Spaceport: Forget Me Not Read online

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  Changeling Press LLC

  www.changelingpress.com

  Copyright ©2008 by Mikala Ash

  First published in 2008, 2008

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  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  CONTENTS

  Spaceport: Forget Me Not

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Mikala Ash

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  Spaceport: Forget Me Not

  A Holly Barberossa Erotic Adventure

  Mikala Ash

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2008 Mikala Ash

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  ISBN: 978-1-60521-060-0

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  Publisher:

  Changeling Press LLC

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  Martinsburg, WV 25402-1046

  www.ChangelingPress.com

  Editor: Vicki S. Burklund

  Cover Artist: Reneé George

  This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  Spaceport: Forget Me Not

  A Holly Barberossa Erotic Adventure

  Mikala Ash

  ...Dread raked its way through her chest...

  "The wreckage was fused solid. There was no hope."

  "Felis, what are you saying?"

  "He's dead, Holly. Maxim's gone!"

  Maxim Dollavera dead?

  Spaceport Adana goes into mourning for their fallen hero, but Holly Barberossa refuses to believe he's gone. She wears a Forget-Me-Not pheromone pendant to constantly remind her of the love of her life. She keeps herself busy by reporting on the stalled trial of the traitor, Riz Gitto, who she and Maxim had been instrumental in bringing to justice.

  The judge, Kasamee Kee, enlists Silas Archimedes, a private eye, to protect Holly without her knowledge while she uses her as bait to flush out the conspirators, chief among them the glamorous socialite and suspected pirate Mischa and her new slave, the very sexy Murukan.

  Can Holly solve the mystery of Maxim's disappearance? Despite her undying love for Maxim, will Holly succumb to the charms of Silas or the mysterious Murukan, who strangely reminds her of her lost lover?

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Prologue

  "In yet another delaying maneuver, counsel for the accused has applied to the IAC High Court to challenge the right of the local Adana authorities to try the case. A decision on that motion, the twenty-third delaying tactic used by the defense so far, is expected to be made in three days. Meanwhile, the prosecution has applied for a no confidence hearing into the competence of the presiding judge, His Honor Milton Hashinger-Smythe. More on this intriguing and increasingly long-winded case as it comes to hand. This is Holly Barberossa signing off for the Adana Observer."

  Holly snapped her smartcam shut with an emphatic click. It had been a long, long night. The interminable hearing into the Riz Gitto treason case had once again gone on into the early hours, and Holly rankled at the necessity to change her circadian rhythm to cope. It had taken her so long to get her frenetic work style synchronized with Adana's twenty-four hour society as it was, to once again alter the settings of her body clock would be sheer hell.

  Especially now that she was alone. Holly lifted the turquoise Forget-Me-Not pendant to her nose. She inhaled deeply. Maxim Dollavera's lusty pheromones flooded her nostrils, careered along her receptor neurons and smashed into her olfactory bulbs like a quantum torpedo.

  Instantly, her body warmed with a wash of lust that hardened her nipples as if Maxim himself was kissing them. Between her thighs a sultry heat surged into the pit of her belly, giving birth to that bittersweet throb of desire.

  Though Maxim had been gone only three weeks, she missed him like she would an amputated limb; his absence was a persistent ache that could only be cured by his return. The emptiness inside her grew each day, and it became a greater chore to motivate herself in the mornings when she awoke in a lonely bed. As compensation she gave herself several more hits of the Forget-Me-Not.

  The crystals were embedded with Maxim's scent which she'd collected from a discarded shirt the day after he'd left for the Carnassian Void. When activated by a gentle touch, the pendant emitted a few precious molecules that could, in her heartsick mind, evoke his very presence.

  With her pussy throbbing with unsatisfied desire, she once again questioned her decision not to accompany him on his scavenging run into that seldom visited but rich sector of the galaxy's outer rim, where extinct alien species were rumored to have left their treasures, and shattered planets held mineral wealth beyond imagining.

  She'd argued that, as a reporter who had been instrumental in Riz Gitto's failure to take over Adana, she was duty bound to see the case through to its conclusion, and the argument had been prolonged and tense. She felt a bit of a fool now that Maxim's prediction that the case would be bogged down for months, even years, had proven correct. He'd argued that, if they wanted him as witness any time soon, Judge Hashinger-Smythe would not have granted him permission to leave in the first place.

  Holly hated parting on bad terms but she vowed to make it up to him when he returned. As much as she disliked leaving work unfinished, she decided she'd agree to go on his next trip, wherever he wanted and for however long. That would please him and assuage her regret at the same time, not to mention avoid this horrendous loneliness.

  God, I miss you.

  He'd said the trip would be only for a month, but he left in such a huff that she wouldn't be surprised if he stayed away longer just to teach her a lesson. Not that she thought he could ever do something so infantile and she kicked herself for being churlish. He would be away for as long as his mission required and not a minute longer. She knew, in the deepest part of her soul, that regardless of the manner of their parting, Maxim missed her as much as she did him. The fact that he left her sub-space messages every day “... just to say hi,” proved that.

  Holly entered the Observer office and gave Roberta a cheery wave. The alien entity, currently residing within a robot body, returned her greeting with an empty manikin smile. “Morning, Holly."

  Holly was always surprised at how satisfied the ancient and incorporeal alien seemed to be, living inside a robot's clumsy body and working as the Adana Observer front office receptionist. She seemed to be enjoying her relationship with Maxim's best friend, the hunky leonine Felis, though Holly knew that an organic body would be much appreciated as Roberta had once remarked, “It would be nice to feel an orgasm the way humans do."

  Holly a
nd Maxim had investigated the legality of growing an organic body in a regeneration clinic, the source cells harvested from the Adana Funereal Recycling Plant, but found it to be illegal on Adana. Maxim said that there were other worlds where the procedure did not violate local laws, and they had put on hold the decision while they wrestled with the ethical issues and the significant legal difficulties of creating an identity for Roberta so she could return to Adana, if she so wished.

  "How is he today?” Holly indicated Vinnie's door with a tilt of her head.

  "No change,” Roberta said. “He is a troubled person."

  "You got that right.” After the former secretary's arrest for collaborating with Riz Gitto in last year's failed coup, her boss Vinnie Mostoloff had been down in the chops worse than a depressed Mendovian hound. He had lusted after Vesty for ages and to discover he'd been used by such a pernicious personality had hit him hard.

  Holly swept into his office and threw herself into the visitor's chair. “Hey there, boss!"

  Vinnie gazed morosely at her from beneath hooded brows. “Any word from Maxim?"

  She sighed forlornly. “Not for a few days.” Maxim's sudden silence bothered her. A dim disquiet had been growing in her gut when last night's call didn't eventuate. She'd sent her own sub-space dispatch but there had as yet been no reply. She didn't like it. Maxim was a consummate pilot but still she worried about him. The black, the spacer term for the deep dark between the stars, held many dangers that have no respect for human skill or ingenuity.

  "When is he due back?” Vinnie asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.

  "Not for another month,” Holly said and sighed again. She noticed she had been doing that a lot lately, sighing loud enough for others to hear. She'd never been so lonely before in her life and the feeling was quite disturbing. “He said in his last transmission that he and Felis had found an asteroid with a duridium deposit, whatever that is."

  "Money,” Vinnie said gruffly, but seemed to relax at the news. “He may be longer if that's the case. Duridium is in demand all across the galaxy. It's likely you'll both be very rich, Holly."

  "Don't worry, boss. I won't leave you even if I am dripping in gemstones."

  He grunted and she guessed what he thought of the probability of that happening, though Holly suspected there had been something else on his mind. He seemed more preoccupied than usual. She didn't like the sound of this duridium stuff. If Maxim and Felis had made a big find they might be away longer than they had planned. She didn't know how she'd survive.

  "I'm glad he's safe,” Vinnie continued. “I've just heard there was a passenger ship disaster just outside the Carnassian Void."

  Holly felt that buzz of excitement whenever there was the merest scent of a story but before she could process that bit of information there came a commotion from outside the office door. Roberta cried out and then the door was flung open. Holly stood up and gazed at the intruder. It was, unaccountably, Felis, who should be out there, beyond Adana's walls, in the black with Maxim. She automatically glanced over his shoulder expecting to see her love, but Felis was alone.

  There was something very wrong with his appearance. The usually immaculate leonine was disheveled and grimy. His golden fur had not been cleaned for days and the fur around his big eyes was matted as if ... as if...

  Roberta tried to embrace him but the big leonine didn't seem to see her. His big oval eyes, glistening in the harsh light of the overheads, were fixed solely on Holly. He grabbed hold of her, drawing her into his broad chest. Holly couldn't breathe he squeezed her so tight. After a moment she pushed him away. “You big cat,” she chided. “What's the matter? You look terrible."

  She gazed into his agonized expression. She'd been right. He had been crying. The fur beneath his eyes was wet. “Sit down,” she said and guided him to a chair. He took a deep shuddering breath and fell into it as if the strings holding up his powerful body had been cut and he was now exposed as a mere puppet.

  "I'm so sorry,” he sobbed.

  "Don't be silly. Spit it out!"

  "We were staking out our asteroid, putting down beacons, when we heard a distress call.” He took another sobbing breath. “It was a passenger liner, the Euripides. They were being attacked by pirates."

  "And?” she prompted, kneeling in front of him.

  "Euripides was holed and disabled,” he cried. “The passengers and crew taken. The captain got off a sub-space SOS before the bridge was blown apart. By the time we got there, the pirates were mopping up, stealing cargo and luggage."

  An empty void was forming in the pit of her stomach. “Go on."

  "We popped out of sub-space in the middle of their fleet. There were six of them.” Felis's voice broke again. “There was nothing we could do. They opened up on us with quantum torpedoes as soon as we entered normal space. We had no chance."

  That black pit inside her chest coalesced into an iceberg. “Felis,” she said, her voice edged with fear. “Where's Maxim? Still chasing them, I bet."

  His downcast eyes told her otherwise. “I was clobbered the instant I hit normal space. I peeled away and chased the one that shot at me into sub-space. He was too fast, a fighter, he just winked out. When I got back to the Euripides there was nothing I could do."

  Dread raked its way through Holly's chest. Blood pounded in her ears so loudly she barely heard his words.

  "The wreckage was fused solid. There was no hope."

  "Felis, what are you saying?"

  "He's dead, Holly. Maxim's gone!"

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter One

  He awoke to the warm, wet caress of a tongue on his cock. As the sensations grew, his ears filled with the sounds of flesh rubbing against bed sheets and the unmistakable slurp of fellatio.

  He tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be weighted down. When he was able to focus, he saw a halo of platinum hair bobbing at his groin. The head stopped moving, the fellatrix aware of his return to consciousness.

  Jade eyes rose above the head of his swollen cock, swimming in and out of focus like big green balloons waving in the wind. “At last, you're awake.” Her accented voice held a mocking tone. The porcelain skin of her oval face glowed ethereally in the bedroom's dim lights. Her full lips were a deep crimson and curved seductively into a wanton smile. He tried to place her, but no name or familiarity came to him from the black depths of his mind. His memory seemed to be an empty void. With alarm, he tried to dig for his own name and who and what he was, but again, there was nothing.

  The one thing he was sure of was the conflicting sensations pulsing through his body. The first was the general ache that suffused his whole being, as if he had been dropped from a great height onto rocks and each and every bone was broken. The second sensation, one of intense pleasure, was arising from his erection that this strange beauty was stroking from the base to the head with long delicate fingers.

  The smiling fellatrix returned her attention to his cock and attacked his erection with a ferocity that left him gasping with pure pleasure. Her long nails caressed his ball sack, sending shivers of lust coursing through him. A moistened finger found its way to his anus, first caressing the puckered skin and then plunging within. The sudden pain took flight into ecstasy, his orgasm a strange blossoming of sensation that swept through his consciousness like a summer storm, taking his breath away as it passed.

  "The med-bot said you'd be out for another twenty-four hours, but I couldn't wait. I have plans for you.” Her voice, sharp and full of energy, made him feel as if he should know her, but again his memory was a closed vault, allowing nothing to escape.

  He tried to move but his muscles, his whole body, seemed heavy and unfamiliar, as if he were an insect breaking through its pupa, discarding the old carcass and testing the strange wet shell that now enveloped him.

  She blessed the glistening head of his cock with a final kiss then moved up to look closely into his face. He blinked, trying to refocus. With thumb and forefing
er, she held his lids wide open. Those big green balloons bobbed in and out of his field of view. “Yep, looking good."

  He spoke but no sound came. His lips moved, but produced nothing except a rasping sigh.

  She had a soft tinkling laugh that echoed gently inside his head, knocking at the vaulted door of his memory, but the door remained firmly closed. “Plenty of time,” she said. “I don't need you for a couple of days. The med-bot will supervise your rehabilitation."

  Again he tried to speak but she silenced him with warm fingers pressed against his tender lips.

  "Now you've probably already guessed you've been in an accident. A pretty bad one, too. But we've rebuilt you, so you look perfect.” She smacked her lips. “And taste divine."

  "Who are you?” His voice rasped, sounding as if it came from the back corner of a mechanical repair shop so that he hardly heard it and certainly didn't recognize it.

  She laughed. “Why, sugar, I'm your new owner."

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  Silas Archimedes cast an appraising eye over the vision of loveliness as she swept past him and the Adana Observer's reception desk. He'd been talking to an android receptionist, booking a space for an advertisement for his agency, when the beauty had rushed headlong into the editorial office.

  She was petite and very athletic, her small body bursting with energy, trim frame encased in a tight jumpsuit, her long raven hair flowing behind her like a cape. She seemed to him to be like a bird of prey, never resting, seeking action. Holly Barberossa was, he figured, a whole lot of woman and a whole lot of trouble.

  Silas had met her type before; the dreaded career woman. She'd have an ego as big as the Jondyce Drift and be self-centered beyond imagining, unpredictable, willful and provocative. She'd be a shitload of trouble, and that, he knew, was what was so appealing about her. Quiet sedate women had never attracted him, only the firebrands. He was a fool, he knew, to fall for such women. He always got burned when he played with the flames, yet he always jumped back into the inferno.