by Eva Delaney
He was so sweet and innocent, it was difficult to shoot him down. Even though it was for his own good. I couldn’t be with him. I already had a man that I was fucking things up with.
I forced myself to flash Polaris a sly grin. “There are no teams in a race.” I turned and jumped for the plate in the kitchen doorway, the last item to winning. To kicking all their asses.
I landed cleanly, but something grabbed the back of my flight suit and yanked.
I hit the floor, staring up at Rux who balanced on the blanket. Polaris sat on the floor next to me, blinking as though confused.
Fuck, he had struck fast.
“Not this time, Trix,” Rux said and jumped over me for the plate. I shot out a leg and my foot hit the dish. It tumbled into the kitchen and Rux landed on the floor.
“Fucking fuck,” he cried.
“Not this time, Mag,” I said, calling him by a short-form of his last name just to piss him off.
When he glowered at me, I grinned, predatory and mean.
Orion and Antares landed on the blanket behind us. Polaris threw himself forward, hitting Antares’s knees. The bounty hunter tumbled backwards. As he fell, he reached out and grabbed Orion’s arm and dragged him down too.
All three hit the floor with a thud.
Po was the last person I expected to jump anyone, ever. “Po! That was downright treacherous!”
“Well done,” Antares said.
Not well done, I thought. We were rubbing off on the shy, sweet techie and turning him into a grim, jaded asshole like the rest of us. I didn’t want him to change.
“You can’t do that! You’re already out,” Orion yelled at Polaris.
Po shrugged and glanced away.
He didn’t apologize. I wasn’t sure if I was proud of him for that. He needed to be less worried about pleasing people, but he was a gentle soul who shouldn’t end up like us.
Orion slapped the floor in frustration. Hamal jumped onto the blanket and Antares grabbed its edge, yanking it out from under him. The larger man hit the floor with a thud.
“Shit. Are we all out?” Hamal said. We all lay in a heap on the floor, breathing heavily.
“Fuckity fuck fuck,” Rux cursed. The bastard had stolen my line from earlier. “I knew this was stupid.”
I ignored them and watched Mr. Pancake jump from a pillow to a blanket.
He climbed onto my chest, his paws digging into my sternum. “Oomph,” I said. He ran down my torso and legs, pausing at my feet.
I lifted my head. He sniffed the air, then leaped from my ankles. His little back legs stretched out behind him as he soared through the air. His front paws landed on the plate in the kitchen.
He spun and plopped his butt down on the dish, tongue hanging out and smiled at us.
I snorted. “Good boy.”
The men sat up and stood around me, staring at the dog.
“We lost to a damned pug,” Rux grumbled.
Antares laughed and stepped over me to ruffle Mr. Pancake’s ears.
“I…I think I came last,” Polaris said.
“Because Rux is an asshole,” I said. “It’s not your fault.”
“I played the same way you did, Trix. I was just better at it.”
“If you were better, you would have won.”
He scowled and muttered something as he stomped away.
Orion, Hamal, Po, and I stayed in a heap on the floor. My body still tingled from rubbing against all the men, feeling their heat, their lengths. It made warmth spread through my chest and stomach. I felt safe and enveloped as though I were lying in their arms.
As though they were mine.
Shit, playing this game right after Hamal had put the idea of sharing in my head was a terrible idea.
Three years ago, I had loved Orion with all I had—and that wasn’t enough to prevent me from failing him and abandoning him. If I was with more than one man, I would fail them all.
To save us all heartbreak, I had to keep my distance from everyone except Orion. I wasn’t sure how when we were stuck for days on a tiny ship.
Chapter 12
I spent the rest of the day in the pilot’s seat, watching the darkness and faraway pinpricks of stars for any signs of the jumpship. Or any ship. I’d even accept Castor’s fleet here to blow us from the sky. Maybe we could talk or fight our way onto one of his ships—anything that would get us a step closer to continuing with our mission.
I flipped on the comms and listened to the sounds of a three-hundred-year-old battle, listened to the death cries of pilots as they were shot down.
It drove the men from the cockpit—only Antares remained to listen and not for long. They couldn’t stand to hear it.
But I couldn’t stand not to. It was a reminder of why I could not allow this mission to fail. General Brison and The Uprising entrusted me to bring Agent Winters back safely with the intel needed to stop the Supremacy, to stop more invasions, deaths, and genocides.
And I had to do it before the generals and The Uprising believed Castor’s lie about us betraying them. Once they fell for it, they’d fly right into Castor’s trap.
“How long until the jumpship arrives?” I asked Polaris for the dozenth time.
“Days? Weeks? I’m sorry. The scout drone didn’t contain info on where its mothership was.”
“How long?” I asked Antares. He had been Supremacy—maybe still was—and might have insider intel on how jumpships operated.
He shrugged and slung a leg over the armrest of the co-pilot’s chair. The sounds of battle and sobbing played from the comms speaker. “I’ve never been on one. They’re supposed to be faster than using a jumpgate, though.”
“Will they come?”
He frowned. “I don’t know.”
“If they don’t, what happens to us? To the galaxy?”
“I don’t know,” Antares admitted. “There might be one thing I can try…if it comes to that.”
I sighed and returned to watching empty space for our saviors. Fuck, a Supremacy jumpship shouldn’t be our hope or the galaxy’s.
I don’t know how much time passed before Orion strolled into the cockpit and turned off the comms. “Take a break, Cali,” he said gently. “Take a shower, get some rest. I’ll watch things here.”
I didn’t want to leave the cockpit, but he was right. I needed to be rested and ready for whatever came next. Plus, I hadn’t showered in days so I was becoming unpleasant to be around in this cramped ship.
I peeled myself from the pilot’s seat. “Thanks, Orion.”
“Anything for you, Cali,” he smiled.
I marched down the corridor to the ship’s single bathroom. The panel next to its door glowed green, which meant it was unlocked. I punched the open button. The door hissed open—and I immediately froze.
Rux stood before me in nothing but a shiny golden jockstrap that left his tight, round ass bare. It was as perfect as the rest of him, as though a horny woman had sculpted him from stone.
The tattoos along his left ribcage extended down his hip and thigh. Fuck, those legs were as thick and strong as the tree trunks on Diastra. They were corded with muscle and lined with black abstract tattoos.
My mouth fell so far open that my jaw unhinged. I even heard it pop.
Rux was twisted away from me, adjusting the edge of his jock, and hadn’t noticed me yet. I knew I should leave and close the door, but my body wasn’t listening to my brain. It was too busy listening to Rux’s naked body.
“You spying on me, Trix?” Rux said in that gravelly voice.
“Ah…what…huh?”
He turned to me, replacing that tight ass with his bulge barely contained by the small bit of gold fabric. My heart raced. My whole body felt hot.
Dammmmnnnn, was all I could manage to think.
He stepped toward me, and my gaze shot up to his face. He wore the same pissed-off expression he always did. He planted his hands on either side of the doorway, on either side of me.
He lean
ed toward me, his nose against mine, and his breath caressed my lips. I gulped. I could smell the clean scent of his skin. Was he going to kiss me?
“Do you know how to knock?” he growled.
That broke my daze.
“Do you know how to lock doors?” I snapped, my voice a bit too loud and flustered.
“You strolled in like you owned the place.”
“I’m the commander of this ship; I do own the damn place. Why is your ass hanging out?”
His face went red with rage. “It’s a jockstrap. For support!”
“Why? Support for what?”
“Trix, balls this big can get in the way.”
I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they would pop out of my head.
“Low gravity, tackling enemies, any number of situations need support,” he said.
“You made that up. You just like hanging your ass out for all to see.”
He glowered at me. Pissing him off was fun.
“How about you zip down that flight suit and we judge your panties?” he said.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and shoved. But he was so sturdy that he didn’t even move.
“For that, you can empty out Castor’s closet. Maybe you’ll find something with more coverage for your….” I gestured to his crotch without looking at it.
“Don’t talk about something you know nothing about,” he growled.
“I know how dicks work.”
He grinned, but even that was a pissed-off look on Rux’s face. “You should with all the ones following you around this ship.”
I clenched my fists at my sides. There he was again, implying that I was doing something inappropriate with my crew.
Well, he was right, but only about Orion. The others started flirting with me. I had nothing to do with it.
“Keep talking, asshole. The more you piss me off, the more chores I’ll give you. You’ll be cleaning this whole ship soon.”
“Oh come on, Trix. You like the view. That’s why you haven’t left this room yet.”
I sputtered. He grinned, a toothy predatory grin.
I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin to stare down my nose at him. “It’s you who enjoys this. That’s why you didn’t lock the door. That’s why you haven’t asked me to leave. That’s why you haven’t put on pants yet. Admit it, you want me to look at you. You’re probably hard right now.”
I didn’t dare look down in case he was. I was baiting him and didn’t want to find out if I was right.
Plus, the twitch in his scruffy jaw was too good to miss. He was enraged.
“Unlike some people, I have nothing to hide,” he said.
“You see, I think you do,” I said, leaning forward to glare at him.
I was a mere inch from his mouth. He didn’t move. But he glowered at me with a deep angry rumble in his throat.
“For one, we don’t know what your problem is. Nobody holds a grudge this long about leaving early for a mission. There’s another reason why you’re pissed off all the time.”
“Because you’re lying to us. Because you tried to run out on us.”
“Are you afraid of people running out on you?” I snarled back. “Is that why you won’t put on any pants? You’re trying to keep me interested so I don’t leave you?”
He barked a rough, bitter laugh. “I couldn’t care less what you think of me.”
“You’re lying,” I said, just to piss him off.
We were nose to nose. I hated being able to smell his scent, but I wasn’t going to back down from a gruff asshole. And being a stubborn bastard, he wasn’t about to back down, either.
He was attractive and confident, and he smelled like trees from a faraway alien forest mixed with a bit of gunmetal. Though I hated being this close to Rux, I couldn’t deny the hot feeling between my legs.
Now it was a matter of which one of us was going to snap and back down first. He had seen me running from a challenge once before when I had tried to avoid this mission. I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of seeing me flee again.
If anyone was turning tail, it was going to be him.
“Put on pants,” I ordered.
“I don’t recognize your authority.” He leaned in closer, his lips almost brushing mine.
My heart skipped a beat. If he thought that was going to make me retreat, his head was full of loose rocks.
“Perfect. Now, when we land, I can kick you out of this mission.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Trix. Someone on this mission needs to have sense.” His angry gaze bore into my eyes and I glared back, refusing to even blink.
“You’re the last person anyone would turn to for reason,” I said. “Now, put on pants.”
“No!”
An alarm blared from the cockpit. I turned from Rux to stare down the hall.
“Supremacy ship incoming,” Orion called from the cockpit.
“Fuck, that was fast,” I said. “Suspiciously fast.”
“Too fast,” Rux said over me. “Move.”
I stepped back as he barreled into the corridor and raced for the ladder that led to the gun banks. He still hadn’t bothered to dress, his bare ass on full display as he raced for the guns.
“Put on pants,” I called.
“No time,” he said.
“It takes two seconds.”
“It only takes one for them to shoot us down,” he said as he started to climb down the ladder.
Someone made a little “hmmm” sound and I turned to see Antares leaning out of the bedroom door, watching Rux.
“He’s got a nice ass,” Antares said to me as though this were a normal topic of conversation.
“Fucking men,” I muttered and raced for the cockpit. Orion gave up the pilot’s chair for me and plopped into the co-pilot’s spot.
I strapped in and eyed the ship. I had never seen one like this before, even though I was an expert on ships. It must be the jumpship. Nothing else could be so massive and so strange.
It was big enough to dwarf many moons. Its main body was crescent-shaped and attached to the long end of a cylinder that looked like a massive missile.
I could hardly believe how much money I was staring at. The jumpship was worth more than my entire homeworld. The Supremacy had built it of minerals that my sister, Celene, might have been mining when she died.
I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt. Those motherfuckers.
The comms crackled to life. I shoved Orion from the co-pilot’s seat to make room for Antares. Orion pouted, but moved and the frowning man slipped into his spot.
“Prince Castor Rigel here,” Antares said in a perfect Castor accent.
“Antares, I presume,” Prince Castor, the real Prince Castor, answered.
Chapter 13
My stomach clenched. We were so fucked.
“It appears I have two princes on the line,” said a woman’s voice, warm and husky like she had just rolled out of bed. “One prince is in the Invictus before me and the other is on ansible lord knows where.”
Antares muted the comms, and the men broke into panicked shouting.
“Hamal,” I ordered over their shouting. “Get down to the gun banks and make sure Rux doesn’t open fire…yet. Be ready to fight in case this goes sideways.” Not that we stood a chance against that massive jumpship.
“Yes, Commander,” he said.
I looked at Antares.
“That must be Lady Camilla. She’s commander of one of the jumpships, the only heir to the Sigana family, and one of Castor’s betrotheds.”
“One of them?” I said.
Antares shrugged. “The Empress has eight husbands. Marriage shores up power, so the Rigels marry everyone.”
“Now, which one is my true prince?” Lady Camilla said. She sounded amused.
Of course, she did. Someone that spoiled didn’t have to worry. Every problem or challenge was a game to her, like it was to Castor.
“I might be able to play her,” Antares mused, his finge
r hovering over the comms.
What other choice did we have? I couldn’t believe I was putting my life, the lives of my crew, and the future of the galaxy in the hands of a bounty hunter.
I took a deep breath. Antares had proved himself trustworthy so far.
“Everyone stay silent,” I snapped. “Antares, do it.”
Castor tsked over the comms. “Do you believe you can trick a future princess of the Supremacy, Antares?”
Antares turned on the comms and put on his best Castor voice. “I doubt anyone can fool such a stunning intellect.”
Castor scoffed. “Your attempt at foolery is pathetic. Your accent is uneducated.”
“That is exactly what an impostor would claim to sow doubt in the princess’s quick mind and warm heart.” Antares scoffed, the same way Castor had.
Maybe this could work after all.
“Pathetic that a lowly rebel believes they can trick a noble,” Antares said.
“Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?” Castor said.
“Only someone who did not love Lady Camilla would claim such a ridiculous thing.”
The lady laughed. “To think, I believed this would be another boring day commanding a jumpship.”
I glared at the comms. A boring day commanding a ship that could go anywhere without limits? Fuck her.
“What a lucky girl I am with two princes demanding my attention,” she cooed.
“It is quite lucky that I reached you when I did, Lady Camilla Sigana,” Castor, the real Castor, said. “I was calling to warn you of a group of filthy rebels stranded in the Invictus who might be requesting help.”
“Why would rebels be flying the Invictus?” Antares said.
“Because you stole it,” Castor growled. “You and that damned rebel pilot, Bellatrix. Hello, Captain,” he added.
My hands tightened on the ship’s controls at the sound of my name in his deceptively smooth voice.
“Captain Orion, Polaris, Hamal, Crux Magellan. Are you enjoying my ship?”
How did he know who we were? He hadn’t captured the others, and I hadn’t told him about them. Did he recognize us during battle? The Uprising had millions of people. How did he know us?
Antares tsked. “Lady of my heart, we both know that I would never be so foolish as to allow rebels to steal my own ship. You know I would die first.”