"Well, I guess it's back to Bacch," Falax says. "Once we've grabbed Caden, we can find out who his client is. Then we can take care of some unfinished business."
“Who could he be working for?” I ask.
“I’m not sure,” Falax says, fiddling with his nose piercing. “But whoever it is, he seems to be one of the most conniving fellows out here. We might be dealing with someone dangerous.” He locks eyes with me, and I can already tell what he’s thinking.
We already agreed to be careful with our contracts, but I’m not sure just how solid this agreement really is…
CHAPTER 4
REKINDLED
FALAX
Becca and I fought for so long on who should take on this mission that Quin made us draw straws. I was pleased to find that I'd be the one getting dressed up to go somewhere fun. Becca seemed a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but I assured her after we'd finish this job, there'd be plenty of time for us to go out and party when our lives were no longer in danger.
The tracker brought us to an asteroid just hovering in Bacch's orbit. The moons and asteroids that swirl around Bacch aren't nearly as decadent, but they're still home to hundreds of space clubs and more touristy sites. Becca neatly guides our dropship towards the surface. It's dark here, but the rest of the asteroid is lit up by thousands of neon lights. I can't wait to get inside until Becca grabs me by my nicely pressed shirt collar on the way out. "Behave yourself, my dear," she warns with a sly grin.
“Of course,” I assure her. “Just a few drinks to get me loosened up?”
“One drink,” she says.
“Two.”
“You can’t be a messy drunk going after Caden.”
“I’m not a messy drunk—“
“Falax! I’ve seen you drink and you’re the biggest lightweight I’ve ever—“
“Okay, fine! Fine. One drink.”
She fixes the opening of my leathery jacket, one that reaches down past my knees. It's very cool, and Becca seems to think so too. "You look hot," she says as she drops the loading platform down for me. "Hey, thanks," I say, straightening up a little more, despite my knees suddenly shaking. I have a strange feeling about this place, but I guess it could be from my nerves. Becca hands me the transmitter, and I can see the flashing dot where Caden should be. "Don't get it wet, and don't tell anyone what the battery is made of."
“Should I be concerned?” I ask as I slip the device into my pocket. “Like, this thing isn’t going to kill me with radiation or anything, right?”
“Good luck,” Becca says, giving me a quick pat on my butt on my way out. She’s full of surprises.
“Wait!” Just as I’m about to step off the ramp, she grabs me, pulling me close to kiss me with those delicate lips. She rubs her thumb along my cheek. Her eyes are tender, almost sad for some reason. “Be careful,” she says. “You never know what’s out there.”
“Of course,” I assure her. I look over my shoulder at her and give her a comforting nod before ducking into an excited crowd headed for the club. I turn once more just to see her disappear behind the ramp as it closes between us.
The club is on fire tonight, and for a second I’m a little pissed that I couldn’t enjoy this place with Becca instead of cleaning up our mess. Lights flash everywhere, of all colors and patterns. Flocks of girls, all of them alien, wear outfits with crazy patterns and accessories that coordinate with the lights. They drink glow-in-the-dark cocktails and other strange potions. As I make my way through the crowd, my eyes even catch a sly hand dropping a tiny bag of pills into someone’s hand. It’s a lawless land out here on this asteroid, the perfect place to find a smuggler like me. It’s almost too disorienting to walk through, though. I find a waiter clutching a plate full of cocktails and grab one before the clubgoers get to them first.
Downing my drink, I pull out the transmitter. Caden is close. I turn towards the dance floor, but I can't see through the cloud of sweaty bodies and flailing limbs. I do a circle, my eyes darting from the transmitter to the dance floor. I should be just a few feet from him now, but I still can't see him. Even with all the lights, it's almost too dark to make out anyone.
Suddenly, he gets even closer, and I start positioning myself where I might be able to get him. As I do, an excited cluster of clubgoers passes by me. One of them steps on my foot. Another almost knocks me onto the floor. When I recover, I'm startled to find my hand soaking wet. Uh-oh.
I hold up the transmitter, the purple light at the top now flashing wildly. Liquid, which I'm hoping and praying to the gods that it's alcohol, runs right off the edges of the device. I feel a shock shooting from my hand, up my arm, and through the rest of my body, making me drop the tracker. "Damn it!" I exclaim as I pick it back up, but it's too late. I broke Becca's rule and my only way of finding Caden. I'll have to fly blind for now.
I search wildly for him. He’s a guy with four eyes. How hard can he be to find? Pushing through the crowd again, I realize it’s even harder now that I don’t have that damn tracker. I’m about to break another one of Becca’s rules and grab myself another drink when out of nowhere a waiter soars passed me. Glasses shatter near my feet, but you can’t hear a thing over the loud music. I help the guy up and look towards the asshole that threw him.
As soon as our eyes meet, neither of us want to move. Caden stares at me, his silk shirt buttons wide open to expose his scaly chest. He says my name, even though I can't hear it. In a millisecond he takes off in a sprint, pushing through the clubgoers. I take off after him, taking a shortcut behind the bar despite the bartenders screaming at me. I see him trip just ahead of me. The familiar briefcase flies over everyone's heads, landing near the bar. I slide over the top of the counter and dive for it.
The metal is cold in my hands, and I sigh with relief now that I have it back. Here's hoping the gems are also inside. I don't have much time to celebrate since Caden realizes he's missing his package and starts chasing after me. I take a shortcut through the dance floor, hoisting the case over my head. The rest of me takes the beating of a lifetime as dancers flail around me. By the time I make it out the other side, I'm devastated to find that the case is missing from my hands.
I scan the dance floor, already exhausted. Caden’s making his way towards the back exit. There’s another exit right next to me, and instead of risking another trip across the dance floor I take that instead. The air whooshes around me as I’m finally free of the deafening music from the club. I can see Caden’s figure sprinting towards a ship nearby. “Hey!” I cry out. Caden turns as I sprint towards him, and I reach for my blaster set to stun.
I pop off a shot, a lucky one too I might add, and Caden lurches forward onto his face on the rocky asteroid terrain. I catch up to him, ripping the case from his paralyzed hands. His eyes dart back and forth in his skull as he gurgles on his saliva. "Blink twice if the gems are in this case!" I demand, but he doesn't comply. Instead, his eyes drift upwards. I follow his gaze to see someone standing just a few yards away. Whoever they are, they're wearing a heavy bright-colored cloak. A milk-white pair of hands emerges from the sleeves, clapping to my surprise.
“Very good, Caden,” An oddly soothing female voice says from the cloak. “You’ve brought what I’ve requested, and a little extra.” "Listen, lady," I say as I clutch the briefcase closer to my chest. "I've come a long way for these. They're for Kagin. You know, leader of—""The Capcha Cons. Of course, I know him," The voice says. "We're very good friends. I'm sure he'll understand."
The white hands reach up for the hood. As she lifts it from her head, I nearly drop the case out of pure shock.
Glossy silver hair. Pale blue eyes. "Alani?" I can barely process the name as it leaves my mouth. It's been a long time since I've seen her beautiful face. "Hi Falax," she says in that same flirty tone she used to use with me. "Long time, no see." I hate it. But even her saying my name gives me a strange fluttering feeling. "You're Caden's client?" I ask. She nods, nonchalantly flipping a strand of hai
r from her perfectly high cheekbone. "What can I say? Drugs aren't selling like they used to, and I got bored with holding auctions for shady customers. I figured why not get into something more…beautiful."
As she says the word, she practically floats over to me. “Speaking of which,” she says. “You look great.” There’s that weird feeling again, a strange dizziness coming over me the closer she gets.
“Thanks,” I say with extra snark. “Marriage looks good on me.”
“Oh, you’re married,” she says, turning away. “Well, once you’re back on your feet. Tell the missus that your ex said congratulations.”
“What do you mean—“
I've been so caught up in the initial shock of seeing Alani that I hardly feel the actual shock of a baton pressing into my stomach. I glance down to see her clutching the weapon, and fall to my knees. My body tenses and I seize up like Caden did just moments ago. "I'll take this," Alani says as she picks up the case. I want to scream at her, to tear it right from her manicured hands. But she's already walking away. "Feel free to come by sometime and check out my new place," she says as she leans closer to me. I can only gurgle my protests in response. "It really was good to see you," she adds. "So sorry we had to meet like this." Without another word, she lifts her hand and purses her lips, blowing a kiss towards me.
I can almost feel the kiss reaching me, catching a strange scent almost like perfume. I'm suddenly warm from head to toe, a strange arousal coming over me, blood pumping to other places. She wrinkles her nose in a cute gesture before sauntering over to a glittering ship in the distance. It's the last thing I see before the dizziness grows worse, and I fall into a strange deep sleep.
CHAPTER 5
SHAKY GROUND
BECCA
I can't believe we're back at square one. I've docked our dropship we use for missions into our main ship for intergalactic travel. Thanks to all the money we've been making, Falax and I were able to save up for a bigger one with much better mileage. Rocket fuel certainly isn't cheap. I've been pacing in the main control room for a while now, waiting for Falax to take the captain's seat. He probably had too much to drink at that club after all.
The doorway zips open as I step into the main hallway, making my way towards our bedroom. I wave my hand over the opening mechanism, but it makes a low rejecting beep as a small red light blinks over the door. It’s locked? Falax never locks the door. I press the intercom button and lean into the speaker. “Hey, you alright in there?”
“Yeah,” Falax says, but his voice is laced with concern. “I’ll be out in a second.”
“You’ve been in there for a few hours now—“
“It’s fine, really!”
Something’s not fine. I pull up the touch screen next to the door and override the locks just as Falax is about to mention them. The door opens and I’m looking right at my naked husband sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand tucked in between his legs. Both of us cry out when we see each other, and Falax struggles to cover up his dick. “Gods! Becca. I, uh, I’m—“ He stutters over his words, but I honestly think it’s a little hot that he was having a little alone time this whole time. “You holding out on me here?” I joke while stepping into the room.
"I guess you could say that," Falax says with a heavy sigh. "I have a bit of an issue…"
"Well, let me see what I can do," I say. I'm standing in front of him now, with him looking up at me, his eyes still panicked. I lean down to kiss him softly. He's suddenly overcome with want as if a switch just completely flipped. Suddenly he's grabbed me around my waist, pulling me onto his lap. I'm startled by his massive member against my thin pants, the only thing separating his shaft from my vulva. "What a surprise," I say, breathless in between kisses as my hands trail for his engorged cock. "You're really hard…"
"It won't go away," Falax sighs. "You just need a woman's touch," I promise as I brush my thumb against his weeping tip. He's veiny and hard as a rock in my hands as I stroke him, just barely gripping my fingers all the way around him. He gives a soft moan and lays back as I inch off of his lap, lowering down to get a better look. I caress the rest his package, rolling his balls in my curling fingers. I decide to let myself finally have a taste. He seeps into my mouth as I suck lovingly on the end of him, my lips wrapping tighter around his shaft.
“Becca…I don’t think—“ I take him out of my mouth for a second just to shush him before I slowly swallow him again. It’s almost too much for me put it all in my mouth, but I manage until he’s deeper in my throat. His soft veins brush against my lips as I slide him inside and out of my mouth with ease.
Falax’s heavy breathing fills me with an excited urgency. I want to make him come, let him know what I’m capable of doing to him. I continue my work, running my tongue along the underside of his dick before picking up the pace. I glance up to see him laying back in complete ecstasy, relieved that I could relieve him of this burden. It’s not much longer until he breathes, “Don’t stop,” and I can feel him pulsing, seeping over my tongue. He moans my name as he climaxes, and I feel like I’m suddenly on top of the world.
I swallow once he's done, delicately wiping the corner of my mouth before giving him a clever smile. "Fixed it for you," I say, but for some reason, Falax isn't smiling like I am. Instead, he gets up and disappears into the bathroom without a word. A strange aura of awkwardness surrounds us now in our room. This definitely isn't the first time I've given him a blowjob. So why is he acting like this is our first time?
He steps out after what feels like hours. "What's going on?" I ask as he cleans himself off and sits on the edge of the bed. He runs his hands through his shaved head and sighs heavily. This isn't a satisfied sigh, it's his troubled and tired one. "I didn't tell you who Caden's client was," he says.
“Who cares?” I ask. “Don’t worry about that now, we’ll get everything back before Kagin finds us.”
“It’s not that,” he says, and I can tell something is extremely off. “Before you found me behind the club, I had been attacked by Caden’s client. Her name is Alani.”
“Alani? Is she like another mob boss or—“
“She’s, uh, my…ex.”
The cloud of awkwardness is even thicker now, and it even hovers in my chest as I slowly begin to realize. “You mean…the reason you were…hard was because of her?”
“I don’t know what came over me, Becca,” he says. “But I swear, the past is in the past. She just has this…weird thing about her. It’s some kind of strange ability she has.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, my awkwardness swelling and transforming into a fiery rage now.
“I don’t know,” Falax says. “But hear me out. I feel like if anyone’s going to get those gems, it should be me.”
“EXCUSE ME?” I don’t mean to shout, but this is getting ridiculous at this point. “You’re telling me that your ex got you all hot and bothered and you’re telling me it’s best for you to go to her place on a SOLO MISSION?! Does that even sound like it makes any sense at all to you?!”
I want to hit something. Where's my damn baseball bat? Falax grabs my arm, but I can't even look at him. "It's not what it sounds like at all," he says softly. "I know where she is. I can't send you to do this. Alani isn't trusting of other people. Trust me, I barely made it out of her last place alive."
“So what’s the plan, then?” I ask. “Play a little patty cake with your ex while I stay on the ship and have dinner warm and ready for you whenever you get back?” I’m fuming now, and Falax can tell.
“Becca,” he says. “You are the love of my life. When I asked you to be my copilot, I didn’t just mean for our missions. I want you to be mine for life.” I can hear the words, but I can’t grasp their meaning. All I can think about is the big question mark shaped like some hot alien babe wrapping her arms around MY husband. “I know this looks bad, but it’s part of our mission. I need to do this for both of us.” "You promised," I say, my anger subsiding into sadness now.
I can feel the hot tears welling in my eyes. "No solo missions, remember?"
“I know I said that,” he says. “But Kagin will have both of our heads if I can’t bring those gems back. I’m sorry, but I feel like we don’t have another choice.”
He tries to hug me, but all I can feel is cold between us. “This is the life we’ve chosen,” he says. I tense my shoulders and he pulls away. “I didn’t choose this to happen, and you don’t have to either,” I say, wiping my eyes.
“Well, what else would you suggest?” He asks. “You can go and get killed, or we do nothing and we both get killed. Or, you can let me do one last solo mission. I’ll stand my ground, take none of Alani’s weird shit, grab the gems, and get the hell out to save our skins.”
"Or we can both go, you know because we're married," I suggest. Falax rubs his temple with his hand. "I don't think it'll be that simple," he says. Now I really think he's being strange.
I tell him I need time to think it over, even though he warns me we don’t have that much time. I’m just so full of rage and confusion that I can’t even wrap my head around our situation.
I toss and turn in my sleep that night. As I roll over to hold onto Falax, to possibly make up for my behavior earlier, I'm startled to find that his side of the bed is cold. I dart from under the covers and take off running down the main corridor to the main cockpit. A light on the control panel flashes. The dropship has been deployed. In the far dark distance of space, I can see just a glimmer of thrusters disappearing into the stars and can feel my face growing hot.
They say marriage is no picnic, and at first, I couldn't imagine how anyone could say something like that. As Falax disappears on his own, I begin to worry not just for him, but for our marriage and the promises we made to each other that are now barely hanging on threads.
Forbidden Reunion (Galaxy Smugglers Book 2) Page 3
