THELKOR

WARRIORS OF THE GOLDEN MERIDIAN: BOOK ONE

AVA YORK

STARR HUNTRESS

CONTENTS

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Olath: Sneak Peek

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rogue Mate

Kazan

THELKOR

“I have close to fifteen thousand hours behind a Spitzler X9’s controls, and I have vast experience in docking procedures that follow the Epsylon Luna B9 protocol.”

The young applicant stood in front of the Golden Meridian’s crew, hands clasped behind his back and a stoic expression on his face. He was trying to keep his nerves from showing, which was a plus, but there was something about his story that didn’t sit right with me.

“A Spitzler X9,” I muttered, letting the others pepper our latest candidate with more questions. I had never heard of such a ship. Could it be a military vessel in the lunar base’s fleet? Maybe something from the Lunar Flight Academy? The humans were known to be secretive about their ships, so that could be it.

Discreetly, I grabbed my personal tablet and pulled up whatever information was available on Shackleton Crater’s intraweb. The moment words appeared on my screen, I suppressed the nearly irresistible urge to jump over the table and punch the idiot we were interviewing.

You’ve gotta be shitting me, I thought.

Or maybe I’d said it out loud.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to face me. Captain Timcur was frowning, Olath arched an eyebrow, and Storgin just looked at me with eyes as wide as a satellite dish.

I tossed the tablet on the table and rose. We’d held these interviews in the ship’s galley, hoping it would make for a nonthreatening setting, but what I needed right now was a healthy dose of intimidation.

That and a strong drink.

Pressing my lips together, I eyed our potential recruit, the man who’d be in charge of piloting the Golden Meridian if we accepted him. Not an easy job. We were talking about an interstellar sweetheart of 250 metric tons, fitted with enough weapons to take on a fully armored Suhlik squadron.

Sure, we called our starship Goldie, but this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill ship. Goldie was a flying hammer, one that hauled our asses around the galaxy and meted out justice whenever necessary.

As for the applicant, he was just a lanky human with a buzzcut and a nervous expression.

It was rare for Vaznik warriors to have a non-Vaznik crewmember but, since our former pilot had decided to settle on Shackleton Crater Lunar Base with his human mate, we needed to find another pilot as soon as possible. The captain had told us that we’d have word from headquarters before long, and we needed to be ready for a quick departure.

Unfortunately, our ads seemed to have produced only inexperienced idiots.

The man in front of us was no different.

“Why exactly do you want to fly a ship like the Golden Meridian?” I asked him, not sure if I should be pissed or amused. This situation was laughable.

“Well…” he cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He looked uncomfortable. “The pay is good and I...well, I kinda need the money. Besides, I always dreamed of flying a ship like this.”

“No wonder,” I said. “Tired of picking up the trash, I imagine.”

His face paled like he was going to pass out. Had he really expected us not to find out?

“What are you talking about?” Olath asked me, his eyebrow still frozen in that questioning arch. “Collecting the trash? There’s nothing about that in this guy’s file.”

“If you know where to look, there is.” I grabbed my tablet and swiped across the screen. I pulled up the information on a Spitzler X9 vessel and slid the tablet toward Olath. “It’s a trash collection vessel.”

“Is that true?” Captain Timcur asked as he rose to his feet, his steely gaze locked on the applicant.

The man looked as if he was about to piss his pants—not that I could blame him. He was alone here, with nothing but four alien warriors for company. We were far taller, had horns that could gut him in a split second, and weren’t particularly fond of being deceived.

“Yes,” he muttered, already backing a step toward the door. “I’m sorry, I was only trying to—”

“And what’s this about an Epsylon Luna B9 protocol?” the captain continued.

“It’s the protocol used by the trash collection ships for docking,” I explained, making my peace with the absurdity of what was happening. We were a team of highly-trained Vaznik warriors, and we were considering a trash collector as our new pilot.

Just wonderful.

“Go,” the captain said, dismissing the young man with a wave of his hand, “before I change my mind.” The anxious applicant turned on his heels and left the galley so fast you’d never know he’d been there in the first place.

“We’re screwed,” Olath groaned, tossing the tablet across the table. “Are there no good pilots on Shackleton Crater? How are we supposed to be mission-ready when all we get are guys like that one?” He turned in his seat so that he was facing the captain. “Maybe we could lure Korath back into the job.”

“Let Korath be,” Timcur said. “The man’s happy here. We need to focus on…” He trailed off when his comm unit chimed, and his frown reappeared when he read the contents of whatever message he had just received. “Shit, we just got our marching orders.”

“Anything interesting?” I leaned back in my seat, clasped my hands behind my head, and propped my feet up on the table. After everything that had happened here on SCLB, I was aching to kick some Suhlik ass. The bastards had planned a terrorist attack right here on the lunar base, but our former pilot had put a stop to it.

Damn, I was going to miss that bastard.

“Yes, this job’s going to be interesting, Thelkor.” The captain took a deep breath, looked each and every one of us in the eye, and only then did he exhale. “We’re to go after a Suhlik named Zarklac. He was the mastermind behind the attacks on Shackleton Crater, and HQ wants him captured. They’re still processing some intelligence, but I’ve been warned that Goldie is to be on standby. As soon as we have a lead, we’re gonna have to depart.”

“Now all we need is a half-decent pilot,” I said with a sour laugh. “Should be easy.”

I was the only one laughing.

Yeah, I definitely needed a drink.

RACHEL

“This is the hauler Potomac, license number X782B,” I said, leaning slightly forward so that the ancient communication system would pick up my voice. The light didn’t turn green, and so I punched the console with a closed fist. “I repeat, this is the hauler Potomac. Do I have clearance to dock?”

I waited for almost a minute, nothing but static coming from the speaker, but I didn’t let that stop me. I took a sip of my coffee, then started reducing thrust and lining the ship up with the docking port. State-of-the-art haulers had an AI-assisted interface that allowed for easier docking maneuvers, but this rust bucket had none of those bells and whistles.

Slowly, I maneuvered the ship until it was perfectly lined up with my assigned docking port.

“Potomac, you have been granted clearance.”

Much like I had done hundreds of times before, I approached the heavy structures that had been built just outside the lunar base on Shackleton Crater.

Once the ship was docked, I checked in with the customs officials and signed off on the manifesto. It’d take a couple of days to unload the ship, which meant that I’d have some time to kill on the base. Some people wouldn’t mind a few days of leave here, but that wasn’t me. I didn’t know anyone local, after all, and I’d never been much of a bar hopper or clubber.

I took one of the magnetic pods that connected the docks to the commercial hub and, no more than fifteen minutes later, I was inside the base’s domed structure. Holographic signs flashed all around me, advertising an endless choice of entertainment venues and lodging, and little food stalls littered most of the district’s squares and narrow streets, the vendors hurriedly trying to keep up with the demand.

Mahdfel and human workers walked past me, keeping that hurried step of someone with an important job to do, and I made an effort to keep out of everyone’s way. The SCLB was a busy place most of the time, but that busyness had ramped up after the latest Suhlik attack.

There were Mahdfel soldiers stationed on every corner, presumably to ensure the base’s security, and there were signs of construction everywhere. The loud grinding screech of drills clashed with the din of vendors hawking their wares. Construction workers in gray overalls zoomed overhead in small pods, hurrying between sites.

Ignoring the chaos, I chose a little Chinese food stall and, while waiting for my chop suey, grabbed my personal tablet and laid it down on the counter. I logged into the base’s network and started searching for a place to stay. I discarded the hotels I really wanted—the hauling company would pay for my lodgings, but the cheapskates in charge of admin would never reimburse me if I chose something fancy—and scrolled down to the bottom of the list.

I was almost done with dinner when I finally settled on a tiny hotel on the corner of Armstrong’s plaza. The place had undergone extensive renovations recently, the rooms weren’t as cramped as usual, and the prices weren’t out of my range. All things considered, not a bad option.

I pressed my thumb against the tablet’s bioscanner, wanting to confirm the booking, but an ad for the mating lottery popped up on the screen.

“Crap,” I grumbled. I should’ve just deleted the ad and continued with the booking, but I didn’t. The flashing ‘1 million credit reward’ underneath the image of a smiling woman captured my attention.

I propped my elbows on the counter and ordered another beer. I took a small sip, its bitterness coating my tongue, and wondered about the lottery. From what I’d heard, only a few women got matched with an alien mate but, when that happened, their families were compensated with a cool $1 million.

I opened the ad, scrolled through the lottery’s network, and pulled up the fine print. “Right on,” I muttered, smiling as I found what I was looking for. In cases where the human female didn’t have a family, she was awarded the full sum. And what did you know? That applied to me.

You can’t be serious, Rachel, my inner voice said, but I barely paid any attention to it. Sure, it was a little crazy I was considering signing up to be tested for the genetic lottery before my number was called...but the money!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I was perfectly happy working as a hauler pilot. I liked the quiet that came with it and, since the company paid for my lodgings, I could save a lot of my paycheck. Besides, all the downtime gave me the opportunity to pick up some extra skills—even though I didn’t put that in my reports, I spent a lot of time messing with the ship’s systems, trying to teach myself the dark arts of computer hacking.

Still, a steady paycheck and some free time wasn’t enough to keep me happy. I had always dreamt of buying my own cargo ship, and that wasn’t going to happen on a pilot’s paycheck. According to my accountant, it’d take more than twenty years for me to save up enough money for something like that.

Before I even knew what I was doing, my fingers were already tapping at the tablet’s screen. I pulled up a map with a red dot indicating the closest Testing Center, and rose to my feet. Even though I wasn’t sure if I’d go through with it, I still followed the map’s directions. I only stopped once I was standing in front of the center, the glare of its white lights forcing me to squint my eyes a bit.

“I’m not doing this,” I whispered, letting out a nervous chuckle. No, it’d be madness to do it. Then again, what’d be the harm in trying? It wasn’t like I’d get a match, right? That was rare. And, even if I did get a match, Earth would put enough money in my account to go a long way toward a ship of my own. I could finally start living the life I’d always wanted. “Alright, maybe I’m doing this.”

I stepped forward and the doors slid open to welcome me as I stepped in.

THELKOR

I was in the midst of throwing down another big swallow of delicious booze when the young man in front of us started winding up his spiel. If I didn’t fill my mouth with something, I was going to scream at the little bastard.

I’d rather stab myself in the eye than go through another one of these.

My eyes slid around the control room, trying to catch the captain’s eye. He was focused on the newest applicant with a mixed expression of shock and disbelief.

I’d started drinking at least three applicants ago, I think. I had to distract myself from the relentless stupidity. What a pity that instead of merely being distracted, I was now galloping straight past annoyance into full blown malice.

If he doesn’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to jump in and wrestle the little fucker to the ground. Then I’ll tie him in knots with his own tongue just to stop the flood of fucking nonsense.

My fingers tightened a little on the bottle. I’d like to throw it at him, but that would have been a waste of perfectly good booze.

How did every single pilot on this base wind up an imbecile? I thought, completely mystified. Surely pilots were highly trained, professional individuals. So far, it looked more like we were advertising for a court jester.

Not because they are deliberately trying to be funny, but because they just randomly amuse me by being themselves.

I was far from being amused. For the first few applicants, it was funny. Then it was worrisome. Now, it was downright fucking terrifying to be considering the possibility that there really wasn’t anyone on this base that could properly pilot the ship.

“How long would it take to get a rookie from Lunar Flight Academy?” When I heard my own voice bursting out in frustration, I was actually surprised. I guess my thoughts just got so loud they refused to stay in my mind.

“There won’t be another class graduation for a month,” Captain Timcur said irritably. “I thought of that, of course.”

“You aren’t considering one of these morons, are you?” I asked in shock.

He shrugged, his face twisting in a scowl. “Something needs to be done. We can’t wait a month; we could get our orders at any time.”

As I let out a sharp gasp, my fingers lost their grip, and I almost dropped the bottle. I recovered quickly and squeezed it tightly enough to threaten the glass.

“I am the captain, Thelkor,” he said. “You’re a gunner. You’ll have to abide by my decision.”

Olath gave me a sidelong glance and I took a deep breath, ready to impose my will upon the room by force. I took a good hard gulp of booze and suddenly getting up didn’t seem like such a good idea.

Maybe I’ll finish the bottle first.

“Do we have many more to see?” I asked. Before anyone could answer me, the ship’s comm crackled, and a message came through.

“We have intercepted data regarding the location of Zarklac. He is travelling on a long-haul ferry from Vyrlis to the Demeter Cluster. If the Golden Meridian leaves now, she can slingshot around Mars and intercept at Baker VII. Over and out.”

There was a moment of deep silence. None of us moved for a good thirty seconds. The tension rose in the room, a palpable weight built by the urgency in every man here.

“We have to go,” my voice came out in a roar. “Now!”

“We need to choose a fucking pilot!” Olath roared back at me. “Grab one of those fucking jokers from out there and let’s go!”

“Are you serious?” I stood up, holding the bottle in one hand. “Just pick one. Anyone? Are you out of your mind?”

“Mission priority,” Captain Timcur snapped. “We have to move. It doesn’t matter who we pick, so long as we move out now.”

“If our pilot can’t fucking fly to the right location or gets us blown up, it won’t matter when we move out, because we won’t be catching up to him!”

“Are you going to fucking fly, then?” Olath frowned at me, crossing his arms over his chest. I held the bottle loosely in two fingers and took a step closer. My blood was on fire from the frustration and the booze. I needed to hit something.

This is not the time for a fucking brawl, but then again, it beats choosing a fucking pilot out of these deadbeats.

“Thelkor,” Timcur said, in a warning tone. “Get your shit together.”

“Me?” I turned on him, fury rising like the wind in a storm.

His face became a mask of calm as he took a step towards me.

This is it. Fists up, impact in one minute.

For a second, everyone simply bounced their eyes around at everyone else, as if waiting for a solution to magically appear. I mean, I was drunk. I had a great excuse for appearing confused. The others had none.

The arguments began again. I added my voice to the fight, but I didn’t get far. The sound of the transporter activating silenced me. The others shut their mouths, too. Could it be possible the solution would just magically appear?

On any other day, I’d say ‘no’. I was drunk enough today to believe in just about anything, though. It could just be wishful thinking, but for some reason I believed the answer to all our problems was coming in on that transport pad.

RACHEL

The swirling light blinded me and I shut my eyes as the floor rocked. Nothing actually moved during the process, but it felt like everything solid I could use to balance myself became as fluid as an ocean.

I was struck by a wave of nausea and worried for a moment that I was going to come out on the other side barfing, but the floor steadied again and, the second I found my balance, the sickness passed.

I’d never pilot anything at a decent speed if I got squeamish over being tossed around a little.

I blinked several times to clear my eyes and looked around as I stepped gingerly off the transport pad. There were some big aliens staring at me and I stared straight back.

I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into. These guys didn’t look particularly welcoming. I mean, at least they weren’t fighting over me or anything like that, but I sure as hell didn’t feel welcome.

I think I might have walked in at exactly the wrong time. Something is going down here.

The air held the atmosphere of an argument in progress. Almost like the smell of gas, you knew the wrong move at exactly the wrong time would ignite the air.

“Hi, guys.” I tried to sound cheerful. “How are we today?”

Still silence and stares. I blinked and found myself grinning.

Maybe these guys are all big, soft teddy bears.

“I was told that one of you guys is my mate?” I asked, making eye contact with each one.

Their expressions didn’t change. They kept staring at me. I was starting to get worried—weren’t they expecting me?

“Welcome,” the guy in the middle said. “I’m Captain Timcur.”

“I’m Rachel,” I said slowly. Timcur was giving me a nice smile, but the others still just looked confused.

“What is she doing here?” one of them muttered.

He swayed, and I could smell the alcohol from across the room. His face was twisted and intense and that was a pity. He could have been very cute if he hadn’t looked so pissed about everything.

“I signed you up for mates,” the captain grinned. “I was so proud of you all, I thought you would appreciate it.”

“Really?” The most refined-looking one crossed the room in two strides and gently reached for my hand. “I am Storgin, my dear. I am very pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise.” I grinned at him as he air-kissed above my hand and gave a little bow. Even though he came close enough for me to feel the tickle of his skin, he didn’t quite touch me.

It was a little weird, but I could tell he was genuine. His eyes sparkled with mischief and I knew he was making fun of his own affected pose. I liked him immediately.

“Who says I wanted to be signed up?” the drunk one asked. “You had no right.”

“Are you seriously complaining, Thelkor?” The one standing by the captain glared at him. “This is a marvelous opportunity. Welcome, Rachel. I’m Olath.”

“Great to meet you.” I nodded his way, trying to evade the glare of the other one.

Thelkor.

“As if this place wasn’t already a fucking circus!” he said angrily. “Now this! Honestly, we have enough problems today without having little girls showing up that we have to babysit.”

“Excuse me—” I thundered, ready to give the guy a verbal blasting that he would never forget. But my attempt was drowned out by the other guys.

“Thelkor, shut the fuck up. If anything, this has brightened the day,” Storgin was still close to me, glaring at Thelkor. It was obvious that the guy was a literal train wreck, and his buddies were used to his difficult nature.

I didn’t think I was going to get used to it.

“I agree, the timing is poor,” the captain said. “We are neck deep in it right now. We have to move out and that means we have to choose a pilot, but—”

“I’m a pilot,” I cut in. They all turned to look at me as if I’d grown two extra heads.

“That is very lucky for us,” Storgin said, smiling. “Let us go to the bridge, and you can look over the controls.”

Thelkor spluttered as he followed, almost dropping his bottle of booze. “Oh, great. She teleports in from who knows where, we know nothing about her skills, but you’re going to just let her fly? Great, this is fucking great—”

“Will you shut up!” Captain Timcur snapped, spinning to face Thelkor.

As the captain engaged him in an argument, Storgin quietly left my side and walked smoothly across the room. He pulled a small device from his pocket and stepped behind Thelkor, then pressed it to Thelkor’s neck. Thelkor’s eyes closed and he hit the deck with a loud thud, obviously tranquilized.

“Thank you,” Olath breathed. “I was going to resort to a crowbar soon if he didn’t shut up.”

Storgin shrugged. “A crowbar would have the same effect.”

“But far more fun,” muttered Olath.

I looked around the room, wondering if that sort of thing was usual around here. The guys seemed very comfortable, and Thelkor had started to snore softly.

“Okay, Rachel,” Timcur said. “Let’s get you settled in. We have a mission and it’s vital that we leave now. We can get your match straightened out later. Right now, we have to deploy.”

I nodded. It was a comfort to me that I was going straight to the pilot’s chair. Even though I was in an unfamiliar place, I had a job to do and it was one I knew very well.

RACHEL

“C’mon,” the captain said eagerly. “Let’s get you suited up.”

He gestured for me to follow and hurried to an adjacent room. He pointed inside to a row of lockers. It was only a small room with a hallway at the other end leading to a bathroom. It looked almost like a standard locker room at a gym.

“Flight suits are right there. Get changed as quickly as you can.” He pointed to the lockers nearest to me and nodded as I yanked open the closest one and started checking out suits.

He graciously turned his back while I searched the lockers for a suit that fit me. They were all pretty adjustable, so it didn’t take long to find one. I fumbled into it, tripping over the legs as I tried to get my feet inside too quickly. I kept glancing at the open door, but no one was watching me. I could hear running feet and I assumed everyone was getting ready to deploy.

I stood up, zipping up the front of the suit. I hurried to the door and the captain turned to me. He smiled, but it wasn’t as warm as before. This mission was important and, even though I might have shown up as a potential mate, my job now was to fly them into battle. He was looking at me as if I were a member of the crew and I appreciated that.

Timcur gestured for me to follow and I strode after him, quickly coming to the pilot’s chair. The control panel was long and wide, lit with colored lights. I flicked a few switches, feeling the beast start to hum underneath me. My chest tightened and my blood began to sing.

I lived for that feeling. Nothing compared to flying, and flying in space was ten times as exciting. I grabbed the yoke and got a feel for everything as the huge spaceship under me throbbed, powering up.

Olath, Storgin, and Timcur hurried about, preparing for takeoff. The noise was intense. They shouted at each other and threw equipment bags around, making loud clanging sounds as they stowed things.

I kept my eyes on my instruments, thinking about how everyone just neatly dodged the guy on the deck, stepping over him as if it were perfectly normal for him to be spread out like a beached whale. Maybe it was.

Thelkor, I reminded myself. He’s Thelkor.

I wanted to remember his name and face so I could put enough effort into avoiding him.

I sat back for a minute, getting comfortable with the navigation instruments. I’d have to inform the crew when the preflight checks were over so they could secure themselves for takeoff. I only needed a few minutes to set a course and get familiar with the instruments, but it seemed to me the crew still needed a bit more time, so I glanced behind me.

I was curious about my match. The big, hunky looking warriors had definitely caught my attention. They were a veritable feast of muscular chests, big arms, and washboard abs. The captain stood with his arms folded, watching the others bustling around. I liked him, he seemed polite and considerate. I wouldn’t mind being matched to him.

I couldn’t see Storgin, so he was probably further back in the ship by now. He could be my match and that encouraged me. It felt good to be courted and I’d be more than okay with that.

Olath was taking care of deck jobs. He would be backing up readings from my instruments and listening to me in case I needed anything done. He had appeared excited about the idea of a mate, but he looked like he’d forgotten me just as fast. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him.

The console beeped and I looked back at the instruments. The pressure had stabilized in the engine areas and the ship was sealing itself for takeoff. I felt the moment that the internal gravity and life support became fully operational.

“Take off in two minutes,” I announced over the comm. I spared another glance around. All the guys were almost impossibly gorgeous, with sleek, muscular limbs and dramatic faces. Even though I was window-shopping some very fine eye candy, I let my eyes linger on the slumped form crumpled on the deck.

My eyes kept coming back to him. He was probably the cutest of the lot. Now that he was knocked out, he looked almost angelic.

An insane drunken angel.

I giggled to myself. I couldn’t see much from my chair, but long lashes caressed his cheeks and his expression was almost confused. His brow furrowed and he snored a little louder. Suddenly, he jerked in his sleep and one hand came up, swishing in the air as he muttered in his dream.

I turned back to my instruments, shaking my head. It didn’t matter how cute he was. I could not be matched to that guy; it just wasn’t possible. I tried to put it out of my mind while I prepared for takeoff, double-checking the course coordinates. The familiar movements comforted me, but deep inside I was feeling a growing sense of anxiety.

Anyone but that drunken jerk, please, God. There were a few eligible guys here… Surely fate would be kinder to me than that?

THELKOR

My cheek pressed against something hard. When I tried to move, my entire body shrieked in protest. Then I realized I was face down on the deck.

I grabbed the back of my head as I sat up, rubbing it softly. I couldn’t figure out how I’d passed out. I was pretty sure I hadn’t drunk that much.

If you didn’t pass out, how did you end up on the deck, smartass?

I stood up—slowly—noticing no one was around. That meant stations were manned and we were moving.

I carefully jogged down the hall, Storgin’s lab only a few yards away. When I entered, he didn’t look up, his gaze trained on whatever he was studying through the microscope.

“Storgin?”

“Yes?”

“What the fuck happened? I’ve got a little block of lost time here, but I’m sure I didn’t drink that much.”

He shrugged, changing the slides under the scope. “You were being a dick, man. I had to put you out.”

“Excuse me?”

“I tranqed you. It was necessary.”

It took a moment for all of that to sink in. “So, that must mean we are now in space, with the woman piloting?”

“Yes.” Storgin spoke as if he were miles away.

“I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t ask to be matched. If she’s with me, I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, of course!” Storgin stood up, shaking his head. “I didn’t even look at the file.”

I snorted a little with laughter. “Really? You went into flirt mode the second she appeared, but you forgot to check the file?”

He shrugged as he went over to a lit monitor and hit a few keys.

“While you were taking your nap, we had to get moving. It was important to get Goldie up and flying as quickly as possible. Then I came in here and saw the gene samples waiting, got caught up, and forgot.”

“So, she didn’t burn us up or crash us getting off the surface, then?”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “The flight has been smooth as silk. She’s doing better than any pilot I’ve ever flown with.”

I decided not to answer that. Maybe he was going soft on the girl, or just hoping for a mate match. I doubted that he had taken objective notice of pilots in the past to reach that conclusion.

“Hmmm.” Storgin tapped a few keys aggressively. “I don’t understand.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t find her file. Let me just check the subfolders.”

“It’s not like you to lose things.”

“Maybe I didn’t!” he snapped, shoulders hunching defensively. “I haven’t touched the damn system since before takeoff. This cannot be my fault.”

I was starting to get antsy, wondering if I was going to have to live in torture until he found the file. I had to know if she was my mate. A curious sense of anxiety versus anticipation built in my guts and fired up my blood.

It was weird. I was full of intense emotion, but I truly had no idea which outcome gave me more stress.

“Just fucking tell me and get it over with,” I urged. I was starting to think he was dragging this out for a gag. He tapped a few more keys, shaking his head. When he turned to look at me, a muscle jumped in his cheek and his eyes were wide.

“It’s not here.”

“What?”

“The file. It’s really not here.”

It felt like my guts just got punched right through me. I actually felt dizzy. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Isn’t our computer system supposed to be flawless? Memory backups, all that stuff?”

He frowned as if he were about to cross the room and punch me. Maybe I did sound stupid, but I was a gunner, not a tech.

“The file was sent just when we were getting ready for takeoff. It’s not completely unheard of for the system to get corrupted… Look, I could explain to you the different kinds of file recovery and why they won’t work for us, but I doubt you’ll follow it—or care. So, just believe me. The file is gone, and I can’t get it back.”

“Shit!” I hissed, clenching my teeth. Adrenaline was screaming through me and I had no one to fight. How the fuck was I supposed to calm myself down now? I was pretty sure they had hidden my booze.

“Look, can you go find the captain and let him know?” Storgin said. “He was the one that ordered the immediate takeoff and he sure as hell didn’t give any orders about Rachel’s file. All he cared about was getting onto the intercept route as fast as possible.”

“Okay,” I muttered. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go and tell Rachel,” he sighed. “She’s probably dying to know. I think getting thrown into the pilot’s seat distracted her at first, but by now she’s probably wondering who her match is.”

I rubbed my temple, clenching my jaw. “Okay. I think I've recovered from my nap on the deck. Feels like I went down like a ton of bricks.”

Storgin grinned. “You did! What, you think I was going to catch your great big dumb ass?”

“Watch it,” I growled.

He just kept grinning and hurried off down the hall. I went the other way, hoping to track down the captain. Today was shaping up to be a very complicated day.

RACHEL

The soft whirring sounds, intermittent beeps, and clicks of the control panel gave me a sense of comfort. The view was incredible, all the swirling stars pulled out of their usual shape by our movement. They didn’t actually move, of course, but from inside the ship, all kinds of light tracers and moons were visible from our perspective.

We were heading steadily for Mars, navigating the asteroid belt that lay between Earth and her dull red glow. I had to pay close attention to the instruments, because the asteroids could move. Usually, only at a very slow drift. Occasionally though, they moved faster or struck each other. I had to be ready for that or we’d take damage.

I adjusted a few controls a little, feeling the ship respond. She wasn’t a bad ship, very responsive. Once we cleared the asteroid belt, we’d be in the perfect position to slip into Mars’ orbit and use her momentum to sling shot ourselves towards Baker VII.

It was just a bit more exciting than what I’d planned for. I’d expected to be moving at a slow pace on established routes. Hauling freight didn’t offer much excitement unless something went wrong. I was so excited to be doing something like this that I almost forgot why I had come.

I wasn’t here to pilot, I wasn’t hired for the job. The only reason I arrived was to be a mate match. Getting shoved straight into the pilot’s chair was a definite bonus, but I couldn’t forget my ultimate mission. Fulfilling my end of the deal and, after it all, finally getting my own ship.

Everything was starting to settle down and I really hoped that someone would come to tell me who my match was soon. I had no idea how this worked. Would I be taken straight to his room to cook and clean? Was he supposed to knock me up immediately?

I heard footsteps hurrying up the hallway and my guts twisted. Even though I’d literally just said that I wanted to know, the idea of actually finding out was terrifying.

“Rachel?” I recognized Storgin’s voice and turned around eagerly.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got some bad news.”

I looked at my screen again, making a slight course adjustment, then turned back to Storgin. He looked very apologetic.

Might as well get it over with.

“What’s the bad news?”

“I can’t find your file.”

“My file from the base? What do you mean, why?”

He looked uncomfortable. “It happens sometimes. The system gets corrupted by cosmic waves and we can lose the last lot of transmitted data. I’m sorry.”

“Can’t you get it back?” I asked stupidly.

He shook his head. “I could get them to send it again. We’re in a bad spot to receive transmissions, though.”

“We sure are.” I turned and looked out the front viewport again, adjusting our course so we didn’t hit an asteroid. When I turned back to him, things in my head were clarifying quickly.

“Wait… so, you don’t know who my match is?”

His face fell at my tone. He looked like he was taking this very personally. “I’m so sorry, Rachel. I know you must be dying to find out.”

“Dying might be a strong word, but yeah, I want to know.”

“Okay, there is a way, if you want to start right now and not wait for the base.”

“Oh, really?” My eyebrows shot up and my heart jumped with them. I glanced at my instruments and back to Storgin. He looked worried, and I hoped that his ‘method’ didn’t involve gallons of my blood for genetic samples.

“We can do it now, if you like.” He seemed really nervous.

I looked back at my instruments and made a few more adjustments. I shouldn’t let her fly on auto in an asteroid belt but, if I didn’t find out who my mate was soon, I might be too distracted to get through the hazards safely anyway.

“Okay,” I said, turning around. “Hit me.”

He looked puzzled and alarmed. “Hitting you is not necessary.”

I grinned. “Just an expression. It means let’s go, let’s do it.”

“Oh, of course.” He seemed to blush a little. “Okay. If you would just touch my skin, then we can tell immediately if you are my mate, as my tattoos will glow white.”

“Oh, okay.” I reached out hesitantly. “How much touching do we have to do?”

“Just touch your skin to mine and leave the contact for at least ten seconds. I barely touched you, before, but the pressure was too light to cause a reaction.”

“Okay.” I felt a bit nervous. Part of me wanted to turn around and return to piloting without ever checking.

This is what you came for.

Yeah, it was. That didn’t stop me being nervous as hell, though. I had agreed to be matched to someone I didn’t know, to have at least one baby with him. Now that I had actually seen the aliens, my future wasn’t abstract anymore.

This is it. This could be the guy. Then that’s it, I’m claimed.

My hand hovered above his arm for a few seconds. I felt a curious sense of magnetism, as if I were being drawn closer to him without my conscious will. I didn’t try to examine the feelings for omens, I was too nervous.

He’s a nice guy. What’s the big deal?

I took a deep breath and stretched out my fingers, reaching for his arm. The second my skin pressed up against his, we would know.

THELKOR

When I came around the corner toward the bridge, the sight playing out against the wide front viewports stole my breath.

Rachel and Storgin, standing close together. He had his arm outstretched and her fingers hovered above his skin. She was about to touch him to find out if he was her mate, if his tattoos would turn white.

I stood frozen, waiting, as her hand settled on his skin. Even though I didn’t want a mate, that moment struck me with a hard, cold bolt of pure fear. I was almost trembling by the time she pressed her fingers to his arm.

Nothing happened. Storgin laughed and shook his head as she smiled. They weren’t mates.

I hadn’t really seen her smile yet and that one was full of an easy humor that lent light to her eyes. There was a bit of self-mockery there, as well. She didn’t take herself too seriously. That made me feel like we had something in common.

For a moment, I stared at her. I didn’t think, didn’t try to reason. I just looked and let her beauty sink into me.

She wasn’t tall or short and her body was lusciously curved. Long black curls bounced down her back. Deep, ocean blue eyes wove an enchantment. A fanciful thought for a fellow like me to have—I hadn’t seen many oceans, that’s for sure.

She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. When Storgin’s tattoos didn’t light up for her, relief tingled across my skin and through my whole body. I’d never experienced anything similar. My heart pounded and my breathing was shallow from watching her.

It’s love.

I reined those thoughts in hard, cutting them off. Relief still rushed through me that she wasn’t mated, but I needed to get this under control. I didn’t want a mate, even if she did have storm dark hair and eyes as deep as a tempestuous ocean.

Fuck.

If I didn’t stop this poetry bullshit, I’d be forced to punch myself in the face.

The captain walked past, giving me a nod as he headed towards Rachel and Storgin. I hung back even further into the hallway so she wouldn’t see me. I didn’t want to talk to her, not yet. I had no idea what I would say. The idea that my tattoos could light up for her was somehow more frightening than finding out we weren’t a match

Olath entered, moving through the hallway to come into the small area around the controls. The captain must have called him.

Is she going to touch them both?

Desperate rage filled me. I didn’t want her touching those guys, not even on the arm.

So, get in there and get yourself checked out, lover boy.

That was the only way to end my suffering. Once she touched me, I’d know for sure if it were a ‘no’ or a ‘yes’ and I could stop torturing myself.

Rachel turned to Olath with that lovely smile. She shook her head as she looked them over.

“I really have to touch all of you?” she asked, her grin getting wider.

The captain nodded, smiling at her. “It’s the easiest way. I called the others so we can get it done, just to be sure. We can go through the other two and find out who you’re going to be with.”

She shook her head, a look of mock woe on her face. She put a hand to her cheek and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Oh me, oh my. So many hard, hot bodies to touch. How will I ever cope?”

Storgin and the captain laughed at that, but I felt my irritation rising.

I didn’t want her touching anyone.

Still, I wasn’t coming out of my hidden shadow. I was getting a headache.

When did my life get this complicated?

Rachel paused and looked behind her at the instruments. She made a surprised sound and stepped to the console. After making a few adjustments, she turned back to the captain.

“I want to know just as much as you do, all of you,” she smiled at them. “But we’ve got to slingshot around Mars right now. We’re just coming out of the asteroid belt and I have to grab the orbital gravity force while we’re in alignment.”

For a few moments, no one moved. A faint grunt of disapproval rippled around the room. Rachel paid no heed, turning around and buckling herself into her seat.

“I’d sit down somewhere and strap yourselves in, fellas,” she called out. “I’m good at this, but we’re about to ride a hell of a curve. I wouldn’t want anyone embarrassing themselves by getting creamed hitting the walls.”

Timcur and Olath took two of the chairs on the bridge for themselves. I came forward a little and buckled myself into a seat behind them. Then I looked out the viewport and saw the stars swirl.

As we accelerated and began our curve, the stars blurred into long lines. Some of them even looked like they were going in the wrong direction, crashing into others, creating chaotic auras of incredible, vibrant tracings.

It was beautiful and violent. Almost as conflicting as my own thoughts, which tore through me in two directions at once with the same force and speed of those confused stars.

RACHEL

I engaged the manual controls, looking closely at the navigation signals. Everything else faded away as my entire being focused on my craft and what I needed to do.

This is what I was born to do.

The red glow of Mars came closer, a dull light faintly reflective of the far away sun. It seemed to emanate dark, spiking red rays towards us. Though just an illusion of refracted light because we were coming up on it so fast, it was equally beautiful and uncanny.

I adjusted the controls, and the ship tilted downwards. We accelerated a little, then held steady. Nearby, someone gasped as they shifted in their seat. I think it was Olath, but I couldn’t be sure.

I grinned and shook my head a little. I could give them one hell of a rough ride if I wanted to. The idea appealed. It was more important at this point to show off my skills, though.

Especially to that hard-headed prick, Thelkor, I thought furiously. The way he’d looked at me when he made his comments… such utter and complete contempt.

I’d show him how to fucking fly.

Why did I care about the opinion of a drunken oaf? I couldn’t answer the question and that bugged me. For whatever reason, I wanted to impress him and, if need be, every other alien on this fucking ship.

The soft red glow drew closer, shading the viewports with a dusky haze. We slipped into the orbital force and I closed my eyes for a second, my body one with the ship. I could feel the ship like an extension of my limbs.

The sensation was so intense I could almost feel the rush against the outer hull. There was a tiny bit of atmosphere and gravity now that we were so close to the red planet and the ship started to shudder under the force.

I opened my eyes, still feeling the air. My hand on the controls told me more about what was happening to the ship than my eyes did. As we began to fall into the orbital stream, I reached out and flipped a few switches, turning our engines up to full power.

The stars had appeared to be swirling around us a few seconds ago, caught in a dance which sent them crashing together in whirls of light but also tracing them through delicate opposing steps.

As we hit the orbit, gravity seized control and before the thrusters could kick in, we experienced a moment of perfect stillness. It was as if there was no momentum, no weight. We were suspended in space and time.

Beneath us, Mars glowed, beautiful and mysterious, with such intensity it hurt my eyes. The sun had to be in a favorable position for that much light to reflect off the dull surface.

I observed wide, flat plains barely marked by any geographic features. Cracks in the ground looked like deep canyons. The moment seemed to last forever as my eyes ate up as much of Mars as possible. Even if I flew by it in the future, I would never again get this view.

It was one of the things I loved so much about piloting a starship. You could never fly the same sky twice. Life was always changing.

I felt the moment that the ship began to fall, her nose tilting down. The massive shape of Olympus Mons reared over the surface and awe momentarily stole my breath. Then, before the ship could get caught in the gravity and fight against the planet, I turned the thrusters into the orbital force and gunned it.

I heard grunts of surprise behind me as everyone got thrown against their crash harnesses. I couldn’t help laughing and my mirth grew as I held the controls steady. The ship shot forth at speeds far higher than she could have managed on their own.

“Hold onto your butts, guys,” I laughed into the comm. “We’ll be at sonic for at least another minute.”

The ship stopped shuddering and started rattling. I gritted my teeth and put my weight against the controls. Mars faded in the side viewports, the red glow disappearing as we used her gravitational pull to slingshot ourselves out into space.

As soon as the force began to ebb, I worked the console, bringing the ship up to her full speed. There was only a moment's pause before she roared under me and charged off into the deep black.

I eased back on the stick, breathing out slowly. While in the middle of the maneuver, I had been taking small, short breaths and now I felt a little dizzy, but exhilarated.

I turned and saw the guys were still strapped into their chairs. The captain stared at me, clearly impressed. Olath gave me an awkward thumbs up. I grinned and waved back.

Then, behind the captain and Olath, I saw Thelkor. He was strapped in and watching me with wide eyes, clearly surprised by my skill. He held my gaze intently for a few seconds before turning to look out the viewport.

I turned back around and focused on my instruments. I didn’t know what that guy's problem was. Maybe I didn’t want to know.

Someone unbuckled and came up beside me. I didn’t look back at first, worried it was Thelkor. When I did glance up, I saw it was Timcur, and relaxed a bit.

“You’re incredibly talented, Rachel. Why did you put yourself into the mating program? You could fly anything, anywhere.”

“But not on my own terms,” I said softly. “This was the only way I could even consider getting my own ship, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

The power and the freedom to do this, whenever and however I chose, to never again be given an order, and be able to use my skills for myself instead of compromising myself under someone else’s orders.

That was all I wanted and that was why I was here.

THELKOR

I felt a faint stab of envy as the captain walked up to Rachel. Even though I couldn’t know yet if they were a match, I didn’t like them standing so close to each other.

I unbuckled myself and went to turn around to walk further back into the ship, but something held me still. Rachel wasn’t looking at me and neither was the captain. I took a couple of steps closer so I could hear what they were saying.

Rachel’s voice was breathy with excitement as she told Timcur about her plan to get her own ship. My guts twisted.

She really wasn’t interested in having a mate, she was just in it for the money! What, did she plan to pump out a kid or two, then vanish into the furthest reaches of space? I felt fury and indignation rising in me so strong, I almost went forward to confront her.

No child of mine would be abandoned by its mother. If that meant I had to prevent its conception until I was certain the woman would stay around, so be it. What kind of woman would leave her own kid, though? Not one I’d trust to pilot this ship.

Confronting her meant getting close. Within touching distance. I didn’t want to do that, especially not now, so I stayed put.

“Yes, of course,” Timcur was saying. “A pilot of your skill and passion certainly deserves her own ship. What would you do? I imagine that you want to discover unknown worlds.”

“Yeah, look,” Rachel giggled. “That might be exciting, but it also sounds really dangerous, not to mention tiring and potentially boring. Sure, there are some planets I’d love to see. But it’s all about space for me.”

She wasn’t looking at Timcur. Her eyes were fixed on the void ahead, her hands firmly on the stick. To me, it didn’t seem like she was doing much at all, but we were flying so smoothly it was almost as if she was connected to the ship, as if she could feel every inch of Goldie by the light touch of her fingers.

Don’t think about her light fingers playing with a hard stick.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. That conflict within me still raged. I wanted to run up there and press my hands against her bare arms to see if my tattoos lit up. I wanted to kiss those full lips while her eyes sparkled at me with that easy, light humor.

I wanted to run away and never see her again. She had just admitted outright that she was intending to leave. I didn’t want to get entangled with someone like that, and not just for my sake.

It’s better to never even know if she’s my mate.

That thought hit me hard, but it stilled the conflict in me. At every beat, my heart felt even more bruised, but now I had the strength I needed to walk away.

I turned my back on the bridge, hoping that having her out of sight would also take her out of my mind. I kept walking and didn’t look back.

There was only one thing that would occupy my mind when I was this wound up, and that was the armory.

The place was still and quiet when I entered. This was my private space, for the most part. Today I needed something really engaging and complicated so I could get some control over my thoughts, so I went to the back shelves and started an inventory.

After a couple of minutes, I realized that I’d been walking along, looking into equipment cases, and writing on my inventory sheet, but I hadn’t really been paying attention. The numbers I’d recorded were not accurate. Cursing under my breath, I headed back to the beginning and started again.

Within a few minutes, it happened again. I’d let my mind drift for just a couple of seconds and suddenly, it was like my brain had left the room. I threw down the sheets and inventory tablet and cursed.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

I strode to the back of the room where rifles were waiting to be cleaned. There were always weapons that needed repair or cleaning and I set about taking one apart.

That kind of work I should have been able to do blind and brain-dead. I was a gunner and all I’d ever known was weapons and ammo.

Before I realized what I was doing, I had screws and rifle parts all over the table, but I couldn’t remember stripping it. Empty shells wandered away, a couple of them tinkling as they hit the deck. I put everything down and dropped my head in my hands, muttering to myself.

My thoughts kept wandering back to Rachel no matter what I did. It was almost like being infected by some kind of virus. It felt like my mind literally was not my own.

When I let my thoughts slide, my skin erupted with goosebumps as she filled my mind. I imagined her silky hair and smooth skin under my fingertips. I could almost taste her.

My eyes snapped open as I realized the ship was very quiet, no one trampling up the hall, no voices shouting or doors slamming.

They’re still with Rachel.

I saw her in my mind’s eye, laughing with them, touching them until she found the one that caught alight for her and claimed her as his own.

The idea of her laughing and drinking with the rest of the crew bothered me more than I wanted to admit. I forced myself to focus on the gun. I managed to get my mind and hands on task, but in the back of my mind, I still heard that deep laughter and saw her eyes flashing.

No matter how hard I tried to control my mind, it seemed she was going to haunt my thoughts and there was nothing I could do about it.

RACHEL

Timcur checked over some of the data while I went over our course. There wasn’t much left to do now until we got closer to Baker VII. The course was fairly straight, with no known hazards. The Golden Meridian, or as the guys called her, Goldie could practically do it by herself.

The captain sat down nearby and gave me a kind smile. “That was some good flying.”

“Thank you.” I was pleased at his comment. Even though I knew I had done a damn good job, it was nice of him to compliment me.

“So, what’s our mission?”

“We’re tracking Zarklac, a wanted criminal who is reported to be on Diana’s Arrow Starferry. She’ll be docking at Baker VII and, thanks to your perfect slingshot, we should get there in plenty of time to intercept him.”

“Is it a freighter?”

“It may carry freight, but that’s not her main function. She’s a travel ship, making lots of stops between Nadia III and the Demeter Cluster. She’s capable of docking up to two hundred other ships and has a full resort with shops, restaurants, clubs, and hotels.”

“Sounds cool. I wish we had time to hang around there.”

He grinned. “We couldn’t afford it.”

I laughed easily, shaking my head a little. It wasn’t so much his comment that was funny, rather his smile and open expression put me at ease.

“But if we could, what would you like to do?” I pulled my legs on to the chair and curled up, genuinely interested in his answer.

“Well, I like cards,” he said. “I’m always happy to play a few rounds with humans or any other aliens. On Diana’s Arrow, though, it’s all pretty competitive.” He shrugged. “I like the challenge of the game. It’s not about money for me.”

I found that incredibly sweet. He was a captain from a race of proud, headstrong males. He cared about winning, obviously, but he cared more about fair play.

Maybe he’s my match. The thought appealed to me. Though I’d only been aboard the ship for a short time, he’d made me feel very comfortable.

“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked. “I’m sorry, we were in such a rush to take off, I didn’t think to ask if you needed anything.”

“Sure. Tea or coffee would be great.”

He got up and went down the hall as I checked the instruments again. She was a good little ship, the Goldie. She didn’t need me holding her hand every step of the way.

When Timcur returned with two small cups, I took mine gratefully, then winced at the bitterness of the hot liquid.

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s green tea, but not from Earth.”

I sniffed the cup suspiciously. “You can say that again. Next time, just find me some coffee, if you can, okay?”

“Duly noted,” he said, looking at me with a soft expression. I found myself smiling at him and there was a definite moment between us.

“Can I…” I hesitated, one hand on my cup and the other hovering in the air. I caught my breath and asked my question. “Can I touch you?”

“Of course.”

He put his cup down and extended his arm. I put my cup down, too. Anticipation rose in my gut. I felt kind of lightheaded. Getting into the mate match program had seemed like such a great idea, in theory. Now, I was faced with real people with whom I could actually be paired.

This is for life, I thought. It scared me, but I liked Timcur. I could see us sitting on the observation deck, drinking tea—make that coffee—late into the night while we talked about the great ships of the galaxy and feats performed by heroes in the army.

I reached out and put my palm against the skin of his forearm. Both of us froze, waiting for something to happen. The seconds ticked by and I realized we were both staying in place longer than necessary, as if trying to make the moment happen.

We looked up at the same time, grinning. He shrugged. “Oh, well. You can’t force fate, I guess.”

“Yeah,” I answered, looking at my hand in regret. I clenched my fist as if I could change my genes to fit him. He smiled as he sat back in his chair. I wriggled back in my chair, reaching out for my cup. I scrunched up my nose as I sniffed it.

“It’s very good for you,” he said encouragingly. “Electrolytes, vitamins, minerals. We use it as a supplement.”

“Okay.” I sniffed again, taking another sip.

He laughed. “I’m glad to have you on board, Rachel,” he said, genuine pleasure in his voice. “You weren’t at the pilot interviews—you didn’t see the kind of choices I had to deal with.” He made a horrified face that cracked me up.

“Hey, I’m pretty happy about this, too,” I grinned at him. “I’m sure we’ll have lots of long nights to talk about planetary formations, civilization histories, great events from the years of war.”

“Promise?” he asked, his eyes growing dark and serious.

At that moment, I realized his race was completely starved for feminine attention, like, completely. No worlds filled with moms or sisters or aunties. Certainly no casual friends. It must be very rare to find a female at all, let alone one they could converse with on the same level.

“I promise,” I said gently, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. Even if he wasn’t my mate, I felt like I had made a friend for life.

THELKOR

Carefully cleaning every miniscule part of the innards of my favorite rifle, I jumped when Olath rushed in. I didn’t appreciate the interruption, having just managed to find that place of stillness where nothing mattered except me and the weapon.

“You’re never going to believe this!” he practically yelled.

I winced, rubbing my ear. “If you scream that loudly, I’ll have to believe you. The words will be burnt into my eardrums.”

“You’re always so much fun, Thelkor.”

“Fuck you.”

Olath crossed his arms and glared at me. I carefully put down the metal prongs I was cleaning, and the chemical-soaked rags. I wasn’t going to be able to go back to my work until he had told his little story.

“Call me crazy, but I thought you might actually care.”

“Okay. You’re crazy, and I don’t care.”

“Thelkor!”

“What!”

“She touched the captain. He’s not a match!”

Even though I was looking right at Olath, suddenly I couldn’t see him. The world moved under me, and now I had no idea where my feet were.

She touched the captain! Rage flooded through me.

He wasn’t a match! Relief charged through me, all my emotions tangling inside until I had to shake my head.

“Do you have any booze?” I asked very seriously. Olath looked at me with a shocked expression, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Dude, don’t you care? That means it has to be one of us.”

“Or it’s a mistake.”

Uncertainty fluttered across Olath’s face for the briefest second. He shook his head emphatically and straightened. He even puffed his chest out a little.

“I guess we all know who it’s going to be, don’t we? If you don’t care, that will make the whole thing easier on you.”

I had gone back to cleaning my gun, but now I carefully put the pieces down again and met his gaze.

“What?” I was still trying to process my relief that it wasn’t the captain and align that with the thinking that I didn’t want a mate.

“Well obviously, it’s going to be me,” Olath said firmly.

“What is obvious about it?” My voice was hushed, but only because my throat had tightened with anger.

He shrugged. “You don’t even care. What’s it to you?”

“To me, it’s the fact that you obviously think you’re better than me,” I said sharply.

He grinned. “I’m a better match, Thelkor. That’s obvious. I’m glad I came to tell you. It’s practically all settled, and you can just stay here cleaning your guns all alone.”

He actually turned as if to leave the room. I surged up, slapping my hands onto the table. Screws and pins clattered to the deck and I cursed my own stupidity.

One female… One female let loose on the ship and all hell breaks loose. It’s not just loose, it's chasing me down and lashing my ass.

“Olath, not so fast. How can you be so sure it’s you?”

He turned back to me with a grin on his face that begged to be slapped. Part of my mind was still stuck on the fact that Timcur wasn’t a match, and I was so relieved my knees quivered. That just made me angry because I didn’t want a mate—I didn’t want to care.

I couldn’t get into an argument with Olath while my head reeled like this.

Excitement, relief, and dread filled me at the same time, clamping my heart in a vise. I didn’t even know what I wanted right then.

Except to smash that grin right off Olath’s face.

“It’s cool,” he said, waving his hands a little. “Just calm down. I’ll go and see her and let you know how it goes.”

I hit the table again, making even more of a mess. “If anyone on this ship is worthy of a mate like her, it’s me.”

“Dude.” Olath rolled his eyes. “You don’t even want a mate.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want!” I shouted the words without even really hearing them. “All that matters is that I’m the better man.”

“How do you figure that?” Olath scoffed.

“It’s not something that has to be figured out.” I sat down again, collecting screws and pouring them into little containers so I wouldn’t lose any more.

Olath laughed. “So, it’s just obvious that you’re mate material and I’m not?”

“It’s blindingly obvious. To everyone. Even her.”

His eyebrows jumped a full inch. “Oh, really? Have you asked her?”

That made me look up. We stared at each other for a few seconds. I hadn’t been anywhere near her and Olath knew it.

“If I did, I know she’d pick me,” I said stubbornly.

“It’s not up to her, though, is it?” He laughed softly. “Even if it was, I don’t think you made a great first impression.”

I rubbed my forehead. This entire situation was ridiculous. Why was I even having this argument with him?

Because you care about her.

That thought was just too ridiculous to entertain. I scowled at Olath, ready to launch into a tirade, but he turned and headed for the door.

“If you really wanted her, you’d be running out that door, Thelkor. I’m ready to take my chance, right now.”

“You don’t know anything about her!” I snapped in frustration.

He shrugged. “Beautiful, smart, funny… She pilots like she has wings, too. What more do I need to know?”

Olath left and I threw my screws and pins across the room. I needed a drink and I needed it now.

RACHEL

The conversation with Timcur flowed easily for some time. We talked about nebulae and planetary formations and how they had been built, starships and great captains and historical events. He was surprised I was so knowledgeable of interstellar details—most humans didn’t bother. I was surprised that he took so much interest in a human’s opinion.

More than once, we caught a long gaze and an easy laugh. It was such a pity that compatibility and maybe even chemistry made no difference here. It had to be a genetic match. I comforted myself with the knowledge that, even if he wasn’t my mate, I had made a good friend in the captain, and he would be able to keep me safe.

“Hold up.” I held up my hand, still laughing over his retelling of a bar brawl which had occurred in a far-off port. “Just let me check the navigation.”

I leaned forward, tapping at the main screen to check the coordinates. The autopilot was very good on this ship, but sometimes the coordinates between the current position and destination changed. The autopilot could still get you there, but it might take longer. Or throw you into a sun’s gravity. It was always wise to keep checking.

Timcur looked over my shoulder and I didn’t feel even a little bit nervous. I knew what I was doing, and I took pride in it. Him checking up didn’t bother me in the slightest.

“That looks fantastic,” Timcur said, impressed. “It’s an economical course, but a very safe one.”

“Yeah, I just need to keep checking on it. Back when I was a rookie, the first time an autopilot changed the navs on me, it freaked me right out.”

He grinned. “Was it a planetary drift, an electrical storm, or a solar flare?”

I grinned back, wagging a finger. “Now, now. You know there are far more factors than that.”

He nodded. “Of course. I wasn’t going to list them all.”

I laughed. “It was a solar flare. A puny one, too. The ship was still locked onto its coordinates, but because the flare disrupted the course, it recalculated to take us about ten years out of our way.”

He laughed heartily and I did, too. I reveled in the feeling we could sit here forever sharing stories. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d really connected with someone.

The mood was broken as Olath came jogging up the hall. He grinned and waved. I smiled politely, but my stomach twisted. Another potential mate. Another big alien guy I had to get acquainted and share space with.

I hope he’s as nice as Timcur.

“Captain?” he asked. “May I have a few moments with Rachel?”

Timcur nodded. “Of course.” He stood, offering his chair to Olath. “I’ll see you soon, Rachel. You can tell me the story of the donkey that got stuck in the cargo hold.”

I giggled at the memory and waved him off. Olath took the chair beside me and gave me a truly beguiling smile. I smiled back.

“Rachel, I want you to know that I am an excellent choice for a mate. It’s very important to me that you understand that. I come from a long line of very virile, accomplished males. Our offspring would be strong, smart, and just as beautiful as their mother.”

I couldn’t help it—I blushed a little. My chest felt warm. His smile deepened, and his eyes grew softer.

“I would attend your every need. You would never fear anything ever again, because I would protect you with my life from any possible harm. I would cultivate your mind and make you comfortable, providing anything you desired for yourself or our home.”

I felt like the blush was flooding down my neck to cover my whole body. No one had ever talked to me like that before. His intent, admiring stare literally wrung my heart.

“I don’t know what to say.” I felt drawn to answer, but I didn’t really have a response.

He smiled again. “I just want you to know what I have to offer. If I have been chosen to take a mate, I would care for you as the most precious jewel in the universe. Not because you can give me children and fulfill my desires, as well as helping repopulate our race, but because you are beauty and fire all at once. An intelligent, passionate woman with the grace of the stars themselves.”

Shit.

I was fucking falling for this guy.

“Okay, Olath. I have to say, I’m deeply moved. I wish I had the option to pick you, but we both know I don’t have a choice. There’s only one way to tell if this will work, and that means I have to touch you.” I shrugged. “If your tattoos glow white, then I’ll be more than happy to match with you, especially after a speech like that.”

He grinned, obviously pleased that I had liked his spiel. “Well then, there’s nothing else for us to do, is there?”

I shook my head. He held out his arm and my hand tingled. It felt like electricity ran through my blood. Did that mean that he was the one?

God, I hoped so. He had made an impression on me and very clearly wanted me. It was a very good feeling.

I took a deep breath and held it, then I raised my hand.

THELKOR

After cleaning up in the armory, I headed down to the galley. If work couldn’t distract me, food might. I was really hoping to find a decent drink, too.

I pulled out some salted nuts and some cold roasted meat. I rummaged through the cupboards, but I couldn’t find any decent liquor. I settled on a beer, promising myself that I would go through the ship with a fine-toothed comb later on. Someone had strong spirits on this ship, I was sure of it.

I sat down and devoured a few chunks of meat. I stared at the wall thoughtfully, wishing I had brought my tablet so I could watch some videos. Without something to distract myself, all I could do was think about Rachel.

Maybe it was all over. Maybe Olath had touched her and they were now a pair. What happened next? Would they be overcome with passion and do it right there in the bridge? That possibility filled me with a horrible rage.

Surely, if he weren’t a match, he would have been back before now. Maybe, if he had failed, he was staying away just to torture me. I threw a handful of nuts into my mouth and crunched them, washing them down with beer. He couldn’t torture me—I just didn’t give a fuck.

A trickle of anxiety warned me that I did actually care, maybe too much. I drank more beer and pushed the feeling away.

He’d probably matched with her and they were now getting to know each other, whatever that meant. I felt frustrated but, in the long run, I didn’t want a mate. It was all for the best. Let Olath suffer a mate who wanted to leave him for a ship once their child was born.

Just as I was nearly done talking myself down, Olath swaggered into the room, shoulders high. The satisfied grin on his face dared me to punch it.

“Well, I suppose that’s it, then?” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. A poor attempt, even to my own ears.

He strode up to the table and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow, his grin widening. “She’s a fine woman.”

I scowled. “Why are you telling me? She’s yours now, isn’t she?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I just want to rub it in, let you know what you’re missing out on.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want a mate.” I looked down at my food, trying to turn my mind back to weapons and ammo. That was my life and that was how I wanted it to stay. All of this was working out just fine and the dull pain in my chest could just fuck right off.

Olath nodded, eyeing me critically. “You’re sure about that?”

“Yes.” I looked up and gave him a piercing glare. “I’ll get my name taken off the register. I’m not the homemaking type. I’m relieved, honestly.”

I tried hard, but I couldn’t manage a light tone or an easy expression. My eyebrows kept knotting into a scowl no matter how hard I tried to untangle them.

Olath chortled and I felt the creep of a punchline coming—like I was part of a joke, but didn’t know it yet. My scowl deepened. My mouth twisted as I prepared to wreck whatever humorous event he had planned.

“Here’s the thing,” Olath said. “I didn’t match to her.”

For a few seconds, Olath’s words were the only real thing in my universe. The moment felt timeless. While I tried to absorb it, Rachel filled my mind. Long, curly black hair that would raise goosebumps when it brushed across my skin. Her beautiful, pale, long-fingered hands. Her eyes, deep blue and sparkling.

You could be looking into those eyes every day for the rest of your life.

The thought sent a bolt of pure anxiety shooting through my guts. I sat up straight and glared at Olath.

“What did you just say?” I had to hear it again.

“We didn’t match. No reaction.”

The tension in my stomach intensified. Conflict raged inside me. Part of me wanted to dash up to the bridge and crush her in my arms. The other part of me wanted to blast out of the nearest airlock.

“Then there must have been a mistake,” I said, my voice low and even. I was sure I wasn’t displaying any of my conflict.

Olath shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”

The very thought of touching her brought that hot, crawling feeling right back into my throat. She was hot. Of course I wanted to get it on with her and have babies—what male wouldn’t? She couldn’t be trusted, though. She didn’t want to make a life with one of us.

She wanted to run away on her own ship the second she had the money, whether she had a mate and kid or not. I couldn’t give myself, knowing that the relationship was ultimately doomed. Besides, she was a firecracker and I was a sarcastic bastard. All we would do is piss each other off.

“I’m not going to bother,” I said, anger rising in my voice. “There’s no point. It’s good news that we got a pilot, but the only explanation is that they made a mistake about her match.”

Even though I was trying to be cool, I had started drumming my fingers on the table.

Olath watched, smirking. “Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out. Not bothered at all, are you?”

I was bothered, and I couldn’t hide it. His shit-eating grin was almost too much for me to take, but if I exploded, I’d only prove his point. I kept my ass firmly in the chair and took a gulp of beer before returning to my food. Olath hung around to enjoy my discomfort. That I couldn’t hide it only pissed me off more.

Life was never going to be the same again and this was exactly the reason I’d never signed up for the mate match program. I didn’t want anything to change, but everything already had. Like it or not, I couldn’t go back.

RACHEL

I sat back in the pilot’s chair, thinking that it was strange how well it fit. It was a little large, but I didn’t mind. At moments like this, when the ship was secure, I could curl up in it.

Olath had taken off pretty quickly after the touch test. I was disappointed. I would have liked to have gotten to know him a bit better. I knew I had plenty of time for that, but my talk with the captain had set up a lot of hope within me.

One thought pushed at me, and even though I tried to distract myself with the beauty out the viewport, it continued beating on me like hard rain.

There’s no one left to touch.

Except for the drunken oaf who was so out of his head the doctor’d had to drop him. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. Never once did I consider the fact that there might be a mistake. I knew there couldn’t be. Maybe Storgin would find my file and we’d have confirmation.

Or, I could just touch the guy. I wasn’t really looking forward to that.

What was his fucking deal, anyway?

I thought all the aliens were looking to hook up, not just so they could finally get laid, but so they could procreate. If they didn’t start expanding their gene pool, they would die out. That was what I had heard, anyway. Didn’t he have an obligation to his race, even if he wasn’t particularly interested for his own reasons?

It baffled me the way he resisted the situation. It would have been easier to just touch each other and get it over with, but I think both of us were a bit too nervous for that at this stage.

I’ve never been one to shrink from a challenge, but I was wigged out enough that maybe I didn’t want to know. Not yet, anyway.

A great big yawn split my face, taking me by surprise. I sat up a little to take a deep breath and heard my back crack. The day had been long. We had quite a bit of time before we were anywhere near Baker VII, so I decided to track down the captain and see if there was somewhere I could bunk.

I looked over the instruments one more time to ensure everything was set to task. Satisfied with our course, I headed down the hallway. I found the galley not far away and as I arrived, Thelkor was just leaving.

Thank God for small favors, I thought. He didn’t notice me. The captain and Olath sat at a table with mugs of beer and plates of food. They waved me over.

“Rachel, sit down,” the captain said, gesturing to a chair. I smiled and sat, but what I really needed was to lie down, stretch out, and sleep.

“I’ll get you some food,” Olath said.

I shook my head. “No, really. I’m okay. I’m just looking for a bunk.”

“Nonsense,” Olath declared. “You need to eat.” He disappeared behind a nearby door, the kitchen, presumably.

“I’ll show you to the guest quarters,” Timcur said, wiping his hands and standing up.

“No, I don’t want to disturb your meal,” I protested.

He shook his head and laughed. “It’s a short walk, Rachel. My food won’t go cold. Olath!”

“Coming.” Olath emerged from the back area with a plate of fruit, nuts, and cheese. There was a nice chunk of dark bread, and he carried a tall bottle.

I wrinkled my nose. “That’s not the green tea is it? The alien stuff Timcur gave me before?”

Olath grinned. “No. It’s a spiced cider, made from something very like apples. I think you’ll like it.”

“It’s alcoholic?”

He shrugged. “Only a little.”

I took the plate and bottle and followed Timcur. He was right, the ship wasn’t that big. He led me to a nice-sized room with a wide bed and a small bathroom off to one side. It was very simple, but comfortable.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“Perfect,” I grinned at him. “I don’t need much to keep me happy.” I hurried over to the bedside table, planning to dig into the food before I lay down.

Timcur sighed with some affectation. “The more I learn about you, the more it seems like you are the perfect woman. Such a shame.” He shook his head ruefully.

I laughed. “Well, at least we can still enjoy each other’s company.”

He nodded. “I’ll be around if you need me. Don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you want. If you go through the chests over there, you’ll find some clothes, just spare shirts and things the crew or other guests have left here.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully. I had been worried about sleeping in my flight suit. Then I’d worried that if I took it off, I’d end up responding to an emergency on the bridge in my panties.

Timcur nodded goodbye and left. I sat down on the edge of the bed and started on the food. It was good, even though it was very simple. The fruit was fresh, the flavor sweet. I didn’t recognize the nuts, but they had a familiar taste, kind of like hazelnuts. The spiced cider was very good and I was careful not to drink too much, in case I did get drunk.

I lay back on the bed with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. I was so tired that my body tingled all over with relief just from lying flat. I only intended to lie still for a few minutes, then get up to shower and change, but my body had other ideas. My eyelids swooped down and I was dragged under a tide of exhaustion into a deep sleep.

THELKOR

By the next morning, I had managed to avoid Rachel entirely. I made a point of not asking anyone where she was or what she was doing, but I kept my senses sharp in case I accidentally ran into her.

I knew I should just let her touch me and get it over with, but then I would know. That knowing seemed far more confronting than continuing to avoid her, so I didn’t seek her out. When I heard Olath had given her some food and sent her to bed, I relaxed for the rest of the night.

When I woke up in the morning, it all hit me again with a cold shock. I barely had my eyes open when I remembered that she was on board and nothing had been solved. I got up slowly, listening so that I could hear anyone in the nearby rooms or in the hallway. Eventually, my need for breakfast and a hot drink drove me to the galley.

The second I walked in, Olath, Timcur, and Storgin all jumped up and screamed ‘congratulations!’ Storgin threw a handful of torn paper in the air as if it were confetti.

I scowled at him, irritated. “Were you up all night tearing up your notebook just so you could do that?”

“Well, not all night,” he said, grinning. “It was worth it just to see your face.”

“So, when’s the big moment?” Olath asked, following me over to the counter where I grabbed some food and drink.

“Where is she?” I asked, wary, wishing there was more protein on my plate. Maybe we could hit a decent restaurant around Baker VII, or a market. Human-made bacon was something which could not be replicated.

“She’s still asleep. I’m sure she’s just as keen as you are to find out. Why don’t you talk to her the second she shows up?”

I sat down at a table, tearing into a hunk of bread with my teeth. “Why don’t you go talk to her?” I shot back.

He shrugged. “I’m happy to. She’s a nice girl and you’d know that if you gave her a chance.”

I closed my eyes and sighed, turning my face up to the ceiling. I willed myself to have strength.

“I’d rather not. We aren’t mates, it’s a mistake. We have a pilot, we’re on a mission, that’s the only thing I need to think about.”

“That’s what I need to think about,” Timcur disagreed. “I’m off right now to check the messages and monitor the channels. All you need to do is keep your trigger finger ready so you can use it when I order you to.” He made a pistol motion with one hand and left the room.

“I’ve got to back him up,” Olath said. “There will be a lot of intel to go through.”

As Olath left the room, Storgin stood up too. “I’m still working on some things. I’m sure you can finish breakfast by yourself.”

“You guys are all acting like you have sticks up your butts,” I muttered.

Storgin paused and looked into my face with very serious eyes. “We assume that you’ve won the prize, Thelkor. Whatever you might think of her, to us she looks like a dream come true. You’re the only male left, so she must be your match.” He shrugged.

I threw down my handful of bread and grunted angrily. “It’s a mistake, like I said. Don’t get too attached. As soon as this mission is over, we can send her back wherever she’s supposed to be.”

Storgin sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t get you, man.”

I finished my food, thinking that I didn’t really ‘get’ me, either. I hurried back to the armory and cleaned up the mess I had made the day before, spending time putting my favorite rifle back together. Today, I was able to focus on it. Maybe I was less rattled than yesterday.

Okay, I was still pretty rattled. Today, I was calmer, though, and thinking about the problem objectively.

I was still pretty pissed with the captain for signing me up without my permission. I was even more pissed that they had sent someone here by mistake. It could all be over with one simple touch, but the idea filled me with so much dread, I knew that wouldn’t be happening. At least, not today.

As I slowly turned a small screw deep inside the rifle, I thought about what I would do if she just walked up and asked to touch me. That was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe she felt just like I did and she didn’t want to touch me. That was an encouraging idea.

I slapped the gun together, pleased with how clean it was. I felt satisfied and that turned my thoughts away from my current situation. Maybe this was all going to work out. I had a mission to attend to and I probably wouldn’t see that much of her. It was a non-issue.

The comm crackled to life and I jumped a little. I’d been off in my own world, and now reality was knocking. It made me long for a tall, stiff glass of gin.

“Attention crew. Goldie is approaching Baker VII. Zarklac’s ship is docked to Diana’s Arrow and they are set to depart in twenty-four hours. All crew, report to the galley.”

I stood up, quickly stowing away my stuff. A bit of action was just what I needed to take my mind off all this. If I focused on the mission, I wouldn’t notice the conflict in my heart.

RACHEL

I hurried to the galley as soon as I heard Timcur’s announcement. I’d returned to check the ship’s instruments a few times and I knew there was no need to rush. Goldie was a good little ship and she didn’t need too much help from me.

I zipped into my flight suit, relieved that I had woken up to change into comfortable clothes before I’d slept in it too long. Knowing I had a ship to care for woke me up at certain intervals, as if something called out to me to check all the numbers before I rested again.

When I got to the galley, they were all gathered there. I tried to resist looking at Thelkor, but failed. When he frowned and turned his gaze away, I did the same, somehow disgruntled, as if I’d been rebuffed.

Why do you even care? I admonished myself sternly. It doesn’t matter how cute he is, he’s clearly a dick. I’m just pissed he caught me looking.

Storgin brought me a steaming cup and I sniffed it suspiciously.

“What is it?”

“It’s coffee,” he grinned. “I promise.”

I took an enthusiastic sip. “So, you guys were holding out on me all this time?”

He laughed. “Not all of us like it. It’s possible we forgot we even had it.”

“I don’t care,” I muttered around the rim of the cup. “Keep it coming.”

He gave me a thumbs up, then settled at the table. Timcur raised an eyebrow, looking us over.

“Are you ready?” he asked, with some impatience. He wasn’t really upset, just keen to get down to business. I sat down, gripping my coffee, and sipped slowly.

“The first thing we should address is the matter of Rachel’s match. Since everyone else has tried, and nothing has happened, Thelkor must be her mate.”

“Or there was a mistake,” Thelkor said sharply.

I sat up straight like something had bit me on the ass. Could that be possible?

“Mistakes are rare, Thelkor,” Timcur said.

He scowled, and I suddenly felt like a mistake might be the best thing that could’ve happened right now. Before anyone could suggest I touch the grumpy alien, I quickly spoke up.

“Rare, but not impossible,” I said. “I think it’s very fair to assume there’s a mistake here.”

Thelkor met my gaze, his eyes filled with a mixture of emotions I’d never seen. Desperate longing, yet hostility, too. I wasn’t about to push through that much temper to find out what was underneath. If he wanted to push me away, I had no complaints.

“I’m not convinced,” Timcur said. “But we have pressing matters right now. We can sort out your mate business later. We are not far from Baker VII. We will be docking with Diana’s Arrow.”

“Openly?” asked Olath. “Do we have an official signature?”

“Yes, but we’re a small ship. Even if Zarklac is monitoring who is coming and going—which is nearly impossible on a ship that size—he won’t even notice us.”

Olath nodded. “Then what?”

“Then we split up and search Diana’s Arrow for him. He will be stuck there for a while because Diana’s Arrow has a lot of business to do before she moves out of that port. He’s hoping to get lost in the crowd, but we have to get him before he changes ships.”

That all sounded a bit like spy stuff to me, and I was relieved I was just a pilot.

“So, I’ll be staying with Goldie, then?” I asked, sitting back with my coffee.

“No.” Timcur shook his head, a little surprised. “We’ll be docked. No piloting needed. We need you to join the search mission.”

Ohkaay, one day I’m a nobody, the next I’m an intergalactic spy. Why not?

“But won’t you need someone here, at home base?”

“We do,” Timcur said. “It’s Storgin. He’ll be in charge of teleporting and supplies and monitoring our situation. We can’t leave you to do that, you’re not familiar enough with the procedures yet.”

“Okay,” I said softly, trying to sound confident. What was I supposed to do if I caught the guy?

I looked around the table, relieved I would most likely be paired with Olath or Timcur. They were senior officers, so they’d probably split to maintain chain of command or something.

“Okay, I’ll be with Olath as strike team one,” Timcur said, shattering my sensible inner monologue. “Thelkor, you’re with Rachel as strike team two.”

“Is that a joke?” Thelkor growled, his voice low. He glanced between Olath and Timcur.

“Yeah, it’s not funny,” I agreed.

Timcur shook his head. “No, it’s not a joke. I have a good reason for doing this. I want you all to get ready to go, we’re moving out as soon as we get there.”

“I need to organize some weapons,” Thelkor said, getting up from the table without looking at me.

I nodded. “I’ll be in the pilot’s chair, making sure we dock safely.”

I quickly left the room, heading to the one place on the whole ship I felt truly comfortable. At least in the pilot’s chair, I knew exactly what to do. There, it didn’t matter how hairy things got, I could handle it.

Running around a big spaceport with a guy I didn’t trust, to track down a very dangerous criminal was definitely not a place I felt comfortable. I didn’t protest or sulk, though. I thought over my skills and my life, and decided this wasn’t such a bad turn. I just wished I had gotten a different partner for my first military mission.

THELKOR

As we got closer to Baker VII, the tension rose throughout the ship. There was a lot of excitement, lots of anticipation, because each and every one of us believed that today was the day we were going to catch him.

I slapped weapons together, knowing we would need small, discreet guns to carry at the port. As much as I would have loved to take some big rifles, you couldn’t just walk into a busy tourist trap armed to the teeth.

I thought about Rachel while my fingers moved smoothly over shells and casings. I selected knives and belts while imagining her deep blue eyes and that defiant little head-toss she did when she thought about insulting me.

I grinned at myself. How did I know what she was thinking about? I was just guessing, projecting. It surprised me. It surprised me almost as much as the fact that I was looking forward to spending some time with her.

If she weren’t my mate—and I was sure she wasn’t—then it would be worth getting to know each other, a little anyway. She might be our pilot for a while, and we couldn’t spend every day of our lives glaring at each other from across the room.

It didn’t matter what reasonable explanation I came up with, I knew deep down I just wanted to look at her… to be near her. I’d create any excuse in the universe just to watch her smile, to see her eyes light up. The thought frustrated me so much I dropped a whole handful of shells and had to crawl around on the deck picking them up.

While I was down there, Timcur announced for us to meet in the galley again. It took a few minutes to get myself organized and when I arrived, I was surprised to see Rachel in a pretty blue gown. It was fairly casual, not formal, but it tucked in at her waist, swooped low on her breasts, and caressed her calves in a filmy, light fabric.

I was stuck between complimenting her on how good she looked and admonishing her for wearing something like that on a mission. The two feelings collided in me so hard, I found I couldn’t say anything at all.

“Okay,” Timcur announced. “Let’s go over this. It’s a big port and we have a lot of ground to cover. Zarklac could be hiding out in a dark corner or he could be at a big table in a fancy restaurant. No one knows what his strategy is. What we do know is, he is definitely there, and some people will have seen them.”

“Is this supposed to be a pep talk?” Rachel muttered.

Timcur gave a small smile. “No, it’s not. The fact that this place is so crowded makes our job very difficult. We can’t swoop in with guns blazing. We can’t sweep the crowd or fire at him if we see him. Hell, even apprehending him in front of other tourists might prove a challenge. We have no idea if he’s got guards with him or not.”

I gritted my teeth, wishing I could have brought more weapons. Could Rachel handle a gun? Could she fit one under that dress?

Of course. There is a gorgeous dip right under and between her breasts that would fit a tiny pistol in it perfectly.

I blinked hard and looked at the deck, a bit angry she had changed into a dress. It was really distracting me, and the only thing I could do about it was get frustrated.

“Olath and I will be working through military channels,” Timcur explained. “If Zarklac detects anything, it will be us. We need to inform certain security sectors who we are and what we’re doing. We will be looking for him, of course, but our main mission is to help you guys go undetected. You’ll be undercover.”

Rachel’s face fell, then twisted. She knew something about this I didn’t know. She smoothed the skirt of her dress with a nervous gesture.

“Undercover?” I asked, confused. I was in uniform, ready to knock on doors and bust heads. What was I going to be doing, if not that?

I glanced at Rachel again, the dress continuing to bug me. I was starting to get a bad feeling about all of this. Rachel shot me a look and it felt like it hit me square in the chest.

“It’s perfect,” Olath said, grinning at me. “We came up with it this morning. I think it’s brilliant.”

“What?” I asked, my voice low.

“You’ll need to get changed,” Timcur said casually. He looked me up and down. “If you don’t have any casual clothes, there will be some in the chests in the guest room. We’ll get you guys some cameras and fanny packs. Looking the part isn’t enough, though, you guys will have to get comfortable being closer to each other. You can’t pull off this cover if you stay on opposite sides of the room.”

Discomfort lodged in my chest like an icy spike.

“What are we doing?” I asked carefully. Part of me didn’t want to know.

“It’s brilliant, like I said.” Olath grinned. “You’ll be able to get in anywhere, talk to anyone. It’s an excellent way to strike up a conversation with officials, and, ultimately, find out Zarklac’s docking number. You’ll blend in perfectly.”

“What is our cover?” I asked again, ready to explode.

Timcur turned to me with a sly smile. “Newlyweds on a honeymoon, of course. Hurry up and get changed, we don’t have much time.”

RACHEL

We left Goldie docked with Storgin and headed out into the crowd. Thelkor looked very bright and casual in a pair of loose green pants and a black T shirt with a palm tree on it. He had a camera hung around his neck and a fanny pack with lots of pockets. He’d only agreed to wear it after I showed him how many weapons would fit in it.

I was far worse off, with only a medium-sized purse hanging from a thin strap. I had a taser and a comm device, and that was it. If I got into any serious action, I’d be toast.

We came from the dock that held the Goldie and joined a crowd of people flowing towards the retail areas. I saw some security guards by one of the airlock doors and hurried towards them. I reached out and tried to grab Thelkor’s hand, but he jerked it away from me.

I stopped and scowled, hands on my hips. “We’re supposed to be newlyweds, Thelkor!” I hissed.

He nodded, looking nervous. “Yeah, just don’t touch me.”

I narrowed my eyes. If he was so sure we weren’t a match, touching me shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. Of course, we both knew I could be his mate. This guy was confusing the hell out of me, mostly because I couldn’t stop thinking about how cute he looked in a fanny pack.

I grinned and reached out, carefully only touching him lightly on the chest where his T-shirt blocked our skin from touching. I smiled up into his eyes.

“C’mon, honey, I want to go talk to those guys over there.” I gestured as if I were taking his hand, then headed over to the security guards. There were three of them and they were standing around casually, hands in their pockets. One was smoking a cigarette as they laughed together, shooting the breeze.

“Hi,” I gushed as I neared them. One was definitely human, one I wasn’t sure of, and the other definitely was not human, but he didn’t look like any alien I’d ever seen, with dark purple skin and a really pointy nose. I grinned wider to cover my surprise.

“Do you guys work on the ferry?” I asked enthusiastically.

They gave us indulgent smiles and one of them looked over my head at Thelkor. To my surprise, they both rolled their eyes and gave me a sidelong glance.

Great, he’s got the exasperated husband look all figured out already.

“Yeah, we do,” the purple guy said. “Are you a passenger?”

“Yeah! I’m on my honeymoon! It’s so exciting, isn’t it?” I wished that I could grab Thelkor’s arm and hang from it for effect, but he’d flinch and give us away.

“Is there anything we can do for you, little lady?” the human asked.

“Oh!” I clasped my hands to my chest. “The workers in a place always know where to go for the best food and drink.” My cheeks started to hurt from the fake exuberance. “I just wanted to get the scoop from you.”

They described their favorite bars and restaurants while I nodded and wrote things down. They were just about ready to walk off when I cleared my throat and took a furtive look around.

“Hey, guys?” I asked quietly. “Since you’re in security, I was wondering…” I stepped closer, whispering. “Do you know if there are any Suhlik around?”

My question garnered an instant response. The guys looked at each other, then at me.

“There are a couple,” the purple alien said. “They try to hide, but we can usually spot them. If they’re all alone, they aren’t much trouble. Why, little lady?”

“Well, I just got married,” I pouted. “And I don’t want to get stolen by a lizard and forced to mate with them. I’ve heard all kinds of stories.”

“Well, don’t worry your pretty head,” the human said. “Any reports of Suhlik here, even rumors, have them headed to the north quarter. It’s the busiest and it has a lot of black market action. A great place for them to hide because wealthy passengers like to visit some of the shops there. You stay on this side of the port and you have nothing to worry about.”

I smiled at him and he smiled back indulgently.

“Enjoy your holiday, dear,” the alien said. “Leave worrying about the Suhlik to the professionals.”

They wandered away and I blended back into the crowd with Thelkor, and we headed towards the food market. Along the way, I randomly struck up conversations with people, and more than once managed to find a man in uniform—a captain or first officer.

The gossip was pretty solid. There were a few Suhlik around. The sightings were too sketchy to call out a massive search, but one thing was clear—they had gone towards the north quadrant.

“We might as well pull in here and get something to eat,” Thelkor said as we came to the edge of the square. “You’ve been doing great with the intel. Maybe we could even ask the vendors.”

“Great idea,” I agreed. “They work here every day. They’ll know if anything’s out of the ordinary.”

I came close to Thelkor again, almost reaching for his hand. He pulled it away at the last second. Pretending to be lovers was a lot harder than I’d thought it would be.

I sighed, distracting myself by looking at the food. Clearly, Thelkor and I didn’t get along, so us not being a match really was for the best. We were awkward as hell and we were just acting. Imagine actually kissing him!

Flutters ran through my belly. Okay, maybe imagining that wasn’t such a great idea.

I focused instead on the nearby vendors and deciding who to pump for information. My mind was full of intel from the people I had already spoken to, my gushing enthusiasm easily encouraging people to open up to me. I might even be good at this spy stuff.

I decided to congratulate myself if we actually found him. Here in the food market, I had plenty of potential targets to question.

I turned my attention from tourists and military guys to the small groups of skinny kids hanging around at the edges of the court. Urchins like that knew everything that was going on both above and underground—and they gave their secrets up fairly cheaply.

THELKOR

I sat down at a table with Rachel, both of us carrying cardboard packages of burgers and fries. I’d gotten a serving of roasted roaches and wings and my mouth was watering—I hadn’t eaten these things for ages.

Rachel took one look in the box and shuddered. “I’ll stick with fries and a cheeseburger, thank you very much.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself. They’re very good.”

“I know that some cultures turned to insects for protein when other animals weren’t viable, but I didn’t think you guys had to.”

I crunched down a few roaches. “We didn’t. I tried these once at an exotic port. They are a delicacy in some places. I was surprised by how good they were.”

She shook her head, stuffing a few fries into her mouth. I kept eating the crunchy bugs, sweeping my eyes around the crowd.

I had to admit, this girl had some talent for gathering intel. Her open, friendly manner enchanted people so that they were honest with her without even meaning to be. When she crouched down and whispered to some local kids, I got frustrated, thinking she had gone soft. Then I realized she was including them in her ‘game’ to find a certain Suhlik. The kids were all over it.

“You do alright at this,” I said, grudgingly. “Intelligence gathering, I mean. You’ve done well.”

“You think so?” she asked, taking a huge bite of her burger. “I’m just winging it. Figuring out who to talk to is half the battle. It’s easy to get them to talk, though.”

“Easy for you,” I laughed. “Trust me, not everyone has that kind of luck.”

She took a sip from her drink, her red lips curving delicately around the straw as she sucked up icy cold soda.

“Are you telling me that you couldn’t have done a better job?”

“That’s not what I said.” I finished my bugs and moved on to some hot wings. “I said you’re good. I never said you were better than me.”

We fell into a slightly awkward silence. I didn’t want to admit that she might be better than me. It was hardly a fair competition, though. In that dress, she looked bright, fresh, and innocent. Everyone she met trusted her instantly. I couldn’t shake my tough-guy image, no matter how many fanny packs I wore.

I knew she was a good addition to the team and it might be worth keeping her as our pilot. We had always been a small crew and having members that can multitask was essential. If she could fly, as well as work military ops… she would be very valuable. Not a single interview back at Shackleton had given me any confidence we could find someone like that, but it seemed Rachel was the full package.

My eyes slipped down and paused over her cleavage.

Enough about how well-wrapped a package she is.

“You’re a good pilot, too,” I said, a bit absently. “It was a nice swing around Mars. You did well in the asteroid field, but have you ever been in a starship battle?”

She gave me a look over her burger.

“Do you mean big warships firing on each other? No. I’ve not had the experience. Maybe, someday soon, we’ll run into some trouble and I can really give you a show.”

I could tell by her tone and the look in her eye she was teasing me. If she had handled the asteroid belt and taken us around Mars at the optimum speed, there was a good chance she could navigate heavy fire, as well.

I remembered her sitting in the pilot’s chair as we came close to the red planet, that moment of suspension before the thrusters kicked in, and the exuberance on her face as her eyes flashed with excitement. She knew how to fly, no doubt.

She turned away to look across the court and I examined her profile for a few seconds. I wondered what had made her so tough, what combination of events had earned her those skills and made her so adaptable. Suddenly she was so much more to me than a gorgeous body and a pretty face. I felt a deep desire to know her, to hear all her secrets.

She wasn’t paying any attention to me and I reminded myself that she was out of here the second she could be. She wanted money and her own ship—she didn’t care about us. But… the profile of a cold, ambitious woman who would abandon her own child didn’t fit anymore. So, who was she?

I couldn’t help wondering if she had any questions about me. I looked at her hand resting on the table and raised my own, very nearly, but not quite, touching her. I took my hand back swiftly and was relieved that she had not noticed.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I stuffed a few hot wings into my mouth to shut myself up. While I was chewing, a little kid scurried up to the table and Rachel greeted him warmly.

“Ah, Denison,” she said sweetly. I was shocked she remembered his name. She pulled out a few coins and gave them to him.

“Did you check the north quarter for the Suhlik?”

The kid nodded and handed her a small, smudged piece of paper.

“We got it, Rachel. We’re everywhere, and no one notices us.”

“Good job, Denison. Here, take some food.” She handed over her extra bag of fries. “I’ll be hanging around for a little while, if you need me.”

He nodded eagerly then disappeared into the crowd, happily hugging his free meal and hard-won coins.

I raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck is all that about?”

“That is our mission, tough guy,” she laughed. She held up the piece of paper. “Zarklac just booked a passage on a smuggler’s ship. The urchins got me the docking port, teleport code, and a copy of their itinerary.” She beamed happily.

I chewed down my hot wings and washed them down with some cold beer. I’d underestimated her, even when I thought she was good at this, I was underestimating her. I was starting to get the feeling that, no matter how well I got to know her, she would always surprise me.

RACHEL

I finished my burger in a few mouthfuls and wiped my hands clean. When I jumped up from my seat and started clearing up, Thelkor gave me a look of surprise.

“You’re in a hurry,” he said.

I frowned. “Aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“We got the guy. We’ve got his location, and we know exactly where he’s going. Don’t you want to go after him?”

He shook his head. “We need to inform Captain Timcur and get Olath and Storgin to back us up. It’s too dangerous on our own.”

I tried not to, but I frowned at him. Without any conscious effort, my curled fists found their way to my hips.

At least we really do look married.

“What if my intel isn’t on task? We got it from a street kid. We need to get up there and confirm the details.”

He drained his beer, giving me a look. “Okay. You could be right there.”

“I mean, what if we get up there and, instead of it being a smuggler’s ship, it’s a shipment of furniture polish or something?”

“That would be a good cover for a smuggler,” he said absently.

“But we won’t know that unless we get some more intel.”

He practically groaned, starting to pack up his own meal. “I really think we should check in with the others.”

“Look!” I snapped. “No one will suspect me. I’ve been doing great so far, right?”

“Yes,” he said hesitantly.

“All I have to do is wander in, have a chat with anyone that’s around, and come back out again. It’ll be easy. Then we can call the others.”

“What if it is a smuggler’s ship, and they try to smuggle you?”

I grinned at him. “You can come and rescue me.”

He nodded, frowning. “It would be a lot easier with the other guys backing me up.”

“And what if they are right on Zarklac’s tail right now? They could be about to intercept, and our info could be wrong. Then you’d be pulling them out of a legitimate mission for a wild goose chase.”

He sighed in exasperation and stood up, crumpling the garbage into a big ball. “Okay, okay. Let’s check it out.”

I helped him clear up the empty containers, then we went through the food court to the long docking bays down the other side of the complex. I wasn’t completely sure the kids had given me the right information—they were just hungry street kids.

They probably worked tourists for cash all the time. It would be too easy for them to fool me and I knew it.

No, we needed some kind of evidence that shady deals were going on at that dock. Ships came and went so rapidly from the Starferry, it was the perfect place to hide a smuggling ship and a criminal Suhlik. It wouldn’t take much to find out if they were dirty.

I hadn’t been at this long, but I had confidence I could get them to talk.

“Do you realize just how fast this can go bad?” Thelkor asked softly. “If they are criminals, they might just kill you, even if you are a harmless tourist.”

I shrugged. “That’s what I’ve got you for. They can’t just shoot me at the main dock. They’d give themselves away.”

“There are quieter ways of dispatching people.” His voice was so low it forced me to look at him. His dark, troubled eyes reminded me he was a soldier—potentially a very violent male. It hadn’t really occurred to me.

He’s the gunner. There’s no telling what he’s done.

The idea unsettled and turned me on at the same time. I shook my head, focusing on moving through the crowd. People thinned as we got near the long rows of docking bays. It wasn’t a fun place to hang out, although there were a few people gathered with bags at their feet. They must be waiting for a connection and didn’t have time to go and play in between trips.

Not far from the dock for which we searched was a teleport pad. It was meant to bring passengers from further away in the resort to this docking area, but it could also teleport someone into the main dock. I narrowed my eyes, thinking there were too many guys hanging around here.

It looks like they’re guarding it.

None of them wore official uniforms. They all looked tough and shifty, though they made every attempt to appear relaxed. A couple of them stopped to talk and one pointed down the dock a short way.

Thelkor slipped into a shadow cast by a nearby support beam and nodded. He was out of sight but close enough to hear anything going down. I tossed my hair and smiled, striding right up to the small gathering of men.

My stomach twisted as I walked out into the open and they all turned and looked at me at the same time. I clutched my purse, knowing that one taser couldn’t help me against all these big guys.

“Hi,” I said shyly, waving. “Are you guys from one of these ships? Do you know if there is a supply of duck eggs coming in for the black-tie event?”

I had no idea if there was a black-tie event. I’d never eaten a duck egg. The one thing I’d learned so far with intel: you couldn’t go wrong starting with the most random question you could think of. It threw your target off guard, so they were more likely to tell the truth.

Or so I hoped. It hadn’t failed me so far.

THELKOR

From around the side of the support beam, I kept my eyes on Rachel. I didn’t want to move further away in case she needed me, so I stayed in the cluster of shadows by the joint of the wall.

I watched her standing in the small circle of guys, her sparkling eyes turned up and her sweet, red lips curled in a smile. She looked so innocent and free, somehow wild. It was a far cry from the tough woman I’d seen so skillfully navigating to swing us around Mars.

The guys were thoroughly engaged. It only took a moment for me to realize my fists were clenched and my face had grown stern. I didn’t like this, even though she was obviously doing a great job at keeping them interested.

I slipped back behind the pillar again, taking a deep breath and holding it until I felt dizzy. There was no need to stress out—nothing was going on here. These might be shady guys, especially if they were hanging around a ship used for smuggling, but no one was drawing weapons, so they obviously didn’t feel threatened by Rachel.

I wanted to argue with her that I was just as good at infiltration as she was, but the truth was, I’d be smashing heads by now. There’s no way a Vaznik warrior could walk up to a bunch of tough guys on a rough dock just to ‘chat’. I had to grudgingly admit she had a skill I didn’t have.

When I stole another look around the corner, they were all laughing. Rachel bounced on her toes a little, getting excited about something they said and pointing back towards the resort. It sounded like they were recommending something to her. I was caught between admiring her skill and worrying for her safety when she reached out and touched one of the guys on the arm.

It was only a light touch on his upper arm. I saw her fingers spread out as she gave him a squeeze, then stepped away again. I wanted to get back behind cover, but my eyes were fixed on Rachel.

I realized I was holding my breath again. I exhaled and started breathing again, this time too fast. My legs and arms began to tingle. I double-checked that she was still comfortably talking, then ducked out of the way again.

“Everything’s fine. Everything’s just fine,” I said softly to myself. My fingers twitched. I wished I was holding a gun. I felt naked without a big rifle, even if I did have plenty of smaller weapons.

I was afraid to look back now. If I saw her touch one of them again, I might just walk in there and start blasting. The mission and my orders seemed to pale into the distance when I saw Rachel getting close to those guys. I was out of my head and I fucking knew it.

So, just touch her. Then you’ll know.

The longer I waited to do it, the worse it became. Initially, it was just a stubborn denial. I didn’t want to risk everything I had for a mate who potentially wouldn’t stay with me. Then I’d feared what would happen if she left. Now that I’d been close to her, spent time in her presence, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Just looking at her conjured sensation in my hands and body, as if I could feel her skin under mine. The great waves of jealousy and possession surprised me, but I didn’t fight it.

I want her to be mine.

That thought lay under everything else, in the core of my being, where it could stay hidden by a ton of denial. Touching her was far too potentially painful, now. I didn’t think I could bear to be so close and, yet, so far.

I tensed my muscles, relaxing as I opened my eyes. Looking up the main passageway, I saw a few tough-looking guys in robes. From their builds, I knew instinctively they were Suhlik. My eyes swiveled frantically back to Rachel, then up the passageway again.

Her back was turned towards the other end of the docking bay as she smiled and laughed with the guys. She couldn’t see the Suhlik coming.

This could go bad very fast.

It was a good sign, in a way. It meant that Zarklac couldn’t be too far away. I wondered if these guys were with him on his team, or if they were just hired guns not knowing who they worked for.

It made me wonder—if the Suhlik said to kill the girl or capture her, would they? Were these the kinds of criminals that could speak to you one moment and stab you the next?

I didn’t want to find out.

As the Suhlik drew closer and closer, my stomach twisted into greater knots until I couldn’t stay still. I came out from behind the pillar, my arms wide.

“Darling!” I announced, ignoring the guys and the approaching Suhlik. I acted as if I only had eyes for Rachel, which was easy. She turned and smiled at me.

“Sweetie!” she exclaimed. “I was just telling these guys—”

“No time for that, my love.” I reached out, almost touching her but not quite. “We have to get going now, or we’ll be late.”

“Of course,” she said. “I almost forgot. Bye, guys, thank you for all the great tips.”

I wished I could grab her hand, or tuck her under my arm to rush her out of there even faster, but touching her became more difficult by the minute. The longer I went without my skin coming into contact with hers, the more I wished for my tattoos to blaze star white and seal us together for all time.

RACHEL

We hurried away, leaving the dock behind. I saw several Suhlik coming up the passageway and was relieved Thelkor had intervened when he had. Even though I was sure I was in pretty safe territory, I didn’t want to be that close to a smuggling ship with Suhlik coming up behind me.

The docking area was fairly empty, but we stayed quiet until closer to the resort area, just so nothing we discussed could be overheard. It was getting harder and harder to pull off this newlywed vibe without touching him, but I was getting even more reluctant to do that.

I was enjoying getting to know him. Even though it had been difficult to get past his hard exterior, he seemed to be loosening up, and I liked what I saw. Once we touched each other, I’d know for certain, and I wasn’t ready for that knowledge. It was too final.

Thelkor slowed near a stream of people who were headed to a nearby dock and looked around, an expression of pleasant bemusement on his face. He must be dying to know what I’d found out, but he was playing it cool. I guess he really was good at this stuff, but it was obvious to me that my feminine charms gave me an edge.

“We have to move fast,” I muttered. “It looks like things are heating up.”

He nodded and walked me over to a small garden where he pulled out a big map. He unfolded it and stretched it out between us until we were hidden behind it with the garden at our backs.

“I know they probably didn’t suspect anything,” he said softly. “But, just in case, I want to bolster our cover. If anyone’s following us, they will probably give up when they see we’re lost at the main dock.”

I giggled. He had a point, and I liked his strategy.

“You were over there for a while,” he said, a hard edge creeping into his voice.

“They were real macho types. Once I got them talking, they couldn’t stop themselves from showing off.”

I was laughing, thinking about how great all this had gone and that all those security guards had seen me as a harmless girl, when Thelkor turned to look at me. The look in his eyes stopped my laughter in my chest as if my breath had been stolen. His eyes were wide and dark, quite possibly furious… or hurt?

“Did you have to touch them?” he whispered. “Like, all of them. So far, every man you’ve questioned, you’ve touched.”

I frowned. “I patted them on the arm or shoulder, yeah. It’s classic misdirection. If I saw them checking out my body or giving me that smile, of course I pushed it with a little touch. It worked, didn’t it? They all loosened up to me.”

“You’re on your honeymoon, and you’re flirting,” he said.

I laughed. “That was not flirting! Loose physical boundaries can mean lots of things and when that’s coupled with a wide-eyed enthusiasm, people think it adds up to childish… harmlessness. It makes people indulgent.”

Thelkor frowned, and I realized this was about to become a thing. I couldn’t touch him. He wasn’t going to touch me. But I wasn’t allowed to touch anyone else. I sighed, groaning in disbelief.

“We don’t have time,” I hissed. “The Suhlik ship that Zarklac arrived on is only going to be in dock for a few hours. Most of the officers think he’s still on it. The smuggler’s ship was paid for passage to the next stop and it’ll be leaving the Suhlik ship behind.”

“Where is he?” Thelkor snapped, and it was obvious he was covering his feelings about other things by focusing on the mission.

“Well, opinion has been mixed so far. He’s clever. Some sources have said he’s still on the Suhlik ship, waiting here. Others say he went straight to the smuggler’s ship and is there now.”

“You got all this from those guys?”

“No, this is all the information I have from the other sources. Those guys mentioned that Zarklac is in one of the seedy bars in the lower levels.”

“How did you get them to tell you that?” he asked, incredulous.

I giggled. “I used my line about being scared of Suhlik. I said I was coming this way wondering if any were coming with the ferry for the next passage, so I could avoid them. The guys puffed up their chests and told me about the really scary Suhlik and how they could protect me, because only they knew where he was.”

“Could be bullshit.”

“So could every story we’ve heard so far. We have a possible location, which is better than nothing. Those urchins did say Suhlik loved to hang out in the dirty areas.”

“The first guards did, too. Maybe ‘north quadrant’ means ‘bad area’.”

I nodded. “What are we going to do? I think we should charge on down there.”

“No, we did it your way enough times now. We can’t just crash into one of those bars—do you have any idea how tough those guys are?”

“We can just slip in, have a drink. You know—blend in.”

He laughed. “There’s no blending in for tourists like us in a place like that. We’d stick out like we were covered in glow paint. There’s no possible way we could get in there as we are.”

“So, what do you think we should do?” I was a bit pissed he was shutting me down, but he was probably right. Lower-level bars were not like public docking areas. Completely different rules.

“I’m going to contact the captain.” He reached for his comm device. “The best thing to do is regroup and get new orders.”

Just before he opened the comm line, he shot me a very hard look. It reminded me we never finished talking about me touching other guys. I wondered what more he had to say about it—and why it mattered to me.

THELKOR

Captain Timcur opened comm immediately on my call. He sounded breathless, possibly even worried. I guessed he and Olath weren’t having much luck.

“Report,” he said, voice gruff.

“We have intel, Timcur. We know where Zarklac is and where he’s going. He’s reported to be in a bar on the lower levels and we know which ship he’ll be moving to when he leaves. Orders?”

“We need to get him at the bar, now,” Timcur said, urgently but quietly. “We can’t let him get on a ship where he’s backed up by his criminal forces.”

“Understood. Where are you?”

I heard Olath in the background and Timcur spoke to him briefly.

“We’re at the library.”

I wasn’t sure I heard right. Rachel was giggling.

“The library?” I asked.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Timcur snapped. “The library would be a great place to hide. We would expect to find him in a seedy bar.”

Rachel nodded, grinning.

I shrugged. “Okay. It will take us a little bit of time to get down to that level and you won’t be able to back us up for a while. Are you on the move now?”

“Yes, once I get Olath out of the asteroid mineral mining section,” Timcur sighed.

“Don’t worry about a thing, boss,” I said. “We’ll have him apprehended by the time you get there.”

“Good job, Thelkor, we’re on your tail.”

“Over—”

“Wait!” Rachel exploded in a hushed whisper. “What the fuck?”

I held the comm device awkwardly, looking between it and Rachel. “What?”

“You’re telling me the plan is to just go charging in there and fight every dude that stands up?”

I stared at her for a few moments, feeling my brow slowly furrowing a bit more with each passing second.

“Well, they won’t all stand up,” I said thoughtfully. “Most will be drunk and there’s a very high sense of self-preservation in those kinds of guys. No one’s going to stick their neck out for Zarklac, that’s for sure.”

She sighed, almost rolling her eyes. “He’ll have guards, won’t he?”

“Well, probably, but—”

“And if anyone, anyone at all, gets up to throw themselves on you, that’s it, our target’s out the back door because you got into a fistfight and started a brawl.”

“It’s not likely, Rachel,” Timcur said through the hissing comm.

“It could happen. Do you really think Thelkor should risk taking on the entire bar by himself?”

“I’m capable of handling myself and however many enemies want to come at me!” I was getting a bit loud, risking our cover. She reached out and almost touched me, then raised her finger and did a ‘shush’ motion instead.

“We need to wait for you and Olath, Captain,” she said softly into the comm. “Otherwise, we risk losing the target entirely.”

“But he could move before we get there,” Timcur said. “We need to get him now, while he’s hanging out down there. It will only take him seconds to teleport to that pad, then he’s gone, and we’ll never get him. Not at this port, anyway, not on this mission.”

I nodded, looking into her eyes. “You have to trust me, Rachel. I can get in there and take care of Zarklac. Timcur and Olath will be right behind us and I can handle one slimy Suhlik on my own.” I was starting to act indignant and I realized it was because I was slightly insulted.

“The rest of the bar?” she asked. “What if they do start a brawl?”

“I’ll focus on Zarklac,” I said, confused.

“We’re on the move,” Timcur cut in. “I want you guys down there ASAP, do you hear me? Get eyes on Zarklac now and find out how far he is from a teleporter. We have to intercept him now.”

I got up and started organizing myself to leave. My head filled with images of us disappearing under a bunch of bodies in a seedy bar while Zarklac walked off, laughing. Sure, most of the guys would be too drunk to fight and why would they defend another dirt bag? What I was worried about was random guys picking a fight with a Vaznik just for the fuck of it.

Rachel could be right.

“Didn’t you say we would stick out like we were covered in glow paint?” she said, exasperated. “Literally just a few minutes ago, you said that we couldn’t just walk into a place like that or we’d get attacked.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “But I’m not so worried about maintaining cover now. I’m just going to walk in there and kick his ass.”

“Timcur, how far away are you?” she asked.

“Still navigating the upper-level, heading for the nearest transport pad.”

“In front of us, there’s a big department store with a big fashion section. Would you agree to meet us there?” She looked worried he was going to say ‘no’.

“I don’t know, Rachel,” Timcur said. “I really like the idea of Thelkor getting down there and keeping him still with a foot on his neck until we can get there.”

“I get that. But I know a way to do this without risking the mission.”

There was a heavy silence. I could guess my puzzled expression was probably being worn by Olath and Timcur, as well.

“Just meet us at the department store,” she said, trying not to be too pushy. “At the very least, we’ll end up getting to the bar together and that’s a better plan than Thelkor going against the entire bar by himself.”

“Alright,” Timcur said shortly. “We’ll meet you there. You’ve done well so far, Rachel. I’ll trust you.”

I felt relief in my chest. Not only did I not want the mission to go to hell, but there was also no way I wanted Rachel walking into a place like that with only me, not enough weapons, and just my bravado to protect us.

RACHEL

We headed into the department store and took our time walking through the fashion section. It had any style one could possibly desire, from one end of the galaxy to another. I paused to admire a strange dress with curling tendrils that had bells on the ends. It looked like it had more than two sleeves.

Must be for girls with tentacles, I thought. I had no doubt that there were ladies somewhere in the universe that had tentacles and also liked to be pretty. It was amazing what the blend of cultures could create.

Thelkor was prowling with little enthusiasm and a healthy dose of skepticism. As we passed a row of tuxedos, he raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

“What are we doing here, Rachel?”

“Meeting Timcur and Olath, obviously,” I said with a healthy dose of sass. He grinned, about to shoot back when I saw the captain and Olath approaching from a nearby teleport pad.

“Hurry up, Rachel,” Timcur said, looking around. “We need to get eyes on Zarklac now.”

“Follow me,” I said, hurrying down a nearby stairwell. We passed a sign that read ‘seconds and alterations’ and I had a pretty good idea we would find suitable disguises down there.

I suppressed a cheer of triumph once we got downstairs. The sleek, modern look of the upper floors had slowly faded out as we descended. This section was clean and well maintained, but not fancy by any means.

“What are we doing down here?” Olath asked, curiously looking over racks of secondhand pants.

“Getting disguised,” I grinned, taking a torn shirt off a rack, and holding it up to Timcur. “Come on, find yourself some leather pants and tough boots.”

Timcur raised his eyebrows but said nothing, taking the shirt and drifting away behind the rack. Olath had a look of rapt attention as he chose a rough jacket and frayed pants.

I turned to Thelkor. “I can help you change,” I offered.

He whipped his head towards me, body stiffening. “I can dispose of a fanny pack on my own.”

My cheeks warmed at the hint of a growl in his voice—and not just a growl. His eyes sparked with heat as he stared at me.

I cleared my throat. “Well, okay, just shout if you need me.”

I backed away, distracting myself with thoughts that he would choose something that had lots of pockets for the weapons crammed in the tiny bag.

I grabbed some rough-looking jeans and an oversized shirt. The dress had done well for me so far, but I was sick of wearing it. I wasn’t the kind of girl who usually put fashion before function, but when the function was a plausible cover, I could compromise.

A few minutes later, we all met up back near the door. I was impressed by how much effort the guys had put in.

“You really look like criminals,” I said, laughing. Timcur smiled, but Thelkor and Olath didn’t seem to catch the joke.

“Let’s move,” Thelkor said, heading for the teleport. He and Olath went through first, leaving me and Timcur to follow after we paid for the outfits.

The lights of the teleport blurred around me, and we might as well have entered a new dimension. The front of the bar was scarred and dirty. There were fewer lights down here, and it felt like shady deals were being done in every corner.

“Well, at least we look the part,” I murmured. Timcur nodded and we started towards the bar. Olath kept behind and Thelkor moved up in front.

“Guys,” I hissed. “Might be a good idea to act casual? You’re practically in military formation.”

No one listened to me. I sighed and kept walking, trying to make it look like I was just casually hanging out, not being escorted by a bunch of soldiers.

This isn’t going to work.

I had dressed them up like criminals, but they couldn’t shake the soldier vibe. I was beginning to wonder if they could actually pull this off.

We entered the bar. A few patrons looked up, but for the most part, people—and aliens—stayed heads down in the dark. I knew they all watched us, even if they appeared not to. It was one hell of a dive, with very shadowed corners and curls of smoke hanging in the air.

The guys attempted to approach the bar in a casual manner, while Timcur walked toward some empty tables. He wasn’t doing a bad job of looking cool and bored, but he was clearly watching the room. If I weren’t already so worried about our cover, I’d fucking facepalm right now.

Timcur turned toward the back wall as if he was choosing a table. Olath took his eyes off the bartender to check on me and Thelkor spoke to the bartender directly. The second each of them was occupied, a dark shadow rose in the back of the room.

It was someone tall in a dark robe. They angled towards the exit, deftly avoiding us, and moving out of the range of the crew’s vision. I wasn’t sure what I should do when Timcur suddenly shouted.

“You! Hey, you!”

The guy in the robe started running. All of us went after him until we poured out onto the street like clowns out of a tiny car. As we fell across the pavement, Thelkor reached out for the robe and grabbed it. As the garment came free the wearer turned and snarled—it was definitely a Suhlik.

“Zarklac!” roared Timcur.

The criminal bolted into the crowd with all of us after him. It had to be the biggest fuckup of an undercover operation ever.

Maybe Thelkor was right, I thought, as I tore after Zarklac with the others. It might have been better to go in with guns blazing.

THELKOR

Charging after Zarklac, I saved my breath for the run. Even so, I couldn’t help muttering. Sure, it would have been nice to sneak up on him in the dark and take him by surprise, but it’s difficult to hide a Vaznik warrior. No matter how we tried to disguise ourselves, there was an aura we couldn’t hide.

I didn’t know where the others were, and it didn’t matter. Zarklac had shed the cloak when I tugged on it and now I could focus on his ugly, scaly head as he bolted through the crowds ahead of me. People were being shoved left and right, most of them falling over and ending up in my path.

A small cart covered with rags and boxes blocked a nearby side street and I lunged for the Suhlik, hoping to drive him into the alley. He dodged me at the last second, jumping over the cart. I was too close and caught my foot on the edge.

I hit the pavement hard, the breath blasting out of my lungs. I rolled, getting tangled in the rags, then came up smoothly and kept running. To my surprise, Zarklac stood at the corner of the next street, watching me. I put on a burst of speed, determined to tackle him.

Just as I closed in enough to lunge, he threw something at me. I dodged, but it moved in midair. I didn’t have a clue what it was until it stuck to my head, clinging to me with a bunch of painful suckers.

It’s a fucking octopus, I thought. There were a bunch of them hanging above a food vendor’s stall. I didn’t even know if they were alive or dead. The nervous systems could continue to work for hours after death sometimes. Even with the suckers painfully pressing into my cheek and neck, I kept running.

He had a good lead on me now. I had managed to drive him into a lesser-developed section where there were fewer teleport pads, but I knew all he had to do was find one and he’d be out of my reach. I ignored the octopus and sprinted, growling as I closed ground on him. I couldn’t get a clear aim to shoot, and tackling him was the only option.

I fell, tumbling across the pavement. Jeering teenagers pointed and laughed, but not at me. One of their party had wandered into the street and I literally cleaned him up on my way by. I snapped to my feet and returned to the chase, leaving the teenager and the octopus in the gutter.

My breath tore my throat and my muscles burned. I settled into the pace, forcing my muscles to keep moving. This was what my body was made for—peak performance. I’d had far too much uncertainty and thinking time lately. It was as if my blood pumping so hard and so hot cleared my mind.

The distance between us narrowed and I felt triumph blooming in my chest. He was a dirty, lazy, fucking Suhlik. I was a Vaznik warrior, bred and trained for battle. I didn’t care how slimy his scaly hide was, he wasn’t going to slip away from me.

The place got darker and more dilapidated the farther we ran. I realized that the underworld of Diana’s Arrow must have some considerable pull for the upper decks to allow this to go on. Maybe, like most slums, the situation had gotten well out of control before someone thought about doing anything to fix it. By then, the black market would have been up and running already and, once that happened, rings like that were almost impossible to break.

I was definitely gaining on him. I could hear his breath hissing in and out of his throat. He couldn’t run as fast or as far as I and I wasn’t going to fuck up again. Another couple of strides and I’d jump for him. This time, I wouldn’t miss.

As I jumped, Zarklac lunged for the ground, rolling. I cursed, landing on my shoulder, and came up to change direction and go after him again. He was pulling away as I got my feet under me and raced after him.

He picked up speed and I almost growled with frustration. What was encouraging his wide, scaly ass to run so fast?

Then I saw the telltale flashing lights up ahead of a teleport pad. He had been going for this one the whole time! He’d twisted me through those side streets on purpose!

I wished that I knew where the others were, but at least Rachel wasn’t here. She had to be safe with the others, maybe even teleported back to Goldie to be with Storgin by now. If Zarklac was about to get away from me, at least I knew she was safe.

The only thing that mattered was taking him down before he could teleport. I was so close, there was no way I could miss.

My heart twisted, leaping in my chest, as Zarklac slowed down to touch the pad controls. Bright lights rose around the pad and a humming sound filled the air.

I couldn’t believe it, but it really looked like he was going to get away from me. Part of me railed against that with an incandescent fury—I would chase him to the ends of the fucking galaxy. I would not stop. No fucking way was he getting away from me.

I was ready to jump, my hand outstretched, when the blinding light filling my eyes told me the pad had been activated.

RACHEL

The guys didn’t pause. We tumbled out of the bar, hitting the deck in a tangle of limbs. One moment, I was tangled with Timcur, Olath, and possibly even Thelkor and Zarklac, the next, I sat alone in the center of the street.

I jumped up, Olath and Timcur not far from me. I chased after them, but I didn’t think I could gain ground. I tried, that was for sure.

I was thankful, more than once, that I’d changed out of the dress. This was exactly why tough women didn’t wear them, let alone with high-heeled, flimsy shoes.

What if today’s the day I have to run for my life, or fight for it? I’d thought when I put that dress on.

I supposed, at that time, it had been impossible to see myself as the sort of sweet, innocent girl that ordinary guys loved to indulge. I had trouble believing it, until I saw how easy it was. Even running at full speed, I spared a grin.

All those years of hard work wasted. Should have been a con woman.

I managed to gain a little ground on Timcur and Olath, feeling more discouraged by the second. Their legs were longer, they had a lot more muscles and, fuck, they were bred for this. How was I supposed to catch them?

And what exactly am I going to do when I get there?

I really wasn’t sure about that, but I knew I couldn’t just give up. I was part of the team now. This was our mission. We had to get him.

That determination spurred me on for a few more streets. I didn’t gain on the guys, but I didn’t lose them, either. While I kept them in sight, I hoped I could catch up.

Sometimes, the way was completely cleared for us, like when I ran through a street that was completely empty except for a guy throwing up next to a flailing octopus.

What the fuck is going on down here?

My spirit and determination were definitely running low by now. As I careened around the next corner, I saw no one. I stopped and let the air heave in and out of my lungs.

What next? I wasn’t sure how to get back to the Goldie by myself. I had no idea where the other guys would end up. I was by myself in the middle of the worst district of Diana’s Arrow.

Still breathing hard, I headed to the nearest map. It had been defaced with graffiti, random people making comments about certain places. After looking at it for a few seconds, I discerned there might even be a code here that would tell me where to find certain items or dealers.

As clever as that was, I didn’t have time for it today. I rubbed the clear plastic over the map to clean off the dust and looked over the streets I’d just run through. There were teleport pads around the bar—like the one we had used—but Zarklac hadn’t headed directly for them. I ran my finger along the streets, roughly following the path we had taken from the bar.

There was a teleport pad around the corner from where I was standing. I estimated that if I jumped towards the end of the block, I might be able to intercept the guys. It was almost a certainty that they had to go past that teleporter if they were still chasing Zarklac. I wasn’t sure where he was running to, but maybe he didn’t even know.

Not everyone has a plan, I thought, turning to jog down the street. I elbowed my way through the crowd, ignoring the hard-faced guys, wizened old women and aliens of every size and shape. My outfit blended in perfectly—I looked just like a street rat.

At least my fashion sense is infallible.

I giggled as I came up on the pad. My stomach tightened as I jumped up on the transport, unsure what I was doing. I couldn’t jump right into the middle of a fight.

What’s your choice, then? Keep tailing them through the crowd, try to get back to Goldie, or sit down in the street and cry?

I punched the pad, lighting up the destination port. It was the best idea I had, and so far, my ideas had been working out.

Except for disguising a bunch of Vaznik warriors, I thought. I could hardly be blamed for that. Those arrogant bastards would look like kings if they were wearing potato sacks.

The light blinded me, and I felt the subtle shift of the ground that told me I’d moved. I opened my eyes and there was a broad, scaly face coming right at me.

Zarklac!

I’d teleported in at the exact place he was trying to blast out from! We both rolled across the ground, the momentum from his jump sending us a few feet away from the teleport pad. I jumped up, trying to grab a hold of the slimy prick.

“Got you now!” I screamed, just as the pad activated again. To my horror, a full guard of Suhlik appeared on the pad. I was frozen for a full second before something hit me and sent us both crashing to the ground.

Thelkor!

He brought us behind a row of barrels, pressing me down as weapons began to fire. My instincts had been right on both counts.

I’d caught up to the guys, and I showed up right in the middle of a fight!

THELKOR

I longed for a gun. Someone was firing on us. I didn’t know what kind of weapon they had, just that it was noisy. My own weapon had long since lost its charge, leaving me unarmed.

Seeing Rachel appear on that pad at the same moment Zarklac reached it had been the worst moment of my life. For an instant, I thought I was going to lose my target and her, at exactly the same time.

I didn’t even notice I had one hand on the small of her back as we crouched behind the barrels. I let go of her quickly, just in case the touch was enough to awaken my skin. That was one complication I definitely didn’t need right now.

I sat up and saw the Suhlik guards surrounding Zarklac. I realized that, even if this wasn’t directly planned, it was a loose exit strategy in case of emergency. He had been fully confident he could get here and meet his guard without being caught by us. It burned me up that he was right.

I leapt out of cover toward the pad, but they were gone, disappearing in shimmering light. I cursed and kicked at the ground. Timcur and Olath arrived seconds later, while Rachel was pulling herself up from behind the barrels.

“Where did he go?” Timcur asked, breathless.

I shook my head and pointed at the teleporter. “I don’t know. Anywhere.”

“Damn!” Timcur shook his head. “He could be on the Suhlik ship, the smuggler ship, or anywhere else in this fucking twisted maze!”

“We can’t run intel again,” Rachel said softly. “We just made one hell of a scene. There’s no hiding now. He’ll see us coming no matter where he is or what we try to do.”

Timcur nodded. “You did well to disguise us, Rachel. Your work earlier today in getting the intel we needed was exceptional, but now we’ve torn it.”

I stood between them, feeling my heart finally beginning to steady and my breathing slow. My body was still ready for battle, adrenaline streaming through my veins like rage itself.

“So, where do we start looking?” I asked. I was ready to keep going. I wouldn’t calm down until I had my hands around his throat.

“Back to the ship,” Timcur said. “We have to regroup.”

It tasted like defeat to me. I watched Timcur and Olath get up on the pad and key in the numbers, waiting with Rachel. I almost touched her on the shoulder, then remembered at the last second why I couldn’t.

“You put yourself in extreme danger, you know,” I said in a low voice. “We all appreciate your work so far, both as a pilot and as a member of our team, but teleporting in at that exact time could have gotten you killed.”

“Oh yeah, tough guy,” she retorted sternly. “How was I supposed to know that our mark was going to use the exact same teleporter?”

“That’s my point exactly. You just didn’t think tactically.”

She folded her arms over her chest and frowned at me, her eyes sparkling with temper. I didn’t know why, but she was ten times sexier in ripped cargo pants and a baggy blouse than she had been in a dress.

“I’d like to ask you about that tactical thinking. Does it involve, say, an octopus?”

“Hey,” I said, grinning in spite of myself. “He threw it at me. It wasn’t my choice for a weapon.”

“Hmm. So, a tactical genius like you would have known not to teleport to this particular pad at that exact time, but you can’t dodge an octopus?”

“Hey, they are hard to dodge,” I snapped. “The fucking thing came at me with all eight tentacles and I only have two arms.”

She raised her eyebrows, nodding. “Say whatever you want, but I think my tactics were pretty damn good. In my opinion, I made it to the right place, and I did it faster than you.”

“Yeah, just in time to almost get cleaned up by a bunch of Suhlik guards?”

“Oh, wait. That’s right. You must have known those guys were here, yeah? Being such a great tactical genius and all?”

The edges of her lips twitched up in a grin and if I wasn’t careful, I was going to end up laughing my ass off. The adrenaline was starting to filter out, leaving me slightly high, if a bit tired. I didn’t know if I was actually starting to fall for her or if this was just a faint haze of euphoria from the stress wearing off.

Doesn’t matter. She can’t be your mate, there was a mistake, remember?

Yeah. A really big fucking mistake. One so big that it might never happen again. This could be my last chance, my only chance.

So, just touch her. See what happens.

I couldn’t. Not on top of what I’d just lived through. The bad guy got away. What if I took her hand and my tattoos stayed dull and gold? I didn’t think I could take it, not after having so much fun with her all day.

Wait. We’d had fun, on a mission.

Yeah. Well, I did. I had fun watching her, talking to her. Maybe I was getting pissed with myself for getting distracted by her and losing my target. That made more sense than falling in love, surely.

“Thelkor?” she called softly. I looked up, startled.

“Are we going?” she asked, standing on the port pad. I nodded.

Let’s just get back to Goldie. We can figure out a new plan of action. Maybe, if Rachel stays on board, I can forget about her for a while.

The words made so much sense in my mind. What a pity they meant absolutely nothing to my heart.

RACHEL

Back in the galley of the Goldie, Storgin poured drinks. I helped myself to a cold beer, needing to take the edge off. The guys seemed to want more than just a softened edge—they took big hits of a foul-smelling spirit.

The mood was low. We had been so close, yet lost our prey anyway. All of us knew he could have escaped by now and it seemed like a lot of work only to get kicked in the teeth.

The beer was icy cold and went down easily. It was mild with only a hint of bitterness. I wondered where in the galaxy it was brewed, or if this might be a special recipe. It was one worth knowing, if so.

The guys threw down their first glasses. Timcur refused a second and so did Olath. Thelkor reached out for the bottle, making a ‘keep it coming’ gesture.

“So, what’s the plan?” The galley was so quiet that even my soft voice seemed to cut the air. Maybe I shouldn’t have spoken, but the still glares were starting to get to me. Surely, they had a new plan. They were soldiers, after all.

“I’ve set up some data searches which will announce any ship’s departure,” Olath said. “I’ve already had several hits but I’m fairly sure he couldn’t have been on those vessels. A Suhlik can’t hide himself very well if he has to blend in with young girls or athletes.”

I grinned, trying to imagine the bulky Zarklac trying to hide in his cloak amongst a bunch of schoolgirls. It ended up being more disturbing than comical.

“Do we have any idea where he went, where he would go to ground?” I asked, taking another sip of the delicious beer.

Timcur shook his head. “We would expect him to show up on the smuggler’s ship or perhaps the Suhlik ship he came in on. It looks like he had a pretty solid plan. Now that he’s gone into hiding, he could be anywhere.”

“He knows we’re after him now,” Thelkor said. “The bad news is that he won’t be heading to the smuggler’s ship, the Suhlik ship, or the seedy bar we found him in. He’s going to have to lie low somewhere else.”

Timcur nodded. “He’ll be extra careful from now on. You won’t catch him idly sitting in a bar, having a leisurely drink.”

“What’s his game plan?” I asked, trying to look at the situation from a different angle. “If we know where he’s going, maybe we can intercept him.”

Olath sighed. “We didn’t even know he was switching to a smuggler’s ship until you brought us that intel. For all we know, he has multiple escape routes and he’s using one right now. He just wants to escape at the moment. I’m pretty sure of that. It’ll take some time before he’s ready for another attack.”

“He could be sitting in a public bathroom waiting for us to give up,” I said quietly.

Timcur nodded. “That may be so, but we can’t bust open every stall door and check inside for our guy.”

I had a sudden mental image of one of these huge Vaznik warriors kicking open a stall door to reveal an unsuspecting human. I almost laughed out loud when I imagined what would happen when they screamed ‘hands up’.

“You did well on intel,” Timcur said, catching my eye. “We wouldn’t have gotten so close if it weren’t for your information.” He was giving me a look of appreciation and once again, I felt that deep connection with him. I smiled, nodding.

“Yes,” Thelkor agreed. “I was very impressed by your ideas.”

Thelkor had expressed appreciation of my methods before, but he was now making a point of saying it in front of the others. His stare was intense, focused on my face. I couldn’t look away.

“Thank you,” I said, really meaning it.

“I agree,” Timcur smiled. “Not just the disguises, but the way you teleported ahead of us. That was really quick thinking.”

“It impressed me, too,” Olath said softly.

“I thought it was poorly timed,” I said, finishing my beer.

Storgin laughed. “That’s a soldier’s life for you. If you aren’t too early or too late, you and company hurry up and wait.”

I laughed. “I like that one.”

He shrugged. “It’s true of any army you can name.”

My eyes slipped back to Thelkor and he was still watching me. He looked even more handsome than before and I realized it was because he wasn’t scowling at me. A soft smile curved his lips. His eyes were wide and open, as if he was now a book I could read if I only reached out to turn the page.

I couldn’t help it, I had to look away. I focused on my lap and let the conversation flow around me for a little while. There was an easy feel to it, and I knew the crew were happy that Thelkor had settled in with me. I was happy about it, too. From the first moment I saw him, I had been hoping I’d get to see him as something other than a muscly, arrogant brute.

When I looked up again, his eyes were still on me. He smiled and it felt like my heart opened. The smile I gave him in that moment moved my entire face, as well as something deep inside my soul.

I’d wanted him to be friendly, but now that he was, I was twice as scared as before.

THELKOR

When Rachel looked up at me, something palpable passed between us. I knew finding a mate was a perfect blend of pheromones, something that only the two lovers themselves could experience. I’d never imagined that falling for someone would actually have physical sensations.

It was as if her eyes hooked my heart and tried to draw it out of my chest. The worst thing was, I didn’t even care if she took it. It should be in her care. I couldn’t imagine a better place for it.

I took another sip of moonshine, enjoying the burn in my throat. I wasn’t trying to get drunk, none of us were. For me, personally, it was about blunting the adrenaline. I was pissed with myself, with Zarklac, with the whole situation. With nothing to hit, a stiff drink was the next best remedy.

Rachel looked away again, first into her lap then up to the captain, who was standing at the end of the table. He was talking to Olath about monitoring security camera footage, maybe using facial recognition software.

“It could take a while to set up,” Olath said slowly. “It might not be worth the time, but at the very least we should be able to single out any Suhlik in a crowd. We should get a rough idea of where he could be.”

“That might be the best we’ve got,” Timcur said, tapping the table thoughtfully. “You should probably start now.”

Olath nodded. “Like I said, don’t get your hopes up. I doubt I can get the connection made in a hurry and there’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“Rachel covered it pretty well.” The thought just slipped to my lips and ran away before I could stop it. She grinned at me, a faint blush on her cheeks. So, my attention was having an effect on her. That really pleased me. I wondered how else I could compliment her.

Suddenly, making her happy was the most important thing in my world. By opening up and praising her in front of the other guys, I had also cracked open a place inside myself that I hadn’t even known was there. My focus had completely changed. Instead of constantly thinking of myself, I was starting to think only about her and what might make her happy.

I wanted her to be happy. It was as if the fate of the universe hung on her smile and in the glow of her eyes.

“She did,” Timcur answered me, breaking in on my train of thought. I looked up, trying to get my head back in the game so I could follow the conversation.

“It was well done,” Olath agreed. Storgin was nodding.

“I followed your progress from here. The entire mission was going to be hit and miss. The place is so big, it would have taken some thorough combing and a good stretch of time to search for him.” Storgin shrugged. “But then, you recruited the local kids. Brilliant idea, really, Rachel. You covered almost the entire ferry by bribing a couple of small children.”

She grinned, pleased. “Yeah. I just saw them standing in a side alley and I thought, they see everything, but no one sees them. I took a chance that they would actually help.”

“I’m not sure about the costume party, though,” Captain Timcur said quietly. “It was a good idea, just poorly executed.”

“You can’t blame me for that,” she laughed. “You guys are the soldiers. How was I supposed to know you guys can’t play it cool?”

Olath laughed. “I think by then we could practically smell the Suhlik scum. We all want real bad to get him. No matter how hard we tried to be sly, it was all going to be off once we saw him.”

“You could have been hurt, Rachel,” I said sternly. “You shouldn’t have come with us to the bar.”

She turned to me, her soft expression hardening. “We aren’t doing this, again, are we?”

“No,” I said, realizing that I was on the verge of insulting her, when what I wanted to do was make another compliment. I had just made her glow with happiness and I wanted to do that again, but I was floundering in a sea of confusion where there was no certainty in any tangle of words.

So have all males been confounded talking with females since the dawn of time.

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I’m not trying to diminish your skills, which are exceptional. I was merely expressing concern that you’re our pilot and if something happens to you, all of us are cooked.”

“Hmm.” She rubbed her bottom lip. “I see your point. I could have easily been cleaned up or teleported away with those Suhlik and you guys wouldn’t even have been able to chase me.”

I could tell by the surprised looks that the other guys hadn’t really considered that, either.

“We just have to be careful with you,” I said. “Remember how important you are.”

Her blue eyes met mine and, this time, it was like she was falling into me just as surely as I was being drawn to her. Again, there was a sense of something solid between us, something that could be touched as well as felt. My fingers twitched. I ached to touch her.

Before I could speak again, there was a shuddering noise. Storgin sat up straight, looking out into the hall.

“The teleporter,” he said in a hushed voice. All of us sat up, listening. We were ready for anything.

Anything except for a small, skinny street urchin. He came running into the galley and straight up to Rachel, shocking all of us into a tense silence.

RACHEL

“How the hell did you get in here?” Storgin spluttered. His face was a mixture of shock and disdain. Clearly, he was insulted by a random child getting through his security to make it right into the heart of the ship.

“Shh!” I waved a hand at him, bending down to look the kid in the eyes. I grinned at him and he grinned back. Kids were easy to win over, but you had to be honest with them. Otherwise, they just clammed up.

“Hello, Denison,” I said, in a gentle, but enthusiastic, tone. “What have you got for me?”

“Miss Rachel,” he said, eyes shining. “Messages from the market.”

I was touched by his sweet, innocent manner. Of course, I knew that he and his other urchins most likely stole purses and valuables, and the sweet look was just a distraction. Still, I admired the little guy.

“Suhlik have moved on, all of them,” he whispered.

“Where are they on the move to?” Timcur asked sternly. Danny didn’t just back up, he went tense and scared, as well.

“Will you guys shut up!” I hissed. “You really have a way with kids, you know that?”

The guys looked sheepish, but they shut up. I could see Olath practically shaking as he clenched his fists against his frustration.

Danny came a little closer to me, eyeing the big Vaznik warily. I was pretty sure this was an act, but I didn’t know for sure. The kids might have a dozen good reasons to fear them, for all I knew.

“We have all been working very hard for you, Miss Rachel,” he said in a very high, thin voice. “We’ve never had anyone offer us so much money, as well as be kind to us.”

I didn’t know which idea was more offensive—that lots of people used these guys as spies, or that they treated them badly while they were doing it.

“They went back to the Suhlik ship,” he whispered. “It’s big, with a snake head on it. You can’t miss it. The big one, Zarklac, was with the others.”

“You’re sure he went there?”

“I’m sure that he’s still there. We are on every level and we tracked them through several levels. He stayed out of teleports so he couldn’t be traced. Once they were headed towards the dock, we sent Fox Face Chuck over to stand watch. Zarklac boarded about ten minutes ago and he is still there.”

“Anything else? Danny, is he surrounded by guards?”

“There are none outside the ship and only a few that went in with him.”

“Very good,” I smiled, trying to convey gratitude.

“I gotta go now, Miss Rachel,” he said. “It’s nearly closing time at one of the cafes. They’ve got good pickings out back. If you need us, we’re here for you.”

“Thank you.” Before I could say more, he ducked his head and ran furtively from the room.

“But you don’t know the code for the teleport—” Storgin snapped, realizing halfway through his sentence that the whirring noise meant that the teleport was already working. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Obviously, you gave him the code,” Storgin said. “But I didn’t expect a kid to be able to program his location so fast.”

I shrugged. “Those kids are survivors. They can do just about anything in under ten seconds. I’d check my pocket, if I were you. He might have picked it in the short time he was in here.”

Storgin made as if to protest, then laughed, shaking his head. It was a joke, but I didn’t doubt a street urchin could lift a Vaznik warrior’s cash thoroughly, quickly, and in perfect secrecy.

“We know where he is,” Timcur breathed a sigh of relief tinged with anticipation.

“What now?” Storgin asked. “We can’t just storm the ship.”

“No, we can’t,” Olath said, rubbing his chin. “They could take off any moment, too. If we’re trying to break their door open and they start takeoff, we’re left there with our asses hanging out.”

“What’s the alternative?” I asked, surprised. “Wait for him to come out?”

“I don’t think he’s going to do that,” said Thelkor. “He knows we’re after him. He’d have to have pretty important business to risk going into the crowd again.”

“Maybe he still wants the smuggler’s ship,” I suggested. “He could have cargo on it.”

“True,” Timcur said, nodding.

“Can he teleport from ship to ship?” I asked suddenly.

“Potentially,” Olath said. “I don’t think the smuggler’s ship is well outfitted, but it’s possible.”

There was a brief silence. I could tell that the guys wanted to attack Zarklac’s ship right now. Everyone knew why it wouldn’t work, but they wanted the satisfaction of hands-on action.

“So, what we need to do is monitor his location,” Storgin said matter-of-factly. “We can easily set up a camera feed, can’t we? It will be easier to share the video from just the cameras around the dock than trying to get footage from the whole ferry, won't it?”

“Much,” Olath agreed. “Much easier. It’s a good idea. If he tries to teleport out of the Suhlik ship, we’ll know about it. There will be an energy surge. If they are docked, then the only reason for a fuel spike is the teleporter working.”

There was a moment of anticipation as everyone thought about where they had to go next. Before anyone could move, though, sound blasted through the ship, practically vibrating through the walls.

Storgin’s alarm.

THELKOR

Storgin leaped from his seat, heading for the lab. We were all on a hair trigger, desperate to run to our posts. It wouldn’t do any good if we didn’t know where we were going, though.

I was glad for the adrenaline flooding me. This already long day wasn’t ending soon. I’d had very little sleep, already run almost the entire length of the Starferry, and wrestled an octopus off my head.

The natural athletic ability of my species meant I could go for hours—probably even days—without needing sleep, even though food would have been welcome. I was tired in a completely different way.

We had nothing to show for how hard we’d worked today. There had been emotional ups and downs regarding the mission, but I had also been jerking myself around thinking about Rachel.

Is it my mind that’s fatigued, or my heart? I wondered. Maybe it was both. My anxiety over Rachel had been increasing since the moment she boarded the ship. Frustration over not catching Zarklac even after being so close weighed on me with the same burden as carrying a sack of rocks.

I stole a glance at Rachel as all of us piled into the lab behind Storgin. She looked tired, but still ready for action. While looking at her, everything else melted away. I’d been obsessed from the first moment I saw her. First, to get her out of my life, and second, to prove she wasn’t my mate, because I was sure I didn’t have one.

Looking at her now didn’t cause that furious bubble of frustration to rise in me. Instead, a warm glow flowed through my chest. She made me feel calm, but strong. It was as if I knew her taste and the feel of her under my fingers.

I struggled against my own feelings, trying to get my brain back on track. She couldn’t be my mate. I really needed to get that through my thick gunner skull. We’d spent the day together and she was beautiful to look at, as well as being easy company. I was tired and getting ready to gear up for the next stage of the mission. That didn’t mean I was catching feelings for her.

When she came up behind Storgin where he was sitting at the terminal and put a hand on his shoulder, I felt a bolt of pure rage. I reminded myself, again, that I wasn’t thinking clearly. She wasn’t mine. I had no right to those feelings.

When did I start looking at her differently? Examining myself was a surprise, because I’d been attracted to her from the start. I didn’t want her to know that, though. It would only make things more awkward. I’d had doubts about her being our pilot and joining our team, but she had now smoothed those over.

That’s it! I thought. I’m impressed by how she handled herself. This isn’t affection, it’s just appreciation.

“It’s them,” Storgin announced. “They are preparing to takeoff.”

“Move it!” Timcur roared, in an uncharacteristic display of fury. “Now! To your posts.”

I turned and jogged down the hallway, turning slightly so I could watch Rachel come out of the lab and head for the bridge. I let my eyes linger for a moment. To my surprise, she stopped and turned. Her sidelong glance slipped over me and she smiled before turning away and jogging in the other direction.

I made a quick stop in the armory, then headed for the pit. Multiple handles and dials controlled the guns positioned around the ship and I knew each one as if they were extensions of my own limbs. I checked the mechanisms, using a bit of the oil I’d picked up in the armory to loosen any stiff joints.

As my fingers curled around the handles, I closed my eyes, and it was as if I could feel the controls stretching from the pit and joining with mechanical arms to position and fire the guns. It was not an easy job, sometimes, switching between handles to move all the guns at once. It really helped for the gunner and the pilot to be in sync.

I’d resisted her because I didn’t think she could get in sync with me, that we would mate and then she would leave without looking back, maybe even leave after we’d had a child. But maybe it was time I asked her point blank—would her mind change if we mated?

Lights flickered around me as the ship geared up. Rachel was revving her up to full power, getting ready to launch. When my screens came up, coordinating our location and the direction of the guns, I felt true confidence. Rachel was making sure all her data was accurate so that, when I pointed and fired our big weapons, I’d know exactly what I was shooting at.

My hands tightened on the main triggers. I was fully alert, ready to switch guns if needed. Funny that just a few days ago I’d been reluctant to have Rachel on the ship at all. Now, I couldn’t wait to go into battle with her.

I still feared for her safety. She was tough and smart, obviously, but she was no soldier. She should stay in the pilot’s chair, if at all possible—from what I had seen so far, it was obvious nothing could touch her while she was flying.

RACHEL

I hurled myself out of the lab. The clanging of my feet hitting the deck fed my rising excitement. The alarm still blared, but not so loud now that it ripped up the air. I couldn’t wait to be back on the bridge.

Even so, I paused by the door, glancing behind me. I felt drawn, I couldn’t explain why.

Then I saw Thelkor pause in the hallway, just like I had. His eyes were deep and sad, his face full of longing. It made me want to run to him and throw my arms around his neck, try to soothe that hurt out of him.

While I watched, his face hardened, and his eyes glinted with fury. I turned and hurried towards the bridge, trying not to think about him. His moods seemed to change as quickly as an electrical storm.

I was relieved to put those thoughts behind me and get the ship revving beneath me. Turning all the power cells up to maximum sent my own adrenaline rising, as if by powering up the ship I also boosted myself.

With a few deft, controlled movements, I sealed the ship, double-checked her safety controls, and set her to manual. Once I had control of the stick, I disengaged the locks and eased Goldie out of the dock.

“Good job,” Timcur murmured. I had almost forgotten he was there. I realized Olath was also in position, busily transmitting data between his station, mine, and Thelkor’s.

For a moment, the ship hung suspended, then began a very slow, lazy spin. My heart felt just as free as Goldie did right then. The void opened up in front of me and the only thought in my mind was blasting out into it.

I was only inches from the dockway, but I was able to spin the ship right in place and turn her fast. It looked like we were way too close to the port, but I knew I had just enough room. The gyro didn’t quite keep up, and Timcur had to grab the nearby wall to stay upright. I grinned and shrugged when he shot me a look.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

He shook his head. Before he could speak, I punched out of the docking bay and he quickly staggered—or fell—into his chair. I graciously pretended not to look.

The Suhlik ship didn’t have much time on us. I curved Goldie into a sweep around the outer edge of Baker VII’s star base, hunting for the other ship’s signature. I knew we could only be seconds behind her, and I was determined to get on her tail before she could leave us behind.

Even as we pulled out around the base, Diana’s Arrow looked mighty and impressive. I felt almost sad to leave her behind, but maybe we could come back sometime. The mission was the only thing that mattered right now, and I couldn’t let Zarklac get away a second time.

Down in the crowds, running on my own two feet, I’d been at a clear disadvantage. Now I was in my element. The Suhlik were about to learn there wasn’t a pilot in the galaxy that could best me.

The drive signature curved around the base but continued on to one of Baker VII’s moons. I was curious but followed. They couldn’t be planning to land on a random moon, could they? I didn’t know much about every single satellite in this system, but I was pretty sure they weren’t friendly places.

I pushed Goldie hard as we sped through the low-gravity atmosphere provided by the planet and the moons dangling between it and the void. At first, the signature seemed to end at the moon, but a quick adjustment of my instruments and I could see the path actually kept going through the moons and out the other side.

“Update coordinates,” I snapped without thinking.

Olath obeyed and suddenly the drive signature lit up in front of me. I swept Goldie under the moon and dipped through two others, chasing the Suhlik ship.

The signature trailed off past the planetary cluster, headed for the Isabeaux system. I input a few calculations to ensure I truly had them, then fixed our course. If Goldie was going to power on at top speed—which she had to, if we wanted to catch them—then I had to give up manual control.

Before letting go of the stick, I double-checked that all was right with the instruments. Even the slightest mistake could turn us from their course. I was disappointed they had gotten so far ahead of me, but I felt rising confidence we would catch them.

Can’t hide from me. I giggled.

“We’ll catch them, Captain,” I said, turning to Timcur as I let go of the stick. “We’re almost at top speed now and she’ll keep accelerating as she follows their track.”

“It would have been good to get them back at the ferry,” he muttered.

“Or get close enough before they flew out,” Thelkor said from the doorway, startling me. I hadn’t realized he was here. “I had nothing to shoot at,” he practically pouted.

I could think of a dozen snappy comebacks, but kept them to myself. It seemed like Thelkor was really trying to get along. If he could, then I could, too.

I refused to address the fluttering in my guts, or the trembling in my throat. It had been a long day and I was tired. My reaction to Thelkor wasn’t real… It couldn’t be.

Maybe I want it to be.

That was a scary thought. Even though I had signed up for the mate matching, I had never considered the possibility of falling in love.

THELKOR

Rachel turned around in her chair and looked over her shoulder. Olath was at his station and Timcur was standing by his post, checking coordinates. Since there was nothing to shoot at, I had nothing to do.

“The situation is stable for now,” Timcur said, checking the bearings. “Do you agree, Rachel?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, grinning. She came alive in that chair. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks flushed. It gave me a strange feeling, like maybe I would like to make her that excited.

“Let’s head to the galley and eat,” Timcur said. “It’s been a long day and we might not get a better chance. Things could heat up quickly when we catch up to them.”

We headed back to the galley, Storgin joining us as we headed down the hall. No one wanted to cook anything difficult, so snacks and sandwiches were quickly handed out. For once, I didn’t feel like booze, so I had some of the bitter green tea.

“I’ve got no problems snacking for the rest of my life,” Rachel said, enthusiastically diving a hand into a bag of potato chips. “But we do get a proper meal every now and then, don’t we?”

Storgin grinned. “There are plenty of supplies in the kitchen. We’re just lazy. The sandwiches are okay, though, aren’t they?”

She nodded. “Ham and salad. Yum. These potato chips are great.”

“Not quite potatoes,” Timcur put in. “They are much bigger, grown on a farming planet. Because they grow so large, they crisp up better when sliced and cooked.”

Rachel nodded, her mouth full of food. I could tell there were more questions she wanted to ask, but eating took precedence. She wrinkled her nose every time she sipped the tea, but I could tell it was growing on her.

Olath and Storgin started a conversation about the computer system, getting into detail about the speed and strength of the signal as it worked ship wide. It was beyond me. I sat in my port and waited for the screen to tell me which way to shoot. Timcur was getting involved, too. Rachel was yawning, and her eyes drooped.

I was about to suggest she take a rest when Timcur suddenly noticed her. He patted her hand.

“Rachel, why don’t you go to your quarters? Thelkor, go with her and see if there’s anything she needs.”

I got up a little too quickly, scraping my chair across the deck. Rachel stood up, rubbing her forehead.

“I’m sorry, guys, that run through the ferry really took it out of me.”

“Of course,” Timcur said gently. “We need you in top shape for the rest of the mission. Get some sleep.”

I reached out for her, then snatched my hand back. This was getting ridiculous. The longer it went on, the worse I felt. I was becoming absolutely sure that my tattoos would not light up for her. That was even more reason not to touch her.

She walked beside me up the hall, barely lifting her feet. She yawned several times. I told myself I was escorting her to her room and nothing more. She was exhausted. This wasn’t the time to try out touching each other. I knew it was an excuse, but my head was full of them. If one was solved, another immediately took its place.

Rachel hurried into her room and sat down hard on the bed, bouncing a little.

“I’ll be glad to get out of these clothes,” she said, looking at the torn shirt. That comment hit me like a volley of bullets and my throat closed with stress.

“Is there anything you need?” I croaked, ready to flee.

She looked up, her eyes locking on to mine. I couldn’t think about anything except her beauty. Her eyelids swooping down in exhaustion only made her seem more fragile.

I cleared my throat and took a step back toward the hallway. I had to get out of there. I didn’t want to leave, but there was no reason for me to stay. The look she was giving me was so intense… If I wasn’t going to kiss her, I had to get the hell out of there.

“Thelkor?”

“Yes?” I felt like I was at her command. If she told me to jump out an airlock and walk on the moon, I’d give it a damn good try.

Even when she didn’t say anything else, I found myself walking closer and closer to her as if drawn by her gaze.

“You haven’t tried the test yet,” she said it as if I had forgotten. Maybe she thought I had. What an impossible thought that was! I wished that I could forget. My life had been a lot simpler before.

“No,” I answered, forcing myself to back away again.

It was ridiculous. I knew that it had to happen. Whether or not we found her file was completely irrelevant. None of us would believe a piece of paper now. Touch was the only evidence any of us would believe.

I thought about the other guys, how eager they had been. I thought about all my reasons for resisting this. One of the biggest was one I had yet to admit—that a gorgeous, intelligent girl like her deserved better than a drunk, mindless gunner. Why wouldn’t she want to leave the first chance she got?

“Thelkor,” she said softly.

Who was I kidding? I was at her command. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to get out of this. She wasn’t going to let me run any further.

RACHEL

He stood frozen in the doorway. He must have known what I wanted, but he wasn’t getting any closer. Even though I was exhausted and my body felt heavy, I stood up and took a step across the room.

“Let me touch you, Thelkor,” I said softly. He didn’t answer, but he took a couple of steps toward me.

I could see so much conflict on his face. He was clearly in pain and I didn’t want to make it worse. I could just let him walk away. It seemed like what he wanted.

What about what I need?

I needed to know. I was done with this. I couldn’t spend another moment on this ship without knowing.

“Rachel…” he turned toward the door, raising a hand as if to wave.

I took two steps toward him and almost grabbed him. Respect stopped me at the last second. He turned to look into my face and when our eyes locked, it was like our minds became one.

“Let me touch you,” I said again.

He turned to face me properly and looked at the deck, sighing. He blinked hard and let out a very long breath. Then his eyes met mine and he nodded. When he held out his arm, his face was as haunted as if he stood on the gallows.

I raised my hand and, for all my determination, my stomach suddenly felt weak. I frowned, annoyed with myself, and reached out. My trembling fingertips grazed his skin, just slightly. I pressed my palm down firmly, curling my fingers around his arm. I wanted to close my eyes, but that would defeat the entire purpose. I gathered my courage and waited.

We didn’t have to wait long. First, the outlines of his tattoos glistened like sparkles. Lines of light traced the patterns, then the marks began to glow silver white. They pulsed softly in a slow, steady beat.

My mouth dropped open in surprise. I wasn’t ready for the reality of the moment. I felt like I’d just been hit by a truck. My knees wobbled.

I’m touching my mate, my partner. This is the one I’m meant to be with for all time.

His eyes were wide and shocked. I felt him tremble under my hand. It was like I was frozen, though.

“You’re—” I couldn’t finish the sentence. My voice had strung the air with tension, and I was worried that I’d ruined the moment. Suddenly, Thelkor pulled me into his arms.

He pressed me to his chest and I snuggled my cheek against his hard, smooth warmth. My arms were loosely around his waist, while he cradled me around the shoulders. His tattoos glowed, casting silver shadows across both of us. When we pulled back from the hug, we looked into each other’s faces. I was sure his look of relief and excitement was mirrored on my own.

I shook my head a little, feeling my heart jump around, beating faster, forcing a blush into my cheeks. We clasped each other’s hands gently and I tugged him toward the bed so we could both sit down.

I’d been dreading this, but now I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. He had said lots of nice things about me today and they had been his honest opinions. He was kind and clever and brave—just with a very macho and potentially immature exterior.

And, seriously, can you think of a single male of any species that doesn’t carry those traits?

Even the other crewmembers could have their moments. Thelkor might be even more alluring for the fact he had such well-hidden depths.

We sat on the end of the bed, facing each other and still lightly holding hands. I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well,” I said.

“Well,” he agreed, grinning. “This is a surprise.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know about a surprise. I kind of suspected this might happen.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I was trying to avoid it, though.”

My eyes narrowed a little and my fingers tightened on his hands.

“Why?” Behind that question was the fear living in every single heart—don’t you like me?

He looked away, then back to my face. He was obviously conflicted. “I didn’t ask to be put in the mate program. I’ve learned to live with being alone.”

“Me, too,” I whispered.

“Aren’t you—don’t you plan to leave once you get the money?” His eyes were hard, but also wide and terrified.

I shook my head. “Yeah, I want my own ship. But I never said that plan was set in stone. I mean, circumstances change, all the time. I didn’t really know what this mate matching stuff meant. Not until this moment.”

He smiled. “Agreed. I feel something, I mean, I felt something even before we touched.”

I squeezed his hands, my grin matching his. “I did, too.”

There was so much to say, so much to ask. I wanted to know everything about him, I wanted to ask the most stupid and mundane questions. It was like I knew everything about him, already—like what side of the bed he slept on and his favorite music—but the knowledge didn’t make sense to me, because I hadn’t learned it yet.

It was as if there were vast spaces within me that I had never even known were there, and only Thelkor could fill them.

THELKOR

Sitting on the bed with her was utterly surreal. It was as if I’d always known her, except that I still had so much to discover.

The first thing I had to address was my behavior. I had acted like a buffoon on more than one occasion. I was disappointed in myself because it shouldn’t matter if she was my mate or not. I should have had more respect.

“I’m really sorry I was so drunk when you came aboard,” I said earnestly. I held her hands a bit tighter, leaning forward. “We were in the middle of the pilot interviews and I just got so stressed out… Piling that on top of the fact my friend was no longer in that chair just overwhelmed me, I guess.”

She tilted her head, eyes sparkling.

“I appreciate and accept your apology, but I think I could have turned up on any given day and found you drunk.”

I wanted to protest, but there was no point. I was going to be with her for the rest of my life and any secret I had would be uncovered by time. It wasn’t even possible to smudge the truth. As I looked forward to the years ahead, I saw a kind of togetherness that transcended any other relationship, something of absolute truth.

I nodded. “Yes, it’s true that I lean on the booze far more than I should. I tend to reach for it whenever I’m frustrated. Which, admittedly, is most of the time.”

“Do you think you might be less frustrated, now that you have a mate?”

The question was innocent enough and I understood she wasn’t specifically talking about herself. No matter how I framed my answer, though, it would be a reflection on her.

“Possibly,” I conceded. “But if you had been there, you would have started drinking, too.”

She laughed. “Okay, why? They can’t all have been mediocre.”

“No, they all fucking sucked. One guy had only ever flown the old-fashioned Earth pods that run on analog with tube thrusters. He said he could learn to pilot Goldie in a matter of hours.”

She giggled. “How old was he? Those pods are years out of date.”

“He looked about ninety, but his application said seventy.”

“That sounds about right. He could have sat at the controls for years and never figured them out.”

“I just couldn’t swallow the never-ending tide of bullshit. Obviously, they all needed money, a job, or just to get out of the port. I think they really believed if they could just get on the ship and blast off, they’d fix all their problems.”

“But seriously, there had to be at least a couple of good ones.”

I shook my head. “If you hadn’t come along, there was going to be violence. Like, seriously, there was not enough alcohol in the galaxy to keep me calm.”

“Calm! You ended up getting tranqed by Storgin!”

I laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

She laughed, throwing threw her head back so her hair caught the light. I had never heard her really laugh before, not like this. She shook with mirth and I loved the sound of it so much I decided I was going to make her this happy every single day.

“I don’t mind the drinking, Thelkor,” she said, stroking my face. “I do mind if you’re abusing yourself. You can be a heavy drinker, even a dysfunctional one, but don’t drink to run from yourself. I can’t bear the idea of you suffering inside.”

I was falling into her eyes. I’d always known I wasn’t drinking for fun or to take the edge off. The thing was, now that I was face to face with my mate, I understood that aching chasm within me had never been one I could fix on my own.

I was fated, destined, bound by every cell in my body to be with Rachel. The idea was so extreme I almost couldn’t comprehend it. Perhaps even before I was born, the stars knew we would be together—had created us to find each other.

“It’s like the whole universe has been opened up to me,” she said, her hand still on my face. I’d always had trouble with extended eye contact, but with Rachel, I couldn’t look away. Her eyes were so deep and enchanting it was as if I could see her soul.

“I can see the universe, too,” I said, smiling. I reached up and gently brushed back a lock of that wild, curly black hair. “It’s inside you. The whole universe, everything I could ever want.”

She laughed softly. “This is so ridiculous! My entire life, I’ve heard lines like that and scoffed at them. I’ve always thought that no one could be so in love. But, not only do I get it now, I honestly feel those words aren’t enough.”

“No, they’re not,” I agreed. “I’ve had a greater vocabulary in the last few minutes than I’ve had for my entire life, but I still want to search for a universal dictionary so I can figure out every single word for ‘love’.”

“I don’t know about a dictionary.” She leaned closer to me and I could feel her breath on my cheek. “We might have to leave the words behind, since they obviously can’t do us much good.”

I wanted to kiss her. I had never wanted anything in my life as badly as that. She was so perfect, so incredibly gorgeous, that I didn’t dare move. Even though I knew she was mine and that had given me the greatest joy I’d ever known, it was quickly followed by the worst of all horrors. There was one thing in existence that terrified me now above all things.

And that was losing her.

RACHEL

First impressions mean nothing.

I couldn’t believe that this was the same guy I’d met on my first day. That alien had been loud and violent, clearly imposing himself on everyone else’s space. I had been wondering at the time why his crewmates put up with it.

Now that I was so close to him, looking into his eyes, I understood that those guys out there knew Thelkor, the real Thelkor. He wasn’t the staggering dick he had first appeared to be. I suspected that he was actually very intelligent but hid it behind a bunch of macho bravado.

To be a weapons specialist, he’d have to be smart. I’d only taken a quick look at the armory, but it was very well organized, everything clean and in good working order.

The weapons control program from the pit couldn’t be operated by an idiot, either. My calculations on the bridge told the gunner exactly what position the ship was in at all times, so he didn’t accidentally hit our tail. It also gave rough calculations for anything else in the area. It wasn’t a point and shoot kind of system. The gunner would have to know what he was doing with free air movement and lock-on targeting.

My hand was still on his cheek and I wondered how long I could look into his eyes before I felt the need to break contact or look away.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed.

My chest actually hurt as if someone had twisted my heart. I had never been told that I was beautiful before, not like this. If anyone had ever said it, then it had been for some kind of secondary gain. Thelkor was just saying it because it was true to him. He expressed it without expectation of anything in return.

“I…” I couldn’t think of a single word to say in return. He was gorgeous to me, his fine features dramatic and defined in a way that felt familiar, even with the strange eyes and horns. Anything I could think of might have sounded insulting. I didn’t want to measure him against the other guys on the ship, either.

Timcur had the brains and the attitude. Part of me had fallen for him immediately, even without chemistry. Olath was clearly married to his job and even though he kind of had that tunnel vision, he was respectful and sweet. Storgin was just plain fun. All of the guys had touched my heart.

There could be no denying the fact that, on the mission, I had begun to soften up to Thelkor. He was decisive and observant, calculating and deadly. Again, I got a sense of his bright mind and I wondered why he felt the need to hide it.

Maybe he wants a simple life. Sitting behind a gun, shooting the target. No big decisions, no responsibility.

That matched up with everything I had learned about him so far. For one brief second, I tried to think about our future together, how it would change us and what we might have to sacrifice. It was too real, too huge for me. I recoiled from it. I wanted to stay right here in his gaze forever.

In this place, there was no complexity, only the two of us.

I leaned forward and kissed him. At first, it was just the lightest brush of our lips against each other. My eyes closed and my hand cupped his cheek as I touched my lips to his. After a couple of seconds, the sensations rose in me, pounding into my blood and making my heart flutter. I opened my lips and kissed him, deep.

His mouth opened against mine and we slid together. As our bodies pressed against each other, we slipped sideways until we were lying on the bed. His tongue teased mine as we kissed, his lips feeling like electric fire. My nipples hardened, sparking with hot shocks every time our tongues came together, and sharp jolts of energy ran along my thighs to ache somewhere deep inside of me.

His hands caressed me, softly, so softly. My skin came alive as he drew the tips of his fingers down my arms and across my back. He pulled me closer to him at the exact same moment I grabbed hold of him to press my body against his.

I broke off the kiss, breathing hard. I kept myself pressed against him, gulping air so fast it made me dizzy. I had to keep my body pressed against his. My arms stayed wrapped around him and I breathed his scent deep into me, feeling us becoming one.

It was all brand new, tinged with nervousness, but at the same time, we were comfortable as if we had been lovers for years. I was only a little shy and that feeling only enhanced the pleasure of getting to know him physically.

Without thinking, I reached up with my fingers and brushed them through his hair a little. I was fascinated by his horns, and I had wanted to touch them from the moment I first saw them. My fingers moved from his hair to his horns, and I ran a fingertip firmly across the curved structure, learning its rough pattern.

Thelkor wheezed suddenly, convulsing. He shuddered, his eyes almost bugging out of his head as he shook. I grabbed his hands, trying to look into his face. He looked like he was in terrible pain.

What have I done?

THELKOR

My nervous system was shrieking, trying to free itself from my bones. My cock was hard and hot as a rod of steel caught in a turbine. Lust raged through my every cell. I would have grabbed her hard and taken her immediately—except my limbs refused to obey instructions.

She whispered to me, the soft pressure of her hands in mine, a thread of fear in her voice. I had no idea what I looked like, but it felt like taking an arrow to the gut. Not just a normal arrow, either, something impossibly huge that could bring down a beast the size of a building.

I kept sucking in air, waiting for the sensations to die down. Everywhere she touched me—her hands on mine, her fingers stroking my back or cheek—felt like nuclear fire.

“Please, stop—” I tried to wriggle back on the bed, and Rachel stopped touching me all at once, bouncing away and holding her hands up in front of her. Her eyes were wide and shocked, her face white with terror.

“It’s okay.” My voice came out shaky and breathless. I was desperate to comfort her, to explain what had happened, but my body wouldn’t be rushed.

After a few seconds of just breathing and keeping my thoughts simple, the painful sensations began to recede. I could breathe normally again. When I sat up, Rachel was sitting next to me with her hands in her lap, staring at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

She shook her head. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’m so sorry. I must have hurt you terribly. I didn’t know about the horns, I should have asked. I hope it’s wasn’t too painful.”

I couldn’t help my grin. Starting to laugh, I covered my face with my hand.

“What?” she asked, sounding confused and just a bit pissed.

“It did hurt. But not for the reason you think. Our horns are sensitive.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” she said, a bit sarcastically.

“No, no.” I held up a hand. “Sexually sensitive.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh. Oh!”

“Yeah. I have never, ever been touched like that before. It was as if my body tried to climax in every single cell at once. It was kind of shocking.”

She grinned. “But it felt good?”

I had to think about that for a second. It hadn’t felt that good. It had hurt in a lot of ways. I had to figure out a way to explain it to her.

“It would be almost like me just reaching between your legs and giving your pussy a good, hard squeeze,” I said finally.

She grinned and tried to hold in her laughter, but didn’t succeed. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Thelkor… really. That’s a good analogy, I think. Is there anything I can do to help?”

I shook my head, feeling like my erection was going to tear right out of my pants.

“Just give me plenty of warning before you do that again. You can’t go straight for the horns. Some of us need a bit of elbow action first.”

She burst out laughing and it was like absolute joy to me. Again, I promised myself that I would make her laugh like that as often as I possibly could.

“Okay,” she said, wiping her face. “But you have to promise to give me plenty of knee time before grabbing my clit.”

I laughed, too, and we folded together again, our arms winding around each other without getting even slightly tangled. I bent my head and kissed her, feeling the heat rising between us.

“Just stay with me for a while,” she murmured, leaning against my chest. Her fingers played gently against my skin and her breath tickled my neck.

“Of course,” I whispered. I couldn’t imagine going anywhere, ever. The bed was soft beneath us, her breathing low and steady. The magic between our bodies felt encompassing and comforting now that my wave of hot lust had quieted down.

I couldn’t believe I had talked myself into not wanting a mate. I had done it by completely shutting down any part of me that wanted to be touched and seen. I had deliberately kept my mind far from the wonderful intimacy I was enjoying right now.

I had pushed all thoughts of sex out of my mind, as if I knew it would make a slave of me. I didn’t want to be one of those guys who was desperate for a mate just so he could get his dick wet. I had always known that finding a mate was not about sex, even if the point was to create children.

Deep down, I had rejected the idea of a mate because I didn’t want the responsibility of caring for someone. I’d blamed her, taking the excuse of one comment and running with it. More than that, I was terrified of someone caring about me. I was sure I would only let them down.

Now, that didn’t matter. She did care about me. Nothing would change that. I had to step up. I had to be a man that I could be proud of, because that’s what Rachel deserved. My entire world had shifted, and I wasn’t at the center of it anymore. She was the center, she was everything.

Now I had to be worthy. I knew that I had run from this my entire life, but now that I had held her, kissed her, touched her… There was no future possible except to become a better man.

RACHEL

I was wrapped safe and warm in Thelkor’s arms when I heard the comm crackling. There was going to be an announcement—I was going to have to move. To say I didn’t want to would have been a fierce understatement. I had never been so content.

I felt Thelkor tense around me, as if he also knew what was coming and was resisting it with every cell. Maybe if we kept our heads down and our breath quiet, duty wouldn’t find us.

No such luck.

“All crew members to the bridge,” announced Timcur. “Everyone to the bridge immediately.”

I hadn’t managed a shower, but at least I’d had some rest. I hurried to the other side of the room so I could quickly pull on my flight suit. Even after the intimacy we had just shared, Thelkor turned his back so he wouldn’t see me undress. My respect for him levelled up a few notches.

Once I was dressed, I took his hand and we hurried to the bridge, trying to walk side by side even in the narrow hallways. It was almost like we were stuck together now. I couldn’t stop touching him.

That is, until we got to the bridge and I saw Goldie’s pilot’s chair. That would always be my first love, the only call strong enough to take me from Thelkor’s side. He came with me and put a hand on my shoulder, letting me know that, if I ever had to step away from him, he would be right there beside me, following me anywhere I had to go.

“Zarklac’s ship has made a sudden detour,” Timcur said. With a few clicks on the console keys, he brought up images of the route, showing the new course.

“It’s supposed to be a barren planet. There is absolutely no reason to go there, as far as I can see, but we have to follow him. Rachel, can you adjust the course? I estimate we can intercept within twenty-six hours.”

I looked over the course carefully. There was a massive gas giant nearby, with a very strong gravity field. If I used it the same way I had on Mars, we could get there much faster.

“Timcur,” I said. “If I use this planet’s gravity, I can cut twelve hours off our time. We can blast right out of this system and up to the end of it, and go right into orbit around the barren planet.”

Timcur looked at my proposed route with some skepticism. “You can do that?”

I nodded, grinning. “Try and stop me.”

The crew strapped themselves in. No doubt they remembered our last orbit trip and they were ready for some rough flying. This planet was much bigger. It was going to get hairy. The very idea made me grin so hard I hurt my cheeks.

The gas giant was a real beauty. Towards her south pole—if gas giants have poles—was a soft, dark blue. Towards the equator it faded out to a glorious purple, and the upper part of the planet was dark crimson. As I hammered toward it, waiting for the grip of its gravity, I realized that it was the movement of the clouds that made the colors and patterns.

I kept my eyes on the planet as we sped toward it. When the edges of the clouds and their individual shapes became clearer, I almost lost it and punched out. Instead, I gritted my teeth and held on.

The gravity grabbed Goldie like the first of a giant. I wrenched the stick into the momentum, feeling the orbital forces catching and holding us in the curve. I realized that the strange groaning in the bridge was me as I fought the stick with all my strength.

Holding my breath, I cut the thrusters. We hung in the air for maybe two seconds, but it felt like two years. As Goldie’s nose pointed down, I fired up again and heard myself yelling even louder as I curved the little ship into the gravity field and propelled us out the other side.

Goldie shot through the miles, the stars around us lengthening and finally becoming meaningless streaks. She was well buffered, but the appearance of the momentum made all of us lean back and cling to our seat belts, even though there couldn’t be much force in here.

This planet was much bigger, and the move propelled us much further into space. I waited patiently, breathing steadily. The second I felt a dip in her speed, I fired up the thrusters and we were back on course, cutting out exactly twelve hours, just as I’d promised.

Seatbelts unsnapped around me, and the guys groaned. I unstrapped and sat, back but kept my hands on the controls for a few more minutes.

“That was impressive,” Thelkor said, coming up behind me.

I grinned at him. “I bet you’ve never seen flying like that before.”

He shook his head. “No, I haven’t.” He gave me a weird smile and I felt momentarily ill—what was he so nervous about?

“Rachel… since it’s going to be quiet up here for a bit, would you like to get some coffee? Maybe I could show you the armory?”

Relief surged through me. He just wanted me to see what was important to him and he was scared I wouldn’t want to. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

“I’d love to, Thelkor. I can’t wait to see your place.”

He beamed and his eyes lit up. He loved his work, I could tell. The fact that he was desperate to share it with me—and get my approval and admiration—was one of the cutest things I had ever seen. Already I was feeling a strong affection for him that went beyond anything I had ever felt before.

They need to put a warning on these guys, I thought. Caution, the mate matching program may cause you to fall in love.

THELKOR

After a quick stop at the galley for coffee and biscuits, Rachel and I headed for the armory. I was nervous and excited—it meant a lot to me that she understood my work.

It was a strange feeling to have. I had never felt proud of my work before, not like this, anyway. Usually there would be satisfaction for a job well done, a surge of triumph when weapons I had been involved with hit their target and destroyed it.

This was different. I wanted to show Rachel the intricacy of my work, the delicacy of it. You would think that a strange combination, delicacy and deadliness, but it wasn’t. Every aspect of weaponry demanded complete respect and absolute care. If you couldn’t manage that, then you were on a sure path to blowing yourself to bits.

When we walked into that room, I felt like I was poised on the edge of a black hole. The room was so familiar to me, but my usual feelings of comfort and confidence wouldn’t come. I let Rachel go ahead of me and watched her walking slowly along the racks, her coffee cup gripped in one hand.

“There are a lot of things here I don’t even recognize,” she said. “Like this. What are they?”

She pointed to a small crate of glittering cylinders. I hurried over and stopped her before she could touch one.

“They’re chemical chambers for lasers. You shouldn’t handle them without gloves.”

Rachel laughed softly. “You just leave those lying around like this?”

I shrugged. “This is my space. I’ve never really thought about it before.”

She smiled, continuing her walk around. She was very careful not to touch anything, observing my room with the utmost respect.

“Come on,” I said. “Sit down and have some biscuits. I’ll show you a few things.”

While she made herself comfortable, I hurried over to my main workbench and brought over a large contraption. It looked a bit like a machine gun, but with smoother lines and three barrels. I put it down in front of her very carefully.

“This is Bertha,” I said, almost reverently. “She fires explosive rounds, armor piercing bullets, and blue flame.”

“Wow.” Rachel looked the gun over. “You made it?”

My chest puffed out before I could stop it. “Yes. I built it from scratch.”

She ran her fingers over the metal. “There’s so much work in it,” she said, her voice full of appreciation. “I can tell how much it means to you to get it right.”

I nodded. “Like when you fly?”

“Yes,” she grinned. “I think our passion for our trades is identical.”

The moment deepened. Something was happening inside both of us. I could almost feel the urgency rising on her skin and I was sure I could detect a hint of her delicious scent.

“I’d love to work on a ship like this,” she said, tracing the smooth metal with one finger. “Just modding it here and there until she was exactly how I wanted her to be.”

“Maybe you’ll get lucky. And you’ll be able to do that with Goldie.”

She put her cup down and stood up, coming over to me.

“There’s more than one way to get lucky,” she whispered. She stretched up on her toes, bracing her hands on my shoulders. She kissed me lightly and as she pulled back, I saw her lick her lips in ecstasy. She closed her eyes and stretched up again.

That time I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up, crushing her against my chest while we kissed. She squirmed against me, grinding on me, and I felt a hunger roaring through me that blurred my thoughts and heightened my senses.

I didn’t know whose knees buckled first, but somehow, we ended up on the deck. All I could think about was pleasing her—I had to give her pleasure. Now that we had started, I couldn’t stop until I had her moaning in need.

She stretched out on her back while I kissed her and ran my hands over her body. She sighed and wriggled her arms free, encouraging me. As I slid the zipper of her suit down, I sent the wordless question with my eyes, and she nodded.

My fingertips gently traced her thighs as I looked down at her pussy. She rocked her hips and touched herself, spreading the lips to work her clit. I was fascinated. I leaned in closer without even realizing, and then my lips were on her.

I closed my eyes to better immerse myself in the sensations. I could hear myself moaning as my tongue flicked down deeper, teasing the entrance to her cave. I worked my mouth back to her clit, pressing it with my lips and sucking on it. She writhed under me, her hips bucking up and down.

I slid my hands around her ass, squeezing the cheeks as I pushed my tongue deeper inside her. She tried to scream but it caught in her throat, and the only sound she made was a breathy squeal. I held her against my mouth, using my lips and tongue to explore every crease and crevice.

She started to make small, short noises that jumped out of her chest as if she were incredibly surprised. I upped my efforts, stroking with my tongue and caressing firmly with my lips. I was learning the sweet curve that led me from clit to cave and how I could pleasure one, then the other, making her twist and writhe and grab my hair.

Imagine her stroking my horns while I do this… The very suggestion sent pleasure shocking through me so strongly I trembled.

Her grip on my hair got tighter and she rocked her hips against the pressure of my mouth. I kept up the pressure and the pace, sensing that she needed it to be both constant and precise. I didn’t know what we were building up to, but I couldn’t wait to see it bloom.

She shuddered, her legs shaking. Her hand gripped my hair tight enough to hurt and she let out a ragged gasp. Suddenly, her pussy throbbed, pounding in my mouth, rushing with sweet nectar I hurried to lick up with my tongue. To my surprise—and great pleasure—the harder I tried to lick it up, the more she came. I didn’t stop until she pushed gently on my head, whispering, ‘enough’.

I sat back, looking down on her. Her long, wild black hair fanned out around her head. Her eyes were wide and sparkling. Her chest heaved as she fought for breath and I could see her limbs still trembling.

I had never seen anything so utterly beautiful in my entire life.

RACHEL

I could barely move. It felt like my skin was flowing across my muscles and the muscles themselves had become loose and slack. I tried to breathe, but it was all I could do. I had to tell him to stop because my body simply couldn’t take another second of that mind-blowing pleasure.

My clit felt like it was on fire. Even deeper inside burned like a furnace. I had just had an incredible chain of multiple orgasms. Until now, I’d thought they were a myth. Perhaps one perpetuated by bitter women to leave the rest of us constantly disappointed.

Now I knew it had been my previous lovers who were disappointing. There was nothing wrong with me—I was capable of experiencing true passion. This was only the first taste, too. I knew it could only get better from here.

“Are you alright, my love?” Thelkor asked gently.

I nodded. “Can you shut the door? I don’t want anyone to come barging in here.”

Thelkor frowned. “The armory doesn’t actually have a door.”

I was puzzled for a second, wondering why that was, but that really didn’t matter right now. The only thing that did matter was getting his hands and mouth on me again. If we couldn’t do it here, then we had to move.

Thelkor looked ready to ravish me right here and now. I wanted to let him, but I hadn’t been kidding about the others bursting in on us. At any time, any of them could find reason to come to the armory. As much as I liked the other guys, I didn’t want them to see me with my legs wide open and Thelkor inside me up to his ears.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” I urged him. “Somewhere we can have some privacy.”

He nodded, helping me up. I tried to zip up my suit, but it was just a bit tangled. These things weren’t meant to be taken on or off in such a hurry and in our haste to get to the good stuff, it had become impossibly tangled. I managed to wrap it around myself and grabbed Thelkor’s hand, urging him towards the doorway.

To my surprise—and delight—he let go of my hand and literally swept me off my feet. His strong arms wrapped around me, pressing me to his chest. I snuggled against him, listening to the beat of his heart, and feeling the heat rising through his clothes. When we got to his room, he kicked the door shut behind us and set me down on his bunk.

The bed was easily half the size of mine in the guest quarters, and the room was hardly more than the size of a closet. I barely noticed any of those things as I reached for Thelkor in the dark. His hands were on me, grasping at me as I wriggled even closer to him to thrust my hips against him. He curled his hands around my ass and gave it a hard squeeze, making me cry out.

I fumbled around, getting my hand under his shirt, running my fingers down his belly so I could curl them gently around his hard cock. He gasped as if he’d been wounded when I gripped him firmly and started to pump him slowly and gently.

At first, we kept kissing each other and Thelkor enthusiastically felt me up, but as I turned up the heat, he lay back and let me pleasure him. It wasn’t a conscious decision, I could tell. He was simply overwhelmed.

I wonder if he’s ever done this before? Do the Vaznik have to wait for their mate?

I didn’t know, but the intoxicating sexual energy flowing between us gave me an incredible feeling of power. Seeing him spread out before me, trembling and gasping in response to my touch, was a thrill that went beyond pleasure. The intensity drugged me, and I leaned forward to press my body against his while my hand worked him.

He lengthened, hardening in my hand. His eyes were screwed shut and his hands fluttered uselessly against the sheets. I propped myself up so I had a better angle, tightening my grip and increasing the pace.

I watched him carefully, feeling the moment build. Just as I sensed he was right on the edge, I lifted my other hand and stroked one of his horns.

The response was immediate. He let out such a loud cry it was almost a scream. His body bowed in the middle before stretching out again. He shook as if he was in the throes of an electric shock. Through it all, his cock pumped in my hand, hard, hot, and exploding like a firecracker on New Year’s.

I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled close, holding him until the pleasure subsided. I had just experienced that mind-bending state for myself, so I merely held him and waited for the waves to die down. I knew he was experiencing something so incredible that he was almost out of his body right now.

We have so much to explore, I thought, tracing a finger across his firm chest. His breathing slowed, and his eyes opened. I looked up at his gaze, dark with intensity. He leaned toward me, passion and need filling him, as he pressed his lips to mine.

My body lit up everywhere at once. This was it, this was the moment we became one. All our shared pleasure was about to come together and rise on a wave that would blow us both away.

The comm crackled. Thelkor took his mouth from mine to curse softly.

“Crew, assemble on the bridge. All crew, to the bridge, now.”

Disappointment crushed my chest. Thelkor was wearing the exact same look of loss and disappointment. I kissed him quickly, smiling to reassure him.

“Soon, my love,” I whispered. “We can wait just a little longer.”

“I can,” he sighed. “I just don’t want to.”

He sounded a bit petulant, but I didn’t hold it against him. I was feeling the exact same way.

RACHEL

We took a few seconds to get ourselves together. I gave my hair a rough comb with my fingers and wiped myself off a bit before getting my flight suit back into order. Thelkor took the opportunity to change back into his uniform and discard the outfit I’d gotten him into on the Starferry.

When I went up to him and wrapped myself around his waist, he touched my hair gently. I breathed in, squeezing him.

“I can smell me on you,” I whispered.

He nodded. “I can smell you, as well. We should probably take a shower.”

I shook my head as much as I could while I was pressed up against him, clinging even tighter.

“No way,” I said softly. He stroked my hair and, for a moment, there was no sound, no light, nothing except Thelkor.

The captain buzzed us again and we started walking down the hall hand in hand. The feeling was surreal. Not so long ago I’d felt so alone, like the only one in the galaxy I could depend on was me. Now I had someone who was with me, utterly and completely. It would take some getting used to.

We entered the bridge together, still holding hands and sliding close to each other to fit through the doorway. The others were all looking at the instruments, Storgin talking with Olath as they bent over the console and the captain over the navigation system.

“Oh, Rachel,” Timcur said, turning around. He opened his mouth to say something, saw us together and paused, grinning.

Olath and Storgin looked up at the captain, then turned around to look at me.

Storgin’s face lit up immediately. “Good for you, buddy!” he hurried over, slapping Thelkor on the shoulder. He turned to me with bright eyes and I blushed, sweeping my gaze away.

“I’m pleased, Rachel, really,” Storgin said, reaching out to touch my shoulder gently. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“As am I,” Captain Timcur smiled. “It’s nice to see that there was in fact, no mistake.”

Thelkor smiled awkwardly, squeezing my hand. He couldn’t seem to look at the other guys.

“Rachel is not a mistake,” he said. “I’m sorry I ever thought that. I didn’t understand what I was being given.”

Olath smiled but didn’t leave his post. “Well done,” he said, and I detected regret and a bit of jealousy in his tone. I held Thelkor’s hand even tighter as I walked up to the pilot’s chair. I didn’t want to let go of him for even a second. When I finally did let go to sit down, I felt as if I had cut off one of my own limbs.

I shook it off, reminding myself that Thelkor was right behind me. I felt like I needed to run away—away from all the things I had loved just a day ago. All I wanted was to be somewhere safe and comfortable with my love.

For the first time in my life, I have something to lose.

“What have we got?” I asked Timcur, trying to get my thoughts in order.

“We’ve detected a large building on a nearby asteroid,” he said with some urgency. “It has to be a secret base. It’s very well hidden, but there are Suhlik signatures all over it if we hit the right frequency.”

I let out a low whistle, looking at the data. The base was very well hidden, almost completely powered down. It was clever. My eyes narrowed, wondering about getting in and out. It could be deserted, or it could be full of Suhlik.

What does Zarklac want here?

It was a good question, but maybe a better one was, what were they hiding out here? It could be a smuggling stopping point, or a special training unit. I bit my lip a little, hoping that Thelkor wouldn’t have to go in.

“We’ll intercept within two-and-a-half hours,” Timcur said, showing me the course. “Zarklac will be in there in two.”

“We can’t get there before him?” I asked.

Timcur shook his head. “No. You did a great job getting us here in record time, that will make a huge difference. But he’s going to beat us there and that’s just a fact.”

“Half an hour can be a long time,” Thelkor said quietly. “It’s enough time to arm troops and set up a defense.”

“I know,” Timcur nodded. “But we have to go after him.”

“I’m sending this info back to base,” Olath said. “We don’t have a direct line, but it will be saved and transmitted. That way, if anything goes wrong, others will know about this. We’ve uncovered a secret base—this is huge. How many war criminals are in there?”

“That’s a good question,” Timcur said softly. “Every Suhlik we’ve been after for the last few months could be bunked down here. It’s a great hiding spot. The asteroid moves erratically, and it’s protected by other rocks. The movement doesn’t disturb the surface much, either.”

I fiddled with the controls, looking over the route. I frowned as I zeroed in on our track.

“Landing on it isn’t going to be a piece of cake,” I muttered.

Timcur looked down at me sharply. “I know that. Can you handle it?”

I looked up, shocked. “Who do you think is in your chair right now? Of course I can land there,” I chuckled. “I was just warning you guys to strap in for a bumpy ride.”

Timcur shook his head, grinning. I noticed Thelkor watching from the back of the room, his eyes wide with appreciation. I smiled at him, feeling a weight lift in my chest I hadn’t even known was there.

I turned back to the void and the instruments, knowing that they would never feel the same to me again. For the first time in my life, there was something I loved more than flying.

Thelkor.

THELKOR

As we pulled closer to the asteroid, I headed to the armory. I loaded up three pistols, a few rifles, and some laser weapons. I strapped two long ammo belts across my chest and filled them, attaching handfuls of grenades for good measure.

Storgin came in first and checked his guns, collecting a weapons belt. As he slid cases into his crossed straps, he glanced over at me with a strange look.

“What?” I muttered, focused more on the explosive rounds I was packing than on him.

“I’m just thinking. You must not want to leave Rachel here. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a mate. For a brief moment, when she arrived on board, I thought about it. But I didn’t have time to imagine it and there seemed little benefit to thinking about it, once I knew she wasn’t mine.”

Mine.

Yes, that was how it felt. I sighed, looking up at Storgin.

“I am sorry, in a way. You guys were so excited, so ready. I tried to reject the gift, but I didn’t really understand what I was being given.”

“Oh, I think you did,” Storgin, grinning as he slipped a massive knife into a sheath on his leg. “I think you’ve been infatuated with her from the first moment you saw her.”

My grin widened. “Yeah. Maybe.”

Olath hurried in, going straight for the pile at the end of the table. “Are these mine?” he asked, indicating the guns.

I nodded. “You’ve got two standard pistols, two automatic rifles, taser, grenades. I assume you brought your own blades?”

Olath nodded, patting his sides where his beloved knives were sheathed under his uniform.

While we got ready, Goldie started shaking and tossing, just a little. Asteroids didn’t have a lot of atmosphere, but there were plenty of other conditions Rachel had to navigate through to land us safely. We had to come down out of the line of sight of the base and quietly enough that no one would notice us.

I wanted to get back to the bridge before we touched down, so I hurried to get the rest of my weapons. I already felt pretty heavy with the amount of gear I was carrying, but sometimes you couldn’t have enough weapons. I compromised by bringing a bit more ammo for the guns I already had.

Goldie shuddered as I hurried back up the hall. Timcur nodded to me as he went past heading for the armory. When I arrived at the bridge, I saw the asteroid laid out before us, getting closer at what seemed an impossible speed.

I sat down in one of the back chairs, but I didn’t feel the need to strap myself in. Rachel was curving gently around the asteroid to land out of the base’s sightline, but close enough we could get to it easily to infiltrate.

Her hands were on the stick, her fingers lightly tapping as she leaned from side to side. It was as if some invisible force connected her to the entire ship, like she had become part of it.

Goldie and Rachel are a good fit, I thought. It wasn’t a happy moment for me, though. I didn’t know if she still intended to leave. If she did, what would I do? I couldn’t imagine leaving my crewmates, but leaving her was impossible.

She brought the ship around and touched down beautifully, barely making a bump as Goldie settled on the surface. She was looking idly out the viewports when she suddenly noticed me behind her.

“Wow,” she said. “You look like you’re posing for an issue of Gunner’s Monthly.”

I frowned. “Monthly?” I didn’t understand the timeframe. “Aren’t we going in now?”

She shook her head. “Bad joke. I just meant you’re armed to the teeth.”

I grinned. “Yeah. That’s true. Look, Rachel—” I struggled with my words. I didn’t want her to argue with me. It was important that she listen to me.

“Rachel, I need you to do something for me.”

She sat up straight, eyes bright. “What do you need?”

“I need you to stay here, on the ship. We have combat training. This is what we do. I can’t risk you coming with us.”

She nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m a pilot, not a soldier. I’ll be here waiting for you.”

“I mean it,” I said. Urgency was starting to creep into my tone. “Don’t come charging in, thinking you can save the day. At the very least, consider the fact that we might need a quick exit and we can’t do that if you aren’t in that chair.”

Her eyes looked soft and deep. “I’ll worry about you, Thelkor. But I understand. I’ll stay here.”

I really couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or not, but I hoped so. I smiled, letting the feeling in my heart grow.

“I’m glad you teleported here, onto this ship, and turned my life upside down.”

“Me, too,” she said, getting up and hurrying over to me. We embraced around my many guns and weapons belts. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me lightly.

“Go get ’em,” she said. “Bring me back a Suhlik head or two.”

“Of course,” I smiled. As I turned to walk away to meet the others at the main door, I was wondering why she wanted a Suhlik head… Then I realized it could be one of her jokes.

Great, I thought. I’m screwed either way. If I bring back a head she didn’t want, she’ll be disgusted. If I don’t bring a head and she wanted a trophy, she’ll be pissed.

Like it or not, I had just fallen into a conundrum, the type that could only occur when trying to interpret a female’s will.

RACHEL

I watched the camera feed as the guys assembled at the main doors. Timcur was giving a little speech, just something to heat everyone up a bit.

Let’s kill them all!

They spoke almost in unison. Even Storgin, who I had taken to be more refined and less aggressive, had that wild look in his eyes. They seemed to grow taller when they were holding weapons, as if their very demeanor was performing an unconscious threat display.

Before the doors could open, I accessed our main network and used our sensors to detect any other networks nearby. The Suhlik frequency was very strong and secure.

I started hacking in, watching the guys at the door. Within a few seconds, I had a feed from the base.

“Okay, guys, I’m accessing the map right now. I don’t know how many Suhlik are in there, but I can send a basic picture of the building structure. Storgin, I’m sending it to your device.”

“Roger,” he said, pulling the small tablet out of his pocket. “I’ve got it.”

He showed it to the others and they all nodded, pointing at the screen as they discussed entry points.

“If Storgin goes through the side and Olath comes up the back, that leaves you and me through the front doors,” Timcur said.

Thelkor nodded. “I’m all over it.”

“Do you want us to stagger our entry times?” Olath asked. “That way they’ll have to divert from you to deal with us.”

Timcur nodded. “Great idea. You guys get moving now. We’ll give you a ten-minute head start.”

Storgin and Olath set off. Timcur and Thelkor looked over the map a bit more, pointing and talking as they worked out strategy.

I kept hacking, bypassing passwords and encrypted firewalls. The Suhlik had decent tech but they weren’t well setup, software-wise. It was easy enough to get into the secret files and main security feeds.

“Okay, Thelkor, Timcur, the others are almost ready,” I said through the mic.

“Roger that,” Timcur replied.

They hurried across the hill towards the base, wasting no time. They just ran at the door and I felt a moment’s fear that they might get shot at on their way in.

Thelkor raised a gun and blasted the door without missing a step. The lock melted into slag and the door buckled. Thelkor paused briefly to kick the mangled sheet of metal out of the way before charging in.

“You’ve got five Suhlik coming down that hallway,” I said.

Thelkor didn’t confirm vocally but crouched in a corner of the hall, raising a hand to Timcur. They ducked until the Suhlik were almost right on top of them, then stood up suddenly, firing on the group and killing them all.

“Ten more!” I yelled. The guys jumped, getting back-to-back and pointing weapons both ways.

“Wait—” I didn’t get time to warn them because Olath and Storgin made their entrances at that exact moment. Olath came from the back of the building, Storgin from the side. Some Suhlik soldiers turned and went after them, while others still poured up the hall toward Timcur and Thelkor.

The halls were full of screams, grunts, and rapid fire. The camera angles were confused at first, until I brought the security feed from the base into focus. Trying to follow what was going on through the guys’ comms units was only giving me broken images that made me more anxious.

Once I got a good look through the camera feed, I almost laughed at what I saw. I leaned closer, fascinated.

The guys were all leaping and twisting, performing incredibly athletic moves as they took out the Suhlik soldiers, sometimes three in one go. I saw mild-mannered Storgin grab hold of one and hurl him down the hall into a wall like he was nothing more than a pile of rags.

Olath broke one Suhlik’s arm, sweeping with his foot to take out the guy's knees, as well. Slowly, the guys fought their way closer to each other, moving through the halls as they headed to the center of the base.

I focused on Thelkor and Timcur again, seeing Timcur rise up above a wave of approaching Suhlik, kicking and spinning. He brought down one hand, slitting the throat of one Suhlik, only to thrash his arm to the side and pierce another through the shoulder. As he came down from his jump, Thelkor leaped over his head and tackled another scaly dude, smashing him against the floor.

Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.

Thelkor stayed on the floor for a few seconds, almost out of sight of the camera. Another Suhlik appeared from the shadows, tearing at them. Right before he could stab Thelkor in the back, Timcur leapt up, meeting the guy head-on. Both of them staggered back, but Timcur recovered faster and went at him, hammering his face and trying to get one of his knives up.

There was a flurry of light and jolting noise further down the hall and I saw Storgin blasting his way out of a cluster of Suhlik, firing and hurling grenades. Olath upped his speed, plowing through Suhlik to meet with Storgin at the next connecting hallway.

They turned up the main hall, following the screams and booms that told of the fierce battle going on further along. The rear of the base was now clear. All they had to do was back up Timcur and Thelkor, then flush out the rest.

I kept one eye on the camera feed as I hacked into the system even further, transferring data as quickly as I could. I couldn’t do what they were doing, but I was an active member of the team. This intel could be a game changer for the Vaznik.

THELKOR

Sneaking around the outside of the building, I felt like my skin was on fire, my blood, electric. I could tell where the other members of my team were by instinct. We were always in tune, but especially in a battle situation, we almost became of one mind.

Timcur and I kicked in the main door at almost the exact same time I heard the others beginning their rampage. Gunfire further off told me we were coming together in the main hallway just as planned.

I charged through the shadowy dark, seeing the glint of a Suhlik eye or flash of scales. I fired into the corners, making blazing waves of light which showed me where the fuckers were scurrying away to. When quarters became close, I used my gun to smash their faces in, kicking their legs out from under them so I could deliver a fatal blow to the head.

I fought my way towards the next hallway, which was much better lit. A quick glance showed me a stream of Suhlik moving along the hall to my left—they ran toward the entrance where my brothers battled their way through the sides.

Excellent. It’s all coming together. The majority of the force goes for the disturbance up front, leaving us to clean them up from behind.

I roared as I charged down the hallway, throwing my gun over my shoulder by its strap and pulling out my knife. It was a thick, heavy thing with a metal hilt, the blade as long as my forearm. I sharpened it regularly, slowly drawing the stone across her edge until she was razor keen. It was one of my favorite weapons.

I came upon a trio of Suhlik running ahead of me, and chopped into the nearest one with ease. I cut upwards with a firm jerk of my arm, opening him under the ribs. As he fell to the side, I tossed the knife easily into my other hand and stabbed down into his throat, a killing blow. As I wrenched the knife free, blood spurted up in a fountain. As the Suhlik fell, he painted the wall beside him in hot, green blood.

His two buddies were still running ahead, charging for the chaos further up the hall. As I put all my strength into a ferocious burst of speed, I saw the hallway narrow around me, my vision tunneling to my target.

The two Suhlik crouched and pointed their guns, intending to give cover to their buddies who were engaged with my crewmates. They didn’t get the chance to fire.

I leapt into the air mid-stride. My body coiled like a mechanism in perfect tune and I cocked my foot out, hitting the first Suhlik with enough force to send him crashing into his buddy, knocking them both into the wall. I landed on my back, rolled, and sprang to my feet, casting my knife down in big sweeps to cut both Suhlik through the neck.

A noise to my left sent my blade spinning out. Storgin ducked, grinning. The knife buried itself in the wall behind him.

“Easy now,” he grinned. “What if I hadn’t dodged it?”

I laughed. “Then you’d be a piss-poor excuse for a Vaznik, brother.”

He clasped my hand briefly and we gave each other the grin only brothers-in-arms share. There was no kinship like that of warriors. We knew we’d get hurt. We knew we would bleed together. Down deep in our souls was also the unavoidable knowledge that, someday, our brother may die before us, and there would be nothing we could do about it.

That was the dark pact of fighters. It made our connection that much stronger—the acceptance that if we had to see our friend die, we would be there at the end, no matter how it came, and honor him.

I took two strides across the hall and freed my knife, putting it back in its sheath. I nodded to Timcur and Olath. We moved down the main hall. A sudden, faint tinkling sound caught my attention.

“Get back!” I shouted, launching myself backwards, my arms flung wide. I crashed into the others, crashing us all to the floor in an awkward pile just as a massive explosion rocked the hallway.

I didn’t wait, too furious. I rolled, jumping towards the only cover point the bastards could be hiding behind. As I flipped over them, I hurled three grenades down and landed in a roll, covering my ears, and flattening myself to the floor.

The explosion nearly rocked the building. Blood sprayed the walls. Tiny pieces of meat and scale splattered me as I stood up.

“Gross,” I whispered as the others came up to me.

“I think I got Suhlik in my eye,” Storgin complained.

“Shut up, you sissy,” Olath joked.

Timcur raised a hand and looked around, catching our eyes one by one. He nodded at the wide, main hallway that led to the center of the base, letting us know with his demeanor it was time to stop joking around.

He took the lead, letting us drop into formation behind him. This hallway was very well lit and had less equipment stacked around it, less cover to hide in. It was obviously the main path to the center, though, and we didn’t have the choice of another route.

“We’re stuck in here like flies in a fucking glass bottle,” muttered Storgin.

“Just keep steady,” Timcur whispered. “There will be a last line of defense, I’m sure. We have to get to that main chamber. Just step lightly.”

I gripped my gun, feeling the comforting weight of my knife against my leg at every step. Whatever was coming, I was ready for it.

RACHEL

I’d known that Vaznik warriors were good. It was how they’d become legendary throughout the entire galaxy—the tales of their prowess in battle literally reached every ear. No one could fail to be impressed by those stories.

I’d thought they were just stories. Everything was exaggerated, just by the telling. Humans couldn’t tell the story of a chicken crossing the road without amping it up a bit.

Actually, it was a monster chicken, and the road was really a space highway, and he didn’t just want to get to the other side, he wanted to become a space explorer.

After watching for only a few minutes, I realized the stories of the Vaznik warriors had not been exaggerated. It took my mind several minutes to turn that over. As a human, one often must adjust any story you are told to try and see the truth of it. Realizing that every word I’d ever heard about the Vaznik was true had me grappling with my sanity.

They moved with extreme grace, all of them. Humans couldn’t hope to match movements like that. When they flattened themselves against the walls, they became part of the shadows. When they swept through the air, they moved with fluid accuracy, guaranteeing they always hit their target.

I watched Thelkor spinning and leaping, my tongue creeping to the corner of my mouth. I’d always considered him to be good looking, from that first moment I saw him passed out on the deck. This was something else. He wasn’t just attractively built, he was efficient and deadly. As he twisted and spun, hacking at Suhlik as they fell before him, I felt a strange sensation welling inside me.

It wasn’t just admiration, or lust. It was something even more than that which I couldn’t quite name.

Pride, I thought as I saw him throw his brothers down away from a grenade blast. Yes, pride. I was proud Thelkor was my mate. It was a strange feeling to have. Usually, I couldn’t muster a great deal of pride even for my own actions. Seeing Thelkor in action though…

He will give me beautiful babies and he will protect us all with that incredible strength.

It was an odd thought for me to have. I’d never thought about having babies my entire life. I couldn’t look at Thelkor showing off his perfect body and boundless strength without thinking about how gorgeous our kids would be.

And safe. Unbelievably safe.

Most of my life, safety was something I’d resigned myself to never having. It was exhausting, but you did get used to it. Every moment, I was beginning to understand more about what it meant to be mated. It looked like I was going to enjoy the experience very much.

Not something to endure. Something to revel in.

The guys got halfway down the hallway before small explosions burst through the hall. Small missiles were being fired from a covered area by the main door. The guys didn’t have any immediate cover and had to back away to find alcoves and corners. I could see five Suhlik gathered behind a barrier near the door.

They kept up a steady stream of the small missiles until the hall was full of smoke. I heard the guys shouting. I didn’t know what they were saying. Suddenly, I saw Thelkor stand up and grab a gun.

“No, don’t,” I whispered.

Silent as a cat, he ran up the hall, pressed to the wall. The missile fire was mostly clustered in the center, leaving his way clear. The others noticed he was gone and Timcur swore.

“Get ready to back him up,” he muttered irritably.

Thelkor was almost to the door. He drew his knife and gripped his gun in his other hand. Then he sped up, pushing all his speed into two massive strides, using the momentum to flip high.

Thelkor fired down at the Suhlik as he flew over their heads. They screamed in their horrible reptilian voices. Thelkor touched down behind them, finishing off the last one with his knife. The head of the last Suhlik flew, severed in one swoop of Thelkor’s knife.

Before his brothers could move, he jammed his knife into the control panel on the door, twisting it. The security system screamed, and the door hissed as the lock broke. The door didn’t just open, though, and all four of them had to put their backs into it to get into the main room.

The chamber appeared empty. The guys took tentative steps inside. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement at the back of the room. The guys bolted toward the sound and I quickly changed camera feeds so I could follow them.

Zarklac ran through the back doors, leaping into a nearby one-man craft. He took off before the guys could even get close, disappearing into the sky.

“Fuck!” Thelkor screamed, throwing his gun down in disgust. “Those things are impossible to track.”

“Yeah,” Timcur muttered, glaring up at the sky. Olath’s shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Hey, guys,” Storgin called from inside. “He left data here.”

“Copy it,” Timcur snapped. “Get everything. Strip the fucking place. We might be able to figure out where he’s going next.”

The guys muttered as they made their way back inside. The day might be won, but they had lost their quarry. It was unlikely any data left behind could make up for that.

THELKOR

We stripped the secret moon base and headed back to the Goldie with the main data. We had a couple of computer motherboards and storage devices. We would inform other sectors of the military about this place and they would come through with a salvage team to fully investigate and make use of everything the Suhlik left behind.

Still grimy and sweaty from the fighting, as well as carrying our weapons, we gathered in the galley. I always felt a cavern open in my stomach after a good fight. I put my weapon down on a spare table before sitting with the others, who casually dropped gear on the deck as they joined me.

Rachel brought out sandwiches and bottles of beer. I downed a bottle and immediately reached for another.

“Storgin, you can go through this stuff, can’t you?” Timcur asked. Storgin shook his head, his mouth full of a cheese sandwich.

“I’ve already tried,” Rachel said as she made her way over to me. “Here.” She put down a portable keyboard and tablet she’d connected to the main drive, leaving them in front of Storgin as she came to me.

Her fingers brushed my shoulder as she drew close. At first, I didn’t really know what she was doing as she touched me gently, walking around me with her head tilted to one side.

“You’re not wounded,” she said incredulously. “None of this blood is yours!”

I grinned, finishing a sandwich. “Of course not.”

She looked around the table, eyes wide with surprise. “Is anyone injured?”

The others shook their heads, looking between each other with confusion.

“No,” Timcur said. “We may have a few grazes, maybe a small burn here or there. But no one’s hurt.”

“I brought a med kit,” she said, sounding confused. “I thought—”

I reached out, taking hold of her arms and tugging her toward me.

“We’re tougher than that, my darling,” I whispered. She grinned and pressed her body to mine.

“I’ll remember that,” she said softly. She planted a gentle kiss on my lips, and I kept one arm firmly around her waist as she turned back to face the others.

“Here,” Storgin said, finally finishing his food. “Look at this, boss.”

Timcur moved around to stand behind Storgin. He was connected to the main hard drive and figures were flying across the little tablet screen.

“This is basic encryption code. Any computer has it, like a password screen. Rachel sliced through that easily enough.”

She gave a little bow when Storgin nodded her way.

“In these files, we’ve got a lot of bad news, boss,” Storgin said quietly. Timcur leaned closer to look.

“What is it?” Olath asked, worried.

“It’s the early planning for their next attack,” Rachel said. “This is just a bunch of speculative notes. How many people they want to kill, the kinds of resources and shipping routes they want to destroy. It weighs attacking political hubs, military organizations, and official laboratories against pleasure resorts, tourist destinations, and manufacturing centers.”

“What does all that mean?” I asked, just a little confused.

Timcur sighed, but not at me. He stared at the screen, a deepening scowl on his face.

“They can hit the military or political sectors to try and knock out defense operations and plunge society into chaos. The tradeoff is those areas are better defended and it takes a lot more work to do effective damage.” He stood, eyes darkening.

“Resorts, tourist areas, manufacturing sectors… They aren’t as well defended, and they are full of people. Delivering a blow to some of those places would kill millions of people. It could cripple the entire system more surely than if they managed to blow up a major space station.”

“Manufacturing areas are especially vulnerable,” Storgin said quietly. “They are full of people and vital resources, but minimally secured from a military standpoint. They could disrupt supply and that would be potentially fatal to any communities in their supply chain.”

“So, what are they planning?” Timcur asked urgently. “Where do we go to intercept?”

Storgin sighed and Rachel shook her head at the same time.

“It doesn’t say,” she said. “There are more files behind this one but it’s heavily encrypted. I couldn’t get in.”

“Nor can I,” Storgin said, frustrated. “I’ve gotten through the first firewall and it’s a detailed list of certain locations with their strengths and weaknesses. We’ve also got trade routes and distances between military bases and those locations.”

“So they know how long it would take for help to arrive,” Timcur said. “Smart bastards.”

“They appear to be getting that way, don’t they?” Storgin pointed at the screen. “I’ve got a weapons detail here, boss. You aren’t going to like it.”

Timcur leaned over and his eyes went cold. I’d never seen him shocked, and my guts twisted in fear. If it could upset Timcur, what could it possibly be?

“I need to check in with HQ,” he said curtly. “Those guys are packing some serious weaponry. I didn’t think they had that kind of firepower and they have obvious intel on these places they want to hit. We need to move.”

He left the room in a hurry. I grabbed another beer and a couple of sandwiches. My stomach grumbled, and my head was too full. I didn’t do the heavy thinking. When Timcur figured out which way to point the gun, that was my time to shine.

Rachel snuggled close to me, stroking my hair and almost touching my horns. It was making me tingle in the strangest way.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered.

I looked up and smiled. Battle would be twice as sweet now that I had someone to bring my victory home to.

RACHEL

After Timcur left the galley, Olath and Storgin started an in-depth conversation about the data which had been collected and the tech used. I caught Thelkor’s eyes across the table and motioned with my head toward the hall.

He followed me, a look of stern concentration on his face. My breath stuck in my chest and I struggled to breathe, lightheaded, my feet disconnected and clumsy.

I didn’t want to have this conversation in the hall, so I kept going to the guest quarters. When I saw Thelkor’s face, I was worried all over again. He seemed distant, closed. It made me scared to open up, but things needed to be said.

“Thelkor—” I began, as I sat down on the edge of the bed.

He raised a hand and shook his head. “It’s okay, Rachel. Really, I understand, and all I want is for you to be happy.”

“What?”

He sighed. “I’ve realized that your happiness means more to me than anything else. I support you in what you want to do, even if we can’t be together.”

What the actual fuck?

“Thelkor, what are you talking about?” My voice was high, and my cheeks felt red.

He frowned. “You need to get your own ship. That’s what you want, isn’t it? I’ll support you in any way I can.”

A whole bunch of stuff started making sense. It was like a blade in my heart, how loyal he was, and how selfless.

“Thelkor.” I stood and pressed myself against him, stroking his cheek. “I’m not leaving you.”

His eyes went wide. “What?”

“I’m staying with you. Yeah, I’d love to have my own ship, but there’s plenty of time. Goldie is a damn good ship and, like you said, maybe she is the vessel I’ve always dreamed of.”

I stretched up, kissing him lightly. He looked a little bit in shock, his eyes wide and lips pressed together.

“But—”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I grinned, kissing him again.

His arms wrapped around my waist, crushing me to him. He kissed me like I was life itself, sweeping his tongue into my mouth and working his lips on mine. My hand crept up the side of his cheek and I stroked his temple, very near his horns.

He braced, sucking in a harsh breath. His pupils dilated as he looked at me and he nodded, just slightly.

I grinned and reached up, caressing his horn with the tips of my fingers. I ran my hand slowly from the base to the tip and back again, watching him shiver and moan under my touch.

His eyes closed and he leaned his head back, groaning. After a couple of sweeps of my hand, his eyes opened. They were intense, focused on my body more than my face. He was panting under his breath and it struck me suddenly how alien he really was.

He grabbed my upper arms, pulling me close for a kiss, a growl deep in his throat. Lust stabbed me between the legs as he nuzzled my neck, nipping at me while one hand started to explore.

He seized the top of my flight suit and tore it open. I gasped, partly in shock but mostly because the throbbing between my legs hit a peak of heat I’d never dreamed possible. As he bent his head to lick and gently bite at my nipples, I screamed, grabbed his head, and pulled him toward me.

It was lucky the bed was right behind us. It hit me in the knees and I fell hard, Thelkor on top of me. He ignored our tumble and ripped my suit all the way open. As he slid down my body, I writhed, struggling to get out of the top half so he could pull the bottom off.

He ran his fingers lightly up my thighs, gently teasing me. His lips feathered along the edges of my pussy, his tongue flicking at my clit. He didn’t linger, though. I knew he was ready to explode from my work on his horns and I was aching for him so much, I couldn’t have waited, either.

Thelkor stood up and threw off his shirt, dropping his pants almost as an afterthought. My eyes fell, but he immediately moved toward me and I didn’t see much. It didn’t seem to matter, anyway. I had the rest of our lives to look at his cock—right now I just wanted it inside me.

As his hands for reached my ribcage, I opened my legs. I felt the hardness of him pressing against me. I rocked back, letting him in. I closed my eyes as I felt his hand reach down, tease me briefly, then guide himself in.

It didn’t matter what it looked like—he was clearly huge and incredibly hard. I felt like I was bruised inside, or had a far-off itch deep within me. As he slid into me, inch by glorious inch, I felt his hardness pressing against that ache and somehow soothing it. Tingles of pleasure ran across my skin, more than goosebumps, more like electric needles.

As he slid all the way home, there was no space between us. A low moan ripped out of me and I relaxed into his grip, turning my face back to his and opening my eyes. He was watching me closely, his own need held tightly in check until he knew how I felt.

I curled up and touched my lips to his. He gasped and I felt his hands moving on me again. Slowly, he eased his hips back and in deliberate, controlled movements, began to thrust.

THELKOR

It was as if I could feel her desire with my whole body. Senses had awakened in me that I never knew I had. Even though I was completely overwhelmed by my own lust, my body seemed to be dancing to music I couldn’t hear.

There is music. I’m making it, and she is the instrument.

I watched her face. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and squirmed. Her pussy gripped my cock, and the screwing movement of her hips almost undid me. Need rushed through me, fierce and hot. It was like a caged lion and she held the key to its cage.

I held on to her shoulders gently and drew myself out of her, holding still for a second before sliding back in. I watched her response, every inch of me completely focused on her. Desire raged in my blood and I wanted to let it go. I wanted to thrash into her in every position that had ever been tried, make her climax from my relentless passion and brute force.

But I couldn’t let go. Even though I felt as if I were holding back a tidal wave, I didn’t have the option to give in to my lust. My respect for her was too great.

Suddenly, she wrapped her legs around me and gripped my shoulders tightly with both hands. Her face twisted. For a second, I thought something had gone horribly wrong. I knew how much bigger and stronger than her I was, and I had been so careful—surely I hadn’t hurt her?

“More,” she whispered, touching her lips to mine very gently. Then she started to grind and writhe against me, digging her nails into my shoulders.

I pressed my hands to the bed, my knees resting lightly on the edge. I was at an odd angle, but with my musculature it was an easy position for me. I stayed still, letting her rock herself back and forth using her hands and her knees against my ribs.

She closed her eyes and tossed her head from side to side as she worked herself against me. I was too shocked to do anything except stay still, and it seemed that was exactly where she needed me. Her cheeks flushed red and sweat dotted her brow. Short noises of joy burst from her, and she dug her nails right into me, grinding hard with her hips for three brutally hard thrusts.

Then she fell back, chest heaving. She let go of me all at once, her limbs loose and her face serene. The sweet, slow smile she had at that moment was incredibly precious to me, a thing of comfort, satisfaction, and safety.

I could feel her pussy squeezing me, tremors that ran through her core and became the flare of goosebumps across her arms and legs. I waited for her breathing to settle and her beautiful eyes to open. She smiled.

“Thelkor?”

“Yes, my love?”

“You don’t have to be so careful with me.”

“What?”

“I mean… you can move. Touch me, take some pleasure for yourself.”

I shook my head a little, leaning down to kiss her. “I’m so much bigger and stronger than you, Rachel. I could hurt you so easily.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You mean… you really don’t care if you don’t come?”

“I…” I realized I didn’t know how to answer the question. She grabbed my forearms and dug her fingers into my skin.

“Trust me. I’ll tell you if I’m not having fun. Fuck me, Thelkor. Let yourself go.”

I knew I certainly would not let myself go, not this time. I could tell she really wanted more though, so I positioned my hands on her shoulders and thrust forward, feeling her heat engulfing me.

She was tight and hot, even while she was wet and slippery. Every time I pulled back, it was like a sweet torture, drawing out pleasure to the extreme before slamming myself back in.

She writhed and used her hands to rock against me, creating an incredible, two-way friction. I focused on her face and voice, listening to every cry, watching her expression. I could feel her body building to another climax and I was amazed—how many times could she come? I decided it was my duty to find out and give her as many orgasms as possible.

Her moans became long groans and her entire body trembled. My fingers tightened on her shoulders and suddenly my hips were beyond my control. I thrust into her wildly, our bodies smacking together as we moved in tandem. She cried out and I took one last look at her face before I let myself go.

Red waves flowed through me, like I’d been caught in a choke hold. This wasn’t like last time—this time I was inside her. My hardness filled her as I swelled and she screamed under me, marking my shoulders and back with her nails. I pushed my hips forward as far as I could go and felt my cock shuddering as I was caught and ridden by my own climax.

A couple of minutes later, I blinked hard, realizing that I was still on top of Rachel. I quickly rolled to the side and she followed, wrapping an arm around me. There was no sound except our ragged breathing. I wrapped my arms around her, cradling her to me.

I had never been whole, and I hadn’t even known it. Now I did. My heart was finally full. There had been a piece missing from me my entire life, and now I had found it.

We were one and nothing could ever change that.

RACHEL

Days after the big adventure, I sat in the galley, eating breakfast with Thelkor. We had been hibernating in either his room or mine for all that time and this was the first time since the mission that we had bothered to be respectable.

Well, Thelkor was wearing a pair of tracksuit pants too short for him, and nothing else. I was in a soft blue robe, but at least we were dressed and out of bed. Thelkor had found some sweet pastries he warmed up for me and a full pot of coffee sat on the table. He was cramming scrambled eggs into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in months.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at his food and back up to his face. He laughed.

“Don’t you look at me like that, woman,” he said mischievously. “You’re the reason I need this much protein.”

“Isn’t there any meat on the ship?” I asked innocently. “Or would a whole cow not be enough?”

He grinned. “It’s true, we do need to stock up. I can’t believe we ran out of bacon. I could go hunting in the big freezer for steak, but it wouldn’t be ready to cook in a hurry.” He slammed his fist onto the table, making everything jiggle.

“I need protein now, dammit.”

I giggled. “And electrolytes, lots of electrolytes.”

“You just keep up with that coffee,” he joked. “Wake yourself up a bit. You’ve been in bed for days.”

I yawned. “Yeah, but I haven’t been sleeping.”

I reached across the table and Thelkor took my hand. I hadn’t even noticed the time passing. We had started in my bed, moved to the shower, back to my bed. Then, Thelkor wanted something from his room so we went there… After that, there was beer involved and I’m pretty sure we did it in the pilot’s chair.

I rubbed my head, fighting with an uncertain, flickering memory of chasing Thelkor naked through the ship, screaming with laughter. I was hoping that was a drunken fantasy, but it had the taste of an embarrassing memory.

“Maybe you should go back to bed, then,” he grinned. “I’d better escort you. Just in case you need help to relax.”

I laughed, about to grab the plate and coffee pot and race him back to the guest quarters, but Timcur marched in at exactly that moment. His face was stern, even though he looked at us with indulgence.

“Thelkor, I’ve been more than lenient, but the ship has to get back to working order. Rachel, that means you have to get back in the pilot’s chair.”

Thelkor and I looked at each other, grinning. Timcur face palmed and groaned.

“Not like that! I’m being serious here!” he said, exasperated. He shook his head. “We all tried to stay out of your way.” He stepped up to our table and folded his arms over his chest. “We are very happy for you both, but we did just come out of a big mission.”

Thelkor nodded, shoveling the last of his food into his mouth. “Of course, Captain. I apologize for abandoning my post.”

“No apology necessary, soldier, because I allowed you the time. If I had really needed you, I would have come and ah… pried you apart.”

“Hmm,” I muttered, ready to make a comeback. Timcur glared at me and I shut up, looking away. Storgin and Olath entered, talking about things they had salvaged from the Suhlik base.

“Hey, buddy!” Olath hurried over to clap Thelkor on the shoulder. He looked away, almost bashful. I found the green glow on his cheeks completely adorable.

Storgin came over and patted my hand. “I’m happy it all worked out for you,” he said.

I nodded. “Me, too,” I smiled at him.

“So, what are our orders, sir?” Thelkor asked.

Timcur waited for everyone to sit down before he began. “We have examined these files in every way we know how, but not even Storgin can decode them.”

“I’m guessing that’s bad?” Thelkor asked.

Storgin nodded. “Hacking is all about software base codes. If you can hack one computer then you’ll have decent luck with others using a similar system. This stuff… isn’t what I’m used to seeing, either in our own data or in Suhlik tech.”

“That means that we don’t know where they are going next or who is helping them,” Olath said. “They must have guys on the inside if they are working resorts or manufacturing centers.”

“There’s a lot of financial stuff,” Storgin said. “Things I don’t understand, but it could be bribes. Maybe part of what I’m seeing here is a security system from a known network.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “It decoded right up to a certain point, didn’t it? It’s a hell of a firewall.”

“I got through the firewall,” he said. “I just couldn’t decipher what I found behind it. No algorithm I’ve tried has made a single dent in it.”

“There is a salvage team on the way here,” Timcur said, “but we aren’t waiting for them. We have to get this data to someone who can hack it. That means we’re leaving, now.”

He looked over at me and Thelkor with a grin.

“I actually got the orders yesterday, but I’m sure we can run into a solar storm or something… to account for that lost time?”

I grinned, more than grateful that Timcur had given us time to be together. I gave him a salute.

“Aye, aye, Captain,” I said, getting up. It looked like the immediate part of my honeymoon was over. Thelkor got up, too, and we shared a glance, both of us heading regretfully back to our posts.

I jogged back to my room to change, already thinking about what I might do as soon as Goldie was set to course. Maybe I could help out in the armory. I’m sure by then Thelkor could use some help polishing his… weapon.

Welcome aboard the Golden Meridian!

Up next? Loathe!

All he wants is her. All she wants us to go home.

Except the more time she spends with the hulking warrior, the more she has to wonder... what if home is at his side?

Even Evelyn can't deny their attraction. Every time she's near him, her heart races, her skin tingles, and heat surges through her belly.  But can she choose between her old dreams and this new future?

Olath has been waiting for a mate his whole life. But when Evelyn arrives, sweetly curved, smart and stubborn, she wants nothing to do with him.

She's everything he'd ever dreamed of, and so much more.

Her bright smile lights up every corner of his heart, and the urge to sweep her into his arms is enough to knock him to his knees.

But when they're drawn into a web of deceit, can he keep her safe?

Keep reading for a sneak peak or click to get Olath now!

(Need to go back and see how the Golden Meridian lost her pilot? Click here for The Vaznik Warrior’s Surprise!)

OLATH: SNEAK PEEK

Evelyn

“I’m busy,” I shouted, trying to ignore whoever knocked on my door. The knocking only became more insistent. Fluffbutt meowed loudly, demanding I stop the noise. I sighed, crossed the length of my dorm room, and opened the door.

Lauren stood in the hallway outside my door, her lips pulled into a wide grin. Her hair disheveled, she breathed ragged, as if she had run the entire way to my door.

Without waiting for my invitation, she marched past. She made a beeline to the bed, flopped on it, and spread her arms wide. The ancient metal bed frame creaked under her weight.

“Sorry, Lauren. Didn’t know it was you.” Even though we’d just met in my first year of college, Lauren had quickly become my best friend. She was the one person I’d trust with my life, and the one who was always there whenever I needed. More than a friend, Lauren was family.

“Studying for the midterms?”

She scratched Fluffbutt behind the ears while shooting my desk a glance. There, my terminal was lit up, a few mathematical formulas and Mechanical Engineering exercises littering the screen. A bunch of notebooks were in front of the terminal, the pages filled with enough numbers and equations to drive a mathematician mad.

“Yeah,” I replied with a shrug. “You know how Professor Andrews is with exams. If I don’t know every little thing in his damn textbook, he’s gonna make sure I don’t get a passing grade. And I really need to get a—”

“I’m sorry to say,” Lauren interrupted, “but there are more important things in life than Mechanical Engineering.” She scooted to the edge of the bed. She wiggled an eyebrow at me, like someone about to drop a bomb on my lap. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot against the floorboards.

“Alright, what’s this about?” I asked, already feeling hesitant. As much as I loved Lauren, she had a tendency to come up with harebrained schemes all the time, such as ditching class to attend some rave in an abandoned warehouse. Granted, her plans were mostly fun. Right now, though, I really needed to study. “C’mon, Lauren, out with it.”

“Well, tomorrow is your birthday and—”

“I’m sorry,” I rushed to say, waving a hand at my desk. “But I think I’m gonna pass on celebrating it. We can go out next weekend or something. I’m sorry, but I really need to ace this exam, or else I—”

“God, Evelyn,” she laughed, her grin widening. She then made a serious face and rolled her eyes at me. “I know how much Mechanical Engineering and nerdy formulas mean to you, but you gotta take a minute to listen to me.”

“Right,” I sighed. “I’m listening.”

“As I was saying,” she continued, “tomorrow’s your birthday. I’ve just come from the cafeteria, where I was looking at the lottery announcements, and guess who’s name just popped up on the feed?”

I opened my mouth to say something, then clamped it shut. My stomach twisted in knots. I felt all the color drain from my face. The lottery? Shit, this wasn’t good.

“Are you sure?” I sat beside her, my mind working at a thousand miles per hour. “I mean, are you really sure?”

“I’m positive,” Lauren said. “Evelyn Taylor, student number AHC9812, born on the—”

“Fine, I get it.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. “Damn it, I really wasn’t counting on this.”

“You know, most girls consider it a privilege to be a part of the lottery, right?” She arched a sassy eyebrow at me. “I mean, Evelyn, what’s there not to like? If you get selected, you’ll have one of those hunky Mahdfel to have fun with it, you’ll get to see the galaxy, and your family will get a cool $1 million.”

I glared at her.

It was true—a lot of girls hoped to be selected on Lottery day.

Unable to protect itself from Suhlik incursions, this galaxy’s evil bastards, Earth had entered into an agreement with the Mahdfel, the alien race responsible for keeping the Suhlik at bay. Mahdfel lacked sufficient numbers of females in their society, so Earth brokered a deal. In exchange for much needed protection, Earth would provide the Mahdfel with Earth women.

“This is the last thing that I need,” I muttered, feeling nauseous at the prospect of being shipped out to some far corner of the galaxy. I was a woman with dreams and objectives, not a breeding toy! Besides, who’d look after Fluffbutt if I had to move to some remote corner of the galaxy?

“It’s not that bad, Eve,” Lauren insisted, putting her hand on top of mine. Again, I just frowned. “I mean, sure, it must suck to be sent out against your will...but there’s a silver lining. Most women who are selected love it out there. And the Mahdfel aren’t that bad. They might be a lil’ rough around the edges, but they don’t mistreat their women. They know how valuable we are. And I can look after Fluffbutt, here. If it came to that. Just so you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I believed everything she said. Sure, Lauren would have loved the opportunity to explore the galaxy with a hunky alien by her side, and have lots of freaky sex.

That just wasn’t me. I wasn’t asexual, or anything—I just didn’t wanna have it because of some stupid intergalactic arrangement, with an alien I’d never before met.

“I’ll go with you.” Lauren gave my hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry. The chances you’ll be selected are astronomically low. I doubt they’ll find a match for your DNA. More likely than not, you’ll be back from the testing center in time for your exam.”

“I hope so.”

My stomach remained tied in knots. What if Lauren was wrong? What if they found a match? Would I really have to abandon the life I’d built? I gritted my teeth and tried to still my mind. It was useless to fret about the future. Tomorrow I’d know for sure, and until then…

Until then, the only thing I could do was wait.

“ARE YOU UP?” Lauren’s voice came through the door, her excitement more than evident. “We’re gonna be late, Evelyn!”

“I’m coming,” I shouted, but didn’t move. I stood before the mirror, looking at the haggard expression on my face. Stray locks of dirty blonde hair escaped from my ponytail, and my lips were so tightly compressed they were no longer crimson. There were faint lines around my eyes, proof of the tension which had taken me over. My fingernails dug into my palms.

“Evelyn!”

“Coming!” I gave myself an encouraging nod and scratched Fluffbutt behind the ears. “Don’t scratch anything before I’m back, you hear me?”

If I’m back, I thought, grim. The tension in my shoulders became almost unbearable. I knew, even if I had been selected for the lottery, it was highly improbable a genetic match would be found—but I couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom. The odds were low, sure, there was a chance this was the beginning of the end of my life as I knew it.

I opened the door. Lauren took my arm. She checked her wristwatch, offered me a frown, and then we set down the hallways of the dorm. There was an aircab already waiting for us outside. The driver flicked the end of his cigarette to the gutter when he noticed our approach.

“G’morning, ladies.” He tipped his imaginary hat at us. “Heading to the testing center, I presume?”

“That’s right,” Lauren replied, already pushing me into the back of the cab. She was handling me like a wild beast needing a trip to the vet. I felt like—if given the chance, I’d turn on my heels and rush back into the dorm room. There, I’d promptly lock my door and pretend none of this was real.

Except, of course, it was all real.

Twenty minutes later, the aircab cut a path toward the testing center, a domed building with gleaming walls of polished glass and steel beams. Even from a distance, I could see hundreds of young girls being herded across the floors, a group of lab-coated employees spearheading the different groups with ruthless efficiency.

Lauren paid the fare, and the two of us ambled through the open square of the testing center. We cut through the manicured gardens and stepped into a massive atrium. No more than three seconds later, a young man stood before us, a holographic tablet on his hands. He held the tablet right in front of Lauren’s face, waiting for her features to be scanned. He frowned.

“You haven’t been selected for the lottery,” he said.

“No, I haven’t,” Lauren said, and then she pointed at me. “Evelyn Taylor.”

“Right.” Again, he repeated the procedure on my face. A light chime came from his tablet. A grin lit up the man’s face. “Evelyn Taylor, indeed. Please accompany me, Miss Taylor. You’re on…” He glanced at his tablet. “Third floor, testing room forty-three.”

Lauren and I followed the man into an elevator. I half-expected him to turn Lauren away, but he didn’t. I thanked God for that. I was already an anxious wreck. The last thing I wanted was to go through all this alone.

We were led into a large waiting room, where a group of girls roughly my age already waited for their turn to be tested. The man waved at a couple of empty seats by the corner.

“Wait there,” he said. “Someone will call your name when it’s your turn.”

It didn’t take long.

Five minutes later, a middle-aged lab technician stepped onto the waiting room and shouted my name. Sheepishly, and hoping no one would turn her away, Lauren followed after me. The technician frowned at the sight of Lauren, but, much like the man who’d led us here, said nothing.

The test didn’t take long, either.

They drew my blood, putting the sample put into some kind of machine for the results to be processed, and told me to wait.

“God, Evelyn,” Lauren said with a chuckle. “You look like you’re on death row. I’ve told you already, the chances of you getting a match are slim to—”

“Oh,” the technician said. “Interesting.” She stood in front of the computer, hands on her hips, and straightened her back once she read the flashing screen. “Seems like we’ve found a match for you, Ms. Taylor.”

“What?” Lauren and I said in unison, our high-pitched chorus earning another frown from the technician.

“That can’t be right,” I muttered. “Could you run the test again? I’m sure there’s been a mistake and—”

“No mistake,” the technician continued. She stepped away from the computer and started messing with another terminal. This was a bulkier one, and the wires coming out from the back-panels led straight to some kind of platform that sat at the corner of the room. “Please, Ms. Taylor, prepare yourself for departure.”

“That can’t be right.” The technician just shook her head and grabbed me by the arm. She hauled me up to my feet and, making use of my confusion, led me across the room.

Once I was standing on the weird platform by the corner, she went back to the terminal and started clattering on the keyboard.

Lauren rushed forward and wrapped her arms around mine.

“I’m sorry I was so excited for this,” she mumbled, and her eyes started welling up with tears. “It was just a stupid fantasy, but now…I didn’t really expect you’d have a match. God, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I whispered, returning her embrace. “It’s going to be alright, Lauren. Just look after Fluffbutt while I’m gone, alright?”

“I promise,” she whispered back. “I promise, Eve.”

“Would you please step away from the platform?” The technician said, glaring at Lauren. “You’re not even supposed to be here, miss, so don’t make my job any harder than it already is.”

“I, huh, sure,” Lauren muttered, and then took a step back. Once her feet were off the platform, I felt a deep thrumming. The platform vibrated under my feet, and then there was a bright light.

“What the hell is happening?” I shouted, but no one heard me.

I was already gone.

Olath

“Ten minutes!” Rachel announced, furiously working on her terminal. Even though she was the only human on The Golden Meridian—or ‘Goldie’, as we liked to call her—she posessed the quiet confidence of a seasoned pilot, and the skills to back it up. I didn’t know of any other Vaznik crew with a human pilot, but I was damn glad we had her with us.

“Ten minutes,” I repeated, thumbing a switch that turned on the ship-wide comms. “Everyone, report to the bridge. We’re about to leave Diana’s Arrow.”

It wasn’t long before the rest of the crew filtered onto the bridge, Captain Timcur leading the charge. Thelkor, our gunner, was right on his trail. He waggled his eyebrows at Rachel before taking his seat. Before these two had become a thing, I didn’t know the meaning of ‘innuendo’, but now…

“I’ve just come from the engine room,” Storgin announced. Hands clasped behind his back, he strolled onto the bridge. “All systems are functional and ready to go. Unless I’ve overlooked something, I don’t think we’ll need a maintenance stop for at least a couple of months.”

“Perfect,” I said, watching as he transferred all the information on his tablet to the ship’s system. My screen lit up and I skimmed the system’s diagnosis and Storgin’s report. “Good job, Storgin, as always.”

He shrugged.

“I’d feel more comfortable if we had a real engineer with us.” As our ship’s Scientific slash Medical officer, Storgin’s role aboard Goldie was as vast as it was important. We depended on him to patch us up after a brawl, to fix whatever was broken in the ship, and to do a scientific assessment of...well, of whatever we needed assessed.

“Duly noted,” I told him. We left it at that. We both knew that, with the mission we had been assigned, there’d be no time to recruit anyone else for the crew. The universe had already blessed us once—when we needed a pilot the most, Rachel was literally teletransported here. I didn’t believe we’d be so lucky twice.

I pulled the information on Rachel’s screen to my own, confirmed there were still a few minutes before we decoupled from Diana’s Arrow, the star-ferry we’d spent the last few days on, and decided to make a quick overview of our status.

Much like Storgin had said, the ship’s systems were pristine. There were no leaks, no spots on the hull that needed soldering nor parts obviously requiring replacement or maintenance. We’d also stocked up on essentials, and we had everything we needed to be self-reliant for a while longer.

“How are things?” I heard Captain Timcur ask.

As Goldie’s Executive Officer, I sat right in front of him. Since the captain’s seat was on a slightly elevated platform behind me and overlooking the rest of the bridge, he could look straight into my screen and see its contents.

“I think we’re good,” I said. “Now it’s only a matter of finding the right person for the job.”

“You don’t think we’ll find the right person for it on Tehglaish?”

“Who knows, really?” I shrugged, unsure how to respond. “I would’ve preferred to have a reliable technician working with us, instead of having to find some random hacker in the seedy markets of Tehglaish, but there isn’t much we can do.”

Our orders were to stop and capture Sarklac, the leader of a Suhlik terrorist cell. We nearly caught Sarklac, recently. We had tracked Sarklac to Diana’s Arrow a couple of weeks ago, but the bastard slipped through our fingers.

We chased the sneaky fucker into a hidden Suhlik base, but...he got away again. Thankfully, we didn’t walk out of that Suhlik base empty-handed. We captured a treasure-trove of data packets containing some of Surklack’s plans for new attacks. We had only been able to access a few files.

A portion of those plans were heavily encrypted. No matter which method we used, we just couldn’t crack its key. We needed a hacker to crack the data’s encryption.

Tehglaish, a seedy planet known for its black-markets, was our best hope. Home to many of the galaxy’s hacktivists, Tehglaish was a hub of clandestine operations in this sector. With some luck, we hoped to find someone capable of—and willing to—decrypt Sarklac’s information for us.

It didn’t help that we needed to move fast. We all knew what Surklac was capable of. The monster had tried to blow up Shackleton Crater Lunar Base a few weeks ago. Goldie had docked there for a shore leave, and we’d all witnessed his evil and cruel methods.

“It’ll be alright,” Captain Timcur said, his voice that of a leader with a steady hand. “We have a good crew, and I’m sure that—”

He was cut short by a chiming sound that came straight from my terminal. I narrowed my eyes and looked at the screen. There, a short message detailed that some of our ancillary systems had engaged autonomously.

“What’s going on back there?” Rachel cried out, looking back at me over her shoulder. “I’ve just received the greenlight from Diana’s Arrow Control, guys. We’re ready to decouple in three minutes. Can I start the decoupling procedure, or what?”

I hesitated.

“Well, let me just…” I reread the message again, just to make sure I hadn’t misinterpreted any of it. “I’m not sure. Power is being diverted from the engine to power up the axial nodes on—”

“Fucking hell,” Thelkor cried out. “Can you translate that for us? Or, do I need to pull a dictionary out of my ass?”

“What Olath is trying to say,” Storgin cut in, sounding cool and collected, “is that our teleporter pad has just powered up.”

Damn right, I thought. And if the teleporter pad has been activated, that can only mean one thing….

“Holy shit,” Thelkor muttered, reading what was on everyone’s mind.

“What?” Captain stared at Thelkor.

Ever the gunner, Thelkor didn’t mince his words, and he hit the proverbial nail right on its head.

“They’re sending us another woman.”

Evelyn

I felt sick—as in, physically sick.

I screwed my eyes shut. The white glare from the teleporter still blinded me. I sucked in a deep breath. My stomach tap-danced. My knees wobbled, and my brain turned into mush. If anyone ever tells you teleporting is fun, you go right ahead and knee them in the groin for me.

I heard loud footsteps and, not wanting to be surprised, I forced my eyes open. I was standing on a teleportation pad similar to the one at the testing center. My new surroundings couldn’t be any more different.

Instead of the sterile, pale beige walls of the room I had been in, the new walls were metal. Bright wires snaked across the floor, connecting a myriad of terminals and devices. By the corner were a couple of high-end medchairs.

This must be some sort of lab.

Cautiously, I took one step forward. My stomach lurched as I adjusted to my new surroundings. The thud of footsteps grew louder. Not a second later, I heard the soft whoosh of the door as it slid up into a hidden partition. In the doorway stood one of the most impressive specimens of masculinity I’d ever seen. He stared right at me.

At his height, he dwarfed me in size, his head crowned by an impressive set of horns. They curved slightly into ends as sharp as a dagger’s tip, and they were the color of polished ivory. The man—or, rather, the alien—was as impressive as his horns.

A uniform hugged his muscular chest and powerful shoulders in an enticing way. I wondered if it was true what they said of the Mahdfel. According to what I’d heard back on Earth, the most elite specimens among the Mahdfel became Vaznik warriors, their prowess the stuff of legend. Thanks to them Earth hadn’t become a slave camp for the Suhlik.

I’d always thought people exaggerated whenever they told stories about these aliens. Now that I was face-to-face with one of them...well, judging by how damn perfect he looked, there was definitely some truth to those rumours. This man was like a chiseled block of marble. He was a space-hammer with a brain.

“Hello there.” His voice flowed over me, soft and kind. Moving fast, he crossed the length of the room and took my hand in his, like an aristocrat of old. He performed a little bow, a grin on his lips, then straightened.

His shadow fell over me. I gulped, suddenly realizing that he could crush my skull between his thumb and pinkie.

“Are you my…?” I wanted to say the word ‘mate’, but I just couldn’t. Had I really gone from a promising engineering student to a breeding companion? The thought sickened me.

“My name is Storgin,” he said, putting a hand to his chest. “And I’m not your mate.”

First, I felt relief. Then, I remembered this didn’t mean anything. Even if this guy wasn’t my mate, I’d been sent here because someone in this place had genetically matched up with me.

“Where am I?” I asked. “What planet am I on?”

“This isn’t a planet. You’re aboard a Vaznik military vessel. We call it ‘Goldie’, but her official name is The Golden Meridian.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearly anxious about something. He cleared his throat.

“I’m terribly sorry about this, but we gotta move. We’re about to depart in a couple of minutes, and we really can’t have any delays.” I said nothing. He just smiled. “Please, follow me. We need to get you inside a flight suit.”

Having no idea what was happening, I followed this Storgin guy into another room. He grabbed overalls from inside a locker and turned his back to me, probably signaling for me to get dressed, so I did. I had no idea what these overalls were made of, but the fabric adjusted itself to my naked body, gently hugging my curves.

Storgin snuck a glance at me and smiled. “Perfect. Now, let’s get to the bridge.”

Even if I knew I was aboard a military vessel, nothing could’ve prepared me for The Golden Meridian’s bridge. It wasn’t as epically large as a starship bridge in one of those holovid action movies, but it pulsed with an aura of raw adrenaline. Endless information spooled across dozens of terminals spread across the bridge. The view screen mounted at the front offered a breathtaking view of the darkness of space.

“Here,” Storgin said, directing me to a small seat bolted to the wall. “I’m sorry we’re rushing you through this but…”

He shrugged, and I gave him a nervous nod and took in the rest of the crew. Sitting atop an elevated platform was another imposing alien, who I assumed to be the ship’s captain. He caught me looking, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Welcome to The Golden Meridian.” he said. “My name’s Timcur, and I’m this ship’s captain. Again, I want to apologize for being so abrupt. You caught us right before we decoupled from our docking platform, so it can’t be helped.” Looking me straight in the eye, a kind smile spread across his lips. “I know you must be confused, but as soon as we’re on our way, we’ll let you get acquainted.”

“Right,” I muttered, not sure how I felt about getting acquainted with a military crew of aliens. “Thank you.”

“You’ve already met Storgin.”

Storgin waved.

“There are enough seats for you five up here. I’ll strap in at the lab.”

Storgin jogged into the hall. Captain Timcur waved a hand at an alien sitting by a terminal on the side. This one was even more muscular than the rest of them, and he looked exactly like the kind of alien who’d get in brawls for fun. “That’s Thelkor, our gunner.” Another wave of his hand and he pointed at the chair directly in front of the view screen. “And that’s Thelkor’s mate, Rachel.”

“Rachel?” I repeated. “I’m not the only human here?”

“Not really,” Rachel said, spinning her chair around so that I could see her. “Nice meeting you.”

Before I could respond, she turned back to her terminal and continued fiddling with the thousand switches and levers in front of her.

“And, finally,” Captain Timcur said, “that’s Olath, my First Mate.”

I looked in the direction Timcur was pointing at and…

That’s him.

I had no idea how I could possibly know.

That is the one I matched up with.

CLICK TO GET OLATH NOW!

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ROGUE MATE

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

OUR RESCUERS ARE a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They're not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they're giant, golden skinned aliens...

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

ROGUE MATE IS the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

KAZAN

A mate is the last thing on my mind.

Especially one as sassy as the human female they say is my match.

Even if her lush curves call for my touch, and her fiery spirit is equal to my own.

I will endure the thirty days demanded by the Protocol.

But with every look, every word, I can feel us bound closer together.

Will I be able to leave her, even for her own safety?

KAZAN IS the first book of the Jorkan Protocol Mates. Click now to spend the night with this perfect steamy, funny science fiction romance escape. There's no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA for each alien warrior and his mate!

Copyright © 2021 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Contents

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

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Thelkor

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Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Thelkor

Rachel

Olath: Sneak Peek

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rogue Mate

Kazan

Copyright