by Layla Nash
The two Xaravians looked up as Wyzak stalked in, and immediately stepped farther away from Gemma. She was distracted by a model of her ship that they’d been studying, Nokx pointing out places to make the repairs, and frowned until her forehead wrinkled. “But if the hull’s integrity is breached only there, they won’t believe that it was a catastrophic attack. It’ll look repaired. Why not leave it as is?”
Nokx eyed Wyzak and kept his tone measured. “It would divert energy from elsewhere in the ship until the propulsion shuts down, and undermine the life support system. If it remains as is, you won’t make it to the spaceport. The ship will be left adrift.”
Wyzak remained on the edge of the large bay, watching Gemma. She had her arms folded over her chest, moving easily and confidently around the model of her ship. He realized suddenly why she was so prickly—she was self-conscious. Every time he’d seen her, she was on the defensive and trying to conceal her arm. Seeing her there in the bay as she argued with the engineer and considered the plan in front of them, showed him as she could be—confident, in control, ready to take charge.
His hearts thumped against his ribs. He wanted more of that girl. He liked all of her, that was for damn sure, but he would give anything to see her so confident all the time. Surely it wasn’t just about her arm? How could something so useful be such a burden to her? Wyzak frowned, more thoughtful than furious, and caught Violet watching him with one of those indecipherable Earther smiles. He scowled and turned his attention back to Gemma, not wanting to give the captain’s mate more opportunities to needle him.
Gemma gestured at the docking arm that connected to the Memphis. “We should look at the internal diagnostics before deciding anything. Open it up.”
No one moved. Nokx cleared his throat and glanced at Wyzak, unwilling to put another warrior’s female in danger without at least confirming the warrior’s agreement. Wyzak was about to nod for them to proceed when Gemma turned and caught sight of him. Her breath caught and for a long moment, he thought she was glad to see him. Had been looking forward to seeing him again. His hearts leapt... and then she scowled.
Her expression darkened, a hint of red in her cheeks, and her fists clenched at her sides. She turned to face Nokx, and her tone went steely with what he assumed was rage. “Open up the docking arm. It’s none of his fucking business.”
The engineer blinked, glancing between them, then leaned to flick the controls of the docking arm that sealed it against space and made it safe to enter. The Earther bristled like a stepped-on sandsnake and growled as she stalked to the arm. She would have walked past the safety suits and respiration packs if Wyzak hadn’t cleared his throat. For a moment, he thought she might have hurled both at him and done what she wanted anyway.
He bit the inside of his cheek and kept his face impassive, though he wanted to shake her for taking unnecessary risks. She could stay on the Sraibur and let the engineer do the dangerous work on the damaged ship. Any sensible person would know that.
Gemma seized the safety gear and slammed it on, muttering under her breath the entire way, and said not another word as she headed into the docking arm. She didn’t look at him, not once.
When she was into the arm and unlikely to overhear, Nokx turned to Wyzak and raised his eyebrows. “So...”
“Not a word,” Wyzak snapped. He shot a dark look at Violet as she grinned and rocked back on her heels, ready to tease him, and pointed at the other Xaravians. “You should know better. You should not encourage her to take risks like that.”
Harzt shrugged and leaned back against the wall. “It was her idea.” He jerked his chin at Violet. “And I don’t argue with the captain’s female.”
“I have a name,” the Earther said, just as prickly as the one who’d stomped into the transfer arm.
Harzt threw his arms in the air in exasperation. “Fine. I don’t argue with the captain’s Violet.”
She scowled, though a smile almost escaped, and Wyzak wished yet again that the Earthers turned colors to indicate their mood. It would have made life so much easier.
He shot a look at Nokx, who sighed and started to put on his own safety gear, then turned his attention to Violet. “Why is she trying to repair that damn ship?”
“It’s part of the plan,” Violet said, tone cool. “She can’t make it to Proxima in the ship as it is now, so some tweaks are necessary. You were still... napping.”
His eyes narrowed as a sound almost like a giggle escaped Harzt. Violet pressed her fingers to her lips but at least managed to look dignified as she went on. “You have a lot to learn about Earthers, Wyzak. And females, for that matter.”
He growled and took another safety suit from the wall. This teasing was exactly what he’d wanted to avoid. “None of my females have ever complained, Earther.”
“So I see.” She arched an eyebrow and sauntered out of the loading bay without a backward look, and he stared after her in consternation.
Had Gemma said something? What the hell did Violet mean by that?
He caught Harzt watching him with a sympathetic expression and growled in fury. “Stop looking at me like that. What the fuck is wrong with all of you? When was this plan decided?”
The security officer shrugged and pointed at Wyzak’s blinking comms unit. “Sounds like something the Earthers cooked up together. We shouldn’t leave those two alone together, mate. Two females together will always start to plot something, and it’ll never end well for us.”
Wyzak wholeheartedly agreed. He’d have a word with Faros about keeping Violet from putting ideas in Gemma’s mind. Or he’d talk to Gemma about agreeing with Violet. He couldn’t decide which of them was more dangerous. Wyzak grumbled in irritation and pulled on the respiration pack, ducking into the transfer arm before he said something he’d regret.
The inside of Gemma’s ship was even worse than the last time he’d been on it, after being towed through space behind the Sraibur. Nokx had at least repaired it enough that low-power lights illuminated the interior, casting an eerie glow through the mostly ruined interior. Wyzak still moved slowly, listening for signs that the ship was going to fall apart, and planned how he would get Gemma and get the hell off the ship if anything went wrong.
It didn’t take long to find Nokx and Gemma in the small engineering room, adjacent to the loading bay in the rear of the ship where the transport arm connected. Wyzak stayed back, letting the two work, but he kept a close eye on Gemma. She still moved stiff-legged and uncomfortable, and her metal arm flashed with a cascade of lights as she tapped the panels along the wall. She argued with Nokx about something with the propulsion system and diverting power, but he only paid half-attention as he studied her.
She was back to being uncomfortable and self-conscious, trying to hide that damn arm. Maybe it was his presence that did it. Maybe that was why she fiddled with her hair and adjusted her clothes and held her mech arm behind her back. What made her so fidgety? He scowled and wished he could kick Nokx off the ship so he could have a real conversation with the Earther. Didn’t she realize that the arm made her powerful? There was no reason to hide it.
Wyzak checked his communicator and sent a message to Faros that he was dealing with their bounty hunter and the damaged ship, and turned the damn thing off so he wouldn’t have to see what the captain sent back. No doubt Violet had already gleefully informed Faros about Wyzak’s interlude with the bounty hunter. He’d need to drink his weight to deal with Faros’s jabs when he faced the captain again.
Gemma and Nokx argued back and forth about what to fix and what to leave damaged, while Wyzak paced and kept most of his attention on the rest of the ship. The last thing they needed was space debris to knock them off the transfer arm or for something else to wreck what remained of the life support systems. He grew more and more uneasy with having Gemma on the damaged ship, even if it was her ship.
She was tense and uncomfortable, occasionally glancing at him and then away, and it only made him more agitated. He needed t
o get her somewhere safe. His quarters, preferably, but at least back on the Sraibur.
Wyzak looked back toward the Sraibur, and glanced back to find only Nokx in the engineering closet. He tensed. “Where did she go?”
The engineer jerked his chin at the adjacent corridor. “Said she wanted to check something on the bridge.”
“Why the fuck did you let her leave?” Wyzak demanded, though he didn’t wait for the response before chasing after Gemma.
She’d moved quickly through the ship, faster than he expected, because he made it almost to the front of the ship before he found her. She’d paused in one of the corridors, avoiding a dent in the wall, though her attention remained on the bridge. Wyzak caught her arm and pulled her up short. “It’s too dangerous still. We should go back.”
“I have to make sure I can fly it,” she said over her shoulder, refusing to look at him.
“After he fixes the life support,” Wyzak said. He ignored that she tensed and pulled at his grip. He could figure out what was wrong with her later, after they were on a stable ship. “There isn’t time for that. Not now.”
Gemma set her heels and fixed him with a dark glare that would have been adorable in other circumstances. “It doesn’t matter. I just need to check on—”
“It damn well does matter,” he snapped. Wyzak picked her up around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder, turning back toward where safety waited on the Sraibur. “If you would just listen—”
She squalled and swung her legs, managing to kick him in the balls, and Wyzak almost dropped her on her head as he struggled to keep hold of the wriggling girl. Gemma pounded her metal arm into his side, cracking one of his scales. He tightened his grip but swung her around, pinning her to the wall. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t want to be manhandled, you asshole,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows and didn’t quite swallow his smirk in time, since he knew it wasn’t true. She’d enjoyed being manhandled quite a bit not that much earlier in the day. Her entire face turned scarlet and Gemma fumbled for a response. When nothing sensible came out, at least that he could hear, Wyzak caught her wrist and started dragging her down the corridor to the loading bay. “Let’s go.”
“Why are you doing this?” she demanded. Her voice cracked and something in her tone stopped him in his tracks.
Wyzak glanced back at her, not knowing what to expect, and clenched his jaw against the immediate need to capitulate and let her climb around in the busted ship until she had satisfied her curiosity. She met his gaze evenly but her chin wobbled. He tilted his head at the corridor behind him. “We have to get off this ship. It’s too dangerous.”
“Not this,” she said, waving her hand at their surroundings. “I mean, why are you even here? What does it matter if I’m on this ship? Why did you storm into the loading bay when I was there and start acting like an asshole? What is your problem? What do you think is going on?”
His eyes narrowed as he studied her, trying to decipher the questions and her tone and the still-red cheeks. Perhaps he would have to swallow his pride and ask Violet how to understand Gemma. The other Earther might help, although he would have to swear her to secrecy so Faros never suspected Wyzak needed help with his female.
Wyzak tried to draw her closer with his hold on her arm, wanting to comfort her despite that she’d mauled him. “That is a conversation we should have elsewhere. Somewhere warm, preferably with food, and with a functioning life support system.”
“No.” Gemma shook her head, resolute, and her lips thinned until they almost disappeared. “No. Tell me now. Tell me here. There isn’t… What happened between us doesn’t mean anything. It was just…relieving some tension. It was fun but there’s nothing else…there.”
His grip tightened immediately. She didn’t mean... “Relieving tension?”
“Yes,” Gemma said. She stopped meeting his eyes and instead glared at the ship behind him. She still didn’t move, refusing to budge as if he’d eventually let her traipse back to the dangerous bridge. “You were clearly still mad about what happened in the bar and I’m dealing with some shit, and it was nice to just…let loose. Get it out of our systems. That’s it. Okay? There’s no reason you should get all…possessive.”
A growl boiled up in his chest as he struggled to contain his anger and the barest hint of confusion. She’d gone to his bed because she thought he was mad about their encounter in the bar? Wyzak shook his head. “You are not making sense.”
She tugged against his grip and lowered her voice. “Just let me go. This doesn’t mean anything. I’m going to take the ship to Proxima and that’s where I’ll stay. I’ll find a new crew. You guys will go on being pirates and jackasses. It’s just how things are going to be.”
He shook his head, adamant. “No.”
“No?”
“No,” Wyzak repeated. “That is not how this ends.”
The ship creaked around them and he looked up for the source of the danger. His hearts thumped against his ribs as the structure shuddered, and he gave up on arguing with Gemma. He picked her up again, ignoring her protest, and jogged through the ship back to the transfer arm. She remained silent when he finally put her down and crowded her into the transfer arm, wanting to move her to safety as quickly as possible, and followed her to the Sraibur.
Nokx, already at the controls in the loading bay, frowned as he closed off the transfer arm connection to seal the ships. “We have our work cut out for us, but it’ll be done in a day or so.”
Gemma ripped off the respiration pack and fought her way out of the safety suit, not looking at him. Wyzak growled and attempted to get closer to her to catch her attention, to make her understand. “We must discuss this.”
Nokx and Harzt shared a look, then immediately retreated from the loading bay without another word. Wyzak held his breath, sensing the storm that Gemma was about to unleash, and braced for more of that crazy Earther behavior.
Chapter 27
Gemma
Gemma couldn’t think with Wyzak in the same room. He was too capable and confident, grunting and scowling as the other Xaravian worked on the ship and talked about options for repairing the Memphis. With every breath and movement and sound, Wyzak reminded her of their energetic, sweaty sex. The roughhousing that turned into something far too sweet. Far too caring and complex. She didn’t need the complication.
Even if part of her wanted it.
Part of her really wanted the complication of arguing with Wyzak and negotiating some kind of relationship and telling him off when he was being a dick. She made a mental note to figure out more ways of communicating with Xaravians than just yelling. Although so far that seemed like the only thing that worked.
She folded her arms over her chest after finally setting the safety suit aside, already irritated that Nokx and Harzt had fled like cowards the moment Wyzak said they needed to talk. She wanted to follow on their heels, since she was in no way prepared to have a conversation with Wyzak about what she’d said on the Memphis.
She wanted to get rid of him, to push him away so neither of them would get hurt. It didn’t matter what Violet thought about Wyzak’s behavior or the possibility of something more growing between them. Gemma didn’t want to be constantly hounded about staying safe and eating and keeping warm, since those issues formed the triad of Xaravian concerns for their females, apparently.
Gemma shook her head as Wyzak fought out of the safety suit. “I don’t have anything to say to you. I need to speak with Violet. I’ll…see you later.”
It felt too weak, like a concession, like she was telling him what she was doing because she cared what he thought. Like she didn’t want him to worry or was asking permission. Gemma clenched her jaw and made for the exit. She needed to grow a fucking backbone and start acting like an actual bounty hunter. She needed to clear her debt to the Xaravians and focus on finding a new gig with a new crew. Getting the fuck off that ship and away from the Xaravian
s as fast as possible was mission number one.
Wyzak stretched his shoulders and watched her with a curiously intense expression as she started to walk away. Gemma’s skin prickled; she remembered that look, from when she stripped off her blouse and he caught sight of her breasts for the first time. She retreated another step and he followed with a stalking movement that set her heart into overdrive. Gemma glared at him and took refuge in anger instead of the lust that suddenly boiled up low in her stomach. “Get away from me.”
“We have much to discuss,” he said, his voice mostly growl. He took another slow step, and his hands flexed at his sides.
Her skin caught fire as she remembered those fingers digging into her hips, holding her in place as he filled her and drove the breath right out of her. Gemma stood her ground, even though most of her wanted to flee. Maybe he’d chase her... “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You left.” His eyes flashed silver and he moved with surprising grace to herd her away from the door. “You departed while I slept, without a word.”
“I wanted to avoid an awkward conversation—precisely like this one.” Gemma scowled and shoved away the thrill that ran through her. “It’s late and I’m not interested in talking about this, Wyzak.”
His shoulders tensed and it took her a moment to realize she’d said his name out loud. It was clear he liked it—a lot. His body reacted and blue-purple swirls raced over his body, the spikes on his shoulders rattling against his scales. Wyzak’s silver eyes sharpened their focus until Gemma felt like she was pinned by lasers. “We mated. More than once. And now you seek to leave, to hide away. Are you embarrassed by your... willingness?”
Newton help her, her entire face caught fire. The way he said “willingness” made her thighs clench. Because she damn well had been willing, and more willing than she’d ever been in her entire life. She was willing all over again with just a look from him. And…mated? She’d heard fucking called all manner of things, but “mating” sounded so formal, so defined. It meant something to him. It wasn’t just a casual in-and-out. “I’m not hiding.”