago, Conner had been kicked out of the military. That was no coincidence.
    “I had a job to do.”
    Rhea studied their rescuer. Lander, or Leo, had blond hair cut very short, military-style. His eyes were a deep blue, and his features were straight and square. A long scar ran down the side of his cheek, the only flaw in an otherwise perfect specimen of manhood.
    “A job to do?” Conner spat. “You mean vengeance. Shanie died, and you wanted to avenge her death.”
    A muscle in Leo's jaw pulsed. “You're damn right. And I found them.”
    “What?” Conner glared at the man.
    Leo's fist pounded into the console. “I've been trying to contact General Halloway for weeks, but he's ignored my transmissions. When I saw your signature trace on the radar—”
    “What the fuck are you talking about?” The violence in Conner's glare startled Rhea, and she laid a hand on his arm.
    “You didn't know?” Leo's eyes were wide, and then he shook his head. “He injected us with a tracer when we were all recruited. I thought you were here to—” He frowned. “Why are you here?”
    “Because General Halloway tried to kill me.” Conner smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. “Or I think he did.”
    “Explain,” Leo snapped.
    Conner told him about the assassins on the Star of Pleasure . “I don't know if the general intended for the shuttle to end up in the Sethos system. I don't see how he could have planned that.” He didn't say anything about Rhea. Leo shot her a curious glance. “Are you sure they weren't after her?”
    “Yes.” Conner wasn't going to reveal anything about her.
    Leo's gaze narrowed. “I saved your ass today. I have a right to know who she is.”
    “She's my mate,” Conner answered. Something in the way he said it made Rhea shiver with both fear and lust. She'd seen the rage, seen it work.
    But the tone of possession gave her the oddest, most comforting feeling she'd ever felt in her life.
    “Well, Shanie was mine. And I'm going to fucking kill the bastards who killed her.” Leo's hand rubbed the spot Rhea knew held the old mate mark, faded, almost gone.
    “Where did you find them? On Sethos Prime?”
    “No. But I found the Primarian who witnessed the whole thing. He gave me the name of the man in charge. Right before I ripped his goddamn eyes out.” Leo's eyes blazed with a similar expression to the one she'd seen in Conner's eyes when he'd been in the rage. The intensity was less but still present.
    Leo negotiated the gate, and they slid through into the Kyria system. “I take it we're going to Elison?”
    “It's the best planet to get what we need.” Conner focused on the console.
    “Why do I feel like a plan has been made that I know nothing about?” She poked Conner in the shoulder.
    Conner and Leo exchanged a glance. “Because we have. Elison is a neutral planet. You