by Lily Harlem
I drew in a deep breath and summoned my hope. It would give me strength.
“So where should we go?” Sai asked.
“I’m going to the livestock pen.” I thought for a moment. “How about you go to the cafeteria and the maintenance rooms?”
“We can do that. Come on, Ezekeil.”
“And if you find him, let me know straight away.”
They were already at the door.
“Of course we will.” Sai whacked the flat of his hand on the pad.
“Anything for you, Uma.” Ezekeial threw me a smile. “We’re under your command now.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but they were gone.
Under my command?
What did that mean? Surely they were under Gavyn’s command. He was in charge of Equinox, not me.
I grabbed a cup of water and drank. Maybe they were under my command because I was female, or because I knew how they liked to satisfy each other to overcome a life of celibacy.
In another time and place, would I join them in bed? Two hot, Custo warriors who clearly enjoyed sex and getting what they wanted? Would it be off-the-scale erotic to see them handling, sucking, pleasuring each other’s cocks?
A tremor laced over my skin, and I clenched my internal muscles. I knew the answers to my questions.
Yes.
Chapter Ten
On my way to the livestock pod, I saw Anki. He was standing feet wide, arms folded outside Julian’s so-called cell.
“Hey,” he said as I approached. “You okay?”
“No, I’ve lost Magic?”
His smile dropped, and he let his arms fall to his sides. “What? Uma, that’s terrible. Where could he be?”
“He went into the air vents.”
“Oh no.” He paused. “Is that what you needed me to help you fix the other day?”
“Yes.” I groaned. “And I was stupid not to do it there and then.” I stood in front of him and bowed my head.
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s an easy thing to happen, and we’ll find him.”
I smiled weakly. “That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”
“What’s happened?” Julian appeared at the door.
“Shut up,” Anki said over his shoulder.
“I was talking to Uma,” Julian said.
“Well don’t.”
“You can stop me doing everything else, but not talking.”
“You’ll stop if I come in there and punch all your teeth out. Won’t be so handsome then, will you.”
“So do it, if my face offends you that much.”
Anki spun around, his spine stiff and shoulders tense.
“Anki.” I rested my hand on his biceps. “Don’t let him wind you up. It’s not worth it.”
“Uma,” Julian said. “Have you lost something?”
“My pet parrot,” I muttered and pointed upward. “So if you hear scratching or flapping in the vents, let Anki or one of the Space Marshalls know.”
“Of course I will. Absolutely. And, Uma, I’m so sorry this has happened, you must be so worried.” His face creased in concern. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to get him back to you safely. Not that there’s much I can do in here, but what I can, I will.”
“Thank you.”
“I told you to shut it, and stop looking at her.” Anki stepped up to the window and jabbed it with his finger. “Turn around now.”
A slow smile spread on Julian’s face. He didn’t turn away.
“I mean it,” Anki said.
“Don’t worry about it.” I squeezed his arm. “I’m going to tend to the goats and see if I can hear anything in that pod.” I stepped to the right, out of sight of Julian.
“Okay.” Anki angled his back to the isolation pod. “And I’ll listen out here.”
“Thank you.” I hurried away. It was unusual to see Anki so full of tension. He was my laid-back boyfriend. I guessed having a Trad on board had stretched even his normally flexible nerves.
I entered the livestock pod, shut the door securely, then stood and listened. But it was no good. The goats were bleating and scrabbling around in their hay so loudly it was impossible to detect any sounds coming from the innards of Equinox.
So instead, I set to work, knowing Anki would be relieving the Space Marshalls for longer than intended now they’d gone on a hunt for Magic.
Whilst I milked Dolly, my thoughts went to the bridge. Perhaps Gavyn and Mateo were having more luck finding him with the CCTV and the sensitive airflow monitors.
The sleeper pod was silent. If my parrot was above the humans and aliens lying comatose and unaware of the perils a loose macaw posed, he’d be easy for Hurin to hear. But on the other hand, that was likely the worst place for him to be. Hurin was very protective. He wouldn’t be at all pleased.
“There you go, girl.” I finished up with Dolly and sent the milk down the chute for pasteurization. “Off you go.” I shooed her back into the pen with her friends who all greeted her as if she’d been gone for a light-year.
I set to restocking feed and filling up the water. With that done, I went through my usual checks at the screen. All was as it should be, which was good. At least Magic hadn’t pecked through anything here.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Why couldn’t you have just stayed in your room, Magic?”
I washed up, feeling suddenly weary. Which was pointless because I couldn’t sleep with Magic on the loose. I needed to keep at it and find him.
Taking my time, I listened carefully as I headed back toward Anki. Silence greeted me—it was fast becoming my enemy.
“All in order with the livestock?” Anki asked when he saw me approaching.
“Yes, fine.”
“Sorry I didn’t come and help. The Space Marshalls have been gone ages. I only said I’d help out because they’d called it a quick workout.”
Julian laughed. “Is that what they call it.”
I glanced over Anki’s shoulder at him.
Julian winked at me.
I ignored him.
“I’m going to my room. Perhaps he’s back in his cage, and then this whole sorry mess will be over.”
“That would be good.” Anki studied me. “Get some food, too, Uma. You need to eat, even if you’re worried.”
“I will.”
“Hey, hey, I heard something?” Julian called then stepped back and pointed upward. “Just here, listen?”
“Did you?” I rushed to the glass door and stared through it at the stark white ceiling in his pod. It had one vent, high up, with a layer of antibacterial mesh.
“Yes, yes.” Julian turned to me, excitement crossing his handsome face. “A kind of a scratching sound, like claws on metal, or a beak tapping.”
“Really?” I flattened my hands on the door. “Can you hear it now?”
“He can’t hear anything,” Anki said. “Don’t let him fool you.”
“I can.” Julian scowled. “It’s right above me.” He stepped to the left. “No, it’s moved a bit, toward the vent.”
“Open it,” I said.
“No.” Anki scowled. “He’s not to tamper with the pod.”
“For heaven’s sake, you stupid Athion, don’t you want to take the fear and worry from Uma’s face? I know I do.” Julian huffed. “Isn’t she important to you?”
“Of course I do. And yes, she is.”
“So I’ll open this vent and see if we can find poor old Magic, who must be scared out of his pretty little feathers.” Julian dragged a chair to the middle of the room. He then grabbed a knife from his food tray and stood on the chair.
He stretched upward, his sweats slipping low on his hips, so low the top of his butt crack was visible. With his arms held high, his dark underarm hair was exposed, and his torso elongated.
“Damn the man. Gavyn will not be happy,” Anki said.
“But what if Magic is there?”
“He isn’t, Uma. He’s only doing it to keep you here, interacting with him.”
“I can’t take that risk, Anki. We need to know.”
“Nearly there,” Julian said, working the knife like a screwdriver. “Ah, here it is.” He used the flat of his hand to allow the vent to drop down into his grasp.
It wasn’t a huge opening, not big enough for a person to get through, but plenty of space for a parrot.
“What can you see?” I called.
“It’s dark,” he said.
“Can you hear him?”
“If he was there, all that twisting with the knife will have scared him away,” Anki muttered.
“But my voice wouldn’t.” I pulled in a deep breath. “I should go in there.”
“No, absolutely not.” Anki curled his hand over my shoulder and tightened his grip on me. “I forbid it.”
I spun to him. “You can’t forbid me to do anything.”
“This I can. You’re not to go in the same room as that Trad. Ever, you hear me?” His eyes flashed, and his jaw set tensed.
I frowned. “So you go in. Magic knows you, he might come to your voice.”
He frowned.
“I can hear something again,” Julian called. “Really I can.”
“He’s lying,” Anki grumbled.
“But what if he’s not? What if Magic is just there, and all he needs is a bit of encouragement to come through the hole? This nightmare will be over then.” I paused; my emotions were being stretched. “You go in,” I said. “If I can’t.”
“It’s for your own safety I don’t want you in there.” A moment of uncertainty crossed Anki’s face when he saw I was angry and upset with him. But it was only brief, and then he steeled himself. “Okay. I will go.”
He moved to the control panel by the door and hovered his finger over the keypad. “The number is…?”
“I don’t know?” Fuck. Why didn’t I know it?
“It’s Gavyn’s birthday,” he said. “Which was yesterday.”
“In that case, zero four, zero seven.”
He tapped it in. “Get down from the chair and step back from the door, Trad.”
“Yes, of course.” Julian quickly jumped to the floor. He moved to the back of the room, his hands linked, and still studying the hatch. “I really think we’re in luck here.”
There was a soft hiss as the door slid open.
“And it will be wonderful to see that pained look removed from your face, Uma.” Julian dipped his gaze to me. “It hurts my soul to see you like this.”
“Be quiet,” Anki said, slipping into the room and shutting the door behind himself. “She doesn’t want to hear your voice.”
Julian gave me a weak smile, as though apologizing to me for not being able to converse.
I ignored him and watched Anki. He was on the chair now. Being taller than Julian by an inch or so, he easily slipped his hands into the hole. He felt around. “Magic, here boy. Come to Anki. Uma is waiting for you…with treats.”
“Is he there?” I asked.
“No,” Anki said. “But…”
“What?”
“I heard a faint noise, aft of here.”
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“I told you,” Julian said. “I told you I heard him.”
“Maybe he was here.” I clasped my hands. “Maybe he was but he’s gone.” Disappointment gripped me.
Anki continued to feel around and call for Magic.
“Don’t be sad.” Julian held out his hands. “At least we know he’s alive.”
“For now.” My mouth dried, and my throat seemed to constrict. “How could we have been so close and not gotten him?”
“We will,” Julian said. “Don’t worry. This is a good sign. Positive. Perhaps he’ll come back past this opening.”
“Well, he’s not here now.” Anki tutted and stepped down. He tucked the chair back under the desk. He pointed at Julian. “You stay there, against that wall while I open the door.”
“Of course. I don’t want to cause any trouble, you know that.”
“You’re trouble just by being here.” Anki let himself out of the room, then the door slid shut and locked.
“Will you keep listening?” I said to Julian.
“Of course I will.” He nodded. “It’s all I’ll do until he’s found.”
“Thank you.”
“Uma.” Anki wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me to the right, away from view of the isolation door.
“What?”
“Don’t let his handsome face and kind demeanor fool you. He’s evil, and twisted and conniving, remember.”
Irritation tugged at me. “I won’t forget that. How could I?”
He huddled me into his embrace, seeming to ignore that my limbs and spine were stiff with frustration. “I mean it. The guy doesn’t scare me. I’d take him out in a few hits. But he doesn’t want me, he wants you.”
“I understand,” I said then sighed. “Really I do. I just want Magic back.”
“And we’ll find him. It is a good sign that he’s been heard. And at least it’s here in the main vents and not above the sleepers or near the engines or boosters.”
“Or the bridge,” I said. “He could do untold damage there, too.”
Anki dipped his head and gave me a gentle kiss.
I sagged onto him, suddenly weary and enjoying being in his arms and not having to hold myself up.
“You’re tired,” he whispered. “Eat and go to bed.”
“No, not until I find him.”
“You need to rest. There’s six men on this ship who will keep searching while you sleep. When you wake, refreshed, you can continue.”
I knew he was right. It had been a long day. “Anki.”
“Yes?”
“Will you come with me, to bed? I don’t want to sleep alone. My quarters will feel so empty without Magic.”
“Of course.” He stroked my hair. “As soon as the Marshalls come back, I’ll update Gavyn. I’ll let him know we have an idea where Magic is and then I’ll come to you.” He lowered his voice. “I’m always here for you, you know that.”
Chapter Eleven
I showered and slipped naked into bed, the sheets cool on my hot skin. The room was strangely quiet without Magic’s chatter, and I missed him so much I ached in my chest.
I’d hoped Anki wouldn’t be long, but it was some time before my door opened and he stepped in.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“I’m not asleep. I can’t.”
“You will.” He gave me quick kiss. “I’m going to shower.”
“Okay.”
The tinkle of water gave me something to listen to as I lay there, back rigid, fists curled into balls. Through the darkness, I stared at the open air vent, willing Magic’s little head to appear.
The water clicked off. Within a minute, Anki was sliding into the bed next to me, his skin hot and damp and smelling of soap.
He pulled me close, and I exhaled, my body seeming to relax into his.
“Try not to worry,” he murmured by my ear. “It won’t do any good.”
“I know.”
“And the rest of the crew are looking out for him. Everything that can be done is being done.”
“I should be searching, too.” I traced the contours of his back then down over the rise of his ass.
“No, you need to be rested for when we find him.” He eased closer; his cock was hard against my belly.
“Anki,” I said. “Make love to me.”
“With pleasure.” He kissed me, harder this time, and with passion.
I moaned and tugged him as I rolled onto my back. He came with me, and I spread my legs so he could settle between them. Instantly, he was at my entrance.
I gripped his butt again and curled my legs around his.
“Uma,” he moaned onto my mouth. “I need you so badly.”
“And I need you.” I did. My body was craving his. I wanted him deep inside me. I had to lose myself in him for a few minutes, forget about my w
orries.
He slipped one hand into the small of my back and locked me to him. Then he entered me, slowly stretching my pussy in a way that allowed me to feel every sumptuous inch of him.
“Oh God, yes,” I said, “that feels so…”
“Like all my dreams have come true.” His mouth moved on my lips. “Every last one.”
He hit full depth, his big cock nestling deep.
I groaned and dug my nails into his ass cheeks. “More.”
He gave it, rocking his pelvis the way I’d shown him, the way that rubbed my clit on his body and meant a climax was guaranteed.
I gave myself up to him, lost in his kisses and the pleasure that was growing. This was the only place in the universe that existed; it was just me and Anki and our bodies joining.
I dragged my nails upward from his butt to his back and swept them over his skin. scratching him enough to make him moan. He liked that, he’d once told me, the sharp sensation of my fingernails.
“Will you come soon?” he asked breathlessly.
“Yes, with you doing that…I…oh yes…Anki.”
“I want to. My seed…it’s here.”
“Yes. Come.” I canted my pelvis and met his long, firm strokes. “I am…oh, Anki.” I held my breath as bliss consumed me then exploded outwards, radiating through my torso and down my limbs. I shook and cried out, clinging to him. It was a wonderfully deep and satisfying orgasm, and my pussy hugged his solid shaft while he came.
“Oh Laird, yes,” he murmured. “Uma.”
The slow rhythm was abandoned for three hard fast strokes, and then he dropped down heavily on me and stilled.
“Anki,” I gasped.
“Oh, sorry.” He lifted up. “Fuck, that was good.”
I squeezed his ass—the guy had such a great ass. “Yes, it was.”
“It always is.”
I smiled and he kissed me again.
After a few moments, he flopped onto the bed and took my hand. He held it up between us, our fingers linked. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” I glanced at the ceiling hatch, then at Anki. “You know you can.”
“You call that making love?”
“Yes.”
“One day can we call it making babies?”
“Anki, we’ve talked about this before.”