Storm and Lightning began on the 13th January. Catch up here: week one, week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven, week eight, week nine, week ten

On a mining colony planet a long way from Earth, bandit Jedd Lightning dreams of making enough money to get off the planet for good. When a robbery at a high-class brothel goes wrong, he meets gorgeous rentboy Storm and is instantly smitten. But Storm has a few surprises up his sleeve, and when Jedd helps him escape, he realises he might have taken on more than he can handle…

JL Merrow and Lou Harper are once again my fabulous beta readers – any remaining mistakes are my own.

But now, on with the story:

“Divine!” Madam Tavkel roared. “Get back here this instant or I’ll… I’ll give you to the guards to play with!”

“Stupid old bitch,” Storm muttered to himself, but Tavkel’s threat gave him an extra boost of fear, and he powered on down the tunnel as if his life depended on it. Okay, it wouldn’t come to that, but being turned over to the guards was sure to leave him sore and aching, inside and out.

The bricks lining the ventilation tunnel were pitted and uneven—clearly the builders hadn’t thought it worth using the good ones for such an inglorious part of the structure. Gods knew what the sewers were like. The rough surface abraded Storm’s hands, knees and toes as he crawled. Good thing he was used to being on his hands and knees, although his clients didn’t generally want him to move around too much when in that position.

He could hear Jedd’s laboured breathing and frequent curses reassuringly close behind him. The big guy must be having a harder time of it in such a narrow space, but at least he seemed to be able to keep up with Storm. The burly T’almaki guards would have a much tougher time following them—especially in that ridiculous armour Tavkel made them wear.

“How much further?” Storm asked, before glimpsing a dim light up ahead. “Don’t worry, I think I see it.”

“About freakin’ time,” Jedd complained. Storm could hear annoyance in Jedd’s voice, but when he opened his senses he discovered it was heavily bound up in lust.

Uh oh. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone first. His trousers might be baggy, but the thin silk would be moulding itself to his buttocks in this position. Flashing temptation in front of Captain Libido’s nose, that was, and it wasn’t like they could spare time for a quickie while being pursued.

But when Storm finally reached the next small room and moved out of the way for Jedd to join him, the bandit was all business. He crouched down by the grate in the floor and tested it with his hands.

“Okay, it’s going to take a moment to get through. I’ll have to delay the pursuit.”

Storm watched, open-mouthed, as Jedd turned back to the tunnel and pulled out his charge gun. “What are you doing? You can’t kill them!”

Jedd shrugged and pulled the trigger.

“No!” Storm launched himself at Jedd, trying to knock the gun out of his hand. Too late—the gun hummed and flashed briefly. At the same time, a thundering rumble shook the room. A cloud of brick dust billowed out of the tunnel, turning the air thick and making him choke.

“Son of a Ranak herder!” Jedd shouted. “What are you doing? Calm the fuck down.” Jedd’s fingers closed tight around Storm’s biceps, angry confusion battering at his psy-field. Jedd pushed and the wall slammed into Storm’s back. He struggled fruitlessly, panting hard.

“They’ve got families, most of the guards. I hear them talking sometimes. And they’re just doing their jobs. You can’t send them to join the Sisters. It’s not fair on their younglings.”

Jedd stared at him, the anger leaching out of his eyes. In the light of their headlamps, they were a delicate blue, like the sky just before Big Sister rose over the sands. Pretty eyes, Storm thought to himself, before remembering why he was pissed off with their owner. “Murdering bastard!”

“I haven’t killed anyone. It’s on the lowest setting and I aimed for the brick up this end.” Jedd’s hands started to knead Storm’s arms, almost as if he were trying to push his meaning into the skin there. It was probably meant to be reassuring, like Jedd’s voice was, but the firm contact had a different effect on Storm.

He wanted to shove Jedd back into the opposite wall and then… and then…

Shit. He wanted to drop to his knees and find out just what Jedd was hiding under those retro trousers. That wasn’t the most surprising thing, though. The biggest shock was that Jedd’s anger and confusion had swallowed up his arousal, so Storm could hardly blame the urge on psychic interference. Well wasn’t that just great? What a moment to start feeling spontaneous desire for the first time.

Storm shoved the unwanted lust down into the cellar of his psyche and tried to concentrate on what Jedd was telling him. “You mean you weren’t shooting to kill?”

Jedd shrugged. “Can’t see the point, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Just makes things messy, leaving a trail of bodies behind you. And there’s no point drawing heat on your tail like that.” It sounded casual and reasonable enough, but Storm could feel the spike of hurt and resentment that hid behind his words. Hurt by what, though? If only he could read thoughts rather than emotions. They were so imprecise. So perplexing.

Maybe there was more depth to Captain Smugness than Storm had bargained for. He studied those faded blue eyes, wondering if he’d somehow be able to see the answer in there. But all he ended up seeing was the way Jedd’s pupils dilated, the same time as a jolt of desire battered at his defences.

If Jedd asked him right now, he’d do anything. Even if they got caught. Jedd’s eyes widened, as if Storm had just blurted that out. He was pretty sure he hadn’t, but maybe his pupils were as much of a giveaway as Jedd’s. And then a flicker of a smile ghosted over Jedd’s lips, and he tilted his head to one side, leaning closer and closer…

Another brick collapsed inside the tunnel, sending out a cloud of dust. Storm sneezed.

“Shit! The grating.” Jedd released his hold, and for one stupid moment Storm thought about grabbing him back and stealing that kiss, brick dust be damned. “We can’t hang around. There are other ways down here.”

Storm’s gaze shot over to the other tunnel on the adjacent wall. The man was right. Storm sighed as Jedd dropped to his knees and leant over the grating, but then did the same on the other side.

“Okay then. Anything I can help you with?”

“You just keep your pretty hands out of the way. Wouldn’t want you to chip a fingernail,” Jedd said, his attention already more absorbed by the tool in his hands than the one between Storm’s legs.

Well wasn’t that just dandy? Storm had gone and fallen in lust with an arrogant, condescending bastard. He’d have to have words with his subconscious and demand they work together on this one. No way was he letting himself start fawning over Captain Ego.

No fucking way.

***

Will Storm fall for Jedd, or will they both fall into a pit of crocodillos? Find out next week in another thrilling installment of Storm and Lightning!

Storm and Lightning – © Josephine Myles, 2012. No part of this serial fiction may be reproduced elsewhere without prior permission of the author. Thank you!