by Tamsin Ley
The ship jerked, lifting her from the seat before the chair’s harness caught her and slammed her back against the padding. Tovik grunted.
The internal comm exploded with Noatak’s voice. “Direct hit! Shields at eighteen percent. Engineering, you’d better have things ready soon.”
No answer from Tovik.
“Tovik?” she asked. Damn this blindness. “You okay?”
His strained voice answered her. “Go ahead and let the Kinship know they’re good.” He cleared his throat. “Captain, we’re ready to line them up.”
“Chignik, Cooper, that did it,” Joy sent. “Tovik says to hold on tight. Things may get rough over there.”
She gripped the arms of the nav-grav chair and hoped her plan wasn’t about to blow them all up.
Kashatok clenched his sweaty hands over the yoke, guiding the Kinship through evasive maneuvers while Noatak manned the co-pilot seat.
The tiny bridge barely held two men and Qaiyaan had given up his seat to operate the ship’s gun turret. Never would Kashatok have imagined having respect for a man who willingly relinquished his ship, but Captain Qaiyaan had managed maintain his regard. He was a damn good shot with that gun, as well, taking down one of the trooper vessel’s short-range lasers despite Kashatok’s crazy flying.
“Captain, we’re ready to line them up,” Tovik sent over the ship’s internal comm.
Kashatok was ready. He spun the ship on its axis, heading straight for the troopers. The smaller Hardship had great maneuverability, but he’d gauged that he’d need to get within meters of the trooper vessel to be in range of the Kinship’s harness field.
Kashatok held the yoke steady, staring down the barrels of three lasers. His gaze flickered between the deadly menace and the range sensor on his dash. “Full shields to the forward panels.”
Purple strobes of light hit the Hardship face-on and rendering the view screen temporarily useless.
Anaq.
Relying on sensors alone, Kashatok held his course.
Noatak’s voice cracked from the co-pilot seat. “Forward shields holding at fifteen percent.”
The wail of proximity alarms filled the cabin.
Kashatok’s hands remained steady even though his mind was screaming at him to pull up.
Two more heartbeats.
Now. Praying to Ellam Cua, Kashatok hit the burn drive and pulled up on the yoke.
The inertial force flattened him into the seat and made it hard to breathe. The familiar nausea of the burn drive swelled over him, but that feeling of being sucked through a straw never came. He squinted at his sensors and twisted the yoke to bring the ship back around.
Through the view screen, the Kinship floated as before, the familiar pattern of stars the only backdrop.
Aleknagik’s ship was gone.
“Where’d they go?” Noatak asked, fingertips flying over the sensor controls.
Kashatok’s insides contracted. That had been too easy. “Look for debris.”
He called up the sensor readings on his own panel, backtracking through the data to find the precise moment he’d hit the burn drive.
Qaiyaan poked his head inside the cockpit. “What the hell just happened?”
“Trying to figure that out, Captain,” Noatak said without looking up.
“I’m going to check on Lisa. She’s been ill enduring so many burns in a row.”
Kashatok sucked in a breath and rose from his seat. Joy probably felt the same way, and he’d been focused on Aleknagik. He tapped the comm to engineering. “How’s Joy?”
“I’m okay,” her voice came from behind Qaiyaan. The big captain stepped aside and let her move into his spot. “Tovik’s got a nasty bump, though.”
Relieved as he was to see her well, Kashatok’s throat tightened. “The bastard got away.”
“What do you mean?” Her eyebrows drew together.
He slumped back down into the pilot’s chair. She moved into the cramped space to stand behind him. He pointed to the burn data on his console. “I need more time to go over the details. We’re in the same location, but there was a frequency dilation.”
“Anaq,” Noatak punched more buttons next to him. “He burned out of here?”
“Wherever he ended up, he’s nothing more than flotsam now.” Joy leaned over Kashatok’s shoulder for a closer look at the screen. “The energy certainly arced out his power coils.”
Kashatok reached up and cupped her other cheek. “I have what matters most. You’re safe.”
“And you can have your ship back.” She squeezed his shoulders and pressed her cheek against his.
Kashatok nodded, still staring at the Kinship.
He hoped Aleknagik had ended up in the middle of a star.
Chapter Seventeen
Kashatok strode across the boarding tube onto the Kinship. Waiting on the other side, Ekwok and Cooper pumped their fists while Chignik strode forward and clapped Kashatok on one shoulder. “You’re one hell of a pilot, Captain.” Nodding to Joy, who remained a little behind Kashatok, he smiled. “Good job talking us through those calibrations, too.”
Kashatok sensed her stiffness ease, but she remained near the boarding tube, which Kashatok appreciated. She’d insisted on coming along and having his back, and Jhikik had insisted on coming with her, curled at the crook of her neck. Next to Joy, Qaiyaan stood with his hands near the pistols on his belt.
Cooper smoothed a big palm over his bald, tattooed head. “We want to say we’re real sorry things went like they did, Captain. Aleknagik played us all against each other.”
“Chignik was the only one he had nothing on,” Ekwok added.
Kashatok glanced over the three men, his heart still hard over the mutiny. “You the only three left on board?”
“Gassy’s in the med bay. We put Manopup and Moore in the brig,” Chignik said. “They were still woozy from burn when Aleknagik jumped ship or they’d’ve gone, too.”
“They’d been whispering mutiny for a long time.” Cooper ducked his head. “I thought it was just talk.”
The muscles in Kashatok’s jaw tightened as he considered what he was going to do to the men in his brig. Space-locking seemed too kind.
“Gassy’s been asking for you,” Ekwok volunteered.
Joy stepped forward. “Is he okay?”
“I think so,” Ekwok said. “But Doc’s gone with Aleknagik, so I can’t say for sure.”
Their betrayal hurt, but at least they’d surrendered his ship back to him. He cleared his throat. “Qaiyaan,” he turned to address his fellow captain, “may we borrow your doctor?”
“I’ll send him over.” Qaiyaan nodded and headed back to his own ship.
Kashatok extended a hand to Joy. “Let’s go check on Gassy.”
In the med bay, Gassy was propped against some pillows. He looked just as hellacious as before, but at least he was sitting up instead of lying there like a dying fish. Kashatok stopped just inside the med bay, noting the sterility shield over the bed was down. “You’re breathing normal air again. How’re you feeling, old man?”
“Couldn’t take another breath inside that shield. I hear I better get my ass up and moving soon ‘cause this little lady’s after my job,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Joy moved forward and took the old man’s hand. “I could never replace you. You still have a lot to teach me.”
“Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me quite yet,” Gassy said.
Kashatok approached the bedside until his shoulder touched Joy’s, loving the subtle way she leaned into him. “Qaiyaan’s doc will be over soon to check you out.”
“If anyone can make you well, Mek can,” Joy added.
“Take it you’ve had reason to be in his med bay?” Gassy’s astute gaze swept across their connected shoulders.
Joy flushed a delightful pink.
Kashatok couldn’t help the grin that felt like it might crack his face in two. He lifted his arm to pull Joy firmly against him, resting h
is chin atop her head. Gassy’d always told him he should question the assumption he was a carayak. Never had Kashatok been so grateful to admit he’d been wrong. “You were right all along.”
“‘Course I was.” Gassy’s blistered face sobered. “Just remember the rest of us aren’t as lucky as you are.”
Kashatok removed his chin from Joy’s head but kept his arm around her. He wasn’t used to being one of the lucky ones. “We’re going to help change that.”
Joy nodded. “We’re going to help Qaiyaan locate Syndicorp’s secret lab.”
Gassy tilted his head. “That’s well and good. But you have other things to consider first.”
It wasn’t like Gassy to be negative. Frowning, Kashatok asked, “What do you mean?”
The old man shook his grizzled head. “With Aleknagik gone, you’re going to need more crew. And you don’t exactly have the best reputation in the galaxy.”
Kashatok cringed, remembering how difficult it’d been to hire a shuttle mechanic. What would his reputation be like after losing three more crewmen, including his first mate? Looking at Joy, he realized things didn’t need to be difficult; she was as charming as he was gruff. He grinned at her. “I have a new first mate who can do the interviewing for me.”
Joy sucked in a breath, twisting to look up at him. “Me?”
“Sure,” he said. “There’s no one I trust more.”
“What about Gassy?”
“Leave me out of this,” Gassy said. “I’m old and one of these days I’ll have enough money to retire in a cushy flat in some exotic port.”
She scrunched her nose and seemed to consider. “Will your men even listen to me?”
The sound of a throat clearing behind him made him turn. Chignik stood in the doorway, the rest of the crew in the hallway at his back. “You busted our captain out of the brig, made a daring escape, then came back for more. I’d say you earned it.”
The others nodded. Pride in Joy made Kashatok stand a little straighter.
Gassy coughed. “That settles it then. Now get out and let an old man get some rest, would you?”
Giving Joy’s shoulders one final squeeze, Kashatok ushered her out the door. It was time to get his ship up and running.
Epilogue
Joy stared out Kashatok’s cabin window on the Kinship, the faint outline of her reflection in the glass overlaying the jutting buttresses of the space station outside. She wore one of his billowy shirts, enveloping herself in his ginger-cinnamon scent. How many times had they made love since she’d become the Kinship’s first mate? She felt like she’d finally found a place where she belonged doing exactly what she was meant to do. Never in her life had she imagined feeling so complete.
As if to reflect her own happiness back at her, the leaves of the naujiar plant rustled, contented cheeps echoing among the foliage. Kashtok had given Jhikik open access to the plant to keep him occupied after Joy pointed out how fascinated the netorpok seemed to be by their intimate activities. And there’d been a lot of activity. She turned to face where he still lounged on the rumpled bed, one deliciously sculpted leg outside the sheets while he read his polycom.
But she needed to stay focused on their immediate problem. Qaiyaan’d towed them to the port, and she’d installed the new flux inverter, but they had yet to fill the empty crew positions. Kashatok’s reputation was proving hard to overcome. She climbed onto the corner of the mattress and knelt, settling back against her heels. “People like stories about pirates.”
“As villains.” Kashatok’s voice rumbled sexily as he lowered the polycom to his lap. She loved how he seemed to follow her train of thought no matter how out of the blue her comments might be.
“What if we provided a different angle to the story?” She tapped her left temple. “Say… an exposé about pirate freedom fighters?”
He laughed, a sound she loved more and more the freer he became with his joy. He lunged forward and pulled her against him, flopping to his back with her resting on his hard abs. “Are you suggesting we start a revolution?”
She chewed her lip. She’d been thinking about it a lot, actually. After learning what Syndicorp had done, what her mother had done—not only killing off an entire race but covering it up—she’d become determined to blow the lid off the entire thing. “I’m suggesting we put out a call to action. I’m still on staff at RealTime News. I can spin the exposé into a thinly veiled advertisement to hire crew and find suitable candidates for Denaidan mates.”
His big hands stopped massaging her naked rump. “Advertise for mates?”
“There’s no reason new crew can’t be female, is there? And if they find a love interest while they’re here, even better.” She pushed up, straddling his hips. “Let’s put a call out to men and women who want to overcome the tyranny that’s taken over every planet in the galaxy.”
“An adventure in the swashbuckling world of black market trading and deep-space piracy?” His upturned mouth looked completely kissable as he teased her with the line from her original recording.
“I should’ve never shared that video with you.” She smacked his chest and lifted a knee half-heartedly as if to dismount.
He grabbed her hips, securing her in place over the line of his growing erection, separated by only the thin layer of the sheet between them. “Ah, but there’s only one rule on board my ship.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Rule? You’re not still trying to ban women, are you? Because as your first mate—”
“More of a request than a rule.” He ran both hands up beneath the loose shirt to cup her breasts. “I want you to share everything with me.”
His thumbs found her nipples and teased them to sensitive nubs. Her back arched involuntarily. For a moment, she simply reveled in the way he played her body. There was no need for words when he already knew her so well. She recalled something Lisa had told her over lunch yesterday. “Lisa said she and Qaiyaan can hear each other’s thoughts. Do you think we’ll ever be that close?”
His bottomless dark eyes drank her in. “Whether we ever can or not, you’re my first mate, my only mate. There is no future without you.”
She placed a hand against his chest, finding the twin thump of his hearts. Hearts that beat only for her. Being loved unconditionally was more beautiful than she’d ever imagined.
Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against his, taking satisfaction that she had beaten all the odds to gain his love. “I will always love you,” she vowed. “You are my mate.”
One of his hands slid up to the back of her neck, pulling her into a kiss. His tongue teased open her mouth, swirling and stroking and building a heat within her while his rock-hard length grew more insistent between her legs. His other hand continued massaging her breast and nipple, moving to her ribs, down to her hip, and back up again in a teasing caress that made her skin tremble and twitch until the heat between them became a raging inferno.
“I need to be in you,” he said.
“Yes,” she breathed out, lifting herself so he could pull the thin sheet aside. She poised her opening over the blunt head of his cock. Then slowly, deliberately, she lowered herself against him, eyes locked with his in a connection so intimate, it wouldn’t have mattered if they were touching or not. The delicious friction of his length entering her ran clear up her spine.
For long moments, she stayed locked in place, her gaze trapped by his. Reaching forward, she brushed her fingers against his cheek then trailed them down the length of his beard.
Slowly, subtly, she began to move, rocking and lifting her hips at just the right angle to send flutters of ecstasy throughout her entire body.
He was right there with her, hips thrusting upward. His speed increased to match hers, ratcheting up her pleasure.
She was aware of him everywhere. Not just deep in her inner wetness, but pressed between her thighs, under her fingertips, sharing her air. His hands guided her hips, but it was as if he knew her every desire, anticipated every move before
she even knew herself.
His eyes on her were bright with pleasure and love. “You’re so amazing.”
The first wave of pleasure hit her, shuddering through her body and nearly paralyzing her. But Kashatok didn’t stop. He continued pumping upward unrelentingly, holding her hips and taking her past the first crest and onto another. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. She leaned forward and gripped his shoulders, her entire body throbbing with the connection. It wasn’t like a psychic connection, but one of emotion. A bond solidifying between them like nothing she’d ever imagined possible.
His teeth were bared, his solid legs trembling. But his eyes never left her face. As he pounded into her, she felt almost as if she floated free of her body, tethered only by his gaze.
The euphoria or pleasure grew into a towering wave, hovering, promising to break. Her legs ached and yet she couldn’t stop. Couldn’t slow. Reaching that crest was all that mattered. In a curling, slow-motion release of pressure almost too great to bear, she caught the edge, rockets of sensation shuddering into the very core of her being.
Throwing her head back under the onslaught, she allowed the pleasure to wash over her. Through her. Fully aware of Kashatok’s muscles tightening, his huge hands holding her hips firmly, his release pumping into her with a force that took her breath away.
She slumped forward across his chest, completely spent, her ear pressed over his paired hearts. They raced in unison beneath her cheek. In that moment she knew the bond truly was forever. She’d found the only purpose that really mattered.
Love.
THE END
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