by Lolita Lopez
“Um…where are the towels?”
“We don’t have towels in this sector.”
She opened the door even more and poked her head out completely. Water dripped down her face. “What do you mean there are no towels?”
“This is the bachelor sector. We’re in officer housing, but we don’t get the perks they do on the other side of the ship. We’re supposed to live lean. We have restricted access to resources like water and electricity and laundry is limited to uniforms and sheets.” He walked toward the bathroom but didn’t come close enough to touch the door. “There’s a dryer in the shower.”
“A what?”
“A dryer.” He pointed to the ceiling. “In the shower. You just hit the button and it will blow warm air over your body.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Is it safe?”
“Yes.”
“I mean, usually water and electronics don’t mix.”
After getting some close-hand looks at the technology on her planet, he understood why she was hesitant. He had never seen so many badly designed electronics in his life. “It’s very safe, but if you’d like, I’ll show you how it works.”
She nodded twice and stepped aside, opening the door and welcoming him into the small, humid space. He purposely kept his gaze forward and up, not even daring to look at her naked body. She belonged to him, technically, but she wasn’t really his. After their spat in the elevator, he doubted very much that she wanted him anywhere near her if she could manage it.
He slipped by her and leaned across the shower to press the icon for the dryer. A blast of hot air shot down from the vent located in the ceiling. He purposely wet his hand before reaching up to touch it. “See? Perfectly safe.”
Ella was standing so close to him now that he could feel her body heat on his arm. He swallowed hard as the urge to touch her, to learn the shape of her curves, to kiss her and tell her he was sorry for being such a colossal jackass overwhelmed him. Determined not to look at her body, he kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling, but Ella wasn’t having it.
“You can look at me.”
“If I look, I’m going to want to touch,” he admitted, his voice low and tight. “If I touch you, I’m going to get distracted and forget that I owe you an apology and groveling.”
“I don’t need you to grovel.”
That brought his gaze around to hers. “No?”
“No.” She took a hesitant step toward him. “I just need to know that you know that you were wrong to behave that way.”
“I do know that I was wrong. Being tired and hungry and letting myself panic about what had happened to you was no excuse. I hurt your feelings, and I disrespected you. It won’t happen again.”
“It probably will. The hurting my feelings part,” she clarified. “I know that Dizzy and Venom had all kinds of problems early on in their relationship. He would say dumb things. She would get upset. Then he would do even dumber things and she would get even more upset. That seems to be the way this relationship thing works at first.”
“I don’t want to upset you.” Feeling uncomfortably vulnerable, he said, “I want to make you happy.”
“Raze, don’t worry about making me happy. Just show me that you care. Prove to me that you care.”
“I will. I’ll try,” he amended. “I’m not an easy man to live with, Ella. I want to be good for you and I want you to be happy with me, but I know that I can be a miserable son of a bitch sometimes.”
“And I can be a totally rude and nasty bitch,” she said sadly. “As you saw earlier,” she added, her face flushed with embarrassment and maybe even a little shame. “I shouldn’t have said that about your wife. It was awful of me.”
“But not entirely incorrect,” he admitted quietly. “She did leave me because I was overbearing and inconsiderate and selfish.”
“It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. It was ugly and rude.”
“And I should have been more worried about your feelings than whether or not you broke a rule,” he countered.
“We can’t be tit for tat and do this nasty back and forth every time get upset, Raze.”
“I know.”
“Can we start over?” she asked earnestly. “Like wind back the clock to this morning when you left and everything was lovely and perfect?”
He couldn’t quite believe she was letting him off this easily, but he wasn’t about to question her graciousness. He nodded and gestured to the shower. “Come on. Let’s get you dry.”
Ella stepped into the shower, and he tapped the button to activate the dryer. She laughed at the sensation of the hot air blasting her wet skin and quickly figured out that rubbing her skin made the water evaporate faster. “This is going to ruin my hair,” she said with an exaggerated pout. “Is there a beauty shop on the ship?”
He tore his hungry gaze away from her lush breasts. “A what?”
“A beauty shop,” she repeated. “You know, a place where women go to have their hair cut and styled or to get a manicure or buy beauty products?”
“We don’t have one. There’s Naya’s shop for things like cosmetics and lotions and clothing, but there’s no place for beauty like you describe.”
Combing her fingers through her still damp hair, she stepped out of the shower. “Well, where do women get their hair cut?”
“I suppose they do it themselves,” he answered uncertainly. “Some of the ships in other battle groups have better service offerings for families. We aren’t on one of them, unfortunately.”
She frowned. “Well, we’ll have to do something about that, won’t we?”
“I don’t know. Will we?”
“There is no way I can exist on a ship that doesn’t have a hair dresser or a manicurist or proper shops. So,” she rested her hands on her naked hips, “I’ll just have to start my own shop.”
Raze tried to processed what she had announced. “You want to start a beauty shop?”
“Why not? I don’t have anything else to do up here. I need a job. I have money. Why not start a business? Naya has been successful, hasn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“So she can by my supplier,” Ella reasoned.
“Ella,” he said gently, “you can’t just open a store here.”
“Why not?”
“That’s not the way it works up here. Orion isn’t going to give you a piece of the ship to run a shop out of…”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course, he will.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because if he doesn’t, I’ll stop working with Torment,” she stated matter-of-factly. “If that doesn’t work, I really will start a riot—but this time it will be all the women on the ship who are causing a mess in the dining hall. Why should the men on this ship have all those stores for boots and uniforms and weapons if we can’t have one tiny little shop to make ourselves look beautiful and feel pretty?”
“You really are serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Getting this glimpse of the young woman who wasn’t afraid to cause trouble to get what she wanted made his heart race in a good way. She hadn’t let her government stop her from building a shelter for street kids. She wasn’t about to let Orion or any other officer on this ship tell her no either.
“Be careful,” he warned. “I’ll support you in this, but you have to make your request of Orion the right way. Go through the proper channels. Have a plan. Expect him to reject it. Have a backup plan to present him immediately.”
Ella grasped his hand. The touch of her skin against his was like a spark to tinder. “Will you help me?”
“Of course.” The urge to draw her in tight and tilt her head back, to claim her mouth and coax her into bed overwhelmed him. After their argument, it would be too easy to fall into bed and have satisfying makeup sex, but that wasn’t how he wanted to start things with her. Taking a step back, he cleared his throat. “I have something for you.”
“What?”
Gratefully, she took the bag from him. “I hope he grabbed some cute clothes. I want to look good for you and represent you properly.”
“Ella, you don’t have to do that,” he said quickly, hoping she wasn’t still thinking about his stupid remarks earlier.
“I want to look good,” she explained. “I like looking pretty. I want you to be proud to have me on your arm.” She wrinkled her nose. “That frumpy gray dress I had to wear today was horrible.”
“It’s utilitarian.”
“It’s ugly.” She carried her bag to the bed and opened it. She happily pulled out the clothing inside along with the photos and other keepsakes Danny had packed. She hesitated when she discovered the pink blanket. Carefully, she took it from the bag and held it close to her heart, her eyes closing for a moment. She smiled softly before placing the blanket back in the bag. “Thank you for bringing this back to me.”
“I’m sorry that you weren’t able to bring more of your things. I know it’s hard to leave your life behind.”
“It is,” she agreed, “but I’m excited to build a new one here. With you,” she added with a tender look. “Why don’t you shower and get out of that uniform? You look dead on your feet.”
“I am,” he admitted, starting to feel the exhaustion seeping into his bones.
She slipped into a pair of panties, covering her curvy body and making him want to protest and order her to stay naked. “I’ll find something for you to eat.”
“I see something I want to eat right now,” he said, half growling. The sight of her bending and moving, her naked body so lush and soft, made his cock throb.
Her cheeks flushed. “Behave.”
“Stop tempting me and I will.” He strode toward the bathroom, desperate to get a handle on his raging lust for his new mate. “Don’t worry about feeding me. I can find something when I’m done.”
“Are you sure?” She glanced dubiously toward the kitchenette. “I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to work those things.”
“You already started a riot in the mess, sweetheart. Let’s hold off on starting a fire in our quarters until tomorrow.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and tossed a balled-up pair of socks at his head. “Jerk.”
Laughing, he caught and tossed the socks back at her. “Try not to get into any more trouble while I’m in here.”
“No promises,” she said, shimmying into a pale green dress that wrapped around and tied in the front.
Safe inside the bathroom, he leaned against the door and wondered what the hell he was going to do with her. He had a few ideas—filthy ideas, really—but he wasn’t sure this was the right time for them. Stepping into the cramped shower, he decided to let her set the pace, even if it killed him to wait.
Chapter Ten
Ella eyed Raze from her chair in the living area. He had already eaten something that looked utterly unappetizing, a tray he had put into the heating contraption and removed a few seconds later. It smelled fine, she conceded, but the look of the mushy brown and green food had turned her stomach. “Can we get fresh food up here?”
He glanced back at her from his position in front of the trash drawer. “Yes. Why?”
Carefully, she said, “I’m sure that meal you just had was delicious, but it’s not really my style.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t feed you this. The macros are wholly unsuitable for you.”
“Macros?”
“The nutrition profile of the meal,” he explained, turning around and leaning back against the counter. “These heat-and-eat meals are designed to give us the maximum calories with the correct mix of nutrients we need to build and maintain muscle. I tend to pick out the meals with the highest calories and most dense nutrients. I’m taller and heavier so I need them to stay at my max potential.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Okay, that totally ruins the whole experience of eating. Food is supposed to be delicious. It’s supposed to be shared with friends. It’s supposed to make you happy.”
He seemed amused. “For you? Sure. For us?” He shook his head. “Food is fuel. It’s something we need to survive.”
“That is so sad.” She frowned dramatically. “Just pitiful.”
“That’s a bachelor’s life up here.” Shrugging, he pushed off the counter and joined her in the living area, sinking into the chair close to hers. He seemed more relaxed in his black shorts and loose gray shirt. All the tension he had been carrying since springing her from the ship’s jail seemed to have vanished.
Seeing his tattoos peeking out of the shirt left her with questions. Even though he had been married, he didn’t have the usual tattoos the other men had on their left sides. She wanted to ask about the lack of them. Had he never gotten them for his first wife? Or had he removed them after she left?
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, studying her with interest.
They had gotten back to their easy friendship, and she wasn’t about to make things awkward again by asking him about his tattoos or his ex. Instead, she let her gaze wander over his incredible physique. “You.”
“What about me?”
“What it would feel like to have you touch me,” she said, her voice soft but needy.
“I have touched you,” he reminded her.
“Not the way I’m thinking about,” she replied.
His gaze darkened. “Ella…”
“What?” she asked playfully.
“I’m not in the mood for games.”
“I’m not playing.” She bit her lip for a moment of indecision before standing. Not breaking eye contact, she crossed the space between them and stood in front of him. “I’m tired of dancing around the question of us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Come here.” He widened his thighs, welcoming her closer. She stepped into the spot he had made for her and wondered what he would want next. “Take off your dress.”
With shaking fingers, she untied the fabric belt at her waist, letting the sides of her wrap dress fall apart. His fingers flexed on the arms of the chair, and he seemed hesitant to give her another order. Was he afraid that she was acting? That she was trying to trade her body for his protection?
She reached down and grabbed his big, warm hands. Placing them on her body, she said, “I want to be here with you, Raze. There’s no ulterior motive to this.” She guided his hands along her sides. “Touch me, Raze.”
He swallowed hard, his chest heaving as he let go of his usual control. His palms swept over the skin of her belly and hips before gliding up toward her shoulders to push the dress off of her. She shrugged out of it and inhaled shakily as he undid the clasp of her bra. He dragged the lacy straps down her arms and tossed it aside, baring her breasts.
With a groan, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her onto his lap. He buried his face between her large breasts, nuzzling and kissing her sensitive skin. She gasped at the feel of his lips on her nipple, of his tongue flicking against the hardening peak. “Raze…”
As she combed her fingers through his short hair, he released her nipple from his mouth and lifted his face until their noses bumped together. He claimed her mouth then, kissing her like no one ever had. Deep and sensual, he darted his tongue against hers and stole her breath away. She shuddered against him, holding tight to his shoulders as he kissed her. Hot and flushed, she let him lead, meeting his tongue and lips in the same wild dance.
When he finally pulled away, she was panting and shaking. She smiled at him, cupping his strong jaw and kissing him almost chastely. “You’re really good at that.”
He smiled, his face relaxed and eyes warm. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
She pressed playful kisses along his cheeks and around the edge of his mouth. She slid her hand down the back of
his neck before touching her lips to his for another searing kiss.
“Fuck, Ella,” he said, sounding desperate in between kisses. “I want to take you to bed right now, but I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
“Raze,” she took his hand from her waist and guided it down between her legs. She shuddered right down to her core as she held his gaze. With her hand over his, she pressed his fingers against the wet fabric there. “Feel what you’ve done to me.”
He groaned loudly at the discovery of her slick heat. “Sweetheart, you’re so wet.”
She smiled shyly, suddenly unable to meet his dark gaze. “This never happens to me. Ever,” she emphasized. “I feel lightheaded when you touch me. And hot,” she added. “Like I’m burning up inside.”
His strong fingers pushed aside her panties and traced the seam of her sex, sliding along her labia before gently parting them. He slipped a pair of fingers into her core, gentle but firm, and moved them carefully in and out. Speared by his fingers, she gripped his shoulders and closed her eyes, letting the feelings he evoked overwhelm her. The incredible pulse and ache deep inside left her breathless and giddy.
He nibbled at her neck as his fingers explored her. “We need more room.”
“Yes,” she agreed shakily. “Definitely.”
Showing off his strength, he stood up, lifting her with him, and carried her to the bed. He placed her carefully on the mattress before stepping back to peel out of his clothes. She leaned back on her elbows and watched him with a hungry gaze. He really was the most incredible man she had ever seen. He seemed to know it too judging by the sly smile on his face.
Kneeling next to the bed, he grasped her hips and turned serious. “Ella, before we take this to the next level, I want you to know that you can tell me to stop at any time. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She caressed his jaw, and he turned to kiss her palm. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”
“I don’t want to break that trust. Don’t let me do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” He kissed her cheek and down the line of her jaw. “Is there anything that I shouldn’t do? Are there triggers you might have? That would cause you to panic or feel scared or unsafe?”
