Chapter 4: Research Interrupted

  It didn't take long to wipe all traces of their presence from the temporary headquarters on Manaan. Once they were satisfied that there wasn't a shred of evidence remaining, Lana and Theron both raced out of the building, picking up Mako and Nadia, Kayora's padawan, on the way. Weaving through the streets, they arrived at the small dock where Lana could already see the sub surfacing. It had been determined that Darok and Arkous were heading toward the planet Rakata Prime, which meant that's where they were heading as well.

  The hatch to the submersible popped open, and the Jedi, Mandalorian, and Wookiee emerged, all looking a little waterlogged. Because they needed to leave immediately, they had already coordinated transportation. Kayora was going to catch a ride with Theron, while her padawan gathered up the rest of her crew and met them at their destination. The droid strapped to the Wookiee's chest (who they had learned were named C2-D4 and Jakarro, respectively) had stated they would be taking their own ship, which was docked nearby. Lana was fully prepared to disembark on the same shuttle she had arrived on, but Vera suggested she tag along on the bounty hunter's ship, the Distant Slayer. Ignoring a knowing look from Theron, Lana had agreed, but only because she would be able to continue to research what they'd learned on Manaan, since Vera's ship had an actual workspace she could use.

  That was definitely the only reason.

  After a very brief conversation between the group, they all split off toward their respective landing platforms, Lana falling into step beside Vera and Mako. It wasn't too far to the landing bay the Distant Slayer was docked in, and was actually closer than Lana's shuttle. She was plenty happy to leave the shuttle behind too; it wasn't hers, and didn't have anything that connected it to her, but still made for a nice dead end if someone did attempt to track her down.

  "Is the rest of your crew already on board?" Lana questioned, recalling that Kayora's crew was scattered about the city.

  "Nope. It'll be just us." Vera's voice was back to being slightly modulated since she still had her helmet on, and Lana couldn't help but miss her natural timbre. "Torian is off helping some other Mandalorians, Blizz is probably taking apart something he shouldn't be, and Gault is either swindling somebody out of a bunch of credits, or running away from somebody he tried to swindle out of a bunch of credits." Mako laughed as they turned the corner into the docking bay.

  "I thought there was a sixth member of your crew," commented Lana. She was thinking back to the files on Vera and recalled that she'd sometimes been seen working with a male Houk.

  A snort of derision was Vera's first reply. "Yeah, that was Skadge. Still not quite sure how he ended up sticking with us as long as he did. He's no longer around though, which is better for everyone."

  "He was such a jerk," agreed Mako, who had walked up the boarding ramp of what must have been the Distant Slayer. She keyed in the access code, and the door slid open, allowing them inside. Immediately Mako dashed up the stairs to the left, and Vera followed at a slower pace.

  "You want to know where we're headed?" she shouted up after the smaller woman.

  The footsteps from the upper deck stopped, and then Mako called back. "Yes, that would help."

  Laughing, Vera waved her hand, indicating for Lana to follow. "Rakata Prime."

  "Thanks boss!"

  They reached the top of the stairs and Vera continued forward through a doorway. "We won't be too long before we get to Rakata Prime, but if you need a rest, you can use my room, back that way." Vera hooked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing in the opposite direction that she was walking. Lana followed the gesture, seeing a small set of stairs leading up to a single door that was presumably the captain's quarters.

  "This area is our navigation and conference room, which is probably where you'll want to do your research." As she entered the room in question, Lana nodded appreciatively. She could definitely get some work done here while they were in hyperspace. Strolling over to one of the computer desks, she dropped down into the chair and tapped a couple keys, surprised at the speed that she was able to connect to the holonet.

  "Yeah, you need a fast connection when you're hunting down bounties," Vera stated dryly. "You get settled in, I'll be in the cockpit for a bit."

  "Perfect, thank you." Lana immediately got to work putting together queries and routing her searches through several of the backdoor archives she had managed to find. Hopefully she'd be able to get something that would help them once they got to Rakata Prime.

—

  Lana had no idea how much time had passed since they'd made the jump to hyperspace. She honestly wasn't even sure how long the jump was going to take; she'd left that up to Vera and Mako, since it didn't have any effect on her. Unfortunately, she hadn't made much headway in what she'd been hoping to uncover. It wasn't really surprising, given that she'd been at this for weeks and the small amount of information that they'd obtained at Manaan wasn't anything mind-blowing, but she'd be lying if she hadn't hoped the few extra keywords would have helped her pull in some new leads.

  She heard footsteps behind her, and then the hiss of a pressurization seal being released, which meant that it was Vera who had entered the room. Preparing to turn around to greet the Chiss, Lana was stopped by a pair of hands coming to rest on her shoulders.

  "You've been so engrossed in your work I didn't want to interrupt you, but I just couldn't resist any longer." Vera's seductive voice was soft, and it sent a pleasant warmth coursing through Lana's veins. The hands on her shoulders started kneading and pinching, massaging away some of the tension that had built up while hunched over the desk. Lana let her eyes flutter closed and leaned back, thoroughly enjoying the massage. A small sigh slipped out of her lips, and she heard Vera chuckle close to her ear. "Does that feel good?"

  "It does." Lana didn't know the last time she'd had any sort of self-care, but was certain it was long overdue. Strong fingers pressed into her muscles, rubbing in small circles across her shoulders. The fingers then moved inward, ghosting across the hollow of her throat, before slowly sliding down over her sternum. Her breath hitched as Vera's hands swept outward, coming to rest over top of her breasts. Letting out a quiet moan, Lana arched her back slightly, feeling her nipples stiffen even though there were several layers of fabric between them and Vera's hands.

  Squeezing slightly, Vera whispered into her ear again, that sultry voice doing things to Lana's emotions. "How about this?"

  "Y-yes." As Vera continued to knead at her breasts, Lana felt Vera's tongue run up the back of her ear, before her earlobe was sucked into Vera's warm mouth. Lana let out a louder moan as Vera bit down on her earlobe, then licked the sting away, continuing to massage Lana's tits. Vera bit at her ear again as one of her hands started sliding lower, slipping under Lana's belt and into her robes.

  "Tell me if I'm going too far and I'll stop," Vera breathed, before immediately pressing a hot kiss to Lana's temple.

  "Keep going," Lana managed to get out, even though she felt that her mind was being overwhelmed with arousal. She had already felt the heat growing between her legs even at the shoulder massage, but was now certain that her panties were beyond damp. Vaguely she noticed that Vera's other hand had left her breast as well, but was too distracted by the fingers running along the waistband of her underwear to think where it might have gone.

  "Gladly." Another kiss, just next to her ear, then Lana felt a hand grab ahold of her hair and pull her head back, so she was looking straight up. Vera's face hovered over hers, a smirk across it as she held Lana's head in place, then leaned in to capture her mouth in a messy kiss. The shock of her hair being pulled and the kiss distracted Lana sufficiently enough that she forgot about the hand at her waist until it slipped into her underwear and ran between her folds. Her gasp was swallowed up by Vera's mouth, who continued to kiss her passionately, taking advantage of the gasp by shoving her tongue into Lana's mouth. Responding with her own tongue, Lana licked at Vera, their tongues twisting and dancing against each other.

  Vera pulled away, trailing strings of saliva between them as her fingers ran once again through Lana's slit, sliding easily through the arousal that was overflowing. "It feels like someone is enjoying themselves," Vera said, smirking.

  "You're one to talk," Lana shot back, and was rewarded with one of Vera's fingers pressing in, not quite enough to penetrate but enough to draw another gasp out of Lana. Vera ducked her head down and latched her lips onto Lana's neck, sucking on her pulse point with enough force that Lana was fairly certain there was going to be a mark. Her attention kept being split between Vera's mouth and her fingers, but when Vera shifted her hand so her palm was pressing against Lana's clit, all attention immediately was pulled there. Her hips bucked into Vera's hand, seeking more contact, and Vera tightened her grip on Lana's hair, keeping her head tilted back.

  A whine slipped from Lana as Vera teased her entrance, but still refrained from pushing a finger inside. Not that Lana was lacking for stimulation; she could feel her orgasm fast approaching, even with Vera's teasing. Twisting her hand, Vera's thumb brushed over the tight bundle of nerves, sending a wave of ecstasy through Lana.

  "I'm so close," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she canted her hips, attempting to wrest more contact out of Vera's digits.

  "Come for me then," Vera replied, and bit down on Lana's neck while simultaneously pinching her clit between her thumb and forefinger. Even though she had been expecting it, those two actions instantaneously brought Lana over the edge, her orgasm roaring through her like a wildfire. Vera's teeth scraped against her skin as she bucked, practically lifting off the chair, only Vera's hand holding her down. Her back arched and she let out a loud scream that was quickly muffled as Vera shifted to cover Lana's mouth with her own. Lana shuddered as she came down, slumping down into the seat as her hair was released. Noticing her knuckles were white from gripping the armrests, she relaxed her hands, then watched Vera remove her own hand from Lana's underwear. She could see her juices glistening on the Chiss woman's fingers, and watched, mesmerized, as Vera brought them to her mouth. Vera's tongue darted out, taking a quick taste, before she wrapped her lips around three of her fingers, sucking off Lana's fluids while staring into the Sith's eyes. Once her mouth was no longer occupied, Vera smiled wickedly.

  "Delicious, as expected," she stated, then leaned in until she was nose to nose with Lana. "Would you like to taste?" Lana nodded, and Vera pressed their lips together, mouths parted in a wet sloppy kiss. Lana could taste her own juices mixed with Vera's saliva, and even though she'd just come, it sent another jolt of arousal through her nervous system. Slowly, Vera pulled away, tongue reaching out to swipe across Lana's bottom lip one last time. The bounty hunter sauntered backward before turning and heading toward her chambers.

  "By the way, we're only about ten minutes out from Rakata Prime," Vera called over her shoulder. "Just in case you need to do anything to prepare to meet with the others. Like maybe covering that massive hickey on your neck."

  Slapping a hand to the place where Vera had sucked the skin incessantly, Lana let out a groan of mild annoyance. "You are evil," she shouted after the Chiss, and managed to catch the shit-eating grin on the woman's face before she disappeared into her room. Evaluating her current state, Lana figured there wasn't much she could do besides straighten out her robes and run a brush through her hair. A noise from the cockpit caught her attention.

  "Are you guys done out there?" Mako asked, a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance in her tone. "I've needed to use the refresher but really didn't want to walk past all that. So if you're done, that would be great. Cuz like I said, I gotta go."