by Calista Skye
“Come on. Up,” Ravi grumbled, lifting me to a half-crouch.
His eyes were steely as they met mine. “Keep quiet, and stay where I sit you.”
The tigress in me bristled at the comment, but the small-town girl recognized it for what it was: wisdom. I didn't know shit about dust pack politics or trouble with ship enforcement. The pellet blasts and smoke canister could've been connected to either of those things.
Moving quickly as he sped us along to his office, I watched obeisantly as he lifted up a corner of his rug to reveal a very cliché hatch door. Popping it open without skipping a beat, he waved me down, following after me and promptly closing it overhead.
When I touched down to the next floor, I stepped away from the cascading steps, folding my hands in front of me, a feeling of dread filling my belly as more pellet blasts rang out.
Ravi was down a half a second later, and the sweep of his eyes told me he wasn't anymore pleased about being locked in there with me than I was finding myself closed into close quarters with him.
A hail of light flares, sounding like they'd come from a close-range weapon rang out, and I jumped with a gasp, my head whipping back to Ravi with alarm.
“What about Arc? What's happening?”
“Arc can handle himself. As for matters you don't want to know about... You don't want to know. Have a seat. I'll get you something to drink.”
Folding my arms to my chest, I cradled myself fearfully but did as he asked, my eyes searching the basement area until I found what looked like surplus deck stools set by abandoned wall cabinets and several stacks of sealed crates.
I hadn't read my horoscope today. I was beginning to think that had been a mistake. Darkstar Astrology was usually right about the major mishaps written in the stars. I've come to learn to stay in bed on days under the influence of warring and/or troublesome planets. Leave it to me to leave with Nia, dressed like an unsanctioned bunny, without checking to see if Saturn or Mars had anything tricky, or brutal, up their sleeves...
“Take it.”
Blinking rapidly out of my thoughts, I raised my head to see Ravi standing over me with a tube of some sort of glowing, nutri-drink. Reactively, my brow rose.
“It'll clean the rest of that shit out of your system.”
Teeth gritting, I forced myself to remember that I was raised with manners.
“Thanks.”
“Sure thing.”
That last was dripping with sarcasm, but I didn't sweat it. Lifting the tube, I watched a bead of melting ice bleed down its side in the warmth of the basement then drew a reluctantly, large gulp.
I didn't really think I needed to keep flushing the mystery drug I'd consumed from my system. I felt fine now, but I appreciated the distraction. The pellet blasts had drawn to a stop overhead, but I had no idea why there was even a seige taking place at their stack unit. Ravi seemed to think I was better off not poking my nose in things, and the more I thought on it, I guess I couldn't blame him.
A purring cat, I could do, not a curious one facing imminent death.
“Not too nasty, I hope.”
Blinking out of thoughts again, my eyes found Ravi's. He'd positioned himself against the wall with a Brinny, stretched out with a look that was more confident than I thought someone whose riders were being blasted at should be.
“It's drinkable.”
“You know you got lucky tonight, don't you?”
Grimacing, I averted my eyes from him. I was far from in the mood for a lecture. Hadn't we already done this to satisfaction?
“Guess you don't.”
“I got your message the first time.”
Straining to keep my temper in check, I concentrated on my drink, taking another sip without looking at him.
“Drek would have taken an obsessive liking to you. The bad kind. You're not like your friend. She's flashy pretty, but you represent something else, something he'd enjoy ruining... overtime.”
“Yeah, and what makes me so special?”
“Your innocence. You shouldn't have even been there. You're the type of girl-”
“Woman.”
“...Who's too pure to snatch from the upper decks and still maintain the ability to look in the reflector after. But you walk onto the lower decks scantily clad... You're fair game. Asking for it.”
“Advertising.”
“Pretty much.”
I sighed.
“Do you know how many girls he's ruined?”
“No.”
“Too many.”
“Then ban him.”
“We owe him money.”
“Why would you borrow from a guy who gives drugs to unsuspecting women, apps them, and stars know what else?”
“I owe the fucker. And for the record, I didn't know what he was into before we borrowed credits. We'll leave it at that. You've no need to know much else.”
I drew a breath, jumping when the hatch opened wide and one of Ravi's riders gave him a wave. It struck me as odd that he was hiding down there while everyone else was up there risking their lives.
“You get them?”
“Not exactly.”
“Tell Loke to suit up. I know where they hide.”
My brow rising, I made a mental note to work on minding my business. What the hell did I know about this part of our floating society? Nothing. Not a damn thing.
"Let's head up, Princess. Time to go."
Five
My breath caught in my throat when Arc made his way back into the front of their stack unit. I'd been waiting by the hallway near Ravi's office and rushed to him when I saw the blood dripping from his temple. I reached for him, but he quickly caught my hand and gave me a sharp look of warning.
"You're bleeding.”
“Nasty run-in with the barrel of a blaster.”
When my eyes widened, he grinned. “You should see the other guys.”
Humor. I cracked a relieved smile. He made it sound like he took down an army singlehandedly. I folded my arms over my chest when he gave me a contemplative once-over.
“I trust Ravi kept you safe.”
“Well, yeah, but he didn't need to be down there.”
“He did. Let's just leave it at that.”
The room was a little chillier with the last of his words, and I lifted my hands slightly in silent surrender. Okay. Whatever. Let's keep everything locked in the 'CONFIDENTIAL' file cabs. It's not like I was asking for details, any way. I was only commenting, really, because I found it odd that their head rider wasn't out there fighting with his pack. Apparently, lecturing an already overwhelmed and thoroughly frazzled young female was far more important on his list of priorities and pressing matters.
I took a step back when Ione approached, sweeping past me, and watched her with a descending feeling of uselessness as she opened up a first-aid kit and insisted on dotting pungent antiseptic along the gash on Arc's head.
“You shouldn't glide tonight,” I heard her whisper. “She can take Blake's room. He's in Dawn quadrant for the week.”Arc hissed at the burn of disinfecting chemicals, but said nothing.
“I'm serious. You don't have to prove anything to him.”
“I know. Look, I can take it from here.”
The pretty brunette leaned back from him, undeterred as she inspected him.
“Everyone knows you have the heart of a lion, Arc. You don't have to outdo him in every area. He sees you.”
Arc didn't reward her with a response, and Ione eventually took the hint, stepping back from him. Ripping a bandage from a round strip, she folded up a pillow of nano-gauze at its middle and pressed it to his head before closing up her kit and giving him a look.
“Wait 'til morning.”
She turned her eyes onto me for a brief moment before turning back toward the hall to Ravi's office and other rooms I didn't know the first thing about. I noticed how extraordinarily pretty she was in that moment, but there was a sadness in her eyes, a kind of resolved wisdom that I knew would go on to hau
nt me from that moment.
I knew she meant for me to continue on pleading with Arc to be reasonable, and looking to him, bandaged up after a night from hell, I knew she was right. I could wait to go home. The last thing I wanted to do was make things worse on him.
“I can wait 'til morning.”
Arc's jaw clenched.
“I'm perfectly capable of bringing you home.”
“I know, but... I'd rather stay until morning.”
He met my eyes then, looking up from the scrapes on his knuckles, and I saw a question in his eyes that I wasn't entirely sure I had the answer for – even as I began to ask myself the same question.
~
“Can you... stay for awhile?”
I don't exactly know what possessed me to ask it. Being set up in a strange cube in the lower stack units that had just been shot at, maybe?
“You need to be tucked in or something?”
Arc grinned at me, leaning up against the wall by the door. The dimmer in this room was set to low when he'd originally flicked the switch, and I realized now just how much that added to a certain element of temptation between us. Except, I really wasn't aiming to seduce him. I genuinely didn't want to be alone, in a strange place, even if I was pretty sure none of the riders here would let a new adult face danger if they could help it.
“I can tuck myself in. Just not tired is all. Maybe you can stay and tell me a story or something.”
He awarded me a half-laugh.
“Fat chance of that.”
His eyes gleamed in the dim, and I saw him strain against the chemistry between us in that moment. It assured something in me that he wasn't a hunter, and I wasn't his prey. Whatever was happening between us was definitely chemistry, not the clever ploy of a fox. I guess I'd known that, but the fleeting fever I had to suppress around Ravi in that hatch made me second guess my own hormones.
But I knew myself better than that.
I wasn't the kind of girl to fall for just anyone.
I knew that much about myself, even in the confusion that had pervaded the evening.
Loosing a resolved sigh, Arc looked me over and pushed off from the doorway.
“Get under the covers.”
“I'm hot.”
“I'm aware. But you can still be hot and cover up in this chill.”
Smooth talker.
Dutifully, he lifted the coverlets over me, making a show of tucking me in before taking a seat at the edge of the bed. That was around the time my heart began to chug in my chest cavity like a wild horse all wound up and ready to run. Except, I didn't want to run. And I didn't want him to run, either. His subtle nature intrigued me, and realizing he also possessed wit excited me and made me want to pick his brain.
He must have had a hell of a coming up in a dust pack. It was far from an average life, and like space gypsies and cosmic carnies, riders didn't talk about family business. He was a puzzle who'd probably remain one, and even as he made me heat up, the prospect that there might only be the potential for us to be a one or two night stand made the idea deflate almost as soon as it emerged.
“What kind of drug did that asshole put in our drinks, Arc?”
His eyes flashed with unease, and he drew back from me.
“Look-”
“It's okay. Never mind. I just... I'd like to know what kind of shit they put in my system.”
Arc drew a breath and leaned back on his hands, his eyes deepening as he looked me over.
“Some questions are better left unanswered. It's not addictive, so don't worry about that, alright? Just stay out of the lower decks with girls who'll get you in trouble in the future.”
“Stop advertising, in other words.”He grinned.
“Yeah, stop marketing your sexy body around the wrong sorts. Or... anyone at all for that matter.”
“Anyone at all? Including you?”
Eyes darkening, Arc's grin stretched up his cheek.
“I'm a perfect gentleman. You can advertise safely around me.”
Flashing a coy smile, I turned my gaze from him and fixed my attention on the ceiling, allowing the music-making synth-crickets to flood my consciousness. The sounds of night set me at ease then. I appreciated the extra relaxation aids after the night I'd had, and feeling Arc's attention on me sent the most pleasant tingles along the under-surface of my skin. There was admiration in that gaze of his, something akin to the vibe I picked up when he told me I was pretty.
“If you're all set, I'll let you get to-”
“Sleep? I won't be doing that anytime soon.”
I met his eyes then, a little more boldly than a good girl might. I didn't want him to leave, and the wild thing inside of me wasn't beneath resorting to more obvious attempts at keeping him close a little while longer.
His eyes ran over me again, but he didn't say a word. Everything he might want to communicate was written on his face, practically glowing from the surface of him, even as his inner world was wreathed in a mystery I might not ever be allowed to penetrate.
“Do you want to kiss me, Arc?”
Startling slightly, he quickly regained his composure.
“In a bed? That's no place for a first kiss, Rorie.”
My hero grinned, and it added a bit of levity to the seriousness charging the ether.
I stared at him a moment, searching his gaze then grinned back and pushed the coverlets off, drawing up to a stand on the metal tiles.
“How about now?”
He stood then, too, and slowly leaning in, my heart thumped in my chest like a rabbit on warp-drugs. His lips were ruby red, like someone who'd wiped red drink mix from the corners just in time. Like someone who'd just been sucking the juice out of succulent fruit. Like... an image-edited picture with a layer mask that muted all of the colors in the picture, save the scarlet deep hue of his glorious mouth.
Gods, he was beautiful. Really beautiful. Internally wounded, cryptically scarred, but exquisite all the same.
I was nearly breathless when he finally leaned in and kissed me, drawing me into a deeply sensuous kiss, teeth nipping my bottom lip, tongue flirting tongue. His kiss was as gentle as the spirit I sensed beneath his battle-worn exterior, and I melted into it, my body a flurry of tingles.
It was the sort of kiss that deified a man in the mind of a woman, infecting and haunting me with his signature, his primal brand of masculinity.
Drawing closer to him, a shiver passed through me, and Arc wrapped his arms around my waist, deepening our kiss. His scent washed over me, fresh and masculine, pervasive as I breathed him in, savoring the taste of his tongue.
So fucking sexy.
I wasn't the kind of girl to drop my panties on the first night, but this guy made me rethink that line of reasoning. My body responded to him like an instrument, and something deep within me ached to connect with him, to draw closer than a kiss, to do more than just embrace.
“Rorie...”
He said my name breathily, claiming my lips with his teeth before pulling away.
“Arc...” I played along, mocking him, all the while knowing he was drawing away from me. Silently pleading for him not to.
But my plea went unanswered. He pulled back with his eyes inching over me like it was all he could do to contain himself... and then he did. Contain himself, I mean. Abruptly.
And my heart dropped with a thud.
“I won't treat you like someone who was advertising something she doesn't really want to give.”
Oh, but I did want to give him something... something he could feel.
Drawing a breath, I forced dignity into my response and crossed my arms over my chest.
Averting my eyes, I gave him a nod.
“Yeah, I should get some sleep.”
“You, uh, have work tomorrow?”
“Not on schedule tomorrow, no.”
“Oh, well, I'll still get you home early. You've, uh, been through enough chaos to last you a while.”
He punctuated his sentence wi
th an uneasy wink, but instead of lightening the mood, it only made me feel worse. Like I'd imagined the passion between us, like maybe, I was the only one feeling it as palpably as I was.
Six
By the time we pulled up in front of my stack unit, I'd refused every possible breakfast variation and refreshment Arc could throw at me. A good night's sleep, as it turned out, had been all I'd needed, and now I was ready to just put this chaotic chapter behind me. To retire the aspect of my character that felt the need to throw myself at men, even if I'd probably just been suffering the need to repay him for saving my life.
There were a ton of reasons my attraction was a little suspect, in retrospect, and I was feeling so much more level-headed now that I'd passed out for enough hours to regain my sanity. Couple that with a dickish-Ravi free morning, and you had a very happy version of Rorie.
Forcing the feel of the hover bike's rumble between my thighs from my mind, I drew the wisps of hair falling out of my bun back into an upsweep, sliding off the bike eagerly. I turned to him before making my way to my unit and gave him a tight wave.
Eyes searching me, he awarded me a mere tick of the head. There was no indicator that he even cared now. Maybe it was a good riddance for him. I didn't fit into his section of the world, and he certainly didn't fit into mine.
As the entry door slid open, and I saw the last person I expected to see sitting in the foyer box, looking beyond disheveled, I considered that Nia didn't really belong in my section of the world either, anymore.
And just as I loosed a sigh of disappointment, she leapt into my arms, causing me to fall back against the inside wall panel. I stole a reactive glance at Arc, knowing by the low rumble of the hover bike that he wasn't gone, yet, and his eyes told me his conscience wasn't going to let this one sit.
He frowned and looked to the sky before turning off the ignition, and I pat Nia's back, telling her to wait, promising I'd be right back. I'd have been lying if I said I wasn't concerned about what happened to her and hadn't worried about what happened next, but I was also annoyed.
I'd already slept on the whole thing and decided this sort of detour truly wasn't the sort I wanted to have in my life.