by Lily Thomas
He was the first-place winner last year? She eyed the Krocosian with fresh interest, her eyes skimming over his shoulders which looked like they’d take out any doorway he passed through.
A male journalist stepped forward, “What engine do you have on your ship?”
Nayli’s ears perked up at the question. She was eager to know what last year’s winner had on his ship and compare it to her own.
“A Gen-X90.”
A smile spread across her lips. She had the same engine in her ship. It was always a good start.
“What are you most worried about?” Another journalist asked, his sideburns a little too long in her opinion. It made his face look short and chubby, or she just didn’t like sideburns.
Now the Krocosian on the other hand. Her eyes flickered over his face, following the sharp cut of his jawline.
“The Daen’su tend to use illegal modifications.” Nayli’s eyes moved to his lips as his deep timbre rushed over her ears in a gentle caress and stirred something inside her. “I only hope that if they do use such things again, they are found out and wiped out of the race.”
She was in full agreement with the Krocosian. The Daen’su needed to be exposed for their cheating ways.
Nayli had heard enough. It was time she moved on to see what other pilots had come to this event and at some point, she would have to check in on Liam and make sure he wasn’t doing something, someone, he shouldn’t be doing. The duties of a younger sister never ended.
Roeq’s head shot up as a scent wafted past him. It was something spicy. He glanced around the crowded room, but all he saw around him were journalists. He shook his head.
He must be losing his mind because for one second, he’d thought he may have scented his mate. His cock agreed as it hardened in his pilot suit. Bloody fantastic. There wasn’t much room in the suit for a hard cock.
Another journalist stepped up beside him. “Why do you race?”
He focused in on the human woman interviewing him. “To win.” He liked the prestige that came with winning all these races. Everyone wanted his face on their products, and he hoped to continue his winning streak. No one here was going to stand in his way. He was the person who’d fly away with first place.
“Okay, Roeq’s answered enough questions today!” Orx stepped up beside him, slinging an arm over his shoulders. “This first place winner needs to mingle and mix with the other pilots!”
Roeq glanced over at Orx, who was also a Krocosian. His friend’s grey horns circled his head of blondish brown hair.
“Did it cross your mind that I enjoyed the attention?” He watched the journalists disperse into the crowd.
“I could see how much it pleased you, but we have more important things to do. We need to scope out the competition, so you have this next race in the bag.” Orx pointed to the pilots mingling in the crowd before casting him a frown. “You did a less than impressive job in today’s practice run.”
“The point of a practice run is to learn the track, not be first. All those people up front were idiots, pushing their ships before it even matters.” Roeq shook his head as he rolled his eyes. The other competitors had jostled for first place when it hadn’t even mattered.
“Still, we need you getting out there and meeting everyone.” Orx gave him a push in the direction of some Dallaski pilots.
Roeq eyed the Dallaski. They were horned like Krocosians, but that was where the similarities ended. Their silver skin reflected the light slightly, or maybe it was just his mind playing tricks with him.
One of them turned its blood red eyes on him. “A Krocosian pilot.” Then his red eyes widened. “You’re the one who won last year.”
Then all the Dallaski eyes turned to him, and his skin crawled to have so many blood red eyes trained on him. He might be a head taller than any of the Dallaski, but those eyes of theirs sent shivers running up his spine. Red eyes just weren’t right.
“I am,” Roeq confirmed, not sure what else he should say. He wasn’t the spokesperson, that was Orx’s job. Roeq glanced over his shoulder and found Orx gone. Damn him.
“Any advice for someone just starting out?” The Dallaski asked, his tail twitching back and forth in anticipation.
“Ummm…” Great, he wasn’t even sure what to say. “Always surround yourself with helpful people.” Unlike Orx who’d just abandoned him. “Also, always keep an eye on your ship. Never leave it alone because people have been known to use sabotage in this race.”
The Dallaski’s eyes widened, and the man looked ready to run back to his ship.
“This is why I left a man I trust to guard my ship until I get back down to the shuttle bay, where I will sleep tonight to make sure no one goes near my ship.”
The Dallaski began talking amongst themselves before suddenly leaving nearly tripping over themselves to get back to the shuttle bay so they could guard their ships. They must be first timers.
He hadn’t meant to worry them overly much, but it was a genuine fear. People would do anything to win these races, and sometimes they didn’t care how they got someone out of the race. Just as long as the people dropped out of the race, and that meant it could get dangerous.
Roeq glanced around seeing if there were any other groups he could join so he could please Orx. Otherwise, he knew the man would tell him he wasn’t trying hard enough. Orx thought he needed to be more social to continue his growth in the racing world, and his friend was rarely wrong.
A human woman skittering the edges of the group caught his attention. How could she not? Her purple hair stood out starkly against the grey metal walls of the space station room. Her blue and black suit fitted to her form nicely, cupping her breasts and butt perfectly. He flexed his hands his black claws digging into the soft flesh of his palms.
She was interesting, and he felt compelled to get closer to her, but as he pushed his way through the crowded room, she disappeared. He blinked and glanced around as he stopped.
His mind drove his feet forward once more until he reached the edge of the room where he strode through a sliding door and into the hallway.
Glancing down both ways, he didn’t spot the human woman. She pulled him in and then disappeared like a spirit he’d only heard of when he was a child.
With one last glance down the hallway, he shook it off and went back to the party. He still had more pilots to size up and try to spook like the Dallaski, although he had been telling them the truth. Everyone needed to guard their ship because people would sabotage components.
Chapter 2
Nayli strode into the shuttle bay the next morning and over to her ship where Liam was hard at work. Grabbing a creeper, she laid down on her back and used her arms to wheel herself and the creeper under the ship.
“What are you working on?” She asked as she rolled up next to her brother.
Her brother startled, darting up and smacking his head on the bottom of the ship. “Shit.” He cursed as he laid back down and rubbed his temple with a hand.
“Sorry.” But she couldn’t help the small smile that tickled her lips. His pain wasn’t funny, but it was still hard not to laugh for some reason.
“What are you doing under here, Nay Nay?”
“I told you to stop using that nickname,” Nayli growled. “I really don’t want it to stick when I win first place and become the best pilot in the galaxy. No one would take me serious with a nickname of Nay Nay.”
“Maybe you should stop causing me bodily harm, and I would stop calling you that.” Liam glared over at her.
“So, what are you up to?” She cast her eyes back to the panel he’d been messing with on the underbelly of her ship.
“Trying to make sure you get ahead in this next race like you wanted.” Liam tapped a tool against the metal plating of her ship.
“Upgrading something?”
“Exactly.” He picked up a device and ran it over the pipe in front of his face. “Everything is looking good. If you can’t win the race with the modifica
tions, then you’re doing something wrong.”
“Thanks.” Nayli frowned but knew he was only teasing her. She was going to win this race, modifications or not. She was an expert pilot, and she wasn’t going to let the Daen’su pass her this time. She was going to be ready for them today.
She laid there watching him as he worked on her ship. She found his ability to work with technology amazing. She might be a pilot, but she flew her ship, she wasn’t into actually working on it. Together, they made the perfect team.
“How’d the woman go last night?” Nayli asked, curious if he’d made another conquest in the universe.
Liam’s head rolled to the side and glanced at her. “Decent enough.”
“You didn’t sleep with her then?”
“No.”
“Good. About time you met a woman who didn’t want to sleep with you.”
He raised a hand, “Okay, let’s not get carried away there. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to sleep with me, she just wanted something more than I was comfortable giving her.” He placed a tool on the ground with a clink and picked up a different tool.
Nayli rolled her eyes. “You need to think about having a deeper relationship with someone. You can’t go single your whole life.”
“I don’t see you professing love for anyone.” He shot back.
“No man feels comfortable dating me.” She pouted because it was true. “Every time I meet a nice man, he feels less manly because of my blossoming career as a race pilot.”
“You’ll meet him. It will just take time, and then when you do, I can try to scare him away.” Liam gave a snarl, showing his teeth off.
“What if I bring home a Vrak’rir?”
Liam gave a bark of laughter that echoed slightly between the metal of her ship and the metal floor of the shuttle bay. “Dear lord, you’d give mother a bloody heart attack.”
“And Dad?”
“He wouldn’t care one way or the other. He doesn’t spend every single daydreaming of cute little human grandchildren like mother does. Or of the perfect wedding for you. Mother on the other hand? She’ll faint.”
That was true.
“We should find her a hobby.” So, her mother would stop making her into a hobby.
“Good luck with that. All she wants are more babies in her house.” Liam pointed a finger in her face nearly touching the point of her nose, “But no blue ones.”
“I can’t make any promises.” She rolled the creeper back out from under the belly of her ship and stood up. “Finish up under there! The race is about to begin, and I want to make sure I’m on time to the starting line!”
“Doing my best, but you’re interrupting me!”
Nayli made her way around her ship examining it. Her space boots pounded hollowly against the metal sheeting of the shuttle bay floors.
She reached out a hand to caress the cold metal of her ship. She was so fond of her ship that she hadn’t upgraded to a new one. Instead, she was tuning and modifying this one until it could go up against the newer and faster ships that were coming up on the market. Someday she would have to admit defeat and buy a new ship when hers couldn’t be modified any more, but for now, this ship was her baby.
Glancing around the shuttle bay, she took in the aliens around her rushing around, trying to get their ships ready for the race.
Then she saw him again.
It was the Krocosian.
He was walking around his ship examining it. Maybe she’d try to speak with him later when they got back from the race, and she was the first place winner of this leg of the race. Then again, it might be useless. He was from a mated species, and she doubted she’d be to his liking.
Ugh! This back and forth was killing her. What she needed was to gain the confidence to walk up to him. She’d never know until she asked.
Perhaps she would just flirt with him. It’d feel good to flirt with a man who was on the same level as her. She couldn’t see him being afraid of her status in the piloting world. That man was probably scared of nothing.
Everyone would take one look at those pair of grey horns on his head and run in the opposite direction. But not her. She was intrigued. She wanted to flirt with him and entice him to her bed.
“Ready?” Liam came up beside her.
“Ready.” Nayli nodded. She glanced over her shoulder at the Krocosian, and her eyes met his black ones for a split second, and a sizzle shot through her body instantly.
The Krocosian seemed just as shocked as her as his eyes widened, but she turned her back, her heart thundering, hugged her brother, and boarded her ship. She didn’t need the distraction of a hot alien.
Smacking her hand against the green blinking button by her door, she moved further into her ship until she reached her chair. She picked up her helmet and slipped it over her head, locking it in place.
The suit and helmet were there in case shit hit the thrusters, but she doubted she’d ever have to use them in an emergency. There were a lot of things that would have to go wrong before she had to start worrying about anything.
Nayli sank down on her seat, strapped herself in and began the thruster ignition. Once they were roaring with life, she set in a few commands and directed her ship out of the shuttle bay, right behind that sexy Krocosian’s ship.
It was an intimidating ship to look at with its four wings jutting out at sharp angles, but she wasn’t worried. After hearing they had some of the same equipment, she was sure her ship was up for the challenge. He might be last year’s first place winner, but she’d be this year’s winner.
Nayli glanced down at her navigation console and checked what the mission of this race would be. She’d have to fly over to an asteroid, log it, and then fly dangerously close to a massive star with other random space phenomena thrown in for shits and giggles.
It was just one leg of the race. The race was going to be spread out into multiple segments over a series of days. Like the Daen’su didn’t already have enough money. Now they had to sucker people into a several day race where people had to stay in their space station, buying food and trinkets from them.
It was almost criminal of them.
Nayli snorted.
They were criminals, black market criminals that the galaxy put up with because it was the only place where one could get their dirty deeds handled.
She’d never had a great affinity for the Daen’su. They were the sewer rats of the universe to her. It was common knowledge that they couldn’t be trusted fully.
Glancing up at her viewscreen, she watched people fly their ships into position at the starting line, and she felt her heartbeat speed up in anticipation. She always enjoyed the thrill of racing others. It was going to feel really good when she won first place in this leg of the race.
The sexy Krocosian lined his ship up, and she couldn’t help herself. She lined herself up right next to him. She couldn’t wait to show off to last year’s first place winner and show him that she was someone of importance. Someone who could snatch that title away from him.
She was going to be this year’s first place winner. And it was time to let him know that.
A broad grin spread across her face. She just had to remember not to do anything too stupid when she showed off because she didn’t want to cost herself the race. That would be downright embarrassing.
Nayli braced herself, ready for when the race officials would explode a plasma shot above the racers. Her fingers were posed over the console in front of her.
The last few ships flew into place, and then a bright blue shot exploded in front of them.
She smacked her hand against her console launching her ship forward as the thrusters burst into life. Nayli was thrown back in her seat as the ship shot forward, challenging the others to try and take her glory away from her.
A Daen’su ship caught up to her nearly brushing her with their wing tip.
She caught herself snarling at them. They were prepared to do anything to win, and she was more than willing t
o give it back to them if that was how they wanted to play this race. She could get dirty. It wouldn’t be the first race she decided to play dirty.
An asteroid field came into view, and she quickly began typing commands into the console in front of her. The spinning rocks threatened to end her life if she made one false move.
All the ships scattered as everyone choose their own route through the asteroid field.
A large twirling asteroid sailed towards her ship, and Nayli began frantically typing in commands, but the ship wasn’t moving fast enough.
“Come on, baby! Don’t kill me now!” She yelled at the ship as she continued to type away at the console in front of her.
Her ship began beeping frantically at her as it warned her about an immediate collision.
“Come on. Come on!”
Doing a last-ditch maneuver, Nayli commanded her ship to do a barrel roll to the side of the asteroid.
She closed her eyes and held her breath as she hoped for the best.
The beeping continued to increase, filling her ears with the alarming noise. Then everything went quiet.
Nayli cracked open her eyes, and then her eyes shot wide as a smile spread across her face. She’d made it! She was alive! And the asteroid field was now behind her.
“Thank you, baby.” She caressed her ship lovingly before typing more instructions onto the console in front of her.
Nayli glanced down at her console and noticed her engines were heating up more than she would’ve expected. She was pushing them harder than usual, but that was nothing new for her. She’d have to keep her eyes on her monitor, but it was difficult when the Daen’su were still breathing down her neck. She hadn’t lost them in the asteroid field like she’d been hoping.
Roeq was impressed with the human woman’s skill. Her ship was right in front of his. He was hanging back slightly waiting for the right opportunity to pass all the ships around them and make his move for first place. Until then he was just going to let them all duke it out and overheat their engines. The key to winning was patience.
