by Jade Archer
“Afraid not. The run’s only going to pay ten thousand creds but has to be there in twenty-eight standard days or we forfeit half our carriage fee.”
And the way The Wyvern was running at the moment, especially after their altercation with the solar storm, they’d need every one of those days to get to the drop off. They wouldn’t have time to try and pick up cargo to run along the way. And Barek knew it.
“Fuck!” Arek spun around and kicked viciously at the cargo pods behind him. Devlynn winched. Although Arek didn’t seem to feel it, he’d bet their last credit chip Arek would be limping tomorrow.
“Barek knows he’s got us over a barrel. Most everyone’s desperate for work right now after last year’s crop failures. He’s screwing everyone down, not just us.”
“Bastard.”
“Apparently he prefers ‘enterprising businessman’.”
“Same difference.” Arek let out a growl of frustration. Devlynn was relieved to see him start pacing again rather than kicking out at the cargo pods. “Gods damn it!”
“Yeah.” Devlynn forced a dry laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “Tell me again why it’s such a good thing to work hard and live the simple life?”
“Fucked if I know. Guess maybe ‘cause we’re still alive.”
Devlynn clenched his jaw—knowing Arek was thinking of Danni again.
Ah, shit!
“Arek—”
“Fuck! Sorry. That was a dick of a thing to say.” Arek sighed—sounding hollow and empty, like the words echoed out of him without touching on the way out—as he rubbed at his brow.
Devlynn held his breath, not sure what to say—not wanting to make things any worse than they already were.
“Come on, let’s just get loaded and get on with it,” Arek finally barked, spinning around and heading towards The Wyvern’s loading ramp without looking back at Devlynn.
Shit, fuck and damn! He hated this. He really did. It was no way to live. Scraping and begging for meagre handouts in backwater dives. Watching Arek get further and further away every day. Waiting for the man to finally crack.
He’d never regretted following Arek when he quit the Fennrus Group. They were some of the meanest sons of bitches in the Morn sector, and that was saying something. Losing Danni had nearly broken Arek—Danni the little brother who followed Arek everywhere, until he went and got himself killed trying to prove himself on a run and there weren’t enough pieces to fill an empty phaser-cell. But seeing Arek like this, shut down and bitter, was killing Devlynn.
He just felt so damn useless. It was like they were trapped, plodding through each day but not actually getting anywhere. Not actually alive. Sure, if the Fennrus group ever caught up to them they wouldn’t be alive for long, but there had to be something better than this.
Devlynn felt the nearly overwhelming urge to reach out to Arek. To do something. Anything. But he wasn’t sure what. He just had no idea what the man needed. He desperately wanted to make it better, but he didn’t know where to start. Devlynn counted himself a reasonably good warrior, a fair ex-pirate and an occasional holocard-sharp. But none of those skills were particularly helpful right now.
And so he found himself mutely following in Arek’s wake. Slightly lost, pretty clueless and floundering badly. Something had to give soon. They just couldn’t go on like this. Surely the universe owed them a break soon.
Chapter Two
Rachel wiggled a little in the tight confines of the overhead storage locker. It was cramped and uncomfortable—not to mention she’d nearly broken her neck getting into it—but somehow she felt more light and free right now than she could ever remember in her life. Running away had definitely been the right decision. Although the thought of being a quitter still rankled. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been left with a lot of choices.
So she’d picked the most obscure transport she could find and stowed away—hoping there was less chance of someone thinking to look for her on the scruffy little freighter. It certainly made more sense than using one of the regular passenger transports. And the ship had been docked close to the waiting room. Trussed up in a blood red bonding dress didn’t exactly allow her to be inconspicuous, and there’d been no time to change. So finding the ship had been a gods-send.
After sneaking aboard, she’d found the most obscure, disused spot she could find, settled in and prayed for the best. And it seemed to have worked. It had been over an hour since she had felt the force of the thrusters lifting her away from Thebia . Having huddled, tense and silent for so long, worried that at any moment she might be discovered and sent back to be bonded to strangers, she was at last willing to let herself feel a moment of triumph.
She’d done it. The feel of the ship blasting off, the push of the engines setting her free, had been fantastic. She felt on top of the universe. Except for one tiny little flaw in her otherwise perfect plan. She was starving. Sure, she’d carefully scrimped and saved and brought her modest credit chip with her. While it wasn’t much, she was pretty confident it would see her through until she could pick up work further down the line. But that didn’t exactly help her right now. There was nowhere to use said credit chip to get food. Suddenly, carefully packing to travel light didn’t seem like such a good idea. Maybe a few energy bars would have been smart. Her stomach was telling her in no uncertain terms it was dinnertime.
Rachel felt a sudden pang of loss to go with her growing hunger. She wondered what her mother and sisters and the other kinswomen were doing right now. Were they all sitting down to a meal? Were they worried? Frantically searching for her? She hoped they’d found the data note she’d left by now. She didn’t want them worrying. While they didn’t understand her, she still loved them. And in their own way—infuriating as it was—she knew they loved her.
If only it didn’t have to be like this. Knowing she’d never see them again was—
Rachel’s stomach growled and cramped painfully again. Right. Time to stop being maudlin and do something constructive. She didn’t like stealing. It wasn’t at all the way she’d been brought up or planned to live her life. But desperate times sometimes drove people to unfortunate lengths. If anyone appreciated that, she did. She was sure she could find some way of quietly paying back her unwitting benefactors…somehow.
Just as she was about to peek out of the hatch to her little hidey-hole, she heard the unmistakable sound of deep male voices.
“That bloody mowc is back again, Devlynn.”
Rachel froze, hunger instantly forgotten. Mowc. Years ago her brothers had thought it extremely funny to put one in her hair. Admittedly it was in retaliation for some childish prank she had committed against them. A crime she couldn’t even remember now, though she was sure she enjoyed it at the time. She remembered the sharp little claws digging into the scalp though. The eight scurrying legs and the high-pitched squeals—both from her and the mowc.
She didn’t like the idea of sharing her little space with a mowc. Not one bit.
Someone laughed. Rachel focused on the rich, deep sound—allowing it to distract her. It was warm and smooth and it sent prickles of awareness racing across her skin.
Rachel shook her head, nearly hitting her temple on the bracing strip beside her to clear her head of the weird sensation. She closed her eyes, straining to listen to what was being said instead.
“I’m glad you think it’s so funny. Look what the little shit did to my ration pack.”
“So catch it.”
“Thank you so much for that outstanding piece of advice.”
There was a pause, then a shout of announce.
“Shit! Look at this. The little fucker’s been into my socks too. They’re ruined.”
“Well, I guess that takes care of the problem once and for all then. Poor little thing didn’t stand a chance against close contact with your socks.”
“Shut up!” There was the muffled sounds of movement and voices—both fading out as if the speakers were moving away until Rachel couldn’t make out
what they were saying anymore.
For several minutes there was silence. Then the first man’s voice spoke again, this time directly beneath her. Rachel started in surprise. Damn, she hated not being able to see what was going on.
“Just look at this mess, would you! Damn animal’s been right through it.”
“I don’t think we can blame the mowc for all the mess in here.”
Several clangs and bangs later Rachel heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the deck plates below.
“Here. I got sick of you whining and picked up a couple of traps while we were on Thebia ,” the man she thought was Devlynn said.
“I don’t whine.”
“You keep telling yourself that, Arek. It’ll make you feel better.”
Arek. Rachel filed the name away carefully, just in case.
“Just give me the fucking traps, Mr Comedian. I’ll fix the little bugger.”
“Yeah, right.” More muffled sounds drifted up to her. “What are you going to do when you’ve caught it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a trap. You catch the mowc. Then what?”
There was a pregnant pause. “I’ll work that out once the bastard isn’t eating its way through my laundry.”
Rachel was really starting to sweat now. If they were setting traps they might find her. Worse, what if the mowc found her? She really didn’t like that idea.
Then, from out of the shadows in the dimly lit storage locker, Rachel spotted her worst fear—a small blue nose, long whiskers twitching rapidly. Gradually, eight thin, double-jointed legs carried the bulbous, furry blue body forward. Four beady eyes focused on her.
Heart pounding in her chest and breath now coming in short, sharp pants, Rachel tried desperately not to make a sound. But when a loud noise below made them both jump and the mowc scuttled forward in alarm, the battle was lost.
Rachel screamed and made for the nearest exit—pushing her way out of the overhead hatch heedless of the distance between her hiding spot and the floor. She just needed to escape. To get out.
Falling, screaming and thoroughly consumed with irrational fear, Rachel fell…right into a pair of strong, muscular arms. Before she had time to process and reject the ridiculous sense of safety that washed over her as the arms tightened around and held her securely, another man appeared from a corridor to the left. Tall, powerfully built, with a head full of spiky brown hair, the man skidded to a halt and simply stared at her in amazement.
Finally, the handsome stranger seemed to snap out of his daze. “That’s the best looking mowc I’ve ever seen, Arek.”
Without warning, Rachel found herself heading the remaining distance to the floor. At the last second the man who had caught her—Arek—seemed to change his mind and fumbled to help her stand rather than fall on the decking plates at his feet.
Rachel looked up to thank him for not dropping her on her ass, and was instantly caught by the most intense, deep blue eyes she had ever seen. Set in a dark, angular face and surrounded by long, curling lashes, the effect was…stunning. Seconds or aeons could have passed and Rachel would never have known, never have cared as long as she could go on looking into the man’s amazing eyes.
“Can we keep it?” the second man—Devlynn—asked, amusement clear in his voice.
Rachel turned her head to see a wide smile erupting on Devlynn’s boyish face.
Arek couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the magnificent creature that had quite literally fallen from above only seconds before but the sound of Devlynn’s dry amusement helped to break the trace.
“What the fuck is going on here? Who the hell are you?”
“Rachel.”
The sound was sweet and low and edged with a husky quality that pulled at his senses. But Arek ruthlessly resisted the sound. He’d been caught initially, but he’d be more careful from now on.
“Damn it all! What else can go wrong?”
“Excuse me?” Rachel’s brows pulled into a small frown, and Arek thought he saw the first flickers of temper ignite in her honey-brown eyes. It sparked an answering fire in his belly that had nothing to do with irritation.
Arek covered his reaction by turning away with a growl of annoyance. “Great! A stowaway. Just what we need right now.”
“What are we going to do with her?” The amusement was gone from Devlynn’s voice now. Replaced with a tight edge—as if he was anxious about what Arek’s answer might be.
Damn it! Devlynn should know him better than that.
“She’s right here, you know?”
Turning back, he saw Rachel’s almond shaped eyes narrow dangerously. Arek’s cock thickened at the sight.
Fuck! So not the time, big guy!
“We don’t have time to take her back.”
“Hello,” Rachel added, trying to get their attention.
“Guess we’re going to have to keep her then.” Devlynn sounded far too happy with the idea for Arek’s liking.
“Hey! I’m right here.”
“That much is obvious. Don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble for one day?” Arek aimed a scowl at the girl—woman, he corrected. She didn’t look very old, but she was definitely all woman.
Rachel snorted in derision at him. “Screw you.”
“Sure,” Arek said with sarcastic pleasure. “You got a last name to go with that mouth?”
Apparently ‘Rachel’ wasn’t stupid enough to give her last names. Pity.
“What the hell are you doing on my ship?”
Rachel had the good grace to blush. “I just needed a little help to get off-world.”
“There are no free rides here, sister.”
“Of course not. I don’t expect—”
“Really? Cause from where I’m standing it sure looks like you expected.”
“I can work for passage.”
“We don’t need anyone.”
Rachel narrowed her eyes again then pointedly scanned the room. Arek followed her gaze as it came to rest on the chaos and disorder of the common room. One that even he admitted could probably do with a little attention.
“What?” Arek snapped defensively when Rachel turned back to stare at him.
She looked him straight in the eye, all confidence and determination. And it went straight to his cock. The little spitfire was challenging him.
“Let me show you what I can do. Let me prove myself to you. Then you can decide.”
“We’re not a pleasure cruiser. This is a working interplanetary cargo transport ship.”
“And I just offered to help,” Rachel replied firmly, crossing her arms.
The action lifted her generous breasts—though Arek was pretty sure by the fierce look in her eyes it hadn’t been an intentional move. Without turning to see, Arek knew Devlynn’s eyes would be completely focused on them though. It took all his self-control to resist joining him.
“You think you’re up to it?”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
Arek looked her over—from the beaded combs in her over-styled hair to the points of her completely impractical slippers.
Rachel blushed to the tips of her ears this time.
“I can pull my weight. Just give me a chance to prove myself.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I plan to work your ass.”
The instant the words left his mouth, Arek wanted to scrabble after them and yank them back. Rachel’s eyes widened comically. Her cheeks colouring to a deep, dark red. Arek felt his own face heat furiously. He opened his mouth to correct himself, but Devlynn beat him to it.
“Leave it, man. There just isn’t any coming back from that one.”
He didn’t want to, but he conceded the point and clamped his mouth shut. He could see Rachel’s lips twitching, fighting against a smile even as her cheeks continued to glow a rather pretty pink.
It was going to be a really long trip.
Chapter Three
Devlynn stepped into the cockpit and casually dropped
into the co-pilot’s seat. One of the advantages of calling The Wyvern home was it made it easy to track Arek down. It was harder for the man to avoid him or run away in the tight confines of the space transport. Devlynn had the feeling Arek would be looking to do both by the end of the conversation he was about to start.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Arek grunted in return, not looking up from his study of the engine output data.
“Anything new?” Devlynn asked, looking through the forward viewport at the cold, empty expanse of space.
“Nope. Just space, stars and more space.”
“How’s the run time looking?”
“Long as nothing goes wrong we should be okay. We might even get in a few days ahead of schedule.”
“Will wonders never cease?” Devlynn mumbled, letting the easy familiarity he shared with Arek settle over them—easing his way forward.
“Rachel’s settling in well. She was asking about the sub-light engine specs earlier today. Wanted to know if she could take a look down in the engine room and check out the propulsion units.”
“Just so long as she’s pulling her weight I don’t care what she does.”
Devlynn let silence build between them—like taking a breath before jumping into an ocean.
“What about when we reach Nareen?”
Arek shrugged, but Devlynn could see the tension building in the man’s shoulders. “She won’t be our problem then. She can do what she likes.”
“We could always keep her on.”
“Dev,” Arek growled in warning, finally looking up from the data display.
“What?”
“Don’t get too attached.”
“Why not? She’s a hard worker…and I kind of like having her around.”
“She never said anything about looking to stay on.”
“She never said she didn’t want to either.” Devlynn paused, wondering how far he should push. “I think you like having her around too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Just as Devlynn opened his mouth to answer, a frustrated shout echoed down the passageway.