"Yes, how can I be of assistance?"
"Give me a visual of our exterior. The shuttle in particular. I want to see if there are any further surprises waiting for us out there."
An image of our ship's hull appeared on the screen and I used my console to move the cameras around. The shuttle was still docked; Rowan had to be busy investigating it further. I hoped he'd hurry up. We'd be slower with the shuttle attached to the P.E.A.R., so we needed to get rid of it. Satisfied that no droids were attached to the outer shell of the shuttle, I switched back to the scanner view that showed any spaceships in our vicinity. Nothing. But I was sure this wouldn't be the case for much longer. The pirates were on their way, there was no doubt about that.
Finally, the comm crackled. “Captain, the shuttle is ready to be detached.”
“Thanks, Rowan, we’ll take it from here. Join us on the bridge,” I replied and nodded at Hain, who’d been ready to press the undock button for a while now. With a satisfying rumble, the hyper-magnets keeping the shuttle docked, disengaged and we drifted off into space. Good riddance. If the pirates wanted it back, they could try and find it. Maybe we should have destroyed it, but there was no time.
“Is the course plotted?” I asked Hain, who looked visibly relieved now the shuttle was gone.
“Aye, Captain, we’re ready to go.”
“Then fly us out of here.”
Hain nodded, flicking off the lights in the cockpit. The motor slowly hummed back to life as the ship got ready to take off.
“Redbeard, eat my stardust,” Hain smirked, expertly handling the wheel to soar the ship away from Slaver’s Bay.
“You got it from here, Hain?”
He nodded, his dark eyebrows frowned as he navigated through the cluster. I should leave him to it and go check up on Birch.
“HOW IS HE?” I ASKED Cedar quietly, not wanting to disturb Birch’s sleep. He had only been gone from the ship for a couple of hours, but he looked exhausted.
“A nasty cut on his head and a good amount of tranquilisers in his system. He should be okay after a good night’s rest,” Cedar smiled, closing his medical kit. “He’s asked for you.”
With a knowing grin on his lips, he saluted me as he left me alone with an unconscious Birch.
Cedar had expertly packed and dressed the wound on his forehead. The monitor next to his bed was steadily beeping away and I was relieved to find his vitals stable and not life-threatening. Now we just needed to get safely out of Slaver’s Bay and we could leave this whole mess behind us.
I gently touched Birch’s hand. Now that he was safely back under my command, I could allow myself to feel guilty. If I hadn’t sent him to the deck, they would never have been able to take him.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, ignoring the lump in my throat. So far, I wasn’t doing a very stellar job as the new Captain. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this after all. “Rest now, we’ll take care of you.”
Ready to give Birch some well-needed sleep, I turned on my heels.
“C... Captain.”
His hand clamped around mine, his eyes barely open.
“You need to rest,” I tried to order, but my voice quivered. Just hearing his warm voice made me weak to my knees. I almost lost him. I couldn’t even imagine that.
“You came back for me,” Birch mumbled, his jade green eyes piercing into mine.
I swallowed loudly. “Of course, I did.”
“Why?”
Why? Wasn’t that obvious?
“I’m your Captain now. I won’t let anyone harm any of you,” I spoke, hoping my voice wouldn’t betray how I actually felt about him. About all of them.
“Is that really why?” Birch asked, tugging on my hand so I would look at him. A darkness and intensity swirled in his eyes.
“Yes,” I breathed, the lie a whisper on my lips.
Birch softly chuckled. “I don’t think so, Luce.”
I finally managed to swallow the lump in my throat.
“It’s not?” It came out as a question, but we both knew the answer. My cheeks heated up as I realised Birch knew exactly how I’d been looking at him. At all of them.
With a grimace, he pushed himself up on his elbows. My breath hitched. He was suddenly so close.
He trailed his fingers up my arm, his face barely an inch removed from mine. “We know you’ve been watching us.”
I was certain my cheeks coloured crimson. Busted... How embarrassing.
“I...”
The blonde God chuckled. “Don’t deny it, Luce. I know you want me. Want us.”
I bit my lip, the cogs in my brain turning as I tried to find an excuse. Any excuse would do.
“But I’ll tell you what. We want you too. I want you too,” he whispered, his warm lips brushing against mine.
And just like that, my mind stopped.
Urgently, passionately, Birch pressed his lips on mine, his tongue seeking out mine. He tasted like cinnamon and anise, sweet and spicy. Familiar and wild, all at the same time.
He ran his hands through my hair, pulling me hard into him. I sighed against his lips, suddenly very glad that our spacesuits were so thin. I could feel every muscle against me, hard and defined. I wondered if something else about him was rock hard....
“Birch,” I murmured against his lips. If any of this happened yesterday, I’d have been over the moon. Figuratively, of course. But now that I was the Captain of the ship, I couldn’t be messing around with one of my crewmates. Especially not if I had the hots for all of them. And I certainly didn’t want to be like my predecessor. Even though they were technically my property, using your men as sexual relief was frowned upon. Blasters, why couldn’t I just keep my legs closed?
“If there’s one good thing L did, it was teaching us how to share,” Birch smiled, his tone rather suggestive.
“But...”
“No buts... I promise, the other guys won’t mind. On the contrary, they might even find it hot.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek hesitantly. “You think?”
He grinned, crashing his hard lips against mine. “I’m sure.”
Epilogue
SPACE IS BEAUTIFUL.
We were standing on the viewing deck, watching the death of a star. It was a fitting way to celebrate the end of our journey. Tomorrow, we'd reach the Colony, and who knew what awaited us there. But for now, we simply enjoyed the drama of the universe unfolding before us.
My men were standing around me, each having one hand on my shoulders. I felt the weight of their touch and my connection to them. It was like a gentle buzz, knowing that they were here for me. All four of them. Over the past two weeks, ever since we escaped Slaver's Bay and shaken off Redbeard’s ships, we'd got closer and closer. Turns out, they had been watching me in the same way as I had them. And if it hadn't been for L, we might have found a way to be together earlier. But there were no regrets. It had made our bond stronger. And I had finally managed to spend some alone time with them, getting to know each man a little better. And then we had spent some group time together as well. Mostly in one of the bedrooms, but I had to admit that one time we ended up on the cockpit floor. It was rather arousing, even if CC interrupted us halfway through and we had to shut her off. Yes, we had finally found a way to disable her, and ever since she was aware of that, there had been no more attempts on our lives. In a way, she’d become part of our little family. And yes, I guess we could call it a family. We were five people who had found each other, who liked each other, probably even more.
We had no idea how the people on the Colony would react. We didn't know how conservative they were, so we'd decided to keep our relationship a secret... for now. But I knew I couldn't keep it that way forever. They were too tempting and I was close to ripping their clothes off most days. Stars, most hours even. They were delicious and they knew it. I had thought about introducing a naked day on the PEAR. But after our space pirate adventure, that might be a silly idea. They would kidnap my men even quicker that
way - nobody could resist them. They were the beauty of the universe made human.
Cedar nuzzled my neck and I turned around to face him. Four adoring pairs of eyes looked down at me.
I was no longer alone. Now, we were together.
Lucy Partridge, the P.E.A.R. and my four trees.
Arizona’s Note
ARIZONA TAPE IS QUITE a chaotic, young adult that shares her house with a cactus plant and has sleep dates with her bed. She makes up stories in her head all the time like a crazy person and occasionally writes them down too. But only if the mood is right.
Looking for more of the crazy?
My Own Human Series
My Own Human
Your Own Human (24 January 2018)
My Winter Wolf Trilogy
Wolf’s Whisper (29 Nov 2017)
Wolf’s Curse (2018)
Wolf’s Blood (2018)
Triple Threat Series
Danny’s Dance
Regan’s Redemption (coming soon)
Darren’s Downfall (2018)
JP’s Journey (2018)
The Love Pill (just a stand alone)
Anthologies
Until Death Do Us Part - United in Love (FF romance)
Mary F*cking Christmas - Snow & Seduction (Steamy RH)
And really, a whole bunch more gets added daily. It’s a lot easier to just come and stalk me!
Website: www.arizonatype.com
Facebook page: facebook.com/arizonatype
Facebook Group - House Vampari: facebook.com/groups/arizonatape
Bookbub: bookbub.com/authors/arizona-tape
Twitter: twitter.com/arizonatape
Skye’s Note
FIRST OF ALL, THANK you so much to my most amazing co-author and favourite vampire, Arizona Tape. This story would be only half as funny without you.
This may be the first co-written story I’ve published, but it’s not the first reverse harem. If you liked Lucy, I’m sure you’ll also adore my character Wyn and her four Guardians in Winter Princess, a paranormal reverse harem set in Scotland.
Not out yet, but up for pre-order is my dystopian reverse harem Polar Destiny featuring some very sexy bear shifters (including a polar bear!). Another book that can be pre-ordered is From the Deeps, a paranormal reverse harem with kelpies, wraiths and a rather cute incubus that I’ve co-written with the amazing Laura Greenwood (who also organised this anthology).
If you prefer a list, here you go:
Daughter of Winter Series (Paranormal RH)
Winter Princess
Winter Heiress (2018)
Winter Queen (2018)
Ruined Heart Series (Fantasy RH)
Heart of Time
Heart of Four (2018)
The Drowning Series (Dystopian RH)
Polar Destiny (2018)
Anthologies
Streets of Winter – Snow and Seduction (Contemporary RH)
Highland Butterflies - United in Love (FF romance)
Alone - Unusual Fairy Tales (Sci-Fi RH; January 2018)
Mother of Gods: A Winter Princess Prequel - Unusual Myths (January 2018)
And a few words about me:
Skye MacKinnon tells stories about science for a living - but at night she writes fiction, mainly fantasy. When she's not writing, she's out and about with her camera, or spends time with mythical creatures and the odd vampire living in her kindle.
Usually, there's tea and cake involved.
She lives in Scotland with her two overly spoilt house rabbits and a few hundred self-obsessed characters constantly asking her to tell their stories. One day she will. Promise.
To find out about my current and future books (yes, I just switched back into first person), you can subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on social media.
Newsletter: skyemackinnon.com/newsletter
Website: skyemackinnon.com
Twitter: twitter.com/skye_mackinnon
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Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/skyesbookheaven
Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/skye-mackinnon
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Partridge in the P.E.A.R. Page 4
