"You're beautiful," Icaan said, my completely naked body beneath him. I felt my cheeks flush. I was still on the floor of his ship and for several seconds he'd not moved.
I reached a hand up to him, wanting to reconnect us to each other but he didn't give me the satisfaction at first, still wandering my body with his gaze.
The longer it went on the more self conscious I felt, but slowly he reached for me, picking me up and carrying me against him. Gently he took me to the ladder and holding me against him with one hand, he climbed with the other.
Not sure what else to do, I gripped him and tried not to think of anything else but the moment we were in. The scent of his body so close to mine was already making me hungry for him and ready in so many ways.
He took me all the way to his familiar bed and
A beeping from the cockpit made Icaan finally leave me in his bed. He quickly pulled his shorts and space suit back on and hurried to the ladder. I wasn't sure I could walk yet, my body well and truly claimed by him in pretty much every way it could be.I had lost track of time and I was pretty sure he had as well. But the alarm sounded a moment later and I hastily got up and pulled my suit on as well. The restraints were still around my wrists and ankles, but they didn't stop me from getting dressed.As soon as I was in the suit and protected from a hull breach I also made my way to the cockpit. I was more than a little tired, but I wasn't about to show any weakness right now."We've got company," Icaan said. "Two ships. I think they might be enforcers.""And let me guess, they'll insist on escorti
As my ship sat near the edge of a solar system with a particularly large active sun, the solar panels were all extended and sucking up as much energy as they could while Icaan patrolled nearby."Those enforcers were quick to give up," I said. "Why was that, when I was worth so much?""The pirate ship was probably worth a fair amount too. And the pirate in it. Law enforcement put prices on the heads of anyone who breaks the law if they've stolen enough to warrant it. Only way to see the fringe areas of our territory policed.""So it's not uncommon for ships to try and hunt down pirates out here?""No. I've even taken a few in before now. The credits can make a difference. The reward and the ship price.""So why don't we do that? Why don't we find a pirate worth eno
This time I took Icaan's hand and led him up the ladder to his bedroom. Everything else could wait. I wanted him and I didn't want him to doubt my desire to be with him for a second longer.As soon as I had him in the bedroom with me, I gently pushed him down into a sitting position and started to unzip my suit. His eyes never left me as I slowly pulled the zipper down, making sure to go just slow enough he was riveted, but not so slow he decided to take matter into his own hands.He watched as I stripped off every single bit of clothing I had and then stepped closer, finally putting myself in reach.Almost immediately his hands came up and cupped my hips, the palms molding over each curve. His eyes roved, drinking me in and making me heat up at the same time.His skin on mine was like a lightning r
I tried not to show the ache in my chest at having to go back to my own ship again, but did as I was bid anyway. It was the third night I'd had to do so after coming back to Icaan and making love to him.Until we found Kryan, however, it was the safest thing to do. We needed to make sure any enforcers who came across us thought Icaan was already in pursuit and didn't interfere.We had a lead finally. A report Icaan had intercepted from an enforcer that said he was once more near Antiga. It was good news of a sort even if it meant we were another step closer to the most dangerous part of our plan.Capturing Kryan wouldn't be easy. The Frentin pirate was one of the best pilots and he was stronger than most of the alien males as well. On top of that he was cunning, good at escaping and otherwise slippery.
As I flew, I noticed a hail coming from Kryan. I took a deep breath and tried not to sound as anxious as I felt."What do you want, Kryan?" I asked."Oh, my dear. It's you. How interesting. I did wonder who might be helping out the disgraced prince. But I don't think the two of you understand what you're dealing with. You might have beaten me once, but you're not going to manage it a second time."I shook my head at his bravery and bravado. He might be right, but we had something on our side that he didn't; desperation. Trying not to panic, I merely waited for the guns to warm and kept him in my sights.Before I was ready, he banked to return fire. I tried to dodge, but Kryan was already moving away and I knew it was more important to keep within shooting distance of him. The first two bolts hit my
Kryan's words barely registered as I hung there, the wrench still in my hand. At the moment I clutched it in the middle and I couldn't reach him, but now he'd turned me and lifted me up, there was a chance. If I could just get him to lower his guard a little."Don't hurt him," I said, trying to sound more panicked than I was. "Please, I'll do whatever you want. Even help you fix the ship. I'm good with tools," I said as I shifted my grip more to one end of the wrench and waved it briefly."Or I can cook," I offered. "But let Icaan go, and let him keep his cargo.""And why would I do that?" Kryan asked, reaching to take my shoulder as he lifted a little higher again. I could feel his arm growing tired and took what would probably be the only opportunity I was going to get.I swung the end of the wren
With one of us always keeping an eye on Kryan it meant we needed to get to a planet and we needed to quickly. Given it made sense for Icaan to be the one watching Kryan while he was awake I also needed to fly all three ships.I slipped into the pilot chair on Icaan's ship and tried not to think about how strange his ship was. With any luck we'd soon be in port somewhere and handing Kryan over while we picked up our reward.The first thing I did was choose a destination based on the closest planet and ease to get to. We were so close to the first of the planets in the cluster on the other side of the space bridge that it made surprising sense for us to take Kryan deeper into the fringe area instead of back the way we'd come.It wouldn't allow us to pick up the necklace we'd tried to return and get a reward for, but Kryan had possessed
As I ran into the cockpit my gaze found the radar. Two more ships and both of them ahead of us.I slipped into the pilot's seat and started a scan as well as took control of my ship and Icaan's, taking them both off autopilot and bringing mine and Kryan's in closer so we looked like a very clear party of ships.The two ships didn't change course, moving in a route that wasn't directly at us, but wouldn't pass by with much clearance either. It was concerning, but possibly not surprising given the narrow corridor of space that was considered safe.While I waited for scan information that could inform my choices, I moved our course more to one side to give a bigger gap between us and the other two ships. It was the clearest signal I could give that we didn't want any conflict but to travel past without hailing them and actually saying it