“But you said—”
Colt laid a finger on Pax’s lips to quiet him. When Pax hushed, Colt went on. “I’ll never say good-bye to you, little bird. But I’ll always tell you that I’ll be back. Because I’ll always be back, Pax, no matter what happens, I will always return to you.”
Pax held Hercules close, his eyes brimming with tears. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Colt cursed when he saw the tears. His little bird wasn’t supposed to cry. This was a happy moment, there should be smiles and lots and lots of thank-yous. “Hercules, huh?”
This seemed to do the trick. The tears stopped, and Pax held the puppy up in the air, staring him right in his little eyes. “Yep, because he may be small, but he’s got strength in him. I can see his mist. It’s gold.”
Colt had wondered about the whole mist thing. “You still can’t see mine?” he inquired.
Pax lowered Hercules and cradled him in his arms, petting the puppy down his soft-looking coat. “No.”
“No matter. You already know what kind of person I am.” Colt wiggled his brows as he led Pax back to their quarters.
“A pervert.” Pax giggled as he trailed behind Colt. When Colt gave his mate a hurt look, Pax giggled even more. “Okay, a sex fiend, a sex god, a very horny hawk shifter.”
“Horny for you.” Colt mentally rolled his eyes at how corny he sounded. Only Pax could bring out the softer, more romantic side of him. Colt shook his head. He was such a goober when it came to Pax.
“What are you doing?” Pax demanded when Colt began to strip.
“Uh, getting naked?” Wasn’t it obvious? It seemed pretty damn obvious to him. Colt hesitated. He never stopped to think that maybe Pax wasn’t in the mood. It would totally suck, but he’d back off if his mate wasn’t.
Pax covered Hercules’s ears as he whispered, “We can’t have sex in front of our puppy. We’ll traumatize him. He’s way too young to learn about sex.” Pax glared at Colt as he bounced the puppy gently in his arms.
Colt stood there stunned. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. He wanted a night of many appreciative blowjobs, fucking, and plenty of cuddling. Colt hadn’t anticipated this reaction. Think, damn it! Colt racked his brain for a solution. He almost laughed out loud when he thought of one.
Grabbing his com link from his pants, Colt slung it onto his ear.
“Yeah?”
“I need a babysitter, or more precisely, a puppysitter.” Colt crossed his fingers…and toes.
Livewire chuckled in his ear. “Why? Did the little blue guy read you the riot act? Serves you right, Dad.”
Colt pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling desperate. “Are you gonna puppysit Hercules or not?” He really didn’t have time for Livewire’s bullshit. He wanted some ass, and the mechanic was going to watch Hercules.
“Sure, should I pick the little fellow up, or will he be driving to my quarters for a night of board games and scary movies?”
Colt was rethinking Livewire as his choice. Would Hercules be safe? Images of wild parties and alcohol played through Colt’s mind. He could just see Hercules and Livewire out cruising for guys. “Never mind.”
“I’ll do it. Stop your bellyaching. I’m on my way.” The com link beeped its disconnection as Colt stared at Pax, praying Livewire knew what he was doing and that his little bird wouldn’t string him up by his balls for this one.
“We have a sitter, little bird. He’s on his way.”
Pax eyed Colt as he petted the puppy. “Who?”
“Livewire?” Colt studied Pax’s face for his reaction. When his mate’s face lit up and he nodded, Colt let out a whoosh of relieved air from his lungs. One problem solved.
Colt met Livewire at the door a few minutes later when the man buzzed the intercom to their quarters. He was anxious to get Livewire and the dog gone so he could attack his mate. But he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Okay,” Pax said as he handed Hercules over to Livewire, “remember, no scary movies. It’ll give him nightmares. And no sweets after nine o’clock. It will make him bounce off the walls. He also needs to be taken potty at least once every two hours.”
“Anything else I need to know, Dad?”
“Don’t let him talk to any strange puppies.”
“Strange?” Livewire’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you met the crew? They don’t get much stranger than them.”
“But they’re not strangers, Uncle Livewire. They’re family.”
Colt stifled a chuckle as Livewire blinked at Pax. “Okay, if you say so, Pax,” Livewire finally replied. “Anything else?”
“Here, you’re going to need these.” Pax held out a small bag of doggie treats. “Don’t give him too many before dinner, or he won’t eat it.”
Livewire rolled his eyes when Pax leaned in and made kissy noises with Hercules. He walked back toward the door, stopping besides Colt to glare at him. “You so owe me for this.”
Colt just rolled his eyes and pushed Livewire out of the room, closing the door behind the man. He turned around and leaned back against the door. His eyes widened when he spotted Pax stripping his clothes off.
Colt grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Now, about that sex-god thing…”
Chapter 10
“This is called a propulsion system.” Livewire pointed to the large machine in front of him. “She usually talks, but the cockless worms ate her wires. But don’t worry, Uncle Livewire plans to get her back to singing again.” He rubbed Hercules’s head as he pulled a small snack from his pocket and fed it to the puppy.
“Don’t tell Pax I used the word cockless. He may not be so understanding that guys just have to be guys, you know?”
“Is everything all right?”
Livewire stiffened when he heard Imlay’s voice from behind him. The doctor was the last person he expected to see down in engineering. “Cargo bay is the other way,” he said without turning around.
“I’m well aware of where part of my shipment is being kept.”
Livewire growled. That hoity-toity tone was really starting to work on his nerves. Couldn’t the doc let his damn hair down and be like everyone else? What did he have against laughing and simple conversation?
“Never find your mate,” Livewire whispered to Hercules. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me.”
“Are you talking to your abdomen?” Imlay asked when he stopped behind Livewire.
“No, I was talking to Goliath, my cock,” Livewire purposefully teased Imlay. He knew, just like everyone else aboard this ship, that Imlay was against sex, which is what aggravated him the most. Who didn’t love two hot and sweaty guys rolling around tightening each other’s bolts?
Livewire heard Imlay harrumph behind him. He smiled down at Hercules and winked. “Now if you’ll excuse me. My cock and I have a date with the media room and the vid-screen. It’s going to be a fun filled night of sweaty cowboys and popcorn for us.”
He kept his front away from Imlay so he couldn’t see the pup as he walked out of engineering. Let the doc analyze that one.
“You’re not really going to…to…to masturbate in the media room, are you?” Imlay sounded shocked.
Livewire chuckled as he climbed the stairs, not giving the guy an answer. He walked Hercules to the media room and started his favorite western on the large screen as he and Hercules got comfortable. Livewire damned near swallowed his tongue when he saw Imlay from the corner of his eye trying to hide beside the doorway. His head was peeking out slightly as he watched Livewire. Maybe there was some hope after all, he thought as he and Hercules settled in for a night of movie watching.
Pax groaned as he felt Colt’s cock slide into his ass. His fingers curled, fisting a handful of bedsheets as his mate lifted his hips higher. Pax spread his legs apart, giving Colt enough room to fuck him properly.
“Mine,” Colt murmured softly as he pulled back and then thrust into Pax’s ass. It gave Pax a thrill to hear th
at word. Colt could never say it enough in Pax’s opinion.
“Uh-huh.” Pax’s forehead rolled back and forth over the sheets as an arm wrapped around him. His skin felt like tiny electrical explosions were set off when Colt began to lay kisses across his back.
His mate was attentive and gorgeous, giving Pax the full package. He gasped when Colt hooked an arm under Pax’s leg and lifted it, thrusting harder into his body. Pax had to put all of his weight onto his own arms but felt Colt holding him up with the arm wrapped around his chest.
Pax undulated, begging with his body and soft cries, for whatever Colt would give him. A tremble crashed over Pax when Colt nipped at his shoulder. “Bite me.”
Colt teased him instead. He lapped at Pax’s skin as the hand lying on his chest pinched at his nipple, sending even more shockwaves throughout his body. Pax groaned.
“My little bird like that?” Colt’s deep and sultry voice whispered across the shell of his ear.
“Yes,” Pax hissed when Colt tweaked it again. Soft dry lips traveled down his spine and then trekked back up, a tongue following in its wake. Pax reached under his body to grab his cock, but Colt nipped his ear.
“Don’t touch it.”
Pax whimpered.
“I’ll take care of that as soon as I’m done with this.” Colt thrust into Pax’s ass on the last word, making Pax cry out. Colt had never been this slow and torturous before. Pax loved and hated it all in one.
“Make me come,” Pax pleaded with a trembling voice.
“Soon, little bird, soon,” Colt promised as he quickened his hips, grazing over Pax’s kill zone over and over again. He was going to come, whether Colt wanted him to wait or not. Pax’s cock had a mind of its own right now, and the thorough way Colt was fucking him was going to send Pax over the edge very soon.
“You better not come, little bird. Not yet.” A warning teased in his ear. Pax bit his bottom lip to stave off his orgasm as Colt pistoned into his ass, growling low in his throat. His mate went rigid and then shouted as hot spurts shot into Pax’s ass.
Pax let out a squeal when Colt pulled free, flipped him onto his back, and then swallowed him down to the root. Pax grabbed hair as he bucked and fucked Colt’s mouth. His mate didn’t have to suck him off long. Pax had already been close to the edge as it was. Just a little tongue play and Pax was fucking Colt’s mouth like there was no tomorrow as his orgasm ripped through him, sending him spiraling down into the abyss of sated pleasure.
“Now that was a very proper thank-you.” Colt chuckled as he released Pax’s cock from between his swollen lips.
Pax snorted as he threw his arm over his eyes, trying his best to get his breathing under control. “That felt more like you were thanking me.”
“Maybe I was, little bird,” Colt said as the stretched out beside him. Pax lifted his arm and eyed his mate.
“Why would you be thanking me? You’re the one who bought me such a great gift.” Pax wasn’t following along. He struggled to understand why the hawk shifter would be thanking him and why his mate looked at him with such loving adoration in his beautiful blue eyes. It didn’t make sense.
“Maybe I’m thanking you for giving me a whole new outlook on life.” Colt nuzzled him as Pax rolled over and cuddled next to him.
“Then I guess we both have something to be thankful for.” Pax giggled as Colt cupped his ass and pulled him in closer.
“That we do, little bird.”
Pax sighed before closing his eyes and drifting off into a light sleep. No matter what Colt said, Pax was the thankful one.
“Come back here, Bob!” Gigi shouted as he chased his puppy down the corridor. He’d swear the little bugger was laughing at him as he scampered down the corridor. “Damn it, Bob, if Remy finds out you took his favorite shirt, he’ll cook both of our asses.”
Gigi loved having his new pup, but there were just some areas of taking care of a pet that he hadn’t been prepared for. All of the dogs he’d ever heard about were well trained. They were not terrors on paws.
“Bob!” Gigi shouted as the little brown puppy tore around a corner in the corridor. Gigi gave chase, running around the corner and right into Pax. They both fell back and landed on their butts.
“Ouch,” Pax groaned as he reached down and rubbed his ass. “What’s the hurry?”
“Bob took off with Remy’s favorite shirt.”
Pax quickly glanced around. “Where’d he go?”
“You didn’t see him?” Panic filled Gigi’s voice. “He was just here. He ran around the corner then I ran around the corner, and there you were.”
Pax shook his head. “He didn’t come my way.”
“We have to find him!”
Pax sat forward and got on his hands and knees. He started crawling around, looking everywhere. Gigi got on his hands and knees and started looking as well. Bob couldn’t have gotten far.
They were in the storage area of the middle deck. Except for the sick bay, the storage area was the only place left that Bob could have gone. Even Gigi couldn’t get through the airlock into the cargo bay. Remy had changed the code.
“He’s got to be here somewhere,” Pax said. “I mean, how far could the little guy have gone?”
Gigi shrugged as he looked around the edge of a crate of Trillian silk. “He’s pretty small, Pax. He could be hiding anywhere.”
Gigi was really starting to grow concerned. He hadn’t seen Bob or even heard him. He was a puppy. They made puppy noises. They didn’t just disappear.
“Ugh,” Pax groaned.
Gigi’s head snapped up. “Did you find Bob?”
“I found something.”
Gigi felt the blood drain from his face when Pax held up his hand and started shaking it, trying to get the white slimy goo off. “Oh my god,” Gigi whispered. “The worms got you. You’ve been gooed.”
Pax stilled. His face turned pasty white. His jaw dropped open as he turned to look at Gigi. “Am I going to die?”
“Not if I can help it,” Gigi said as he jumped to his feet. He grabbed Pax’s arm and started dragging him across the slick floor towards sick bay. “No one on this damn ship understands me the way you do. Damned if I’m going to lose my best friend because of some dumb ass slimy bug!”
“Oh, that’s….that’s…” Pax started to wobble. “I don’t feel so good.”
“Imlay!” Gigi screamed at the top of his lungs as Pax started to collapse onto the floor. “Help! Pax got slimed!”
Imlay ran out of sick bay and grabbed Pax as the blue man fell to the floor. The doctor half carried, half drug Pax back into the infirmary, laying him on one of the beds. Gigi bounced from foot to foot as he watched the doctor begin an IV and then proceeded to scan Pax’s entire body.
“Can you save him?” Gigi asked as he ran to the bottom of the bed and stared down at his best buddy. Pax’s eyes were closed, and he looked very pale.
“I’m trying, Gigi. What I need you to do is let the commander know what happened. And Colt.”
Gigi shook his head rapidly. “Oh no. I’m not going to be the one to tell the hawk about Pax. Have you seen how protective and possessive he is? No thanks.”
Imlay continued working, ignoring Gigi. His eyes grew large when Imlay began to strip Pax down. Okay, maybe he needed to leave.
Gigi ran out of the sick bay and down the corridor. “Colt!” He would just point to the infirmary and let Colt see for himself.
The crew stood anxiously outside of sick bay, waiting to hear what was going on with Pax. Imlay had refused to let Colt in until Pax was stabilized. Colt wanted to rip something apart as he paced up and down the corridor.
“Those damn slugs have got to go. I don’t care what it takes,” Colt growled as he ran his hand over Hercules’s head. His mate had been terrified of those damn things, and now he was in sick bay fighting for his life.
“I’ve contacted someone on Beta Five who can take care of the problem,” Remy commented as he leaned against the hull.
“Are you sure we should be contacting anyone while we have a bounty on our head?” Tank asked. “Right about now I don’t trust anyone.”
“Get him on this ship,” Colt snapped. “I don’t care what it takes or who we have to pay off, those slugs are going down.”
“Agreed,” Remy said as he pulled Gigi into his arms.
Colt wanted to yell at them to stop acting mated until he had his little bird back in his arms, but he knew it was anger and fear driving him now. No one could blame him, and Colt didn’t care if they did. His mate was lying just beyond those doors probably looking for him.
They all stood to attention when Imlay opened the door. “You can come in, Colt.”
Colt handed Hercules off to Livewire and followed the doctor in. He gasped when he saw Pax sitting on the bed smiling at him. Colt had images of Pax barely clinging to life, gasping to breath, and possibly with white foam coming out of his mouth. He wasn’t expecting his mate to be giggling and holding his hand up.
“What’s going on?” Colt asked as he stepped over to the bed and pulled Pax up into his arms. Colt held him so tightly that Pax was smacking at his arms.
“Can’t breathe.”
Colt chuckled as he eased his hold but didn’t let go. “I thought you were slimed.”
This time Imlay was the one to smile. “White lithium grease. Pax just stuck his hand in white lithium grease. He wasn’t slimed.”
Colt wasn’t sure what shocked him more, the fact that it was a false alarm or seeing the doctor smile. Had he ever seen the man crack more than a sneer? It almost made the doctor seem human—almost.
Pax pulled on Colt’s shirt. “Did Gigi find Bob?”
Colt leaned down and cupped Pax’s face, relief and joy surging through him. “Actually, Bob found Gigi. Everyone is waiting outside in the corridor to see you.”
“Hercules!” Pax jumped from the bed and ran from sick bay.
Colt’s eyes trailed after his mate. “Should he be out of bed, doc?”
Glenn, Stormy and Hagen, Lynn - Pax's Blues [Lady Blue Crew 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 11
