by Eva Delaney
He groaned, low in his throat. I bit his shoulder to stop from screaming.
He pressed me between his hard, strong body and the cold wall—the wall of Castor’s ship.
I smiled into Orion’s neck, taking a perverse pleasure in that. It was too bad Castor would never know that the people he had framed were now fucking on his personal ship.
As Orion thrust hard inside me, his pelvis rubbed against my clit. I moaned and he planted hot kisses on the sensitive skin of my neck.
I glanced down the corridor and at the open door. Let the other men watch if they wanted. I’d regret it later, but for now, the idea made my pussy throb. I imagined Polaris with that hot, determined look, watching while Orion pounded me. Would he be thinking of doing the same? That would show him for saying he felt nothing from our kiss.
Antares with his sly smirk, would enjoy every moment of it. He’d probably try to join in. I moaned at the idea.
Did they hear that? A part of me hoped they had.
What if Hamal came up the ramp? Would he like watching me as I quivered helplessly against Orion’s hard thrusts? Would he watch Orion’s round ass move as he worked inside me?
Both thoughts made my inner muscles throb around Orion’s hard cock.
I imagined Rux’s perfect body lined with those dark tattoos. What if he saw this? Fuck, he’d never stop reminding me about it.
“Harder,” I groaned into Orion’s ear.
He growled and thrust so hard that I cried out despite myself. I clutched his broad strong shoulders. Each thrust and each thought of the men appearing at the open door made pleasure ripple through me.
“Fuck me, fuck me,” I said over and over.
“Cali,” Orion moaned. His hands dug into my ass where he held me against the wall.
I pressed my lips to his to cover my scream. He thrust his tongue inside my mouth at the same rhythm that he thrust his cock inside my pussy. I cried out, muffled by his mouth as the pleasure broke over me. My inner muscles clenched and rippled around Orion, onward and onward in an endless wave.
With a groan and a final thrust, he came.
I sighed, sated, limbs like mush. Somehow, Orion still managed to hold me off the floor, his hands still squeezing and working my ass.
I looked at the open door. No one was there. I sighed in relief, even as a part of me was disappointed that they hadn’t watched.
A cold dread snaked through me. Was Orion right? Did he not have a place in my life anymore?
Fuck, my heart was so warped I couldn’t love my Ori without betraying him in thought and heart. Like I had before.
I clutched him closer. Orion kissed my shoulder, then my neck. “My warm sunshine,” he muttered against my ear.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the guilt rising in me like a flood.
“We better get back to the mission,” I muttered. “Before the Supremacy tracks us down again.”
Orion heaved a sigh. “There’s never enough time for us.”
Chapter 24
Did any of the men know that Orion and I had been fucking? Had they heard us?
If they had, they didn’t show it as I gathered my crew in a tight circle. I lowered my voice so the docking bay owner wouldn’t hear us.
“We’re going to split up. I’ll take Antares to find his contact. Orion—”
I handed him one of two funds card we had gotten from selling the ship. I scanned the faces of the men for smug looks that said they knew their commander had been boning one of her crew mates. Their expressions remained flat above the green and gold Rigel armor they had stolen on Vinera.
“Orion, you lead the second team and scope out an escape ship for us. Grab new clothes and supplies too.”
He nodded. “Anything you want.”
Rux rolled his eyes.
“You take Rux—” because I didn’t want him and Antares arguing. “And Hamal. Be careful.”
“Can I go with you, Cal?” Polaris said.
My heart constricted. I had thought he wouldn’t want to be around me after his admission in the cockpit. I didn’t want to be near him—I had been thinking about him while Orion fucked me against a wall. I could barely meet his gaze without having to turn away and fight the urge to blush.
But I couldn’t let anyone know that.
“Sure. We might need someone to hack doors and security cameras.”
“Always a good skill to have here,” Antares said. “Maybe we can save money on bribes. Then Mr. Pancake can have a new collar. Yes, he can,” Antares crouched to scratch the little pug behind the ears. Mr. Pancake smiled, his tongue lolling.
“Stay away from the main tunnels and roads,” Polaris said to Orion, Hamal, and Rux. “Even in that Rigel armor, someone might recognize you. There are cameras everywhere.”
I furrowed my brow. “You’ve been here before?”
Polaris nodded and looked away. “A long time ago.”
I wanted to push for more info, but now wasn’t the time. We had to find Winters and get the hell out of here before the Supremacy found us.
“Polaris is right,” Antares said. “Everyone here has cameras on buildings, inside buildings, on roads. Many have competing cameras for trying to sabotage or outdo each other.”
I shuddered. I had visited Etrea as a smuggler and knew of the cameras, but they still creeped me out.
“It’s business,” Antares said. “Everyone sells the footage to bounty hunters, mafia fuckers, loan sharks, and the Supremacy. They don’t ask why you want it.”
“Son of a bitch,” I snapped.
“Yeah, it’s creepy,” Antares said. “But good for my business.”
“Bad for ours,” I said. “The Supremacy will be on our asses in minutes.”
“Even the Supremacy has to pay for footage here,” Antares said. “They won’t see us unless people sell us out. That’s why smugglers can come and go as they please.”
“The queen can see everything,” Polaris said softly.
“How do you know that?”
Polaris was silent for a moment. “She focuses on her enemies: Local mafia and Supremacy nobles. But we’re wanted, so her people might recognize us.”
“You know a lot about this,” I said.
Polaris shrugged and said nothing.
He was hiding something. I’d question him about it later, because the sooner we found Antares’s contact and escaped Etrea the better.
“Don’t draw attention to yourselves out there,” I ordered Orion, Hamal, and Rux. “We’ll find you near one of the underground docking bays on this moon. Are you…are you okay with splitting up? I’ll be with Antares….”
Orion glared at the other man then turned to me and saluted with a mischievous smirk. Relief spread through my chest. He trusted me to handle myself.
“Promise me you’ll be back,” he said.
“Only if you do,” I said.
“Promise to kick the shit out of Antares if he even looks at you wrong,” Orion said.
I laughed. “I don’t need to make a promise to do that.”
“Look after her and Mr. Pancake,” Orion said, grasping Polaris’s arm in a shake. It was the first time I had seen him treat the other man with respect like that.
I smiled at Orion. He winked at me.
“Urgh,” Rux said.
“You coo’ed at your gun before leaving it in the ship,” I said. “Who are you to complain?”
He shrugged. “A good, large gun is hard to find.”
“So is a good man.” I smiled at Orion.
“We’re all good men. You’re drowning in good men. That gun, though….” Rux sighed wistfully. “You should let me bring it.”
“Well, you’re clearly nuts,” I said. “The gun will draw too much attention.”
“Pfft…maybe I’ll buy a flamethrower.”
That would be so cool. But I wasn’t going to admit that to Rux, so I ignored him. For now, he was Orion’s problem. I had to deal with Antares, which was his own shit show. I
had hoped to travel Etrea with only him. That way, if someone had beat us to Winters and set a trap, none of the other men would be caught in it.
Now, sweet Polaris and innocent Mr. Pancake were with us.
Fuck, there was always someone to look out for these days. I wasn’t sure if I hated that or liked it.
Orion sounded as though he needed someone to look after. Maybe keeping the crew around would be good for him…if I could keep my mind, heart, and pussy off the rest of them.
I paused to watch Orion, Hamal, and Rux march toward one of the doors. My hands were sweaty, and I clenched them to stop them from shaking.
This wouldn’t be the last time I saw them, I told myself, but a part of me, deep down and wounded, didn’t believe it.
Orion glanced over his shoulder at me and smiled before the door hissed shut and stole him from view.
I took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
Polaris shouldered a backpack he had found in the Invictus and filled with tools. I led my team through a different exit so that if the Supremacy tracked us, one team might escape to save the other.
Because we were meeting Antares’s contact, I let him lead us through the underground tunnels. Mr. Pancake trotted along on Antares’ heels, and Po and I followed. I eyed Antares, uncertain about trusting him, but I had little choice.
“Keep a close eye on him,” I muttered to Po.
“Yeah, we don’t want to lose the fuzz butt.”
“What? Who? No, I meant Antares, not the dog.”
“Woof,” Mr. Pancake said.
“You can keep an eye on my fuzz butt, if you want,” Antares said in that dour, grim voice.
I rolled my eyes.
“Oh! I got something for this,” Polaris said. “Okay….” he cleared his throat. “I’d like to up the pixel count on your ass.” He beamed proudly.
No one answered.
“More pixels mean less fuzzy so better view…get it?”
“Which one of us are you talking to?” I said.
Po shrugged, his smile dropping to a frown. I felt bad, as I often did when Polaris looked sad.
“Po,” Antares said, looking over his shoulder. “How about this? You turn the resolution up…in my pants!”
Polaris laughed, a sweet, deep sound; even his laugh was a little quiet and shy. It made me chuckle along with him.
“Not really, though, right?” Polaris said when the laughter faded. “We’re just friends. I only want—” His voice choked off as his gaze flicked to me and away.
“Friends,” Antares confirmed.
“What about when you talk to Rux and Orion like that?” I said.
Antares smirked sidelong and said nothing. I rolled my eyes. Why did he have to be so coy about every damn thing?
We made our way quickly through the former mining shafts. Even though they were the perfect place for an ambush, I was glad of them. They were hidden, so the Supremacy and its local queen lacked cameras and guards here.
The main parts of Etrea might be crawling with soldiers from the jumpship. We might not get a single step outside these secret tunnels before being shot.
“How long until that scrap dealer sells us out to the queen or the lady?” I said.
“About two more minutes,” Antares said.
“Then he’s more honest than I thought,” I said.
Antares grinned sidelong at me. Polaris gulped.
It felt good, almost, to be working with someone who understood the seedy underside of things. Polaris feared it and Rux hated it. But Antares understood how this kind of world worked.
On the downside, it meant I didn’t know if I could trust him fully. He had ties to our biggest enemy, the man who had shot down my entire company.
Polaris’s hand brushed against mine, drawing me from my thoughts. His little finger reached out, stroking the back of my hand for only a second. It could have been an accident from walking side by side in a narrow tunnel.
Still, it sent a warm tingle along my skin.
Had he touched me on purpose? I glanced at him. His blue-black eyes watched me with a sorrowful tender look. I met his gaze, and he looked away.
In the silence, my heart thundered in my head.
“Be alert,” Antares said, and I startled. He had stopped before a metal door in the rock wall. “We’re entering into the main areas of the city where cameras and guards patrol. Act natural but be ready to fight.”
“I’m always ready to fight,” I said. Antares grinned.
Polaris fiddled with the strap of his backpack.
The metal door creaked as Antares heaved it open. We slipped through into one of the non-secret sections of the Etrean underground.
Here, tree roots and branches draped the stone walls and ceilings with violet leaves. They flourished in the low light from globes that floated like stars among the leaves and stone. A combination of earthly wilds and far-flung space.
The surface dwellers in their bubble cities had an odd aversion to trees and plants. Those were wild and didn’t belong in civilization. So, most of Etrea’s air was produced here in the underground among those too poor to complain. Fresh air was then cycled up to the surface.
Etrea’s tunnels were strangely beautiful, despite the feeling that they were closing in on me. Even the screens nestled among the leaves, showing news and faraway landscapes couldn’t combat the feeling of being buried alive.
Polaris paused next to me and breathed deep, tipping his head up toward the plants and star lights.
He sighed as though a great weight were lifting off him. He caught me watching and smiled. “Fresh air,” he said. “It smells like…wilds.”
I grinned at his hint of joy. I hoped he could hang onto it when things turned violent and ugly.
We strolled through passages crowded with plant life, floating lights, and Etreans. To not draw attention to ourselves, we kept our pace slow and our heads down.
I eyed everyone we passed. After the run-in with Castor, the lady, and the queen, we were wanted by the entire Supremacy. If one person recognized us, two armies would be chasing us through these narrow passages.
Fuck, I hoped Orion and the others were safe.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flicker on one of the screens and glanced toward it. The image had changed from a roiling sea to the golden steps of the Etrean palace.
“Oh no,” Po muttered. He stared at another screen a few meters away. All the screens in the corridor had changed to show the palace steps.
Guards in Rigel green and gold lined the foot of the stairs. On the top of the steps, three men stood on a black tarp with their hands cuffed behind their backs.
My heart skipped a beat. Orion, Hamal and Rux? It couldn’t be…no…
Two of the men lifted their heads. I sighed in relief. They weren’t my men after all.
A woman stalked behind them, the train of her green and gold dress trailing behind her as smoothly as water. Her eyes, the color of fresh violet leaves, were striking. But her oval face with small delicate features was set in a cold expression that made my spine crawl.
“Queen Asherah Doug of Etrea,” Polaris said. He stepped toward the screen as though drawn by a magnet. One hand lifted, fingers stretching toward the bright glow and stopped an inch from its surface.
I exchanged a glance with Antares over Polaris’s head.
“We have to keep moving,” Antares muttered.
Polaris didn’t seem to hear.
On every screen around us, a guard stepped forward and announced each man’s crimes. They were rebels against the Supremacy.
The sour taste in the back of my mouth grew with each moment. All around us, the corridor had fallen silent. People gathered around the screens or rushed past with their heads down.
My breath was loud in my ears as the queen who was searching for us accepted a silver blaster from one of her guards. She strolled behind the men.
“Shit,” I said.
She raised her arm and fired. I w
inced as the man’s face turned to blood and tissue and he crumpled to the ground.
One of his friends screamed. The other stared ahead stoically.
Polaris shook, his hand falling to his side. I stepped between him and the screen to block his view. Behind me, another shot rang out.
I flinched but placed my hand on Po’s shoulder and turned him away from the screen, guiding him down the corridor. Antares led the way ahead of us. The final shot rang out.
Polaris shook against my side, keeping his head down and eyes on the floor.
“It won’t happen to any of us,” I whispered, leaning close so no one else would hear, close enough to smell his sandalwood scent. He didn’t answer. “We’ll escape Etrea safely,” I promised.
Antares slipped into a side corridor and we followed. Here, the walls were barren and pocked from miners stripping everything of value.
“How do we find your contact?” I said.
“We don’t,” he said. “The Woods Witch finds us. We walk through the open, so she has a chance to spot us, then we go to the meeting spot. If she’s interested, she’ll come to us.”
“You couldn’t have told us that before?” I hissed. “And why the hell is she called a wood witch?”
He shrugged and glanced around the corner of the wall.
“Is that her?” I said.
“Not yet. We got Supremacy guards following us.”
Chapter 25
“Hey, what are you three doing there?” one of the Supremacy soldiers shouted down the corridor.
I swallowed. Shit. I hoped we would make it to the end of the tunnel and disappear into the crowds on the main thoroughfare. No such luck.
To my left, Antares spun on his heel. I stopped, shifting to put myself between the guards and Polaris.
Antares marched right up to the soldiers.
I closed my hand over the hilt of my gun. We had donned the armor we stole on Vinera, but the guard Lady Camilla had sent to the Invictus had recognized us. These men might too.
Antares clasped one of the guards’ arms and patted him on the shoulder. The soldier blinked, confused.
