Foreman spat and glared at Na’varr. “You’re dead now or later. Doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is the payout.”
Ice-cold rage knotted in Na’varr’s gut. In a heartbeat he had a laz blade to the cyborg’s mostly human throat. “I told you when we first met. If you cross me, you won’t survive it.” His voice held all the fury and bitterness at this latest betrayal.
“What, are you going to do? Kill me? You don’t have the stones, pirate.”
Na’varr let out a harsh laugh. “I won’t have to. My cousin doesn’t tolerate failure. You’ll be dead before the week is out.”
“I don’t work for your cousin.”
Na’varr plunged his dagger forward and Shawn Yates screamed. The blade pierced the emergency release circuit, jamming the mechanical switch open. The foreman couldn’t leave the suit until he received assistance.
Dust swirled around them in a rush of heat and he didn’t need to look up to know the cavalry had arrived.
The alarms grew louder.
Attention. Dome breach imminent. Seek shelter or don breathing apparatus.
It took a moment for the cyborg to realize he wasn’t dead. In that split second, his cheeks flamed red.
Na’varr smiled. “Looks like you can still blush, metal head.”
“You blow up my dome and there will be no place you can hide, meat sack.”
He reached in and yanked out the foreman’s oxygen breather. “What are you going to do about it?”
Yates’s muscles bulged against the restraints of his suit he was trapped in and Na’varr made a clicking sound with his tongue. “I can’t have you following me, can I?” He slapped the exoskeleton’s face screen up and backed away. When the dome opened, Yates would survive—not that he deserved it.
Brom growled through the earpiece. “You should let him die.”
Na’varr ignored the commentary and jumped down from the machine. The impact sent a sharp pain through his side. He put on the foreman’s oxygen breather, desperate to hear the voice of his little information thief. “Raesa.”
“I’m on the way. My breather is on.” Her voice was strained, but the fact she was talking meant she was alive. And at this moment, he’d take it.
He nodded to himself and ran toward Brom’s rough landing zone. The ship hovered, rushing ice dust and heat around his bare skin. Every cut and scrape on his arms and chest burned. He jumped for the ramp and climbed up.
“Dome released.” He barely made out Raesa’s words before the murky sky turned stark black. Ice dust blocked the view and he dropped his gaze back to the mining compound.
“Raesa what’s your position?” he asked.
Brom answered first. “She’s in a dead run, coming right at us. Looks like she’s injured.”
“I’m fine.” Her words were breathless.
Fear struck him deep inside. Fifteen years ago, he’d lost everything in a bloody coup d'etat, including the woman currently hidden within dust. He’d thought she was dead once. Finding her alive had been a miracle, and his idiotic plan had put her in danger.
“Where the hell are you?” he muttered. With relief, he made out a feminine body racing toward the ship.
“Move your ass, hellcat.” Brom’s voice hit the earpiece. The ship stuttered and trembled. Na’varr snapped a cargo line around his waist and ran down the ramp, gripping the rails for dear life. She ran at a speed that filled him with pride.
Shots ricocheted off the ramp and Na’varr ducked in reflex.
“Shit they’re shooting at us.”
“Hurry up, dammit,” Brom demanded.
The ship tipped forward, knocking Na’varr the distance he needed. When this was all over, he was either going to kiss Brom or kick his ever-loving ass.
Raesa jumped and he gripped her forearm. Agony tore up his side, but he tightened his hold, dragging her onto the ramp. She ran on, hauling him with her.
They made it inside and she slapped the cargo door shut. Metal groaned. He hauled her around the corner as more shots hit the cargo doors. Breath came in painful gasps.
He touched his tender ribs and wondered if something had broken in the fight.
“Ramp’s closing. Get us the hell out of here.” Raesa yell ended in a cough. It sealed with a groan.
“Get strapped in,” Brom said. A loud explosion rocked the side of the ship.
Na’varr instinctively steadied Raesa. “Report,” he ordered.
“We were hit with an anti-raid blaster. Get to a damn seat and strap yourselves in.”
Na’varr wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hauled her forward. She stumbled but caught her pace. They raced across the cargo bay to the closest seats they could find.
He took in her disheveled appearance, the too-wide eyes, the way she favored her leg. They wouldn’t make it up to the helm where Brom had control of the ship. He would have to wait until they were in space before he could get her to MEDbay and figure out the extent of her injuries. His scan would wait until he could head up to the bridge and tear Brom a new asshole for going against his direct orders.
“We’re in.” Raesa winced and pulled the safety harness away from the side she’d favored in her run.
Terror chilled his blood. How extensive were her injuries? What had happened to make everything go so fucking wrong?
“Brace for launch,” Brom said. “This is going to suck.”
Chapter Three
“I smell blood.” Brom glanced up from his position at the helm. It was unusual for the hybrid to be manually flying the ship, so the damage must have been greater than she imagined.
Beside her, Na’varr waved a hand. “It’s just some scrapes.”
Brom’s amber gaze moved from the captain to Raesa, piercing her where she stood. “Not you. Her.”
She made a sound of exasperation. “I’m fine. He’s the one who got beat all to hell.”
Brom engaged a switch and stalked toward her. Raesa stepped back, unsure why his intensity was weirding her out. “Hey, Tiger. No need to go all feral cat on me.”
His lips didn’t even twitch. “Where were you injured?”
“On my back and hip. I took a fall on my way out. No big deal.”
“Strip.”
His demand instantly enraged and turned her on. “Hell no.”
A slow smile spread across his handsome face. The brief show of fang reminded her hybrids were predators first.
He could smell her arousal and she knew it.
“If she says she’s fine, leave her be.” Na’varr’s statement made Brom growl low in his chest.
Brom hauled her against him, pressing his nose to her throat. “Do you want me to take a bite, Raesa?”
“Maybe.” The word came out in a breathy whisper. Why the hell was he so irritated? She was the one who was scared shitless of something happening to them. Her fingers dug into his shirt. It had taken everything she had not to throw herself at Na’varr in the cargo hold. Now she couldn’t let go of Brom if her life depended on it.
“Your injuries.” He ran his fingers down her side. It was sexy as hell until he dug his grip into the bruise forming on her hip.
She hissed.
He brushed a kiss against a scrape on her cheek. “This was a rookie mistake.”
Vulnerability shattered and anger rose to the top. Her lust instantly froze. She let him go. “Oh the hell with you and your self-righteous crap. I wasn’t the one who abandoned my post in the middle of the mission to play cowboy.”
“The plan was doomed to fail the moment Na’varr won the fight. I knew it. You should have known it.” He stepped away and glanced at the captain. “You should have seen it a mile away, Na’varr.”
Raesa glanced between both men. A tightly veiled tension resonated between them. One that made her wonder if they were going to go to blows.
Na’varr remained quiet and her heart ached at his silence. Where was her confident lover?
“Why won’t you say anything, Na’varr?” Brom til
ted his head. “Once upon a time, you were ruthless.”
“If you’re talking about the foreman, I already told you, no killing if we can avoid it.”
“Why?” Brom shouted the question.
“If we leave a trail of dead bodies behind us, how are we any different than them?”
Brom stepped closer to the captain, pulling Raesa with him. “Is that the pirate captain or the blood prince talking? Because either way, leaving traitors in our wake will end up getting us all fucking killed.”
Raesa needed to stop this before they duked it out. “Brom.” She placed her palm against his chest. His muscles trembled beneath her touch.
Na’varr put a hand against his side. He looked like hell warmed over. Dust and god-knows-what-else covered his wounds. “No. He’s right, Raesa. I didn’t see where it went wrong. I still don’t know. The only one of us to have their heads on straight was Brom.” He clenched his jaw and his expression hardened. “It doesn’t excuse your insubordination. You had orders and you put Raesa’s life in danger.”
Brom glared at the captain. “Your orders would have gotten us all killed. You’re reckless, Na’varr. This is the third job we’ve faced where at least one of us ends up in a damn MEDbay. I’m sick of fixing your hot-headed maneuvers, captain.”
Na’varr’s fists clenched. His tone turned harsh, “I had it under control.”
“Which part?” Brom pushed Raesa’s hand aside and prowled closer. “The part where a metal head used you as a meat sack punching bag?” He tilted his head and moved in the other direction. Only Na’varr’s gaze followed the hybrid, the rest of him could have been carved in stone for his lack of movement. “Or maybe it was the moment the fucking insane cyborg who screwed us over the last time we dealt with him leveled a bone grinder at your stubborn head.”
“I’m arrogant?” Na’varr closed the distance between them and got into Brom’s face. “Your job was to protect Raesa. This was her first time out and look what your bullshit caused.”
“Hey,” she interrupted. “I was fine.”
Brom snorted. “It’s not about you being safe, Raesa. It’s about risk. Our captain thinks he should be the only one out there in the line of fire while we sit safely on the side lines. Well, guess what, you can’t do it on your own.”
“You’re full of shit, Brom.” Doubt tinged Na’varr’s voice.
Was the hybrid right? The reason Na’varr was doing all this insane stuff was to keep them safe?
Brom stood close enough to swing at Na’varr, and for a split second, Raesa wondered if he would welcome it. “I saved your ass, and you know it. You want to be suicidal, fine. But don’t hide behind your, ‘I’m the captain and you follow me to your death bullshit’ when you screw up.”
Oppressive silence blanketed the room and Raesa cleared her throat.
“Speaking of which. How did you know things were going wrong?” She thought the fight was pretty stupid to begin with, so she couldn’t figure out what, exactly, triggered the hybrid’s sudden urge to move to a sniper position.
“Experience.” He backed away from Na’varr and winked at her. “Don’t worry, hellcat. You’ll get wiser as you grow older.”
Frikkin’ A, he pissed her off sometimes. “You have got to be kidding me. Brom, you can’t be five years older than I am. Do hybrids live extra-long lives or something?”
The cold stare he pierced her with stopped her dead in her tracks. What the hell was up with that? Confusion warred with her irritation. Men or cats didn’t matter. They were all mysterious assholes when the wind blew a new direction.
“Get to MEDbay. Those wounds need tending to.” Chilling indifference snapped the words like strikes against her heart.
He made her dizzy with his personality shifts.
Brom glanced back at Na’varr. “I’ll hold the helm until you get back.”
Na’varr nodded and a little bit more of Raesa’s heart broke. How the hell would she fix this mess?
***
Raesa peeled the body suit from her sweaty skin, aching to have hot water wash away the bitterness of the entire day. She’d have to settle for an immersion bath in cleansing gel until they were jump ready.
She peeked at Na’varr from beneath lowered lashes, eying the scratches and scrapes on his toned body. Bruises were already forming on his ribs where the cyborg had struck a few lucky hits.
The ship shuddered in its movements, telling Raesa they were in far worse shape than she imagined. They needed to get scanned and cleaned up. After that, she would delve into the ship’s diagnostics to check the vessel’s stability. They weren’t in danger or Brom wouldn’t have sent them to MEDbay.
Her butt still burned from the attitude the giant cat threw their way. She chucked the suit into the cleansing bin and held out her hand for Na’varr’s clothes.
When he didn’t immediately hand them over she glanced up and caught him staring openly at her hip. Her gaze followed his line of sight to the ugly bruise forming on her skin. Damn that’s going to hurt tomorrow. “Looks much worse than it is. A little time in the MEDbay tube will fix me right up.”
He strode to her side and gently took her hand, easing it away from the injury. The lines in his face deepened and the brutal pain in his expression whipped away her irritation. She cupped his cheek. “Hey, I’m okay.”
“How did it happen?”
Raesa’s cheeks flushed hot. Brom wasn’t the only one who’d defied Na’varr’s orders. “I found more information we needed.”
His jaw clenched and he pierced her with his iron cold stare. The grip he had on her hand tightened. “So you took longer? How am I supposed to keep you both safe if you keep doing everything your way? I give orders for a reason.”
“Ease up, strong man.” She tugged her hand free of his hold. “It’s not my first bump, okay? I took a little longer and was rushed to leave after I hit the dome release switch. My feet got ahead of me on the stairs and I took a fall.” Right on top of a gray-skinned cyborg who was luckily too shocked at a woman being on his chest to actually react before she was out the door. There was no way in hell she’d tell anyone that part.
Na’varr crossed his arms. “Get into the bay now. We need to get you scanned to make sure nothing is broken.”
Raesa eyed the captain from top to bottom. “Of the two of us, I think you’re more likely to have broken bones than me, boss, but whatever you say.” She wasn’t arguing with the steel glint in his eyes.
She lifted the hatch and lay down in the tube. Na’varr shut it and she looked at him through the observation glass. The tube sealed and a soft rumble beneath her naked body signaled the scanner was ready to go.
“Raesa.” Brom’s voice came into her earpiece.
“What is it?” She was still irritated with him. Both of them.
If he noticed her snappy tone, he refused to rise to the bait. “Who’s in the tube right now?”
“Me, why?”
“Just checking. When you get done, I need you to come to the bridge and run a diagnostic. We took more of a beating than I expected. The jump drive won’t enable so I’ll have to take a walk about.”
Concern darkened her thoughts. He would be spacewalking to do outside repairs. Raesa drew in a slow breath. “Aren’t you worried about pursuit?” A light ran along her body and the strange tingling in her limbs told her the medical scan was in progress. Why wasn’t Na’varr chiming in?
“All the more reason to get you up here as fast as possible. Tell me when the scan is done and Na’varr is in the tube.”
His words made sense, but his calm and soothing voice was irritating the shit out of her. How could he go from ready to fight to Mr. Logic all of a sudden?
A blue flash of light caught her attention the moment something sharp pricked her arm. She blinked. Pain receded and a good portion of her ire melted away with it.
The tube hatch opened and she climbed out with a sigh. Na’varr held out his hand. She took it with hesitation, wondering if
his closed off expression meant an imminent lecture. He helped her to her feet and then pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.
Was he trembling? The last of her annoyance dissipated. Why did the two men she loved most in the world leave her an emotional wreck? “I swear I’m okay.”
“If I lost you-” Na’varr tightened his arms around her.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Love swelled in her chest. She caressed his bare back and pressed a kiss against the swirl tattoo over his heart. “You can’t get rid of me that easy. I promise.”
He kissed her forehead and let her go. “Your scan came back with a clean bill of health and some bruising. I’ll hop in and get a dose of feel-good juice and then I’ll find out why Brom hasn’t engaged the jump drive yet.”
The captain sat in the tube. He tried to hide the pain in his side, and she pretended to ignore it. He stretched out on the concave surface, and she took a moment to appreciate the delicious view. Fully naked, Captain Anderson Na’varr was a god among men. He trained constantly to maintain his body. Not for sport like those back on the Sakura station. No, the captain and his second were both men of war who relied on quick reactions to save their lives.
The bruising along his ribcage was worrisome. They were days away from civilization without a jump gate and a broken drive. This time he’d risked too much.
“Don’t look so sad, beautiful. The moment I get a clean bill of health, I’ll have you in my arms again.” He winked, but Raesa’s heart ached.
She stepped away. The hatch closed and she immediately turned to the scanning monitor.
“The captain is in, Brom.”
“Thank you. Keep an eye on his monitor for me, will you?”
“Of course.”
It didn’t take long to discover the cracked rib. No wonder he’d been so damn quiet after they made it to the air. The harness had dug a bruise formation in the already broken blood vessels. Every breath had to be agony.
“Raesa. How many ribs did he break?”
“One. Two bruised. The fracture can be healed, though.”
“That’s what I thought. He’s definitely going to kill me for this.”
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