by Kate Rudolph
“Rich enough.” His tone shifted then and he clasped his hand over Andie’s, using her palm to rub against his chest. “Enough of that. We have some time alone before the crew thinks to look for us. It could be better spent.”
Andie grinned as a spike of heat shot through her. She curled her fingers under his palm, gripping his shirt and pulling it up to expose the rippling muscles beneath. With only a little adjustment, Xandr had it off and the masculine scent of his warm skin washed over her, lighting that desire even more. It was an automatic response now. She saw him, she felt him, she smelled him, she wanted him. Always. Her mouth salivated at the thought of having him and she couldn’t imagine letting him go.
Let the Duke of Mebion come, he was no match for her.
She pushed herself up from Xandr’s side and loomed over him before swooping down at capturing his lips. She could kiss him for days and not have enough. He devoured her like he was made of sin and she returned the favor. She straddled his chest and could feel his length growing and hardening beneath her. She’d have it, and him, but they had time now and she wanted to savor.
Xandr ran his fingers through her hair, cradling her head and holding her in place above him. He could roll her over with the smallest twitch of her hips and have her under him in no time, but he was giving her this control now, letting her run the show. Emotion swelled within her, but she tamped it down. She’d deal with that later when she wasn’t about to panic at the thought of what might be growing within her. Right now all she needed to feel were the things she and Xandr could do to one another’s bodies.
She kissed her way down his body, over his jaw and neck, and forged a path down his chest, taking her time to lick a trail over his rippling muscles, stopping only when he let out unconscious little moans that ratcheted up her desire. Xandr let her work, holding himself in place, his electric blue eyes following her, his gaze hot enough to burn. With him she was a confident lover, sure of herself, sure that he wanted her, and it gave her the freedom to explore, to give and take pleasure without any doubt that she was doing things wrong. Xandr loved to tell her what he liked and what he didn’t, and he demanded that she return the favor. At first it had been daunting, but now their sensual confessions were as much a part of their lovemaking as the tangling of tongues.
There was that word again. Love.
No, she’d deal with it later.
His trousers did little to hide the growing erection beneath them, and when Andie ghosted her fingers over it Xandr thrust up. “Harder,” he demanded, his jaw clenched as if it was taking effort not to buck up and take control of this encounter.
Andie grinned and pressed her palm down even more, gliding up and down before pulling back. Xandr let out a frustrated grunt and tried to follow her fingers, but she poked him in the stomach and shook her head. “My turn now, just enjoy it.” And before he could say anything else, she undid the clasp of his pants and freed his erection. The thick organ sprang free and Andie wrapped her hand around it as well as she could, giving Xandr that tight grip that he’d begged for.
Well, he might not call it begging, but she was the one with her hand on his cock, so he’d have to deal with how she described the events.
She gave him a few confident strokes, feeling the length of him thicken even further. It was almost impossible to believe that she’d fit this length inside her, but she knew her body could take it, her body loved taking it, and it only took a little time to adjust. But not yet. Today she wanted her man wracked with pleasure, his control on the verge before she sank down onto him. She wanted him desperate to come and only holding himself back because he knew it was better when they came together.
“That’s an evil glint in your eye,” Xandr managed to get out, panting out the last words, and her thumb brushed the head of his cock.
He could still speak, that wasn’t any good.
Andie flashed him a smile and bent down, taking his tip into her mouth and swirling her tongue around it. Xandr groaned, but he held his hips completely still, keeping himself from thrusting in and choking her. Another time she might have wanted that, but right now she wanted to savor his masculine taste. She used her tongue, tracing along all the veins and ridges that made his cock unique, taking her time against the central vein that drove him crazy whenever she gave it her attention. She couldn’t get his length all the way down her throat, but he’d never complained, and from the way he was moaning she knew she was doing something right.
Fluid leaked out of his tip and his cock was like flesh covered iron in her mouth, hard enough that it seemed like it should hurt. But Andie gave no quarter, using her hand and lips and tongue until Xandr pulled her away and sucked in a deep breath, trying to get himself under control.
“You drive me mad,” he panted, his fingers curled in the sheets beneath them.
“Then you know how I feel.” He hadn’t touched her, but she was already getting close to that edge. It wouldn’t take much to bring her over. Watching him was its own special kind of pleasure. The man was made of control, and that control only came undone when they were alone together and writhing on the bed. Or against the wall. Or on the floor. And one time in the chair.
Something in his eyes softened. “There’s a lot to feel.” And it didn’t matter where their bodies were or how much clothing they were wearing, Andie knew he wasn’t talking about sex. Their gazes locked and she could feel words burbling up inside of her, words she’d never said before. Words she’d long since given up hope of ever speaking. They wanted to tear out and explode between them, heavy enough to weigh the ship down until it crashed on the nearest planet.
She jerked her head to the side and gave it a little shake. She was going a little crazy. Her body was hungry for Xandr and it demanded to be fed.
So she shucked off her clothes, taking her time and enjoying the way his gaze raked over her, watching her like she belonged to him, like she was precious.
Once the clothes were taken care of, she got back on the bed and crawled on top of Xandr, pressing their bodies together. His warmth seeped into her, flesh pressing against flesh in a connection so intimate it almost went beyond sex. She could have everything with this man if she was brave enough to ask for it, to demand it. Everything she’d ever dreamed of and never hoped to get. But she had to be brave, and she wasn’t there. Not yet, maybe not ever.
She moved until the tip of his cock nudged her entrance and eased him inside. It was a tight fit at first, but her body adjusted, the stretch of him now familiar and more than welcome. She eased herself down, letting her body sink over him until he was seated fully within her and their two bodies were joined as closely as they could ever hope to be.
They moved in unison, Xandr’s dark eyes holding a promise of pleasure, and he only let her do the work for two strokes before he flipped her over and loomed, working himself into her like a man possessed by the spirit of a lustful god. Andie couldn’t help smiling up at him, her expression shifting to one of extreme pleasure as he hit her just right, lighting her up from the inside and making her body scream for more.
He captured her lips in a kiss hot enough to burn and tasted her as her orgasm rippled through her, and he followed shortly after, pumping into her with a sound caught between anguish and ecstasy.
When it was done they lay side by side, their bodies cooling from the passion and her mind reeling. Possibility hung in the air around them and something begged to be said, something that Andie couldn’t hope to take back if it ever got out. But she didn’t know if Xandr was there with her, and her heart was too wary to take that chance alone.
So she swallowed down everything she was scared to say and curled into his side, content to bask in his presence as her body came down from the pleasure. There would be other times to tell him how she felt.
She just had to get up the nerve to accept it first.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IN THE TWO WEEKS AFTER the interrupted jewel heist and recovery of their score, things went back
to normal, as normal as anything ever got on an outlaw ship. But tension hung in the air. Xandr hadn’t shared with the crew that Nevys had wanted their pictures, and they’d flown further out from the Oscavian empire than they normally operated. The jobs were harder to come by, and they paid less if a crew wouldn’t dabble in the slave trade, but they were out of reach of Oscavian security patrols, which worked in their favor.
They spent two days on a pleasure planet where the crew grabbed some much needed R&R and Xandr and Andie locked themselves away from everyone as soon as they could. They didn’t emerge until it was time to get back on the ship. Everyone had looked a little tired and a lot sated, and she and Xandr were no different. Those three words that had been chasing her for awhile still threatened to bubble up, but she’d wrangled them and beaten them into submission, tying them up deep within her mind to keep them from spilling out.
How long had she known Xandr? Two months? Maybe three? It was hard to keep track of time when most of it was spent in the black of space, but the point stood that she’d had food in her processor back on Ixilta that lasted longer than this relationship. She couldn’t say anything yet. Especially when Xandr hadn’t indicated whether or not the words would be welcome.
She could read into things, look at how he’d opened up to her about issues among the crew, confided in her things he didn’t even tell Keana. The first mate knew everything about the running of the ship, but she didn’t know Xandr’s emotions, not all of them. She did, however, know his secrets. It had begun to rankle as Andie wondered more and more about the Duke of Mebion. There was no curiosity in Keana’s eyes. Whatever connection there was between Xandr and the duke, Keana knew it and she wasn’t telling, not that Andie had asked. Keana didn’t like her, nor did she hate her; the first mate maintained icy neutrality that had thawed ever so slightly in the time since Xandr took is captainship back.
On Ixilta Andie hadn’t had to worry about the politics of interpersonal relationships. She’d kept to herself most of the time, waking up, going to work, going home, occasionally finding someone to keep her entertained for a week or two. Nothing personal, nothing important. People had a bad habit of dying or disappearing on Ixilta and Andie didn’t want to risk caring for someone who could be gone the next day. Or care for someone who could betray her to the guards for any minor infraction.
Life was completely different on the ship. She was making a space for herself, proving her worth, and making real friendships even while she dealt with interpersonal conflict. It was good, and terrifying, and she couldn’t wait until she was on more stable ground.
As she normally did on the long days in space, she ended up in the cockpit beside Sayevi watching darkness and stars spread out in front of them. “Do you ever get bored up here?” Andie asked. Piloting a ship wasn’t like driving on land with vehicles all around and plenty of hazards. Everything was open in every direction with no way to tell up from down or any direction in between.
The pilot nodded. “Autonav does most of the work out here, but it’s nice to get away from the crowd. And I have an entertainment tablet, so I make my own fun. I’d hang out with the rest of the crew more, but things can go from boring to deadly in a second and it’s best to be ready if the sensors detect a raiding crew or Oscavian military.”
“Does that happen a lot?” Andie knew how vast space was, how much nothing was out there, that it was hard to imagine randomly running into trouble.
“Sometimes,” Sayevi didn’t seem concerned. “The Seventh is fast and we know all the jump points between here and safety. You don’t need to worry with me at the helm.”
“I don’t.” They lapsed back into silence and watched the darkness out of the view screen. There was something comforting in the nothing, even as it reminded Andie that she only had the crew to rely on if something went wrong this far from any civilization or survivable planet.
The comm crackled and Keana’s voice came over the speaker. “Set a course for Praltez, captain’s orders.”
Sayevi hit a button and tilted her head up towards the speaker as if Keana could see her. “Affirmative. Have we got another job?”
“Yes, captain will brief.” The comm cut off without any more talk.
Andie and Sayevi shared a look and then the pilot grinned. “Thank the gods, I was going to go mad if we didn’t find a direction.”
“It’s only been three days since we got back from R&R. Shouldn’t you have a little patience?” Andie was mostly teasing, she could feel the same need to move thrumming in her veins.
“If you think I was resting back there, you’re out of your mind. Not all of us have another body to keep us warm at night. And a thick—”
“That’s enough, I think.” Andie cut her off with a laugh.
“Are all Earthlings so prudish?”
“No one’s ever called me a prude before. But I’m going to head back. I’ll see you at the meeting.” Andie let the pilot to program their path to the next job and retreated into the ship.
PRALTEZ WAS A SPECK of a planet just far enough from the Oscavian Empire that it didn’t worry about falling under imperial dominion. Xandr thought the people were fools not to be planning for the day the empire decided it wanted to stretch its influence, but that wasn’t why he’d brought the crew to the planet, and they wouldn’t be on land long enough for anyone to notice. Hopefully no one would notice until they were gone. Being outside the empire, Praltez was a popular stopover for freighters looking to avoid imperial taxes and inspections and more goods flowed through the planet than on most planets twice its size.
The population was small and made of a mix of disaffected Oscavians and Praltez natives with ornate horns growing out of their heads and iridescent scales in place of skin. They walked on two legs and had two arms, but many also had spikes along their backs, and their mouths were disturbingly large. It was considered rude to stare, and Xandr had made sure to prep his team. Keana and Andie would have the most contact with the Praltese and given that the crew was used to working with Malax, he doubted they’d have much issue.
He knew Keana had more than enough training to keep her thoughts to herself, and Andie had spent years on Ixilta where hiding her thoughts and emotions was paramount to survival. His concern wasn’t whether they could work undetected on the planet, he only worried that whatever conflict was simmering between them would stop them from getting the job done.
But Keana was a professional. She knew how to control herself. And Andie was so determined to prove herself that she wouldn’t fuck it up. He kept telling himself that as he watched the two women retreat from their rendezvous point. If things went well, no one would realize that his crew had stolen anything. And they’d load the score right onto the Seventh without a second thought.
They were after a shipment of raw materials used to make subdermal translators. A certain mineral was incredibly rare and expensive, and in this part of space the Oscavian government held a stranglehold on the distribution. Normally a ship carrying that kind of cargo would have avoided Praltez and the scavengers that lurked there like it had boils growing out of it, but Xandr’s contact had managed to reroute their target and they had a small window of opportunity to grab the cargo and run.
Simple. Easy. Relatively safe. This was the kind of job a man dreamed of. So he was almost certain it was going to go wrong. He’d never worked with the job broker before, but Lansry had vouched for him, and while Xandr was still trying to determine whether or not Lansry had sold him out on Station 163, he couldn’t turn down a job this lucrative with such little risk. If Lansry hadn’t sold him out, then refusing this job would put that relationship at risk, and there were only so many brokers he could trust that he wasn’t willing to throw the relationship away until he was sure.
But he was on the lookout for trouble, and his instincts told him something was bound to go wrong.
With a nod he directed the rest of his team down the road toward their own destination, the command center for this secto
r’s import and export. Their contact had arranged for their target to land on Praltez, but it was up to Xandr and his team to get them to give up the goods. And the best kind of theft was the kind that didn’t seem like theft at all.
They walked into the squat building on a nondescript street as if they belonged there, Taryn in the lead with Kiran and Xandr backing her up. Taryn had the most legitimate dealings with shippers and if anyone could sweet talk some cargo off a ship, it was her.
“We have a meeting with the director,” she told the Praltese receptionist who fluttered around his desk, stacking paper in piles and frantically answering comm calls like he’d be executed if he missed one.
“Please excuse me for a moment,” he said, and Xandr didn’t know if he was talking to Taryn or whoever was on the comm. He’d known Praltez was busy, but this went beyond his wildest dreams. Of course, Sayevi and Malax were responsible for a few of those calls, hoping to keep the man distracted, but there was no way they were doing it all.
Taryn didn’t back down, leaning in a little closer and getting in the man’s space. He looked up, eyes wide and frantic, before jerking back to take another call. Taryn crossed her arms and jutted a hip out to lean against his desk. “It’s the height of rudeness to be late for a meeting. The director is expecting us.”
“If... you... just...” The receptionist pulled up his computer screen and looked at it, but in turning he knocked a pile of papers off his desk.
Kiran came around the side and helped him pick them up while Xandr pulled a small magnet out of his pocket and stuck it to the back of the screen. When the receptionist stood up he let out a broken whine almost bad enough to make Xandr regret his actions, but they had to get into the office and this was the least violent path. Computers could be repaired, and blasters hurt a lot more.
The receptionist tapped the screen several times, his horns bobbing as he tried to make it work. “Come on, you piece of—” His head snapped up as if he just remembered that he had company. “I’m sure I saw the meeting on the schedule earlier. Please go on through, the director will be happy to see you.”
