Other Titles by Maddie Taylor
An excerpt from The Renegades’ Reward:
She sat in her chair for the next two hours, quietly fuming. Jaylin had ticked her off for so many reasons. If told to make a list in order, she would be hard-pressed to pick the one to top it. But even while she stewed over his coarse speech and manner, she found what was going on in front of her, fascinating.
Jaylin piloted the ship skillfully, maneuvering around the asteroid while avoiding debris in the outermost edges of the ionized cloud, without entering it which would have been like shining a spotlight on the Renegade, making it a beacon for the other vessel. Once behind the airless rocky world, they slowed, activating the cold shields that would protect them from infrared scanning. They caught a brief heat signal of their pursuers once, but they were headed in the opposite direction, as they’d hoped.
By the time they flew past the last planet in the row and veered around the trailing edge of the molecular cloud, there wasn’t a sign of them. And through it all, no one said a word.
As they worked, the two men looked at each other on occasion, one or the other would nod, then flip dials or switch screens. It was as though they could read each other’s minds. It kind of freaked her out, and also ticked her off further. Off to the side, out of their way, hushed to silence like a bothersome child, she felt excluded. And after the way Jaylin had barked orders at her, it made her already-wounded feelings hurt more.
They had their hands full, she knew that. A threat loomed out there, likely against her. They had a job to do, including protecting her, but did he have to be so mean? He’d morphed into Captain Jaylin Sin-Naysir, renowned mercenary badass, and class A jerk, nothing at all like the man she’d come to know. Not the kind, considerate man who’d rescued her, handled her with care when she’d been hurt, and held her close when she’d been terrified by her nightmares. And he in no way resembled the man of last night and this morning, who had claimed her innocence with tenderness, ensuring she was wholly satisfied, and then some.
What really hurt her, though, considering what they had shared, was that he hadn’t changed his plans to return to Earth. This could only mean one thing—he intended to complete the job her father had hired him to do. Malik couldn’t have told him what they’d discussed. Or maybe he had, and Jaylin had decided against it. Her last offer had been triple. Hell, she’d pay it all if she had to. A million credits should tempt him. Weren’t they, by definition, soldiers of fortune, their skills sold to the highest bidder?
She snorted. Leave it to her to find mercenaries with work ethics.
“Do you have something to say, Dani?” Jaylin’s question was the first words spoken aloud in some time.
“Oh? Do I have permission to speak now, Captain?”
“I don’t need your sass, sweetness. We’re a long way from being out of the woods. If you have something to say, speak up now, or keep the sound effects to a minimum.”
“I wanted to ask if your services were for hire?” This got his full attention, and he once again spun in his chair.
“You did not just ask me that,” he snarled.
Upon seeing the fire in his eyes, she understood the services he assumed she referred to.
“I meant the Renegade’s services,” she explained in a hushed voice, her gaze darting to Malik, who stayed busy at the controls. She glanced back at Jaylin. “I would like to hire you. And buy out your contract to my father.”
“To what end?” he asked, less bite to his tone.
“To the end of not becoming an Elzorian bride, which seems to be a death sentence. I’ll do anything to avoid such a fate.”
He stiffened, his jaw clenching so tight a muscle twitched in his cheek. Something she’d noticed Malik did as well. Interesting. Except she couldn’t dwell on it now.
“Dani…” Her name from his tense lips came out like a growl.
Before he could spout more orders for her to sit by mutely obedient, or to cease and desist bothering him while he worked, she spoke over him. “Malik didn’t tell you.”
His head came around briskly. “When did I have time?”
“Time for what?” Jaylin demanded, getting riled again.
“I will be twenty-five in ten days and will come into some money. I proposed to double what my father is paying, but he said you ship is worth ten times as much. I’ll pay it—one million credits. Keep me safe out here in space somewhere, well beyond his reach until my birthday, and when you return me to Earth, it’s yours.”
“And your plans beyond that?”
She didn’t like the sudden coldness in his tone, but she hadn’t liked much about him since he’d left her bed this morning. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought much beyond getting away. Perhaps I’ll open a gallery out west somewhere.”
“On Earth,” he drawled.
She threw her hands up in frustration. “Where else would I live? I’m from Earth.”
“Dani…” This subtle warning came from Malik, who looked at her, shaking his head.
“Was this your plan when you first spoke to Malik?”
“Well, yes.”
“And you thought to sweeten the pot by spreading your legs for me? To convince me to break my contract with your father.”
She gasped. Appalled he could think her so conniving as to sacrifice herself. “How dare you! I wouldn’t do something so…so…mercenary.” Her chin snapped up sharply, and she watched his eyes narrow as her barb hit home.
“You said a moment ago you’d do anything to get out of marrying Ivar.”
“Well, I didn’t mean…that.”
While he stared at her for a moment, his mouth settled into a hard line and the silver of his eyes changed to flat, dark gray. Before she could defend herself further, he spun back to the controls. He dismissed her coolly, doing so through Malik. “Take her below, and see she stays there. I don’t need the distraction right now.”
Her throat tightened with tears. Before they broke free and she embarrassed herself in front of him by blubbering like a smitten fool, she stood up—or at least tried to. The harness, still latched in place, prevented her from moving.
She ripped at it with her fingers. “I’d love to be out of your presence.” She tried for a harsh, biting undertone, except her breath hitching gave her jagged emotions away.
Without looking at either of them to see if they noticed—how could they not?—she pulled at the clasp. It wouldn’t release. Frustrated and a second from collapsing in a torrent of self-pitying sobs, she grasped the straps and tugged hard.
“You’re only making it tighter, Dani. Stop.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” she shrieked, losing control.
Long fingers moved her hands aside.
“Don’t touch me.” Her words came out in a hiss as she smacked Jaylin’s hands away.
“Sweetheart, let me help you.”
She stopped, realizing Malik leaned over her, and he was the one she had slapped. “I’m sorry I hit you.”
“It’s okay.”
He easily opened the latch and would have helped more, but she shrugged out of the harness and surged to her feet. With her eyes averted, she bolted to the lift, waving her hand over the sensor. When it didn’t come fast enough, she waved it again, and again. Knowing it wouldn’t make the unit arrive any sooner, it at least gave her something to do.
Hands on her shoulders made her tense.
“You don’t need to escort me down. I can find my own way.”
“He gave me orders, same as you.”
“And you’re his minion, so you always obey?” she shot back, lashing out at him angrily. “He won’t find me as subservient.”
The door opened, and she scurried inside, Malik crowding into the small unit with her. She didn’t look at him or toward the bridge, averting her eyes as the half door closed and they started to move.
“He didn’t mean what he said, like you, he was angry.”
“I hate him.”
“You don’t mean that, either.”
“He makes me furious, and I definitely meant that.”
“Things got heated back there but think on this. For Jaylin to become volatile, so quickly means he doesn’t hate you, either. Far from it.”
“I want to go home in a week and a half and forget all of this happened.”
“A girl doesn’t save herself for twenty-five years, find a man she trusts enough to gift her innocence to, then practically overnight, want to forget it. Jaylin will realize this when he calms down.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“He can be. He’s also very kind, caring, and extremely protective. I warned you he gets this way when threatened. All he can think of is eliminating the danger and keeping everyone safe, to the exclusion of courtesy, kindness, and pretty redheads whose feelings he otherwise wouldn’t hurt.”
Blinking back frustrated tears, she glanced up at him and asked, “Why are you defending him?”
“I know him. This is his nature. Later, when we’re safely away from whoever is pursuing us, he’ll regret being so harsh and come find you. Wait and see.”
“I won’t hold my breath,” she grumbled. “If I do, I’ll be as blue as Ivar.”
The door opened to the lower level, and she rushed out. She couldn’t outdistance Malik’s long strides, however, and he caught up with her at her bedroom door.
“Dani, let me tell you a little story.”
“I’m not in the mood for fairy tales. And I realized today, I’m much too old to believe in them, anyway.”
“Don’t—”
Emotionally wrecked, she cut him off. “I’m sorry I lashed out. Jaylin deserves my sharp words, not you. And, please, Malik, understand when I say I need to be left alone right now.”
He stared at her a moment, and she thought she saw a flicker of something in his distant eyes, but, if she did, it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Or perhaps in her pique, she’d imagined it.
He inclined his head. “I’ll leave to your thoughts.”
The next moment the doors slid shut and she was alone. And, although she’d lived most of her life that way, she felt the loneliness more completely than ever before.
***
Marshal’s Law
(Jackson Brothers, Book 1 of 3)
When Janelle Prescott is thrown from her car as it careens off a slippery road, she expects to wake up in a hospital. Instead, to her utter disbelief, she wakes up in a jail cell which looks like something from an old western movie set. It is there, hurt and alone, with no idea what happened or how she will get back home, that Janelle first meets Aaron Jackson. As she regains her wits, however, Janelle realizes that something is terribly amiss, and her worst fears are confirmed when she learns that Aaron is the marshal of Cheyenne County, Wyoming… and the year is 1878.
When an injured, apparently addle-headed woman falls into his lap, Aaron takes it upon himself to keep her safe and nurse her back to health. Truth be told, he is instantly attracted to her despite her sharp tongue and her bizarre story—a story which the evidence quickly forces him to accept as genuine. After Aaron takes her under his wing and into his family’s home, the two clash frequently, but Aaron is more than ready to lay down the law…even if that means a good, hard, bare-bottom spanking for this feisty brat from another era.
Having little choice, Janelle must learn how to live as a woman in the Old West, including submitting to the firm-handed marshal who, in spite of everything, seems to have laid claim to her heart.
***
Captain My Captain
(Club Decadence Series, Book 1 of 7)
Special Forces Captain Tony Rossi is back from Afghanistan and ready to settle into civilian life. He has his business affairs in order and is now ready get on with the personal business of Megan Sinclair. Kept apart for 15 years by distance and circumstance, those barriers no longer exist and Tony is ready to claim his woman. Will she be willing to accept his belief in a traditional relationship where the man is the head of the household? What about his part-ownership in the local bondage club? He is determined to win her, no matter the obstacles that get in his way.
Megan, for her part, has loved him since high school but believes he just thinks of her as a cute kid sister. When she realizes that Tony is interested, it’s a double-edged sword. As an independent businesswoman, can she conform to Tony’s old-fashioned beliefs and demands and be spanked? Can she bring all her secret fantasies to life and submit?
Finally, when they are both available to work on a relationship, life interferes. Megan accidentally becomes embroiled in the conspiracies of a local drug dealer with ties to a Mexican drug cartel. Tony must keep her safe at all costs, something that now she is not at all sure she wants. When fantasy meets reality, bottoms get sore, and suddenly that’s not quite so much fun. Or is it?