Lunar Exposure (On the Hunt) Read Free Page B

long way from home. He needed to get a closer look at the Dooraump . What were the odds that there were two Dooraumps on the Moon with separate reasons for being here?
    Haliday got up and glided over to the men, her steps a little wobbly.
    She spoke to both men, giggling and exposing her inner wrists in an obvious sign of sexual interest. Well, obvious to Callen, anyway. Different species had different signals—it did tend to complicate inter-species hookups.
    Callen stood, and on the pretense of admiring the tank from a different angle, moved around so he could listen.
    While most of it was empty flattery and Haliday spruiking her charity, some was important. The Ortin was a merchant banker looking for investments for his firm. Why were the Ortin s interested in the plight of the Dooraump ? He watched the conversation in the reflection in the glass, careful to make the appropriate noises as fish swam past and crane his neck as if he could see deeper into the coral sanctuary.
    The Dooraump spoke. A few curt words in his own language.
    Noga. It had to be. He edged around slowly so Noga’s face was in view, just for a few milli-trics . He’d had work done. The scar on his forehead was missing, his nose and chin were different, but it was him. No Dooraump would remove the notches from their ear or add extra ones. They were sacred. And Callen had memorized the exact positioning and shape of every notch Noga had. Not DNA, but close enough. He had visual confirmation on the target.
    If he’d been almost anywhere else, he would have walked up, put the pulse gun to the back of Noga’s head and arrested him. However here he couldn’t do that without violating the Moon’s neutral policy. He could bring a weapon on board, but he couldn’t use it. Of course, following Noga and confining him to his quarters until he had either proof that Noga had brought firemoss aboard or the firemoss had grown enough to give out a heat signature was a different matter.
    Haliday giggled again and placed her hand on Noga’s shoulder, the curve of her ass clearly outlined by her barely there dress. Either she was faking attraction to get to their chits or she was actually turned-on by the two aliens. He sniffed, waiting for the scent of arousal to strike him and lift his spines as well as his cock. Nothing. But then, she could be taking pheromone blockers.
    Either way, it was interesting.
    Did she prostitute herself for her charity work?
    He couldn’t deny that she was making a difference to a lot of young lives on Lekithia , but really? He’d been with other species, but there’d always been a mutual attraction—he’d found out later one of them was actually the male of the species, but they’d both gotten off and had fun. How many other species had she tried out for the chits? He watched as she flirted and flashed her wrists again, baring them to the men, who were missing the fuck me signs.
    Her signals weren’t lost on him. They were having a very unsubtle effect. His cock hardened, and while his spines remained flat against his skin, it wouldn’t take much to make them lift. He really wanted to smell her excitement. He wanted a Phrial female to tug on all his senses and make him come hard. He hadn’t taken blockers since leaving the APM and he longed to smell the arousal of his own species.
    Homesickness kicked him in the gut. Callen drew in a breath through gritted teeth. He wasn’t here for sex, even casual sex with a notorious good-time girl. He was here for the man currently giving Haliday the brush off.
     
    Haliday smiled but drew back a fraction. While Noga was laughing and talking and asking the right questions that a wealthy man might ask about a charity, his eyes were like ice. Colder and darker and deadlier than the planet below. It was no trick of light or his heavy brow ridges. The orange-skinned man, Benth, was more accommodating and interested—but then he was the real businessman.
    “Well, here’s my mark, if you