A Star Pilot's Heart

by Eva Delaney

  “Just go, lovebirds,” Rux shouted over the gunfire.

  I knew the smart thing to do was to leave the other men to cover our escape. Orion and I could flee on the same ship. We’d share the cockpit and controls. We’d exchange quiet smiles and mischievous smirks before flying into danger. We’d share the same room and the same bed.

  The rest of the ship would be calm, quiet, and empty.

  No easy friendship with a team, no downtime playing games, no teasing and challenging, no fresh meals with Hamal, no repairing the ship in easy silence with Polaris, no trying to break Antares’s walls. No family to care for. No family to care for me.

  No family like Orion and I had when we were part of a fighter company.

  Except this crew was better than the fighter company because they didn’t leave. They came for me. How could I leave them now?

  My life had been too quiet and too empty for far too long.

  The only thing that healed a heart was love. Family.

  “We defeated Castor’s guards, escaped the drones, took the entire damn station. So, we keep fighting side-by-side. Together, we can kick Castor’s ass from here to the Magellanic Cloud,” I said.

  “Don’t bring my home into this,” Rux said.

  “What? No one lives there,” I said, but he didn’t answer. This wasn’t the time, anyway. I glanced at them. They each paused their shooting for a quick moment to meet my gaze. I turned to Orion last. I gulped and hoped my words wouldn’t hurt him. I didn’t have the right to ask him for anything after what he had already given up for me. “I want all of you with me.”

  He nodded. “Anything for you, Cali.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “Everyone except Rux,” I added.

  “I knew we should have jettisoned you,” he said, voice as gruff as always, but the edges of his mouth quirked into a grin.

  “Hamal, Rux, Antares, provide cover,” I ordered. “Once we grab a ship, we’ll use its guns to cover you three.”

  Forty-Three

  No stun guns in this plan, I thought, heart dropping. Hamal and Rux didn’t have any and ships didn’t carry them. Castor showed a mercy that I wouldn’t be showing his people.

  But I didn’t have time to linger on that now.

  “Go,” Hamal said as his cannon thundered.

  Polaris tucked Mr. Pancake under his arm. I grabbed Orion’s hand and Polaris’s wrist and ran for the nearest open ramp.

  Laser fire ripped the air around us. The concrete scorched black from the weapons. Orion twisted his hand from my grip and panic squeezed my heart. He was leaving. But then his arm wrapped around my shoulders and his upper body sheltered me from the storm of laser fire.

  He shouldn’t risk himself for me, but there was no time now to argue. Orion cursed and shuddered. He stumbled and gripped his shirt in panic. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t carry another un-healable wound. “I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. But he was limping.

  A moment later, our boots rang on the ship’s ramp. “I’ll take the cockpit,” Polaris shouted and rushed ahead.

  I had to go for the guns, but I turned to Orion instead. The clothing on his left thigh was burned away, revealing skin that was red and blistering. He leaned against the wall and shoved me gently. “Save them,” he gasped. “I’m fine.”

  I took a deep breath and nodded once. I had to trust him to handle this hurt for a little while, as he had trusted me to survive in captivity. The other men were counting on me to rescue them.

  I ran for the nearest gun bank. It was surreal to be back in a Supremacy ship, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of Castor’s gun pressed against my neck. I powered up the plasma cannons and swiveled them toward the Supremacy pilots. They circled my men like inter-dimensional fire-tails.

  I’d rather not kill them, so I aimed to the side. As I had hoped, they dashed for cover—away from my men. As debris rained down, Hamal and Rux rushed through the destruction towards me and the safety of the ship.

  My throat closed. Where was Antares? Was he shot? Captured? Did he stay behind to cover their retreat? Did he stay behind to face Castor over whatever painful past they shared?

  I jumped out of my chair to go find him. Laser fire echoed through the bay. I glanced back at the gun’s 3D display. Antares raced toward me, his black coat trailing behind him like a cape. Red beams of death flashed around him.

  I plopped down and aimed for the space behind him. The plasma blasts filled the air with broken concrete and dust, covering his retreat. “Our scum-friend is on board,” Rux shouted from the main deck.

  But I didn’t relax and didn’t move from the gun. We weren’t out of this yet.

  Forty-Four

  Castor burst from the dust and debris and rushed for our ship. Despite my plasma fire, he had followed Antares. His face was deep-space cold. His eyes had the determined look of a predator on the hunt. Too determined to care about the danger he was running into.

  Determined to avoid another defeat.

  I swiveled the cannon toward him, tracking him in my sights. My finger hovered on the trigger. One little twitch of my finger and the Supremacy’s greatest pilot would be gone. It wouldn’t end the war, not right away, but it would bring us closer than we’ve ever been. It would be the biggest loss the Supremacy had suffered in a generation.

  I remembered his ship circling me as I dragged Marlon from his downed ship. I remembered staring at its blasters as I waited for a death that didn’t come.

  Was Castor telling the truth when he said he chose not to kill me? I had no way of knowing for sure.

  I sighed and let my fingers drop away from the triggers. Now we’re even, I thought at him. Fuck, I’m full of stupid decisions today that could ruin The Uprising.

  Footsteps came to a stop behind me. Hamal’s large hand gently squeezed my shoulder as though he knew I had made a difficult decision. “We need a good pilot up front, cupcake,” he said softly.

  I nodded and pried my gaze from the destruction in the docking bay. Pried my hands from the gun controls. I left the cannon to Hamal and hurried up the ladder to the cockpit. Antares was half lifting Orion into the navigator’s chair behind the pilot’s seat.

  “I don’t need your help,” Orion said through gritted teeth.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re a big strong boy,” Antares said dryly.

  “Is he—” My throat closed when I saw the burn wound up close.

  “Nothing deadly,” Antares said.

  I took a deep breath. I had to trust them.

  I slipped into the pilot’s chair. Polaris was in the co-pilot’s seat with his hands flying across the controls.

  “Are you hacking the doors from here?” I asked, grabbing the control wheel.

  “I don’t have to,” he said and grinned. “This ship has authority to access Vinera’s systems.”

  I blinked in surprise.

  Antares laughed. “It’s the Invictus.”

  “Castor’s ship,” I muttered, then joined Antares in laughing as I imagined Castor’s rage. That haughty, spoiled prince lost his favorite toy right out from under his nose. No wonder he had run through plasma fire to try to stop us.

  Assuming we got away, of course.

  The ship was as agile as a martial arts expert. No wonder Castor and his fleet always out flew and out shot us. This was the smoothest ship I’d ever flown.

  I turned her towards to the docking bay doors. They stood open with their atmosphere shields rippling against the stars beyond. The doors started to ease close under Polaris’s control. I threw the Invictus forward, blasting into the freedom of space.

  The jumpgate stood unguarded. We were going to make it.

  Forty-Five

  “Admit it,” Orion said. “Scars are sexy.” He grinned as Hamal applied artificial skin to his thigh wound.

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame of the small infirmary. I tried not to return Orion’s grin, but failed completely. He sprawled on the exam table in only his white b
riefs and a gray t-shirt.

  “It won’t scar,” Hamal said.

  “Shhh,” Orion said. “Cali doesn’t need to know that.”

  I laughed. “You have to stop doing this, Rion.”

  “Doing what?” he said, feigning ignorance.

  “Taking the fall for me.”

  “I have. I didn’t surrender to Castor.”

  I smiled softly. “Thank you.”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “It doesn’t seem like something you should thank me for.”

  Hamal gently whacked his shoulder, and Orion made an exaggerated, “Ow.”

  I snorted “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for fighting with me rather than alone.”

  “You’ll never fight alone again,” Hamal said.

  “That’s my line.” Orion shot him a glare.

  Hamal shrugged and smiled apologetically.

  Orion kept glaring. Hamal cleared his throat. “I’ll go check on the others, then.”

  “They aren’t hurt,” I said.

  “You never know. Stubbed toes, hanged nails, rheumatoid arthritis…spaceships are dangerous.” Hamal turned sideways to slip out the door. His body briefly pressed against mine and I caught his rich, oaky scent. I couldn’t help but breath deep. Once he was gone, I stepped into the room and faced Orion.

  Guilt gnawed at me that I had enjoyed Hamal’s closeness in front of him. But either Orion hadn’t noticed or was ignoring it.

  “I have always trusted you, Cali,” he said. “I just hate the idea of you being hurt. Torture and pain are easy to bear if you’re safe. That’s all that’s ever mattered.”

  I wrapped my arms around Orion and buried my face in his shoulder. His strong arms pressed me close.

  “I’m sorry I let you believe I didn’t love you,” he said. “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  I nodded, unable to form words over the swirl of emotions within me. I trailed a hand down his arm to his hand. I traced his fingers. The jade ring I had given him was missing.

  As though reading my thoughts he said, “I sold both rings for the knock-out gas.”

  Soldiers like us didn’t need fancy things. We knew how to go without. “You should have held out for blasters.”

  Orion chuckled. “We couldn’t afford anything except the one canister of gas. We didn’t get guns until we knocked out the guards.”

  “Selling the rings was the right thing to do.”

  “I figured we didn’t need them anymore,” Orion added.

  I tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let me go. “Are you—”

  “Breaking up with you? After all this? I know you’re fucking nuts, Cali, and I’m even madder, but come on.”

  I chuckled, despite myself.

  “I thought…” He trailed off and dropped his eyes as though embarrassed. His heart held so much love, loyalty, and passion that he struggled to put them into words. I’d never been good at that, either. We were similar in that way. Trying to do everything alone and unwilling to show love except through self-sacrifice.

  “I figure we don’t need the rings. We’re not continuing the old times, the old mistakes, or the old hurts. We’re starting over.” Orion met my gaze. His eyes were full of tenderness and that hunger that was always there when he looked at me. “We’re building something new. You don’t owe me a serious commitment. Not until we’ve taken it slow and built this up into something better than before. Something stronger. Together.”

  Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I didn’t know I needed to hear that until he said it.

  “And if you want those other dudes around, that’s okay too,” Orion added. “They’re useful.”

  I wanted to thank him and to say something sweet back. But I couldn’t find the words. So I held him as tightly as I could instead.

  Well, there was something else I could do for Orion if words wouldn’t suffice. I pulled away from him, even though my body and heart protested the sudden lack of him. I crossed the small infirmary and shut the door, locking it with a click. When I turned back to the exam table, Orion grinned madly, mischievously.

  It was like he said. We were not repeating the past or trying to regain something that was gone. We were building something new, something better.

  I stepped back into his orbit. His arms and legs wrapped around me as though he’d never let me go. I grabbed his shoulders, feeling the flex of his muscles. I kissed his neck before pulling back to yank his shirt over his head. I pressed my lips to his shoulders, his collarbone, tasting the salt of his skin. I wanted to know every inch of him.

  The last time had been desperate. A way to relieve built-up tension from days on a tiny ship with shirtless men. It had been a comfort and a way to feel alive when death hung over our heads. This time was different.

  This was getting to know each other all over again. This was seeing and savoring the ways we had changed and the ways we had stayed the same. What we had now was fresh and new like a sapling in a storm. It needed to be carefully coaxed and sheltered. It couldn’t be rushed.

  Orion slid his hands up my neck, tenderly stroking my jaw. He undid my braid and trailed his hands through my hair as though he wanted to know every strand. I made a sound of pleasure against his chest, feeling his pulse and his breath against my lips as I kissed his chest.

  I moved downward, planting kisses along his abs and following the path of hair to the edge of his briefs. I slid my hands down his back, tracing each vertebra. Orion shivered and groaned low in his throat.

  Everything about him was familiar and strange at the same time. Like coming home to a room that was no longer yours.

  But he’d be mine again. I intended to prove it.

  I slipped a finger under the hem of his briefs and yanked them down. Orion hissed, a low guttural sound as his hard cock sprang free. It lifted toward me, needy and desperate, its tip already slick.

  I licked my lips, savoring Orion’s hand knotted in my hair while the other cupped my cheek. His coarse fingers stroked my neck and made me tremor with delight. I enjoyed watching him tremble as he waited for me. His every muscle was tense with the effort of not pushing my head towards his cock and thrusting inside my mouth. Watching him—his perfect, fit body waiting for me—made wet heat flood the valley between my thighs.

  I chuckled low under my breath.

  “Cali,” he moaned. I met his jade green eyes. They bore into me with a need deeper than even the wounds that had cut through my heart. He smiled, warm and tender despite his aching need. “You’re the only thing that got me through those long months…You’ve always been the brightest star in my sky.”

  I grinned at him, wide and stupid and helpless. “I’m more than that.” I winked and took his cock into my mouth.

  Orion groaned and his hand gripped my hair hard. His already stiff cock grew even harder in my mouth. I traced his length with my tongue, tasting every part of him, feeling him quiver, and hearing him murmur my name. I circled the sensitive tip and raised my eyes to watch his neck arch back. I moaned around his cock, and he chuckled that low, rumbly sound.

  “Cali,” he gasped. I glanced up at his soft, glinting eyes. “My turn.” His fists tangled in my hair and pulled me from his cock. He grunted with the effort of it, and I laughed at him.

  “Nearly done, Rion?”

  Orion smiled that wicked crooked grin he had been giving me all week. “I’m never done with you, Cali,” he growled. He leaned forward. His hands slid up my waist, rubbing my hard nipples through the fabric of my flight suit. I sighed and let my eyes drift closed.

  He snorted, softly.

  Then Orion pulled down the zipper of my flight suit and peeled my clothes off me. I grinned and shrugged my arms from the suit, letting it fall to the floor. Orion gripped my hips and lifted me off the floor. I giggled—a strange sound coming from my throat. When was the last time I giggled at anything?

  Orion placed me down gently on the exam table. I laid there naked to his hungry gaze and wanderin
g fingers. He took his time, studying every inch of me with his probing gaze and rough fingertips. He traced my shoulders, my collarbone, lingering on my small, hard nipples. He licked his lips as though thirsty and I stifled a moan.

  He smiled, a satisfied grin that sent my heart fluttering and heat pooling between my thighs.

  “I’ve waited three years to be with you,” he said.

  I wiggled, delighted and wanton under his gaze. I couldn’t help myself. He leaned over me and took my hard nipple in his mouth. I twisted my hands in his wild mess of untamable hair. My breath came fast and short.

  “More,” I groaned. “Fuck me hard, Rion.”

  Despite my pleading, Orion took his time. His mouth explored every inch of me until I was a helpless squirming mess. He kissed the sensitive skin on the inside of my thigh and I knotted my hands in his hair, trying to push him towards my throbbing slit. He chuckled at my neediness, his hot breath tickling my aching clit.

  “Rion,” I hissed.

  “Mmmhmmm,” he muttered.

  “I need…”

  “What do you need, Cali?” he purred. His lips brushed my clit and his breath lightly stroked me, driving my desire even higher. His fingers trailed along the inside of my thighs. I clenched his hair, waiting for the touch, the relief that he wasn’t giving me.

  “What do you want me to do?” he growled again. His thumb brushed my entrance and I moaned. “So wet. What do you need, Cali?”

  “I need you inside me,” I gasped helplessly.

  “I know,” Orion said and flashed that mischievous smirk again.

  My body quivered with anticipation as he climbed over me, pushing my legs apart with his knees.

  Orion laughed. He lowered himself onto his forearms and touched his forehead to mine. I grabbed the back of his head to hold him there. His breath was hot in my mouth, and I inhaled him as he inhaled me.

  Those green eyes glinted with mischief, desire, and a soft longing. I could hardly take it anymore, having any distance between us. I lifted my hips, wrapping my leg around his waist. Finally, Orion thrust inside me.