12 Days of Christmas: A Christmas Collection

by Laura Greenwood

  I shook the naughty thoughts out of my head. Saving Birch came first. And then someone else could come second. Maybe the blonde beast in his suit expertly tracking any movements in the galaxy around us. Blasters, that was another inappropriate thought. I should really contain myself.

  With a dry cough, I cleared my throat. “Is Birch on it?” I asked, leaning down on the control panel.

  “According to the tracker, that’s him.”

  The tight grip on my chest loosened a little. I hadn’t realised how tense I’d grown during this whole operation.

  “That’s odd…” Cedar quietly murmured from the side as he rubbed his beard.

  “What is?”

  “I’ve heard gruesome stories about Redbeard. I can’t believe he’s letting Birch go so easily.”

  “That’s a valid point…” I bit my lip, recalling all the stories about Slaver’s Bay and the pirates running it. Never had I heard about anyone successfully negotiating a treaty with them, especially not over any of their “merchandise”.

  “Do you think it’s a trap?” I voiced, glancing at Cedar for support. If Redbeard was up to something dodgy, they could be using Birch as bait. And as much as I wanted him safe, could I risk the safety of the rest?

  I knew Earth men were considered high value, especially at this age. They’d be getting a hefty sum for Birch on his own. And from what I knew from the trade, all four of them together could easily go for the price of a small dwarf planet. Which meant…

  “Cedar, is Birch alone?”

  The blonde nodded, showing me the scan of the shuttle. “He is.”

  “Can you scan for any electronics? Bombs, bugs, or bots?”

  Cedar shook his head, not a strand of hair moving out of place. “I’m afraid not. We rebooted CC and she’s not up to speed yet.”

  Blasters!

  “Can we manually update part of CC’s system? We need to know if they’re sending some unwanted accessories along.”

  “Perhaps?”

  The intercom crackled as I called for Hain. No whisky would be leaving this ship until I had Birch back and made sure they didn’t send any gifts along with him.

  “They’re close,” Cedar muttered, showing how our force field pinged as the shuttle entered our sonar’s reach.

  “Let’s hurry to the docks. Bring the scanner,” I ordered Cedar, deciding we’d better go and manually pull in this shuttle. With CC still locked down from her reboot, we might actually manage to operate this ship the way we wanted.

  3

  “We ready to open the dock?” Hain asked, his dark eyes unreadable underneath his glasses. He always seemed close to Birch, he must be equally as antsy to get him safely back on board. In fact, the two other men seemed just as keen to get Birch back.

  With L out of the way, maybe they were finally able to show how much they cared for each other.

  “Captain! Apart from a dusty Plasma Blaster, there was nothing in the weaponry. But I found some newer models in L’s quarters. Well, your quarters. I hope you didn’t mind me going through…”

  I cut Rowan off. “No time for pleasantries, I’m just glad you found some guns. For all I care, you could go through my underwear drawer to find those.”

  A pink blush appeared on his cheeks as he averted his gaze. So cute. I wanted to lick the colour of his face, although that would have likely resulted in him being even more flushed. And me being embarrassed.

  “Two Canyon models and a brand-new X3000 one. Only three though, so one of us is going unarmed,” he sighed, holding up the metal case. “I found them in one of the safes.”

  So that was what L was keeping in there. I always assumed it was filled with liquor. Or a set of adult toys. I wondered if she kept them locked up in case of a mutiny. Thank the stars it was usable weapons instead. But only three of them…

  “Cedar, I want you to stay back in the cockpit. If something happens, I can’t have you getting hurt. Pass the scanner to Hain, please.”

  The blonde nodded, briefly saluted me, and turned on his heels. The door hissed behind him as I punched in the code for the airlock.

  “Rowan and I will take the Canyons. Hain, the X3000 is for you. Let’s prepare for the worst, hope for the best.”

  “What is the worst, Captain?” Rowan asked as he unlocked the safety switch on his blaster. I checked the state of the chamber, pleased to find it fully loaded. Even though I didn’t like violence, having a trusted Canyon in my hand certainly made me feel a lot more secure.

  “I’m thinking a dirty bomb, or maybe a virtual bug to infect CC?” I answered hesitantly, not entirely sure what kind of tactics pirates would use.

  “The shuttle is docking now,” Hain informed.

  “Still no other life form detectable?”

  He showed me the green blinking light on the navigator, indicating a positive identification on Birch’s chip.

  “First airlock disabled.” CC’s voice suddenly boomed through the loading dock. Well, for once she was actually being useful. That was a welcome change.

  I waved at Rowan, wanting him closer. Having them both next to me definitely made me feel safer.

  “Second airlock disabled.”

  My stomach tightened as I heard the familiar hiss from the air pumps. The doors would slide open any moment now.

  This was a bad idea. Every fibre of my body told me so. I was going to regret this, and so were my guys. It had to be a trap. Redbeard didn’t seem like a nice guy, not at all. Damn, how did we get into this situation?

  The answer was easy: L. That bitch was still making our lives hell even after she had died.

  Weapons ready to fire, we waited for the click and hiss of the airlock. Moment of truth...

  When the lock was halfway open, Birch shouted, “Get down!”. I didn’t even think about it, I dropped to the floor and so did the three men around me.

  Something hot whizzed over us and painfully grazed the back of my head. It hurt like hell but I stayed on the floor, making myself as flat as possible.

  “Are you alright?” I called out to no one in particular and three affirmations reached me.

  “Birch!” I shouted over the hissing sound that continued to race over our heads. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” a weak groan came from the other side of the airlock. “Just a little busy trying to disarm the bomb.”

  “What the stars? There’s a bomb?” I wasn’t going to panic, no chance.

  “It’s set to eject a sleeping gas in about twenty seconds,” Birch called, his voice strangely calm. “Better hold your breath in case I don’t get this thing under control.”

  I exchanged looks with Hain who was lying beside me. This didn’t sound good. But Birch was clever. He’d know how to do this.

  Suddenly, the hissing sound stopped and I sighed in relief. My ears had begun to hurt under the constant noise assault.

  “Did you do it?” I asked hesitantly and was rewarded with another weak groan from the pressure chamber.

  “Yeah. I think I might need Cedar now.”

  I jumped up and sprinted through the airlock to find Birch leaning against the shuttle entrance, blood trickling down his face. A large black canister was lying next to him; the bomb, most likely.

  “They tried to shoot us with darts,” Rowan complained from behind me. “And something else which looks like burned goo.”

  “They wanted to incapacitate you so they could take you all instead of just me,” Birch explained weakly. “They’re on their way now. We need to leave.”

  The Captain in me sprung into action.

  “Cedar, I need you to look after Birch and get him to medbay. Rowan, check the space shuttle for any other threats, then set it free. Hain, you’re with me, we’re going to fly out of here.”

  They all scrambled to follow my instructions. I ran back to the bridge, taking the stairs instead of the elevator this time. Hain was close behind, breathing heavily. We all needed a break, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t get one in qu
ite a while.

  When we got to the bridge, I immediately sat down in the Captain’s chair, bringing up our position on the main screen.

  “Hain, plot a course to the Colony. Try and fly us through a nebula or meteor belt to shake off any pursuers. CC, are you there?”

  “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!

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