by Chandra Ryan
It didn’t matter anyway. Not really. She couldn’t change anything until she relinquished command of her ship. And that wasn’t happening for a long time. It most certainly wasn’t happening today. And it’s not even as if he’d suggested he was interested in more than a random hook-up. So she was completely justified. She pushed the societally born guilt as far down as possible and smiled.
“Thanks for everything,” he said calmly, apparently unaware of her internal battle. Without even looking up at her, he reached down to his pants and pulled out a credit stick. “I know we didn’t discuss cost, but I think this should adequately cover your time.”
She stared at him for a moment before her gaze dropped to the credit stick in his hand. Her mind was still a little fuzzy from all the endorphins rushing through her blood but she was fairly certain he was attempting to pay her for the best sex she’d ever had.
“It’s the standard hourly rate, plus a little extra,” he argued as she continued to stare at the credit stick.
It was true. He thought she was a common dock whore. Which meant no commitment, while giving her the perfect opportunity to arrange future meetings.
Sudden joy mixed with the lightheadedness of post-climax and made the room swim around her for a moment. This was the best possible ending to the most fantastic three and a half hours of sex she’d ever had. Or, at least, the best three and a half hours of sex she’d had recently.
After taking the stick, she tucked it in her bra. “Maybe we can do business again someday?” she asked, keeping her smile seductive.
“You got a number?”
Her digital reader was in her hand before she could second-guess her decision. And when he held his reader next to hers, all it took was hitting one simple button and he had her personal communication account.
“I’m a busy gal, but I’m sure we can work out some sort of arrangement.”
“I certainly hope so.”
She winked brazenly before leaving him there, lying naked on the motel bed. Now she’d be able to put him behind her and concentrate on her mission. Or that was the general plan.
But even after she’d made it back to her quarters her thoughts stayed with him. She’d showered, dressed in her uniform and pulled her hair back into its military-issue bun, yet she could still feel the cool, water-slicked tiles of the motel shower against her back as he fucked her slow and deep. The mere memory sent a shiver of renewed desire through her body.
No doubt about it, that man was a walking distraction. And she hoped to hell he’d call—just as soon as this mission was done.
The smooth stone corridors clicked under her heels as she made her way to the docking bay that held her vessel. Each step brought her closer to her hangar and heightened her level of excitement until the air around her hummed with it. The only things that separated her from her ship were the massive hangar doors.
Entering the security code, she took a step back and watched as the doors swept open. She couldn’t hold back the sigh of pleasure that escaped her at the first sight of it. Every time she saw the sleek silver lines of the fluid design that tore through space like a hot knife through butter, she fell in love all over again.
This—this warmth that started in her gut and slowly unfurled itself until it’d swept to every cell of her being—was worth every single sacrifice she’d ever made. The shine of a new relationship always eventually wore off but the rush from flying never did—never would. This sleek, state-of-the-art machine that she’d trusted with her life more times than she could count was a lover that’d never failed her and never would.
She ran her fingertips along one of its wings, allowing the cold to seep into her disposition as she made her way to the hatch. This was all she needed.
“Captain Holt.” Her first mate and the mission navigator, Commander Aimes, didn’t even bother to look up from his tablet as she approached.
“Preflight in order?”
“All systems are a go, sir.”
“Are Dobbs and Hodgkins already on board?” Dobbs was the best damn mechanic in the inner realm and Hodgkins was the most sought-after tactical officer in the fleet. Both had reached a high enough level of acclaim that they could name their own assignment. It was a source of great pride that they chose to serve under her.
Aimes’ head snapped up from the tablet screen to focus on her. “No sir. They were reassigned. Their replacements have reported and are already at their stations.”
She stared at him for a second in confusion as the words sank in. “Whose orders?”
“Sorry, Captain, that information’s above my pay rank.”
“That’s okay, I’ve got a pretty good idea.” It was her father. He was the only one with the political clout to get it done who wasn’t afraid of her temper.
And why should he be? She’d inherited it from him.
“I’m going to introduce myself to the new crew members. I’ll expect you at your station in five so we can get off this hunk of steel.”
“Aye, sir.”
As she slid through the hatch and down the stairs that led into the spacecraft, the tingling of excitement that always preceded a mission reemerged. Not even her father’s meddling could ruin this for her.
She rushed through her preflight check and then introduced herself to the new mechanic. His build was solid and he seemed competent enough. It took a few minutes of subtle interrogation but when she welcomed him into her crew she meant it. He was one of hers now. It was as simple as that.
Meeting the new tactical officer, however, wasn’t destined to be as simple. Granted, it started out smooth. She had no problems punching in the code to the armory and the door slipped open soundlessly but as she stepped into the room and saw the shaved head of the man bent over the crate of missiles, she felt her world shift slightly.
Surely it wasn’t. It couldn’t be.
As if to prove her wrong, he picked that moment to notice she was there and she was left with nothing else to do but follow his progress as his gaze made its way up her body.
Chapter Two
Adam stared at the woman in front of him. Just the sight of her made the air rush out of his lungs and his heart stop. The single bar of silver that rested just above her breast gave him her name clearly but it took a moment for him to process it. He was too busy remembering what that breast felt like cupped in his hand to worry about anything as trivial as a name. Her skin had been silk under his calloused fingertips and her nipples hard as they’d beaded against his lips.
Eventually, though, he had to shake the memory out of his head and accept the reality of the moment.
This was the Captain Holt.
The woman he’d just had in more sexual positions in three and a half hours than he’d thought humanly possible was the one he was supposed to kidnap?
It couldn’t be.
But even as his mind tried to fight it, his body knew the truth. Her flawlessly pressed uniform, complete with the prim and proper hairstyle, couldn’t hide her from him. He had to fight the urge to pull her to him even knowing who she was.
“Sir.” He raised his hand in salute but the action felt slow—as if time was no longer moving at normal speed. He wasn’t about to mention this morning but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about it. And judging by the dark pink that spread across her cheeks, she seemed to be having the same problem.
Though he couldn’t be certain if her blush was from the memories of their afternoon or because she’d actually taken his money and then gotten caught in the lie.
“I’m Captain Holt and this is my ship, the Hawk. I’ve heard you’re temporarily replacing my tactical officer, Commander Hodgkins.”
“Aye, Captain. Lieutenant-Commander Adam Sans reporting to duty.” He’d been using that name for so long that it sounded like the truth even to him. Hell, maybe it was the truth at this point. He hadn’t even spoken his real name in almost five years. Adam Pallara might as well have died that day alongside his family, his planet and
everything he held dear.
“Commander Hodgkins is one of the best. You feel up to the challenge?”
Her question pulled him back to the present. “Always, sir.” He kept his back straight and his voice steady as he answered. Since he was Adam Sans, he had a mission to complete. And in order to do that, he had to make sure he didn’t do anything to make her doubt his professionalism or his work ethic. He’d be off this ship faster than a whore’s wink if he did. He cursed silently at the saying as the image of her riding him made his cock harden against the military-issued cargo pants.
One of her sculpted eyebrows arched delicately but she didn’t make any other note of his reaction to her.
“Good to hear.” Her blush had faded, leaving her expression completely stoic.
He was an expert at reading people—it’s what made him so useful to the rebel movement the Coalition currently led—but she gave him nothing. The woman could give professional poker players tips. “We’ll be space-bound in five,” she continued, her voice crisp and professional. “Because of the nature of our mission and the size of the ship, there isn’t much moving around after we take off.” She pushed a button and a steel wall opened to reveal a small but practical sleeping quarters. “If you need anything, it’d be best to tell me now.”
He’d researched the ship but he hadn’t thought about the logistics of serving aboard such a small vessel. It sounded as if access to the ship was going to be limited at best. That put a snag in his plans. He’d have to deal with that later though. Right now he had a part to play. “Can’t think of anything I’ll be needing, Captain.”
“Good to hear.”
“I was wondering about the nature of this mission, however.”
“It’s a scouting mission. That’s all you need to concern yourself with.”
“Excuse me, sir. But what exactly are we scouting for?”
“Sorry, that’s need to know.”
“And I don’t need to know?” He suspected as much but had to at least try.
“My superiors don’t seem to think so, Lieutenant-Commander Sans,” she countered, putting emphasis on his rank.
Damn it. “How am I going to do my job if I don’t know what I’m shooting at?”
“Is this your first covert op?” Her brow wrinkled and that delicious mouth of hers pursed as she examined him suspiciously. For one moment he worried he’d given too much away, pushed too hard. His cover was good but wouldn’t stand up against a full-out investigation. It wasn’t until she shook her head and her look of caution faded that he was able to force himself to relax a little.
“It’s not all guts and glory like the media makes it out. Chances are we aren’t going to need to fire on anything. And if we do, I give you the coordinates and the grade of weapons to be used. All you have to do is follow orders and fire.”
“Sounds as if you expect an uneventful run, sir.”
“Uneventful is always the objective.”
But he knew there was no way this mission was going to be as calm as she hoped. His goal was so close he could almost touch it—literally. There was no way he was going to fail. He felt the small flutter of a victory in his gut but quickly suppressed it. “Yes sir.”
She nodded and then started to turn to leave but stopped. Her gaze was locked on the reader that rested in the palm of his hand. “I’m not one for leaving things unsaid, no matter how embarrassing or awkward they are.”
His throat tightened as she continued to stare at the device. She couldn’t want to talk about what’d happened between them any more than he did, though her motivations for silence were undoubtedly different than his. Still, he watched her swallow and take a deep breath and knew that was exactly what they were about to discuss.
“Today you had a dalliance with someone happy for you to think she was a whore. Don’t try to make it more than it was or try to understand it.” She finally looked up but turned to face the door before he could read any emotion on her face. “And for the love of the deity, delete the communication account I gave you.” Without looking back again, she punched in the security code and stepped through the door.
The girl had balls. He’d give her that. Not many would face their indiscretions as directly as she had. Then again, judging by the way she was in bed, the woman was nothing if not direct.
Damn.
He shook his head in irritation as he recognized the spark of admiration. Or, if not admiration, intrigue at the very least. Not that he had anything against her personally. He’d never even heard her name before he’d been given this mission. No, his problem was with the government she served. But if working missions with the Coalition for the last three years had taught him anything, it was to never get involved with a mark.
And that’s what she was, leverage and nothing more. Her safety was going to convince her father, Chairman Holt, to vote correctly on a piece of very important legislation. Adam had to remember that.
Fortunately she’d made it clear she didn’t plan on a repeat of this afternoon’s activities so it wasn’t as if there was any real threat of them becoming emotionally entangled. And he was willing to bet she’d probably be even less inclined after the whole kidnapping thing.
He took his first easy breath since she’d walked through the door. The mission was still on track. He just had to make sure it stayed that way.
Focusing on his assignment helped him get his priorities straight once more. He had work to do and obsessing about their afternoon tryst wasn’t helping him prepare. She was smart, his research into her background had told him that much, but now he knew she was bold and unconventional as well. It was a combination that was bound to make this more difficult.
He went through his top three obstacles—access, communication and exit strategy. She was right, this was a small ship. He couldn’t exactly lure her away from the bridge without anyone noticing. He couldn’t even go into the command center to study her routine without drawing suspicion. Getting access to her was going to be challenging.
Communication was easier though. He had a partner on the ship. They hadn’t been able to work out a secure channel without knowing which ones the crew used first but now that they were on board it was the first thing he was going to address.
He pulled out one of the wires that ran from the wall into his console with a violent tug before tapping on his communications badge. “Tactical officer to Captain.”
“Captain here, go ahead.”
“There seems to be a technical problem with my console. I’m going to need maintenance here at the earliest convenience.”
“Is it a critical error?” Irritation buzzed through the comm with the usual static.
“Looks superficial, sir. One of the technicians must have snagged a wire on his way out. It needs to be fused back together.”
“It’ll have to wait until after we jump.”
“But—”
“If I send him now, we’ll miss our scheduled window.”
And if a ship missed its window, it was thrown in a standby rotation, which was overseen by the flight control captain. Adam didn’t want his assignment’s timetable in someone else’s hands any more than she apparently did.
“Of course. It can wait until after the jump. Thank you, sir.”
“Captain out.”
After the jump. They’d be able to set a secured channel after the jump.
That left the exit strategy. His hand went reflexively to the canister of sleeping gas in his flak jacket. He was going to have to find someplace to hide it now that he was on the ship. The last thing he needed right now was to have it found. There was no justification for him to have sleeping gas.
“This is your captain. All systems are a go and we’ve been given launch clearance,” her voice crackled through his communicator.
The ship creaked as it was slowly lifted and guided out of the docking bay by two single-person vessels. It was the hollow metallic thud of the vessels detaching a few minutes later that told him they were
in space. “All hands strap in. We’re jumping to null-space as soon as we clear the station’s gravity field.”
Looked as if hiding the gas was going to have to wait until after the jump as well.
Still, as he pulled the safety harness over his head, he couldn’t help but smile. This was it. Once they jumped, she couldn’t throw him off her ship. Or at least it became a lot harder for her to throw him off. Everything about the woman cautioned him that she would, given the right incentive, though.
The vessel shimmied as it launched into the vacuum of space and then—there was nothing. For an eternity the room wrapped around him and his lungs refused the order to breathe. Even his heart seemed to stop. It was only when his lungs burned and the pressure in his ears was unbearable that they burst through the veil and were back in normal space.
It didn’t matter how many times he’d been in null-space, each time the experience was as terrifying as the first.
“We’ve reached the outer realms.” The captain’s voice was as calm and collected as before they’d jumped. “From here on out we’re flying silent, which means slow. Get comfortable, everyone.”
Slow worked for him, especially while he was still gulping in large lungfuls of air and clutching his hands together to keep them from shaking.
Undoing his restraints, he hit his communications badge to call the mechanic but was stopped abruptly as a metallic boom rocked the ship around him. The explosion’s bass was so deep and intense he could feel it radiating from his sternum to his toes.
“Two shielded ships off the port bow, Sans.”
It was too early for the Coalition to act. That could only mean that someone else had plans for the captain. Though he couldn’t imagine who else would have a dog in this fight. She was the military and he was Coalition. Who else was there? He looked at his console screen but the radar was blank. “Can’t see them on the radar, Captain.”
