Free Hunting Evander by Kim Knox Page B

than humans in the bar that night and I pushed down the ache to explore the available flesh.
    I couldn ’ t help the laughter that escaped me. Hunting during the festival was turning out to be so much more problematic than I ’ d first anticipated.
    I edged around the corner, the glow of the arch washing light over the naked bodies biting, licking, fucking, the heavy scent of sweat and sex thick in the warm air. Soft curses broke from me. Did Van think I wouldn ’ t follow him into this den of sex? That I would be too caught up in the insane atmosphere to find him? I turned my wrist, the time-graft showing just ten minutes remaining. My mouth thinned. I ’ d never failed a mission yet…and I was not about to make this my first.
    The shadows of the narrow corridor swallowed me and the press of bare flesh eased away. I pulled in a deep breath and risked stretching straight, the cut stone cool against my spine. For a moment, I let my eyes close and willed the fire in my blood to simmer down. Doran Evander was a cunning adversary. I could never forget that.
    I unclipped my gun and flexed my fingers around the grip. Ahead, small square panels gleamed in the darkness. I edged closer and found the first one fixed next to the frame of a door. Room twelve. The next, room seventeen. More of Van ’ s handiwork?
    Whatever it was, I had to find room six. I skimmed my fingertips over the panel and tech burned under my fingers. The number twelve pressed into my skin. I tried the next, the one displaying seventeen, and found eleven instead.
    “ They ’ d be too busy to look for room numbers, Van. ” I muttered the words as I stroked every panel, feeling a different number to the one displayed. “The people here need more. You ’ ve never been very good with tech. ” A hard smile touched my mouth. “That ’ s not where a Tesh-dian ’ s skill lies. ” I touched a gleaming panel and six ran hot over my palm.
    My heart kicked. I gave a final glance to my time-graft. Four minutes. Even inefficient as he was, he ’ d wasted my time. I was cutting it close, more closely that I had in too many hunts. I flipped the cover of the display panel, its white glow illuminating the circuitry buried in the stone. Something simple enough for me to reroute… The metal door creaked, hinges groaned, the heavy door pushed towards me and then flattened against the outer wall with a dull thunk .
    I lifted my weapon. The room beyond was as dark as the corridor. Nothing moved within it. The distant thump, thump, thump of the music matched the fast thud of my heart.
    “ Lights. ” Nothing. He ’ d disabled them. I eased into the room, pressing my back against the wall, searching the darkness with my gun. My remaining time counted down in seconds now and the fact pushed me into being reckless. “I know you ’ re in here, Van. ”
    Nothing…until the hinges creaked and the door slammed back into its frame.
    My heart hammered in the sudden, heavy silence, my palm sweaty around the grip of my gun. I bit out a soft curse. He ’ d improved his tech skills and now I was trapped in the dark room with him.
    The time-graft vibrated, marking the end of my mission time, and male laughter cut through the room.
    “ Time ’ s up, Narda . ”
    “ Van— ”
    “ The hunt is over for you. ” Strong fingers gripped mine and tugged the gun from my hand. He dropped it and it thudded into the thin carpet. He pushed me into the cool stone of the wall, his chest pressing hard against mine and tugged at my shorts, ripping them away from my skin, his fingers finding my wet pussy. “Did you have fun on the way in? How many got their hands, their mouths here? ”
    Heat scalded me and I tried to ignore the wild fire twisting through my veins. His index finger teased my clit, spiking need through my flesh. “You ’ ll have to try better than that. I had a man at the bar with more skill. ”
    He grinned against my ear, his breath hot and quick. “Him. ” His low