by Lolita Lopez
When Orion gestured to the door, Menace took a step back. His end of the bargain complete, he was ready to retreat to his quarters. Penny’s hand on his arm stopped him. She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Menace.”
He nodded stiffly and watched her enter the hospital room with Orion. He hoped Flare would be pleased with her. She seemed like a nice woman. They had a good chance of being happy together if they could work out their cultural differences.
As he traversed the ship, Menace couldn’t shake the conversation he had shared with Dankirk. The man’s words played on a loop in his head. Dankirk had said Naya didn’t love him but it was clear her friend loved her. He seemed extremely protective of her. His assertion that being Grabbed was the best thing that could have ever happened to Naya still surprised Menace. There weren’t many men on Calyx who supported the Grabs.
The memory of the notebook with its coded entries bothered him. Had he been wrong to take it back and keep it from Cipher? It felt so intrusive to go through her private things. They were only just establishing trust between them. If he sent her notebook back to Cipher and had him decode it, she would be furious. To her, it would be a betrayal.
He slipped inside their quarters as quietly as possible and dropped her bag on the entryway table. He had hoped to get into their bedroom and undress without waking her but she was too light a sleeper. The dimmed lights in their bedroom switched on and she appeared in the open doorway. He enjoyed the sight of her sleepy face and mussed hair. “Hey.”
“You’re back early.”
“Zeph flies like a bat out of hell.”
“The woman? She’s okay?”
He nodded. “She’s with Flare now. I think they’re a good match.”
Naya grinned. “Better than us?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
She started to say something else but her gaze fell on the entryway table. Shock slackened her face. “Where did you get that?”
He brushed his fingers across the well-worn leather. “A friend of yours.”
“Friend? Jennie?” She sounded so hopeful.
He shook his head. “I met a man named Dankirk tonight.”
“Danny was the fixer on the job tonight?”
“He was.” Menace held her gaze. “I suppose I don’t have to ask if you were a member of the Red Feather?“
“I was.” She didn’t even try to lie. “We—they’re—just political dissidents. They bring medicine and technology to those who need and want it. They work to keep elections in The City as fair as possible. They help get sick people to hospitals in the colonies and aid in immigration efforts.”
“Illegal immigration,” he countered. “It’s illegal to move people from your planet to the colonies without visas and proof of sponsorship from legal citizens of those colonized installations.”
Naya crossed her arms. “Are we really going to have a political argument at four in the damn morning?”
“No.” Menace sighed. “Here.” He picked up the bag and held it out. “It’s been searched and cleared.”
She hesitated before walking toward him. “My pistol?”
He shook his head. “It’s been confiscated. I’ll petition to have it returned as soon as possible. If we get it back, it goes right into my gun safe, understood?”
“Yes.” She took the bag and hugged it to her chest. “I never thought I’d see this again.”
“Your friend seemed determined to get it back to you.” Menace couldn’t help himself. “Was he your lover?”
“What? Why would you ask me that?”
“Was he?”
“Why? Are you jealous?”
“Naya—”
“Yes, once,” she answered angrily. “Danny and I had sex once. More than a year ago,” she added. “It wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful. No, he didn’t make me come. There! Are you satisfied with that answer, master?”
She spat the word so harshly that he flinched. Realizing he had been an absolute jackass, Menace wiped a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, Naya. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“Why the hell do you even care, Menace? Didn’t you tell me that the past is the past?”
“I did.” Reluctantly he admitted, “Maybe I am jealous. That man knows you so well. He knows your secrets. He’s spent a lifetime with you. How the hell do I compare with that?”
“You don’t.” She tossed the bag back onto the entryway table. When she slid her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest, Menace couldn’t breathe. “We’re building something new and different. What we had or didn’t have with other people doesn’t matter. This right here?” She squeezed him. “This is what matters.”
His eyes closed briefly as the tension in his gut eased. Her correct assessment of the situation calmed him. Menace cupped her sweet face and captured her mouth in a tender kiss. Remembering his earlier promise, he swept her into his arms. “I’m pretty sure I said we were going to pick up right here.”
She squirmed in his arms. “Maybe you could get undressed first. I’ve got the handle of a pistol jamming right into my butt.”
Menace snorted. “I’ve got something I’d like to jam in your—”
Naya clapped her hand over his mouth. With narrowed eyes, she warned, “Finish that sentence and you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”
Chuckling, Menace set her down in their bedroom and started to strip out of his tactical vest and holsters. “You’re starting to sound like a wife.”
“Keep it up, Menace. One good kick and you’ll sound like a choirboy.”
“Ouch,” he said with a laugh. Pressing his thumb to the keypad of the gun safe installed in his closet, Menace unlocked and stored away his weapons. He removed his boots and shed his clothing.
Naked and already hard for Naya, he left the closet and found her sliding back into bed. The undershirt she had been wearing had been dropped on the floor. He would have to talk to her about neatness tomorrow. Desperate to get his hands on her again, he lifted the bedcovers and slipped in beside her. She came right to him.
When she tried to throw a leg over him to gain the more dominant role, he shook his head and pressed her fully onto her back. “Not tonight, sweetheart.”
Pinned beneath him, she breathed excitedly but didn’t fight him. She was getting used to being submissive to him. Her face flushed and her pupils seemed to dilate. The instant reaction she had to his dominance over her made his cock throb.
Menace captured both of her wrists in one hand and dragged them above her head. He nuzzled her neck. “I’m going to give you a choice. I’ll cuff you to the headboard or I’ll hold you down like this. Either way, I’m going to fuck you senseless.”
Shuddery breaths breezed across his cheek. “Hold me down.”
As need raced through him like a wildfire, Menace claimed her mouth in a possessive, demanding kiss. She arched under him. Still gripping her wrists in one hand, he used the other to caress her silky skin. Her dark nipples were tight peaks now. They begged to be licked and pinched and sucked.
By the time he’d finished tormenting her breasts with his mouth and fingers, Naya practically sobbed. He let his hand slide down her belly and forced her thighs wide open with his knee. His fingers explored her pussy. She was soaking wet in her desperation for him.
Rising up on his knees, Menace angled his body just so. His rock-hard cock found its target. He thrust forward into her welcoming slick heat. Naya cried out and tried to lift her arms but he held her wrists too firmly. The knowledge that she was completely at his mercy rippled through her. He felt it when her pussy clenched him.
“Now,” Menace said with a teasing lilt, “let’s see how much it takes for me to convince you that I am your master…”
Chapter Twelve
Four Weeks Later
“I don’t understand why this is so complicated.” Naya tried to suppress her frustration with the clerk in the clothing department but it was proving difficult. “I gave you the name of the
warehouse on Calyx. How hard is it to import two cases of shirts and pants?”
The older Harcos male shot her a pissed-off look. He manned his computer console as if he were a sentry guarding state secrets. “I can’t force them to trade with us. They won’t meet our terms for import taxes and fees. Unless you want to pay the difference, those boxes aren’t leaving Calyx.”
“This is ridiculous.” Naya rubbed her forehead and tried to think of a way to deal with the red tape. “Look, where I can get a copy of the trading agreements and tax fees and all that?”
The man pointed to the scanner on the corner of his desk. “Scan your chip. I’ll have the relevant files sent to your personal tablet.”
Naya waved her hand in front of the scanner until it beeped. “Thank you.”
Annoyed, she left the store and made her way into the retail sector of the ship. Now that she and Menace had been together for more than thirty days, there was no issue of her being taken by another male. He had taken her off restrictions two weeks earlier as long as she had an escort, usually Hallie because no man on this ship would dare bother the wife of the general.
Naya glanced around the bustling shopping center. Her gaze fell on an empty storefront. The idea Hallie had seeded all those weeks ago about opening a store here had taken hold and sprouted. At the wives meeting earlier, Naya had confided her dream to Hallie. She planned to familiarize herself with the laws and rules before she made any concrete plans. Money would probably be an issue but she had a good chunk waiting for her in a bank on Safe Harbor. If it was enough and the laws were in her favor, she would talk to Menace and see what he thought about her idea.
There was no doubt in her mind that he would support her. Bit by bit, her sexy sky warrior had chipped away at the wall she had erected around herself. There had been arguments in the last month and there were times she really wanted to whack him upside the head with the nearest heavy object, but he truly was the most honest, loyal man she had ever met.
That he absolutely adored her, even when she was acting like a raging bitch, still left her feeling a bit uneasy. Her experience taught her to be wary of any man who thought that her waspish tongue was “cute”. She tried to take their relationship day by day, but it was hard sometimes. She felt as if the ground was constantly shifting beneath her feet.
Crossing to the elevator bank, Naya caught movement out of the corner of her eye. At first she didn’t even see him but then his one-eyed, scarred face registered. Her stomach coiled painfully. What the hell was he doing here?
Naya hastened her pace and squeezed into the already filled elevator. She dismissed the irritated glances of her fellow passengers. There was no way she was going to wait for the next car, not with Creeper McCreepypants giving her the stink-eye.
A week ago, Naya had overheard Menace talking to Vicious about Terror and his team leaving on a new mission. Her eavesdropping had confirmed her suspicion that Terror was no mere logistics clerk—and that he was incredibly dangerous to her. Knowing he was back onboard the Valiant made her knees knock together.
While Terror was away and no longer posing an immediate threat, Naya had been able to convince herself that Menace didn’t need to know all the ugly details of her teenage years. She had done her research and learned that the things she had done were in a gray area when it came to the statute of limitations.
Menace kept telling her the past was the past and it couldn’t be changed. He had overlooked her involvement in the Red Feather, but if he ever found out about the other things she had done? Naya’s chest ached with the very real possibility that he would turn his back on her.
When she reached the floor where the armory was located, Naya stepped off the elevator. The guard at the doorway seemed surprised to see her but he scanned her wrist and waved her through to the office Menace occupied. She had come down here with him twice, both times only to grab something he needed from his desk.
No doubt he wouldn’t be thrilled that she’d broken protocol to visit him while he worked, but the thought of making the long trek back to their private quarters with Terror hot on her heels made her sick. There were too many infrequently used corridors where the frightening Shadow Force soldier could snatch her.
She rounded a corner—and slammed into a very familiar chest. “Oof!”
“Naya?” Menace grasped her shoulders and set her back on her feet. “What are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to see you.” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she hadn’t been followed.
Menace cupped her chin and peered down at her. An expression of concern colored his face. “Are you okay? You look scared.”
Naya licked her lips. “I thought someone was following me.”
He caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “Did you go to the med bay for your mandatory head check?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not crazy!”
“I didn’t say you were. Space sickness is a very real threat, sweetheart. You’ve gone from spending every day of your life on solid ground to spending…what? Thirty-three days in space? It can affect your mind.”
She huffed loudly. “I don’t have space sickness. I thought Terror was following me.”
Menace reeled back in surprise. “Terror? He’s back on the ship?”
“I just saw him in the retail sector.”
“He was probably trying to catch up with you to talk. I know he’s terrifying on the outside but he’s a really great guy when you get to know him.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Menace cracked a smile and checked his watch. “I’m off-duty in half an hour. You want to come back to my office and watch me finish inputting some data? We can grab dinner when I’m done.”
Relieved that he would let her stay, she happily nodded. “I’d love that.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders and led her to his office. The space was cramped and hot. Menace gestured to the chair in front of his desk but she ignored him, choosing instead to slide onto the empty space next to this workstation.
Chuckling, Menace dropped into his chair. “You are the prettiest damn paperweight I’ve ever seen.”
“You could hire me on as your assistant. I could perch right here every day and brighten up the place.” Naya crossed her legs, making sure to show off as much skin as possible. It wasn’t often that she wore skirts back on Calyx but up here on the ship she’d rediscovered her childhood love of them.
Menace had discovered his love of the garments as well. His hand moved to her bare leg. He stroked her skin. “Temping offer, sweetheart, but I don’t think I would get much work done.”
“Probably not,” Naya agreed, only too aware of his raging libido. She grasped his hand and returned it to his desk. “Finish your work so we can go home and play.”
“We might not make it home,” Menace grumbled and picked up the stack of shiny silver cards on his desk. He scanned them one by one and tapped information into the empty fields on the big touchscreen monitor mounted on his desk.
“What are you doing?”
“I spent the morning certifying the first group of soldiers to use the new weapons we’ll be receiving tomorrow. It’s the newest version of a plasma gun. It’s supposed to be ideal for urban warfare.”
“I see.” Naya didn’t like the sound of that. If the men in this sector of Harcos operations were gearing up for urban warfare, it meant they had identified the locations of rumored terrorists on Calyx. She feared what that would mean for the innocent people down there who would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.
Menace paused his scanning and tapping and pointed to a small digital catalogue on top of a pile of similar weapons catalogues. “The specs are in there if you’d like to see them.”
Naya picked up the lightweight catalog and swiped her finger over the touchscreen to activate the sales pitch. Images of explosions and terrifyingly large soldiers decimating enemy forces popped onto the screen. The bright-white bursts from the muz
zles burned right through armor, clothing and skin. The gaping holes left in the bodies smoked and sizzled. Twenty seconds into the pitch, she’d seen enough and stopped it. “Gross.”
He chuckled. “But effective.”
“You realize that the people down on Calyx are farmers and millers and tradesmen. I mean, dentistry is considered magic to some of those people in the far-flung corners of our civilization. Do you really need a weapon like this?”
“It’s not your people we’re worried about, Naya. We know that the Harcos faction of insurgents, the Splinters, are here. That bombing four years ago in The City near our embassy had all the trademarks. There’s no doubt they’re trying to sow seeds of dissatisfaction down there to gain followers and fighters for their dwindling army.”
“So what? You’re going to hunt them down with those guns? What if you shoot the wrong people?”
Menace didn’t glance up from his scanning and typing. “That’s war, Naya. Collateral damage is acceptable.”
Naya didn’t think. She pulled back her fist and punched him hard on the shoulder. “How can you say that? Collateral damage? Those are people, Menace!”
He frowned and rubbed his shoulder. “That hurt.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she replied sarcastically. “That was collateral damage from my anger at your indifference.”
Menace’s jaw tightened. “What do you want me to say, Naya? That we never make mistakes? I’m no liar. Sometimes innocent people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can’t change that. I won’t sit here and lie to you by promising you that these weapons will only be used against terrorists.”
“Okay and what happens when these weapons get into the hands of those Splinter guys?”
“They won’t.”
His arrogance burned her already frayed nerves. “You can’t know that, Menace. Hello! Your people have imposed a weapons ban on Calyx for centuries, yet we have weapons. You confiscated one from me, remember?”