In a rare nurturing moment, Jo reached over to grab hold of Siaren’s hand after listening to a few of his yawns that turned into painful moans. He gripped her hand in return, and Jo continued to eat breakfast while ignoring Raiden’s curious stares. She spoke with the crew about their shifts and listened to their gripes with minimal sarcasm. Jo had a feeling they wouldn’t appreciate her usual humor after a hard night’s work. Halfway through inhaling her fried meat, she began to feel a trickle of relief that maybe she could get through one task today without an incident. Then Raiden opened his mouth.
It didn’t matter what he said. Jo couldn’t remember anyway, since her focus had been on eating, but the tension coiled thick so suddenly that Jo felt the urge to cough just so she could suck in a small sip of air. Siaren’s hand clenched in hers, and she turned to look at him. His brows were scrunched up and his lips pressed into a firm line. Jo knew this look. She flicked her gaze to Jax, who was whispering in his other ear, shooting nervous glances Jo’s way.
Siaren rarely had outbursts. Despite his quirks, he was slow to react negatively to stress. At times, he seemed to thrive under pressure. Jax grounded him in ways that no amount of medicine could, but having lived with him for years, Jo recognized when he had reached his limit. Then Jo remembered Raiden.
“What did you do?” She had hissed at him.
“Nothing,” Raiden responded. He looked innocent enough although his gaze flicked to Siaren.
Jo turned to Siaren. “Is he bothering you?”
A quick jerk of his head indicated that Raiden was indeed the problem.
“Is it because he’s new?” Jax asked.
Another quick nod.
“Oh Sia, don’t worry. He’s only here for a few more rotations and then he’ll be gone,” Jo assured him. She released his hand and wrapped an arm around his stiff shoulders.
“I hear the others talking,” Siaren mumbled. “They say he’s your lover, but you don’t act like you love him.”
“Being someone’s lover is vastly different than having feelings of love for someone,” Jo answered softly. “Raiden has been my lover, but I do not feel love for him. Not like I do for you or the rest of my crew. My heart can only be so full.”
Siaren nodded and relaxed under Jo’s arm. She smiled at Jax and then at Siaren once he eventually looked up from the table, his features smooth and unworried.
Bullet dodged.
Jo had just stuffed the last of her bread into her mouth when Raiden leaned across the table and caught Siaren’s gaze. “You’re an observant man and a good one to worry about your captain, but I promise she’s safe with me. Your captain may not realize it yet, but she has plenty of room in her heart. She may not love me yet, but she will. And when she finally admits it to herself, I won’t be leaving.”
If he had said that to any other crew member, Jo would probably have knocked him out cold for assuming such things about her and her ship, but this was Siaren, and anything threatening his safety net would come at a cost to both him and those around him. Instead, Jo glared at Raiden with threats of future violence. He sat back and smiled.
When Jo turned to Siaren, she could see the reason for Raiden’s cocky grin. Siaren was sitting up straight and throwing one of his biggest smiles at Raiden. All fight melted out of her. She stood without a word, grabbed Raiden by the collar of his shirt, and dragged him out of the galley. Once in the hallway, she let go of him and kept walking, knowing that he was following her. Knowing him, Raiden honestly believed what he said and would fight to stay on board her ship.
But did she want him gone anymore?
An eerie calm settled over the bridge crew shortly after Jo arrived with Raiden in tow. Haedus had finalized the morning report right before Jo arrived. There were no ships, stations, or settlements within the long-range scans. Jo stared at the graphic overlay of the ship’s most recent scan and a map of the binary stars, Arietis and Ceti. Advisor Eltanin was wise to choose this star as a disposal point. Not only had its cycle brought the star closer to Leonis, but it was the most unstable of the two in the Elitian system. Massive solar storms spewed out charged ionic particles that affected the Kismet’s more sensitive systems, thankfully none of them critical, and the increased radiation made it dangerous to operate their airlock without proper gear.
“Erinne, when will we be in range?” Jo asked her second pilot.
“We will arrive in less than two hours,” she replied without looking up from her station.
Jo glanced at the report again before sweeping it off her screen. Haedus reported that the primary engines would be fully operational right about the same time. Relief flowed over Jo, releasing the tight muscles in her neck and shoulders. At least something was going right. Her engineers were working overtime to force enough power out of the impulse drive to get there on time. Nevertheless, the timing was perfect. As soon as they were out of range of the geomagnetic storms, she could send for her credits and get Raiden off her ship.
Ignoring Raiden, who had taken up the space right next to her, Jo continued to sift through the busy work she had been putting off since they were boarded by the Pursuer. When they were less than an hour away from the launch zone, Jo left the bridge to her pilot so she could oversee the transfer of the crates from the cargo bay to the main airlock.
The airlock was designed to jettison trash and dehydrated waste from her crew, not four military grade crates, but after releasing the Kismet’s garbage to clean it out and stacking them with the graviton lifts, they were able to fit the entire load.
To her surprise, Raiden had volunteered to assist her crew with their task. At first, they were cold to the newcomer, but after a few well-timed jokes and some helpful advice, Raiden had won them over. Jo worried her lip as she watched her crew slowly relax around the soldier. This was a sight Jo had never seen before, since most of the crew had been either felons or space born before the former captain hired them on and avoided all encounters with the GCM. Every new hire on the Kismet had to endure a period of caution from the rest of the crew. What made Raiden so different? Jo figured it was because the entire crew knew their carnal history. Still, the sight of Raiden laughing with the only family she had left pulled at her insides and shot a jolt of desire straight to her core.
If only she could trust him.
That thought put a damper on her lady boner. Her fleeting arousal was replaced by a fury that felt explosive, and Jo knew that she had to leave before she went off on the next person to talk to her.
“Keep up the good work,” Jo growled to her crew. “Raiden, follow me.”
Raiden waved to the rest of the crew and fell into step with Jo. By the time she stomped up the stairs to the upper level, Jo’s irritation had grown to epic proportions. She hated the way he breathed. The way he acted as if nothing fazed him. The way his hand would brush against hers. And she especially despised the aching tension that built between them with each stolen caress.
At the end of the passageway, Jo turned suddenly, swiped her wrist, and entered a room the crew used for fitness. It wasn’t as spacious as the fitness centers she visited when they were at port. With the few machines her father had purchased for the crew bolted against one wall, the room seemed almost cramped, but it would work for what Jo needed to do.
She stepped on the padded area and rolled her shoulders as she turned to Raiden. He stood on the mat opposite from her with his arms crossed casually and an arrogant smile plastered on his perfect face. Jo smiled back and walked slowly toward him. His grin melted as the fire in his eyes ignited. If Jo hadn’t been in a murderous mood, she might have appreciated the power she exuded over him, but all she wanted to do was hit him.
So, she did.
His head jerked to the side from the power of her punch, but the rest of his body stood resolutely still. Jo reared back to hit him again and stopped when he spoke.
“The first one is free, but I don’t intend to stand here and take another hit.”
“Who said
I want you to stand and take it?” Jo asked as she lowered her fist. “What if I want you to fight back?”
“Fighting is not what you want from me, and you know it.” Raiden’s lips curled up on one side.
“Not the way I see it.” Jo shrugged. “I punched you, and now I feel loads better.”
Raiden’s eyes gleamed predatorily as he sauntered toward Jo. Every muscle in her body clenched in preparation as fight and flight responses warred with each other. He wasn’t going to hit her, but the intent in his eye said what he planned on doing would hurt Jo worse. She knew that. Yet, she didn’t move.
When she didn’t step away, Raiden’s eyes widened for a moment. He had expected her to run. He closed the distance between them in a rush of movement. Before Jo could release the breath she had been holding, his mouth was pressed against hers and his hands gripped her waist almost painfully. Jo wound her hands around his back, pressing him closer. His hands shifted under her thighs, and then he lifted her effortlessly and gently laid her down, the cool mat crinkling under their weight. She wound her legs around Raiden’s waist and groaned as she felt his excitement. He twisted a hand in Jo’s hair and tilted her head back, giving him access to her neck.
Jo had forgotten how good it felt to be wrapped up in Raiden. Her mind blanked of anything except the hot trail of kisses on her skin and the bliss of him rocking against her. She felt electric. It built until everything melted into this one moment, and then she was streaking across the heavens bright and bold as the Gauden comet.
As Raiden sipped slowly on her lips, Jo’s UAB chimed. Reality crashed down, and all the stress fell on Jo again. She pushed against Raiden’s chest and he stood, stepping away without question. His eyes lowered to half-mast, trapping hers as they both struggled to control their breathing. His smoldering gaze promised he would continue what he started.
The chime rang again, and Jo pushed herself up to check the message. They were arriving at the launch point and she was needed on the bridge.
She risked a glance at Raiden, and he was still staring at her. Jo pushed aside the warring emotions and typed a response to the pilot that she was on her way.
“We’re approaching launch coordinates,” Jo stated.
“I assumed as much,” Raiden sighed. “Can we talk…”
“No,” Jo grunted. Agony wrapped its sticky web around her heart. They were good together, but from where Jo stood, they could never be together. “As fun as that was, I cannot allow it to happen again.”
Raiden crossed his arms as the cocky grin from before slipped back into place. “Glad to be of service.”
Jo resisted the urge to smile at his crude response. She stood, adjusted her top, and stepped around Raiden, knowing he would follow. She had to watch herself around him. It was getting harder and harder to forget that he was an officer in the Galactic Consulate and not under her leadership. Jo let herself smile as she pictured him under her. Just as the door swished open, Raiden placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her before she stepped out.
“It will happen again. And next time there will be no clothes between us.”
Nineteen
Jo watched the crates disintegrate in the tempestuous atmosphere of Areties. She had instructed the crew through private communications to remain silent for a few moments in respect for the dead, and as a solar flare enveloped the final one, Jo closed her eyes and told herself for the millionth time that she did the right thing accepting the contract from Eltanin. Even with all the trouble that came out of it, at least her crew was still together and the Kismet remained flight-worthy.
“Captain,” her pilot broke the silence. “We’re awaiting your orders.”
Jo turned to her holoscreen and hailed the engineering department. Zennia, her student engineer and Elek’s sister, answered. Zennia’s brow was damp with sweat, pasting her short blond locks to her skin in an almost artful way. Her large blue eyes focused on the holoscreen as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a streak of grease in its wake.
“Zennia, are the primary engines online?”
“Aye, Captain. They’re online, but the Kismet needs a proper mending with new parts.”
“I’ll have Siaren and Jax submit a report. Keep her running until we arrive at the next station, then we’ll stop for repairs.”
“Aye,” she sighed in resignation.
Jo turned to the pilot. “Erinne, find the closest GCM outpost and plot a course from our current position. Let me know when we are in range, so I can send a message to Leonis.”
As the pilot’s fingers danced over her screen, Jo dared a quick glance at Raiden who, for once, wasn’t staring at her. Instead, his unwavering scrutiny was on the star. Lines marred his forehead, and Jo wondered what weighty thoughts had caused the slight pucker of his lips that melted into a tense thin line.
“Captain, Hera Station is the closest terminal with a GCM outpost,” she announced.
“Is that the one orbiting Eris?” Jo asked.
“Aye,”
“Set a course,” Jo grabbed her seat as the pilot engaged the Kismet’s primary engines. She spent her entire life on a spaceship and one would think a person’s body would adjust to intergalactic travel. Yet, every time the thrusters engaged, Jo’s stomach would dip violently and her head spun until her vision darkened around the edges, temporarily immobilizing her.
As her body leveled out, Jo opened her eyes and watched as her crew adjusted to the shift. Once they all were back to their stations and working, Jo turned back to the pilot.
“ETA?”
“About half a rotation give or take, depending on how long it takes to receive our funds from Leonis.” Her answer came out like a question and Jo raised an eyebrow at Erinne, knowing she had more to say. “Captain, Hera Station is at the peak of its orbit, which puts three inhabited moons between us and the station.”
“What are you suggesting?” Jo’s brows pinched as she considered her pilot’s statement. Had her focus been so fixated on unloading her unwanted guests that she had overlooked something important?
“I know you’re waiting for a report from Siaren, but I was down in engineering before my shift to speak with Zennia. The ship needs a lot of work, Captain, and if Siaren and Jax’s sleep cycle isn’t completed before we arrive, you won’t know the extent of the repairs. Considering the circumstances, don’t you think we should be at one hundred percent before we dock with a military station?”
“Is it that bad?”
“She said they struggled to get the engines online and will probably be working non-stop to keep it running for you.”
“I see,” Jo mumbled. She leaned back, pressing into the worn cushions of the captain’s chair. The permanent indention of her father’s massive frame swallowed Jo’s body, and she with instant clarity knew what he would have done. “Do any of the planets have both a repair terminal and market that will carry everything we need to restock?”
“Both Typhon and Lycus.” Raiden spoke before her pilot could answer. “But I would avoid Typhon. I have recently read classified reports that the Drachen Syndicate has infiltrated the local government, and it’s extremely dangerous for civilians.”
Jo studied Raiden, trying to discern if he was lying. Nothing about his body language told her that he was dishonest; however, she wondered why he was being forthcoming with classified information. What was his goal?
“Can you prove what you say is true?”
“I do not have access to classified documents without a secure GC terminal, but there should be news reports over the CyNet of unrest in the system,” Raiden answered.
Sky pulled up public reports of unrest on Typhon and other moons in the Ianthe system and sent them to Jo’s console. Jo smiled at her security officer before reading the reports. It seemed that all the settlements were having their own issues with various, smaller criminal syndicates, but Lycus was low in risk compared to the others.
“Erinne, adjust course to Lycus.”
Jo scanned her records on the moon. She vaguely remembered visiting Lycus when she was child, but time and the probability that the trip had been dull left only hazy memories of an overcrowded, pungent moon. Since then, the Kismet had returned to the area on four occasions, but the deliveries were quick and didn’t require any of the crew to leave the planet’s Puer Terminal.
“We are within comm range,” the pilot announced. Jo stared at the clock on her console. Almost two hours had passed since they left Arietis’s orbit.
“The comm is up and ready for your message, Captain,” Sky announced.
Jo motioned for Raiden to approach her station, gave him access to the comm, and showed him where vid feeds of the crates being destroyed were located. With his report sent, Jo sent a flight plan to Puer Terminal, requesting docking orders and a generous offer of credits for a team of engineers to assist with repairs.
It didn’t take long for her holoscreen to ding with a message that all the credits had been transferred to the Kismet. Jo couldn’t shake the unease that settled in her gut. She turned to look at Raiden, whose expression mirrored her own. It didn’t bode well that he was just as troubled.
When his heavy gaze settled on her, Jo whispered, “I was expecting Eltanin to make us sweat a few hours before payment.”
“I was expecting the same,” Raiden grunted. His agreement added weight to her own worries, and Jo feared that their knowledge and involvement with the disposal of corporate employee bodies would come back to haunt them.
Puer Terminal hovered over Lycus like an overprotective mother. Its gunmetal gray exterior seemed gloomy in the diminishing light of the binary stars as they melted behind Ianthe, the gas giant that Lycus orbited. Jo rubbed her temples as she eyed the traffic surrounding the station. She didn’t remember this system bustling with commerce the last time they came through, and Jo wondered if it had anything to do with the criminal activity Raiden mentioned.
As We Rise: Rogue (As We Rise Saga Book 1) Page 11