by Kate Rudolph
If he touched her, she was going to kiss him. Hell, she’d probably grab hold of his collar and yank him back into her room. Sure the bed was tiny, but that just meant they’d have to stay close. She liked close. Especially when it came to him. She darted her tongue out to lick suddenly dry lips and watched as his eyes dipped to take in the motion. He sucked in an unsteady breath and his gaze darkened with desire. Oh, yes, this would be good. Exactly what she needed.
A buzzing alarm cut through the moment, and Dash scowled. “We’ve been cleared for takeoff. If I don’t initiate the procedure we’ll be chucked to the back of the line.”
Not even her desire for his kiss could make her want to stay on Mars for one second longer. “Then I guess you’d better get moving.”
He stood frozen above her for another few seconds, but the buzzer kept sounding, and finally he pulled back. “Keep me company in the cockpit?”
Ro nodded before she could think of a reason not to. There wasn’t one. “I’ll join you shortly.”
They didn’t kiss. If they kissed there’d be no hope of getting off the planet, though a good chance at getting off in general. But he did run his finger down her arm as he turned away, and Ro shivered. How could she be so consumed with want this soon? It was almost like he was one of those aliens she’d heard about in media reports, the ones who saw a person and from that second knew they had to claim them as a mate. But as far as she knew, Dash was human. Inhumanly cheerful, but she couldn’t hold his good mood against him. Not too much.
Instead of following him directly to the cockpit, she went into her quarters and strapped in for take off. She wanted to get a few of her things unpacked before she went to find the alluring captain. She doubted she’d want to leave once she was there. Why would she?
While she was waiting, her communicator buzzed. Her sister again? Ro didn’t want to talk, even as a part of her wanted to prove she was on her way to Earth and making good time. But a look at the ID proved it was her boss, Derrell. “Hey, boss, what’s up?” She’d been working for the man for years and they had a good relationship. He expected a lot, but not more than Ro was eager to give, and the pay more than made up for busy weeks and sleepless nights.
“I sent you a message earlier but I haven’t seen a response. Were you having an issue with a client? Need me to put on pressure?” The man had been raised on Mars, and his accent was a strange mix of a dozen languages, both human and not. As far as she knew, he’d never been to Earth and had no desire to see the homeland. He’d once told her the thought of vast plains and vaster oceans sounded terrifying, and he was much more comfortable on the sanely terraformed planet.
“I told you I was taking time off. I’m shipping out right now, as a matter of fact. Comms could be spotty for the next week until I’m on Earth. Was this an emergency?” She pulled up her messages while they spoke and read through what he’d sent.
“Just thought we could get ahead of things while everyone’s lazing about because of the holiday. I knew you were taking time, but really? Three weeks?” He wasn’t angry so much as confused.
“Vacation time is provided as part of my benefits, Der, just because I haven’t used much of it doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m excited to see my family.” She really was. Despite her sister’s thorniness, despite the difficulty in finding a way home, Ro was ready to see Earth again and hug her nephew, and even her sister. It had been too long.
“You’re going to be bored out of your mind after a day. I’ll send you some extra work to keep you busy.” He wasn’t joking. Der didn’t take vacations. He lived for his business and thought everyone was wired the same.
Normally Ro was, but not today. “I’ll look at it if I have time, but no promises. I want to spend time with my family.”
“You have a week before you get to Earth,” Der pointed out.
And Ro was not going to tell him she wanted to spend the next week getting into the captain’s jumpsuit. “You’ll barely miss me. And maybe you can take a day or two for yourself. Live a little?”
“I’ll live when I’m dead,” he scoffed. “Now don’t go getting any ideas about staying on Earth. I expect to see you back after the new year.”
Ro laughed. “Why the hell would I stay on Earth? My life is on Mars.”
“Holidays are weird.” And there was a story behind that statement that Ro didn’t have time to delve into. The ship had begun to move and her connection was getting fainter.
“I’ll see you in a few weeks, Der. Have a good holiday.”
He just sighed and disconnected the call.
Ro looked at her communicator for a solid minute before finally putting it away. Der’s weird ideas about the holidays weren’t any of her concern. Once the flight evened out and they were well on their way to the moon, she unpacked a few days of clothes and then headed out. She had a captain to see.
AFTER NEARLY AN HOUR of flying, Dash wondered if Ro had changed her mind about spending time with him. The autopilot had taken over now that they were safely away from the planet, but he didn’t like to leave the cockpit until they were a bit farther away. The ship wasn’t that big, and if she’d gotten lost she’d find him eventually. But he wanted her now.
Desire had never been so insistent before, and Dash had a nagging feeling he knew why. But it would be impossible to confirm in his human form, and the ship wasn’t big enough for a reilendeer. Even if he could manage to squeeze into the cargo hold, he didn’t want to risk either of his passengers seeing him. If what he thought was true, he’d have to tell Rowan about himself, but he didn’t want to scare Kiki.
Would his antlers glow? It was the sure sign that a reilendeer had found his mate, and the glow wouldn’t fade until he claimed her or she repudiated him.
A mate. He’d always known it was possible, but he’d never expected it to happen to him. Not for any particular reason, but it just seemed so strange. His own parents had been mates, of course, and plenty of his cousins had met their matches. But he’d made it to the age of thirty-seven with no one tripping his instincts, and he’d thought he’d outgrown that.
Apparently not.
Bringing good cheer to a mate was the highest calling a reilendeer could aspire to. And he had a feeling that Rowan needed a lot of good cheer.
But what happened when the week was over? The sudden doubt assailed him and Dash was glad he couldn’t exude sadness in the same way he radiated happiness. His mate—his potential mate—wanted him to take her to Earth and that was it. They were to be together for one week and then part. He would need to return to Mars and find another client to transport, she would eventually return on some other ship, and though they’d be on the same planet some of the time, there was no guarantee they’d see one another again.
That wasn’t acceptable.
He wasn’t sure that she was his mate, but he already knew he wanted more time.
Why was he letting the challenge get him down? He was a reilendeer! He could take any nasty thing and find a way around it. He had an entire week to get to know the woman he thought might be his mate. He had seven whole days to tempt her into his bed and find his way into her heart. So what if they parted for a short time at the end of this journey? She’d found him once at home, surely he could find her? They could make plans to reconnect as soon as this thing was done.
That did a bit to banish the dark thoughts, and soon his normal optimism was returning. It was hard for a reilendeer to stay grumpy for long, and Dash was even more chipper than most.
But he still didn’t know where Rowan was.
Ah, screw it, the ship could fly itself.
He unbuckled the safety harness and was already out of his seat when he felt the stab of sadness permeating the ship. Was Kiki okay? She’d been in good spirits, if a bit tired, when they got her on board, but a child’s moods were mercurial and more than one had grown dour once the journey began. Though Dash wanted to find Rowan, he headed towards Kiki’s room first. He’d cheer her up and then continue on w
ith his goal.
But when he made it to the passenger quarters, it wasn’t a sad Kiki that he found.
Rowan was sitting on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest and head resting against them. Sadness radiated off of her, enough to stagger him, and Dash wanted to smother her with warmth, anything to take away her pain.
A quick glance showed that Kiki’s door was open a crack, but the young girl seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Whatever sadness was on the ship, it was coming from Rowan, not the child.
“Fuck,” Ro whispered when Dash’s shadow fell over her. He sat down quickly rather than loom. She swiped at her eyes, rubbing away invisible tears. Her cheeks were pinker and her eyes watery, but she’d managed to stave off the crying fit, or it had passed before he found her. “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m a mess.”
Dash put his arm around Ro, and for a second she stiffened before melting into him. “What’s the matter?” She’d seemed to be in more than good spirits when they’d parted earlier.
Rowan groaned and dug her head into his shoulder, as if she could hide against him. “This is not how I planned to spend my afternoon.” Her breaths grew deep, and Dash was pretty sure she was wrapping his scent around her. He liked the thought of that.
“It’s not wasted yet,” he promised.
“It’s just stupid. And not me.” She leaned away for a moment before rethinking and settling back against him.
Dash liked the feel of her there, but he didn’t like the tears. “Let it out,” he encouraged. “Negativity is a poison and you shouldn’t let it build in your system.”
“I saw Kiki,” she said. “Her door was open just a bit and she was just sleeping there. And it made me think of my nephew, Lee. I didn’t even know he was going by that name until yesterday! He’s ten and I haven’t seen him in person in almost half his life. I don’t know if he even remembers me. And I thought I’d be okay with that, that this trip would make up for everything. But maybe my sister’s right. I’ve been away for too long and they can’t count on me. And I saw how big Kiki is, and it made me realize that I’ve been thinking of Oa—of Lee as this tiny guy, but really he’s going to look a lot like her.”
As she spoke, her tone evened out and she pulled away. Dash immediately felt bereft, but he doubted that pulling her back towards him would give the result that he wanted. “What kept you away for so long?”
She rolled her neck until her head knocked back against the wall. “Work, I guess. At first I was establishing myself up here, and then... it’s such a long trip. And I just...” She sighed. “It was easier to stay away. Just like my father.”
He recognized a trip wire when he heard one, and even though Dash wanted to ask, he didn’t. “I realize that I’ve only known you for about a day, but since we’ve met you’ve been determined to get home to your family. You can’t change the past, but you can fix it now. You can prove to them that you’ll be around, even if you can’t always be home for the holidays.”
“Okay, that’s enough whining.” She pushed herself up and placed her hands on her hips. “Show me the ship, I want to know where I’m staying for the next few days.”
Dash recognized a deflection when he saw one, but he couldn’t hold it against her. He stood and offered his hand. She looked at it for a moment, as if it would bite. And then she reached out and laced their fingers together. A new beginning.
Dash showed her the ship.
Chapter Four
TIGHT QUARTERS MADE making a move on the tempting captain a bit tricky. And Ro had tried. But Kiki was a little firecracker who had run of the ship, and whenever Ro thought she could get Dash alone, the kid showed up and wanted to talk, or play, or eat. Were all kids like that? Ro had never been around one for long enough to find out, and she couldn’t wait to drop Kiki off. Not that the kid was annoying, but time was running short, and if Ro woke up one more time on the edge of release and couldn’t do anything about it but use her own fingers, she was going to go crazy.
Dash was right there. and there was as much desire in his eyes as she felt in her lower regions.
They had three more days together, since flight regulations meant they had to wait in orbit around the moon before they could make their approach to Earth. It would have driven Ro to violence if she wasn’t suddenly grateful for the delay. For the first time in years she wasn’t thinking about work, and a lot of her other stresses had gone away. Dash seemed to radiate calm and happiness to an almost supernatural degree, and it made her want to sit at his side and soak it up for hours and hours. She had, actually. Well, they’d been talking, but she’d found endless subjects to discuss just so she didn’t need to walk away. Half the time Kiki sat there with them and added her own observations. Did she feel the same positivity that Dash handed out? Or did she just want to not be alone?
Either way, they were docking on the moon base soon, and Kiki’s parents would be waiting to retrieve her. And then she and Dash had the whole day to themselves.
Rowan had plans. Plans that ended with both of them naked in a bed together. Or against a wall. Or on the floor.
She was fucking horny and she wanted to get off. With Dash. Multiple times.
But for the moment, she had to be a responsible adult whose brain hadn’t turned to mush with want. Kiki was still on the ship, and it felt weird to have these thoughts when the kid was around somewhere. Not like she could read Ro’s mind, but still. She’d noticed that Kiki had a way of looking at a person as if she could see under their skin. Was Lee going to be like that?
Kids. Weird.
As Ro headed out of her quarters to go join Dash in the cockpit, she heard Kiki yelp and turned, heading toward the girl’s room instead of her intended destination. Kiki was sprawled out on her bed, her bag having seemed to explode open.
“You starting a career as a smuggler?” Ro asked, leaning against the door. “I think you’re still a bit young.”
Kiki rolled to her side and sat back up. “My stuff won’t fit. I didn’t add anything, but I can’t get the bag closed.”
She spoke with a quiet earnestness, and Ro wondered if that was normal for children or if Kiki was a special case. “Need some help?” She could see rolls of clothes and a shoe; presumably the rest was somehow jammed into the bag. The kid was clearly smart, but she hadn’t learned the finer points of packing.
Kiki nodded and scooped up a couple of pieces of clothing that had fallen to the floor. She piled it all in the suitcase and tried to shut it. “I almost have it.”
Ro had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “I don’t think so, kiddo. We might get it latched, but all your clothes will get wrinkled and it’s all going to explode out of the case when you open it again.”
The girl sighed and flipped the case back open. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“Lay all your clothes out in a single layer. Then we’re going to roll them all up.” Traveling so much for work made packing second nature, and there was something oddly satisfying about teaching someone else to do something so simple.
“Don’t we have to fold them?” Kiki flattened a shirt as she asked.
“Rolling is easier than folding, and I think it saves space, though some have disagreed. Those people are wrong.” Ro’s tone got arch as she said it, and Kiki giggled. They spent a few more minutes packing up clothes, and when they were done, stuffing in shoes and other odds and ends along the perimeter of her bag, it closed easily. Ro lifted it off the bed and set it on the ground with a thump. “How can you carry that, kid? It’s got to weigh as much as you!”
Kiki rolled her eyes. “I’m strong. And it’s not that heavy.”
“We’re approaching Moon Base Alpha,” Dash’s voice cut in over the speaker. “Buckle in for our final descent.”
Ro wanted to rush up to sit with Dash, but the part of her that was excited to go see her nephew for the first time in years didn’t want to just abandon Kiki. She held out a hand. “Want to go sit in the cockpit with Dash? He said it’s cool to watc
h the landing.”
Kiki latched onto her and they went to the cockpit, where Dash greeted both of them with a smile that made Ro’s heart flip. When he looked at her like that, the lust between them felt like something more. Something she’d be scared to name if she could identify it. She’d dated before, but none of those men had made her feel a fraction of what the gentle captain had made her feel in just a few days of flirtation and promise. How was that possible?
She strapped in and let Kiki take the seat closer to Dash since it had a better view. “How long are we stopping for?” Ro asked. They were so close to Earth she could practically taste it, and she’d caught sight of the big blue marble as they started their lunar orbit.
“At least a night,” Dash said, and he had the sense to grimace. “The ship needs fuel and maintenance, and I know the mechs on the lunar base. We’re not cleared for Earth entry for another two days, anyway, so it makes sense to get this done while we’re here.”
Ro could throw a fit, but it wouldn’t get them on Earth any faster. Entry to the planet had to be scheduled, and she didn’t want to risk mechanical failure slowing them down any more. So she nodded and tried to keep her disappointment in check. Maybe if she called May from the moon, her sister would believe she was actually going to make it home in time.
Yeah, right.
They watched out the view screen as the buildings for Lunar Base Alpha came into view. It wasn’t much to see at first, just the suggestion of a few globes and tunnels connected to each other. But as they got closer, Ro saw vehicles zipping around and people in lunar suits out on the dusty moon. The exterior of the moon wasn’t livable, but the bases were terraformed and provided most of the necessary food and water for the inhabitants and guests of the several permanent bases. Ro had seen brochures advertising vacations at another lunar base, but she’d never wanted to go. Mars had its own moons and one was just as good as another, as far as she was concerned.
