by Hayes, Susan
She’d already broken so many rules in the last few hours…why stop now?
Deke wanted to take Sonja to the cockpit so she could take one last look at Earth before they left. It had seemed like a fine, noble idea at the time, but every step Deke took with Sonja in his arms was making him question what the hell he’d been thinking. She smelled good, like warm spices and sugar, and her borrowed shirt had ridden up enough that he could see her bare thighs. She was a soft, comforting weight in his arms, and having her so close was making it hard to keep his thoughts from wandering into dangerous territory.
Even with her face scrubbed clean of cosmetics and her hair finger combed and left loose, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Deke hadn’t meant to touch her, but when he’d walked into the medical bay and found her trying to walk on her injured feet, he’d reacted without thinking. And once she was in his arms he’d been reluctant to let her go.
“So, where are you taking me?” she asked, her voice softer than it had been a moment before. His cock stirred as her innocent words triggered an onslaught of indecent images and suggestions. He’d happily take her back to his quarters, or to the holo-room, or up to the observation deck so he could peel off her tattered dress and admire her naked body bathed in nothing but the light of the cosmos. What the fuck was wrong with him? They’d barely met and he was acting like a sex-starved lunatic.
“To my cock…uh...the cockpit. We’re going to the cockpit so you can see Earth. It’s a beautiful view, and since you’ve never seen it before I thought you might like to, in case you aren’t back this way again.”
Stars save me. I’ve lost my fucking mind.
He expected her to laugh at him. Hell, he was half expecting her to slap him for he’d just said. Instead, she lifted her head and gifted him with a dazzling smile that sent another rush of blood straight to his cock. “That would be amazing. Thank you, Deacon. I’d like to see Earth from up here.”
“Call me Deke. No one ever called me Deacon but my mother, and I haven’t seen her in a very long time.”
Okay, Deke.” She looked like she was about to say more, but that was the moment the engines rumbled to life. Her face paled, her eyes going wide and wild as she burrowed into his arms, finally burying her face into the front of his uniform.
“Shit, you really did have a lousy first trip into space, didn’t you. Sonja, believe me, it’s going to be fine. That was only the primary engines coming on line. I promise that once we’re under way, you’re won’t even be able to tell we’re moving, the ride’s that smooth.”
“Sorry,” Sonja’s apology came out muffled. She raised her head and gave him a sheepish grin.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I probably should have warned you about the engines.”
Her body relaxed, but her expression didn’t. A single line creased her forehead, right between her dark brows, and her eyes narrowed in determination. “I’m a robotics engineer, for stars sake. I shouldn’t be afraid of engine noise.”
Now that caught his attention. “You actually worked at G-Mex? Doing what?”
Sonja hated answering that question, because it inevitably garnered one of only two responses. Either all conversation ground to a horrified halt, and everyone scrambled to find something new to discuss, preferably with someone far away from her, or they wanted the gory details. Usually the women fled and the men leaned in to hear every word. “I worked in the intimate companions lab.”
“Sex-droids? That’s a hell of a job for your parents to assign you,” Deke said, one brow arching slightly.
Well, that had to be the most laid back response she’d ever had.
“Yeah, I know. I think they were trying to discourage me. None of them thought it suitable for a woman of my stature to be working at all, but I was bored out of my mind and kept pushing until they gave in. Joke was on them, once I got over my initial issues, I really liked the work. I was good at it, too.” So good that in the end, they’d given her a lab of her own and tasked her with creating new models. There was a booming trade in the droids, and competition was fierce. The more realistic the droid was, the better it sold. Sonja had worked to make her creations not only physically appealing, but to program them to act as companions, able to converse and mimic human empathy through carefully created behavior algorithms and AI programming.
She waited for Deke to make one of the usual comments, but he surprised her when he said, “So you know how to work with AI’s? If you have the inclination, I would be happy to learn anything you could teach me about working with the Arca’s resident AI program. She’s a bit…stubborn sometimes.”
“I’d love to,” she said, and she meant it. It wasn’t often she got an opportunity to talk about her life’s passion, at least not without the listener’s eyes glazing over within the first thirty seconds. She was about to ask for more information about the ship’s system when she noticed Deke had stopped. She looked around and realized they were standing in the entranceway to the cockpit. Laid out in front of her was the most incredible view she’d ever seen.
The cockpit was set in what seemed to be a bubble of glass, giving the pilots a panoramic view of everything ahead and beside them. There were two command chairs overlooking the view screens, each with its own curved control panel in front of it. Heads-up displays shimmered in the air, but beyond them was a scene that drew all of Sonja’s attention.
It was Earth, floating in the blackness like a polished gem on display. From their current vantage point, the planet was bathed in sunlight, making the oceans gleam an impossible blue. The green tracts of the forests and the softer greens of farmland and fields were bordered by empty spaces that took up far more of the globe than she had truly understood. From here, the scars of the war were still raw and terrible, dead zones where the land was scorched and very little survived. It was still beautiful, though. It was her home, and Sonja’s throat tightened at the thought that she might never see it again.
Trevar was sitting back in one of the chairs, the air around him thick with readouts and images. Without turning around, he said, “Did you get our kitten tucked in and ready for takeoff? I hope so, because I need you to sync with Arca’s fucking AI. She’s got her electronic panties in a bunch over our unauthorized passenger. If you don’t fix that thing, I swear one of these days I’m going to put a plasma bolt through her processors.”
Deke tensed, his arms tightening around her for a brief second. Then he relaxed again, though he was no longer holding her so close.
“I’ll get on that in a second, but Sonja will need a place to sit.”
Trevar spun around in his chair to look at them. “Shit! What’s she doing up here?”
“I brought her up to look at Earth before we left orbit.” Deke said, his words clipped and his tone devoid of all inflection.
“Fuck. Sorry. I didn’t know she was here.”
Sonja was getting tired of this. “What are you apologizing for, Trevar? I don’t understand.”
“Do you want me to take her back down to the med-bay while you do your thing?” Trevar asked, ignoring her question.
“No, it’s fine. She was going to find out anyway.”
“She’s right here, and she wants to know what the fuck both of you are talking about.”
Trevar’s expression softened to one of regret as he rose from the chair, moving back so there was room for them to step further into the cramped space. “Sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean to talk around you. Why don’t you take my seat and enjoy the view while Deke deals with the computer.”
She turned her head to glare at Trevar. “That wasn’t an answer. I’m not going anywhere until you answer my question.”
“Great. Now I have two women on board this ship who think they’re in charge. Let me make this clear, sweetheart. You are not the one in charge here. Now get your sweet little ass in my chair and then I’ll explain.” Trevar pointed to his newly emptied seat, and before she could argue further Deke stepped up and lowered her into it, then spun th
e chair around so it faced front, away from the two men.
Oh, hell no.
As tempted as she was by the view, there was no way she was going to enjoy it until they explained what was going on. She spun the chair back around to face them again, wondering how many times she could do this before she got dizzy. “So, what’s the story? What did I miss?”
Trevar sighed and scrubbed a hand through his too-long hair. Deke was touchy about telling people about his implant. Not that anyone could blame him. The reactions to that bit of information were rarely positive ones. If he’d known Sonja was within earshot, he never would have said anything, but the ship was the one place in the galaxies where neither man worried about protocol…or pretenses. “You want to tell her?”
Deke nodded once and looked down at Sonja. Trevar couldn’t get a read on Deke’s emotions. The other man had locked himself down tight. The only feelings he could pick up on came from Sonja. She was frustrated, which wasn’t a surprise. More than that though, she was concerned. Not for herself, but for Deke.
Well, I’ll be damned.
Deke raised a hand and tapped his forefinger to a point just behind his right ear. “I’ve got cybernetic implants. And before you ask, yes, they’re Alliance approved. Hell, they’re the ones who installed them. They allow me to mentally sync with computers. Any computer. I can get into their heads, or more accurately, their processors. The implants are designed to allow me to interface with them on a deeper level.”
He dropped his hand and went silent, waiting for Sonja to respond.
“Incredible,” she murmured, tipping her head to one side so that her hair spilled over her shoulder in a curtain of chocolate colored silk.
Trevar broke the unwritten rule of empaths and did as deep a sweep of her emotions as he could manage. No fear. Not even dismay. She wasn’t hiding anything. Every emotion she was feeling showed clearly on her face. Son of a bitch. When was the last time he’d met someone that honest?
Never.
“That’s amazing! What’s it like?” her question snapped him out of his thoughts and he glanced up at Deke, who was looking like a pole axed steer. Yeah, Trevar could appreciate his confusion. The girl was surprising him, too.
“Huh?” Deke asked.
“Syncing with a computer, what’s it like? Can you show me the implant? When did you have this done? Who did it? It doesn’t hurt you, does it?” The questions flowed one into the other until Deke finally threw up a hand to halt her queries.
“I’ll tell you all about it soon, I promise. First off, I need to get the ship to understand that you’re supposed to be here, and for that I need a few minutes of quiet.” Deke was looking at her like she’d offered him the universe all tied up in a bow. And in a way, Trevar guessed she had. Acceptance wasn’t something Deke was used to. Whatever had happened to him back in his training days, it had left the younger man with an iron-clad control of his emotions and not much faith in his fellow man.
Maybe having Sonja on board for a while would be a bigger boon than merely padding their bank account. If she could break down a few of Deke’s walls and get him to smile more often, that would be a hell of a bonus.
***
CHAPTER FOUR
As Deke settled into his chair, preparing himself to sync in with the system, Trevar knew it was time to distract their curious passenger. He pointed to the view screen and Sonja nodded silently, swinging her chair around to face forward. There wasn’t room for him to move beside her, so he leaned over the back of the seat, his head above hers. That close, he could smell her scent, a subtle hint of spice and sweetness that made his mouth water. Her hair tempted him to touch it, and he curled his hand into a fist to prevent himself from doing something stupid.
She was nothing like the women he marked time with on the stations. They were experienced professionals, jaded, but well versed in what a man needed without complications or pretense. Sonja was a scroll, and a rich one at that. She was fresh, unspoiled, and likely too young to know the harsher side of life. He had to remind himself that in a matter of days she’d be off his ship and out of his life, with nothing but her credits to remember her by. As tempting as it was to consider passing the next week trying to get her out of her clothes and into his bunk, that wasn’t the smart plan. Better if he left her to spend some time with Deke, maybe she’d be able to pull him out of his shell a bit.
Trevar found himself leaning in as he pointed out what few landmarks she might be familiar with, while keeping his voice low enough they wouldn’t disturb Deke. “See that chunk of empty, red, land over there? That’s the sector you were in when you stowed away on our shuttle. Fort Saken is right on the edge, right where that smudge of green starts.”
“Where?” she asked, turning her head enough that her breath feathered over his cheek. All the blood in his body surged straight to his cock, and Trevar was grateful that there was a chair blocking anyone from seeing just how much she was affecting him right now. He reached past her, calling up a magnified view of the area he’d been pointing to and setting the new image so it overlapped the main view screen.
“There. See it now?”
“Oh, I do!” She exclaimed and then clapped a hand over her mouth when she remembered they were supposed to be staying quiet. Trevar glanced over at Deke, noting his relaxed posture and closed eyes.
“It’s okay, he’s already synced. We could set off a plasma charge in here now, and he wouldn’t notice.”
She turned at that moment, bringing their faces so close together it would take nothing more than a slight dip of his head to bring them together. He found himself staring into her eyes, his hand moving so that he could brush a strand of hair off her cheek and tuck it back behind her ear. Lust roared through him, echoing the desire he could sense flare deep in Sonja’s soul. At this rate, he’d be throwing the smart plan out the airlock before they even left the fucking dock.
Shit.
“So he’s…gone? Inside the system?” Sonja asked, and he knew she was trying to think of something else besides what her body wanted. He could feel her fighting for control. If he was a good guy, he’d back off right now.
That so was not going to happen. He deliberately leaned in a hair closer. “He’s gone. Which means it’s just you and me in here for a few minutes while he argues with the AI.”
Sonja was having a hard time resisting the urge to move. All it would take was a tiny tip of her chin…and if she did it, if she moved, Trevar would kiss her. Or she’d kiss him. There was probably a really good reason why that shouldn’t happen, but at the moment she had no idea what that would be.
She moved closer.
Trevar’s lips brushed hers, once, twice, and then his hands were in her hair and his mouth was slanting over hers. There was nothing tentative about his kiss, no hesitation or doubt. He simply took all she offered, his gaze never leaving hers. The gray depths of his eyes flared hot with need, searing her soul and making her entire body sing with lust. It didn’t matter that she barely knew him, or that she’d be leaving him behind in a matter of days. For the first time in her life, she was free to make her own choices, and at this moment, her choice was…him.
He pushed against the back of her chair, sending it swinging around so she faced him fully. The momentum was enough to make her feel off-balance and she caught hold of his uniform, tugging him closer as she tried to regain her equilibrium. His tongue swiped over her lower lip and she opened for him, uttering a low moan as he took their kiss deeper. He tugged her head back, his grip tightening just enough make her scalp tingle.
Daring to be bold, Sonja reached up to stroke his waves of dark hair, giving in to the urge to sweep it back, off of his face. Her touch made him groan into the depths of her mouth, and liquid heat flowed from her pussy at that primal sound. The shirt she wore suddenly felt constricting, and her fingers itched to yank open the fastenings of his tunic so she could connect with bare skin.
He skimmed hand up her leg, pushing the fabric asid
e as he reached her knee and then went higher, tracing erotic patterns across her flesh. She wanted to feel more of him, needed it more than she needed to breathe. Her thoughts had all derailed, and her body was running on pure instinct as she surrendered herself to the moment. This was why she had run, wasn’t it? So she could be free to take chances and dance in the flames if she wanted to.
When Trevar finally lifted his head, she let her fingers slip from his hair to his cheek, her fingertips brushing the edge of a scar that had been hidden beneath the fall of hair. He pulled back a half second later, leaving her empty handed and reeling from the impact of what had happened between them.
“I can’t fucking leave you unsupervised for five damned minutes, can I, old man?” Deke’s normally calm voice had a rough edge to it, and Sonja belated realized he’d finished returned from his sync with the Arca’s computer and had caught them kissing like a couple of teenagers.
Talk about awkward.
“The day it’s safe to leave me unsupervised around a beautiful woman will be the day after you put me in the ground, and even then it’s not going to be a safe bet. You’re cranky because I got to her first,” Trevar said and then gave her a wink and a sexy little half-smile that had her pulse skittering up a few notches.
“I was sitting two feet away, I figured she was safe from your lechery for few minutes. I should have known better.” Deke dropped a hand onto her chair and swung it around so she was facing him. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but even still, she could tell he wasn’t happy.
“Deke, I’m sorry—” she started to apologize, but he cut her off with a shake of his head.
“You don’t need to explain anything to me. But just so we’re clear, I’m not going to back off and let him have you without a fight.”
Deke had come back to his senses only to discover he was the audience for one of the sexiest scenes he’d ever seen or imagined. Trevar and Sonja had chemistry so hot he’d been able to feel it from several feet away, and no matter how much he knew he shouldn’t be invading their private moment, he couldn’t look away. What was hidden by the chair was revealed in the reflections on the glass. Her shirt was pushed up high enough he could see the soft flesh of her inner thighs, and there had been no mistaking the raw passion that was sizzling in the air between them. At this point, it would have been smarter to give up and move on, but he wasn’t going to. Sonja was something special, and if Trevar wanted her, he was going to have to work for it.
