Seeing Stars

  “You forget the sodium chloride mine on Salicia.” Korm leaned against a small portion of hull. “And that she is not the type to fall in with your machinations or appreciate them when they come to light.” Captain Larrissa of the Nightsky clan had taught her son the art of political manoeuvring well.

  “There is one other thing.” Ash stood, resting one arm on the engine, happier than he’d been in months. Heaven was a mechanical thing for his bond-partner. He smirked, looking from the door and back to Korm, at the aggravation and impatience. “Captain Drew has you so aroused, you cannot think.”

  “You misread your own feelings.” Korm glared. He did not feel anything for the woman. Ash laughed. He twirled the tool in his fingers. The knowing look said it all. Ashwin and Kormec knew each other best.

  Drew could not believe that jerk. She slammed into the cockpit and tossed herself into the chair, already sending out the proper request for takeoff. Even if she hated his attitude, she admitted Korm was one sexy snob. He made her want to beat the shit out of him with her wrench, then turn around and beg him to fuck her. And Ash, she wanted to strip the clothes from him and lick every bit that was exposed. Didn’t she hear somewhere that kith partners did everything together? The thought was enough to make her brain overload. Her pussy shivered at the idea. Two men and enough skin between them to fuck and be fucked. She pressed her palm to her eye. Was she sick, or what?

  Kormec didn’t even like her. She didn’t like him, but here she was wondering what it would take to break that control of his, to feel Korm try to dominate her. ‘Cause, yeah, that man would dominate any sexcapade. Pandora, you are cleared for takeoff. Drew started out of her daydream. She glanced at the clock. Was the twenty minutes up already?

  Behind her, she heard the whoosh of the door. All her sensors showed the Pandora was locked up tight. “Sit and buckle up,” she ordered, privately thrilled when Korm did just that. A minor miracle to be sure. She almost hesitated, then ran the ignition sequence and felt the hum of the ship coming alive. No hiccups or choking marred the perfection of the vibration in her bones. “We’re out of here.”

  The days of manually guiding a vessel were mostly gone and Drew leant back as the ship’s nav computer and the port computer worked together to guide the ship out. For her passengers, she adjusted the opacity of the crystal-view, allowing the full effect as they passed the small sturdy cargo ships like the Pandora, the expensive yachts, and finally the massive beauty of the Starpath. The cruise-ship was designed for both extensive travel and to hold an entire city of people. A small city, but several thousand people at the very least. And Captain Larissa was their queen.

  Drew looked up, but did not stop Ash from pressing against the crystal-view. Both awe and sadness were easily readable. Korm, on the other hand, was inscrutable as ever watching the cruise-ship as if it would swoop down on them like a bird of prey. His eyes met hers—whatever shone in the steel colour was lost on her. “She will hunt you down and destroy you if she catches an inkling that you helped us.”

  Checking her heading was automatic. Drew’s lip curled just a bit. “She can try.” The Starpath and Celestial VIII station grew smaller behind her. In front, diamonds scattered across the black velvet of space. The sight quieted the agitation that had been growing inside her each day the Pandora was grounded. Fear that she’d never truly see the night sky again. If she were planet-side she could handle not being surrounded by the stars. Her first memories were of the wide open Texas sky and her dad, spinning ancient tales of the constellations so she could almost believe Atlas held the world on his shoulders.

  Drew inhaled the recycled air and stared at the stars. Yeah, that bitch Larissa could try to take her out. She’d paid off Mara’s murderer and stolen the sodium chloride deal, a pittance upside the major trade the Starpath did elsewhere. On the other hand, Drew had the winning gem that would eventually bring that scaly-assed bastard down. Not today, not even a few years from now. But eventually, she’d use the means Mara had left her to take her murderer down. So, yes, without any details, she was happy enough to ferry the men to the next stop if it meant being a thorn in Larrissa’s thieving backside.

  Morning was always how Drew thought of her wake cycle, no matter how long she strayed from Earth. Station bound, she’d missed this, relaxing in front of the opaque section of crystal-view in the rec room, sipping Djorlan tea before getting ready to face the day. The blend, an interesting mix of Earth tea and a similar Djor leaf, was stronger than coffee and a lot smoother. She silently rose her cup in a toast of the magnificent spread of space to the trader who came up with that particular idea. Savvy and supported by all the caffeine-drinking beings in the civilised cluster of unified planets. Not that Earth recognised the Cluster as the civilised hub of the universe. Drew’s home world had a long history of believing itself the centre, and if no one else believed they were wrong.

  She forced herself to relax—don’t think about the passengers—to maintain her morning ritual. Still, she had a hard time focusing on the media-pad for her news. She’d once heard that kith bonded-partners did everything together. Suddenly, she had a hard time sitting still in her comfy dining chair as she contemplated her new obsession—Korm and Ash. If she was lucky, they were still asleep in the one other cabin of the Pandora. Giving them Mara’s old space didn’t bother her as much as the idea of them sleeping, alone in the cabin. She wondered if the two wore anything to bed. They didn’t have any luggage, her imagination whispered.

  Drew pressed the heel of her hand against her temple. Great, now the image was seared into her subconscious. Tall and muscular Korm and lean, elegant Ash. Her nipples pebbled against the thin tank, leaving nothing to anyone’s imagination. Her pussy clenched, dampening her sleep shorts in a reminder of how little she wore underneath. The media-pad, with its access to the galaxy-wide net, beckoned her to verify the rumour. Focus. Drew looked down, noticing that her fingers had done the search for her. Her opposite hand brushed against her breast, making her nipple ache with need.

  Gah! She needed to get a grip. Her increasingly naughty conscience told her exactly what parts she’d like to grip. No, she’d get another cup of tea, read her news, and prove she didn’t need her brains fucked out.

  “I hope you do not mind.” Ash held up the second media-pad, the one that had belonged to Mara. She nearly choked at the all the damp nakedness, covered by a single worn towel. A smooth sculpted chest tapering into an honest-to-God six-pack made her hands clench around her mug. She could almost see the outline of his—well, she wasn’t in the habit of lying to herself. The size of that package should make him pretty proud to be a man. She was proud to be in the same room with that. His voice blinked her from her lust-induced stare. “I found this in the cabin and borrowed it.”

  “Use what you need.” She fought against the urge to blurt out that she wanted that towel back. Gesturing with the mug, she said, “There’s tea if you like.”

  Ash stopped, his shadowy grey eyes focused on her mug, then shifted a few inches to the side on her peaked nipples. “Yes, I’d like.” An enigmatic tug of his lips revealed the tips of fangs she’d read were mainly used to mark their mated-partners in sex. “Very much.”

  “Umm. Help yourself.”

  “I will.” The heat in his look made her crotch go from just damp to wet and abso-fucking-desperate to be filled. Gods everywhere smiled on her, giving her the best view of his ass, playing peek-a-boo through the straight drying sheet of hair that hit just below the luscious tight buns. A thought teased at her about that hair, but she pushed it away, preferring to think of how the wet mass would feel.

  “The refresher is not working.” Tall, muscled and snobbish ruined her fantasy as soon as he opened his mouth. Korm, wet hair slapping at the top of this shoulders, hefted a handful of clothes. Drew kept the moment in her mind alive as long as possible, taking in both the soiled laundry and the impressive outline of his cock, as she sipped her tea. She raised one eyebrow while dirty, raunchy
thoughts played havoc in her mind. “I require the use of the one in the captain’s cabin.” In the end, Korm’s scowl cooled her down.

  “The deal was fix the engine and I’ll take you to my next port.” She stalled, leaning back in her chair, taking unnatural pleasure in the way his eyebrows pinched in the middle. “Not for laundry service.” Truthfully, the refresher in her cabin didn’t work either. She smirked, standing. “Besides, as you can see, Korm, I really don’t give a damn about clothes or your lack of luggage.”

  “The window of opportunity only allowed for us to take a few important easy-to-carry items. It is not a problem, though. I can fix the refresher.” Ash’s reasonable tone didn’t make a dent in Korm’s attitude or the scowl that he aimed at Ash for the revelation. Drew wanted to grin like the devil, but Ash held out a mug, swapping it for the laundry. His dark grey eyes held secrets and intimacies of the dark. “Both of them.”

  “Well, there you go, Korm.” Every time she said the nickname, she swore he cringed. Her grin widened in devilish glee as she headed to the cockpit. “One refresher coming up. Have fun, boys.” The last she tossed over her shoulder with a wave. She swore she could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth.

  “Attention,” her voice spoke with quiet calm over the ship’s com, “please shut down all auxiliary power and all systems not needed for life-support.” Korm had been born and bred aboard a spaceship. Survival in space depended on listening and obeying the captain. And while the woman grated on his every nerve, he stood, going the opposite direction as Ash left the still unusable refreshers to switch off equipment.

  In the back of his mind, he could feel his bond-partner’s hum of desire for the woman. The feeling was irritating, insidiously colouring his own reactions so that he imagined turning her scantily-clad buttocks over his knee when she deliberately baited him. The problem was, he wanted to do more than apply his hand in retribution. He wanted to slide his hand under the hem of her shorts and feel if she was as wet as her turgid nipples hinted. Shaking the thought away, he blamed Ash—Ashwin, and his plan for freedom—for his uncharacteristic feelings. The hush of the ship, the small lights placed by the floor to aid in navigation, contributed to the fantasy of her heart-shaped mouth on his cock. On cue, his member twitched under the towel as he imagined her kneeling between his feet, her mouth put to good use for a change. Those blue eyes, the colour of gems, constantly teased and tormented him. Frowning, he adjusted the towel and went in search of Captain Roberts.

  Murmuring voices reached out to him as he reached cockpit. He sat in the empty co-pilot’s chair, noting the sideways glance she gave him.

  “Think on my offer.” Ash’s eyes met his though the words were obviously for her.

  Drew raised one eyebrow, her harbinger of vitriol to come. “So, aren’t you wondering what we’re whispering about?”

  “No.” He looked out of the crystal-view and into the comforting void. “I could not care less.”

  “Oh, yes, you do.” There was a controlled edge to her that she lacked before in their earlier battles. The lack of reckless sexual banter made him pay attention at her mocking chuckle. Even in the dim light of the ships control panel, he could tell it wasn’t a happy laugh by the sound of it. “But then, who am I to argue with royalty?”

  The ship was mostly silent. The men were fairly quiet too with her revelation. Drew stood, holding back the anger that threatened to explode from her. She’d been duped damn good this time.

  “We are not royalty.” Ash’s low statement brought the fire she’d banked to the fore.

  “Really? I’m sure that’s news to the Djor.” Drew threw her hands into the air. “Skid captain wanted in connection to Nightsky clan/Djoran Comptess wedding of the season. It was a good article,” she spat. “I’ll give you both that.” She pointed to the black velvet view, then cut her ire back to Korm. “Can you guess why we’ve cut all power, kith-ra? Because the fucking GI Guard is out there hunting the Pandora’s IP signal.” She advanced on him, poking one tiny index finger into the chiselled plane of his chest. “And can you fucking guess who that skid is? Eh, genius?”

  “Do not say that.” Why now, of all times, he picked to attempt civility she didn’t know, or care.

  Drew slapped at his hands as he grasped her arm. She laughed, furious and refusing to cry. God she was going to lose everything. “Me! I’m the fucking skid they want.” Mara was gone, the one sole possession of her friend’s that mattered would end up in a GI Guard lockup. And would it matter anyway? She’d hang. Literally, because hanging was the most effective means of public execution. Her unfettered hand went to her throat. The other she jerked, unsuccessful in freeing herself from the asshole. “Let me go, Korm. When do you fucking care about a skid?”

  “Enough!” He shook her, not hard, but enough to bump backwards into Ash. “Your language is bad enough, but you will cease this self-derogatory path.” His arms came around her, grasping her upper arms from behind. Every hot inch of him pressed against her back, throwing their foolish game of ‘no one’s going to get dressed until the refreshers were fixed’ into the stupid light of day. His cock moved and swelled against her ass.

  He wanted to play nice guy now? Well, fuck that. She slapped at Korm even as he invaded her space, damn him. Her libido and her anger were running on the same temperature, core meltdown. “This is just a fucking game to you guys. Well, it’s my life!”

  Ash’s breath felt almost cool against her heated skin. She shivered twice, the second as his hair slid across her shoulder. “Think about my proposition.”

  “To hire you?” Drew shook her head. “You’re fucking Captain Larissa’s son. The Skypath’s heir.”

  “Actually, I was hoping you would be the one doing that.” His cock pressed again the seam of her ass. “And this is a different proposition entirely.” Drew swallowed—she was afraid of that. Dangerous men. She should say no. “Say yes,” Ash urged her as she stared into Korm’s steel gaze. She couldn’t fathom what he was even thinking, not with that breath feathering over the back of her skin. She couldn’t help it, the moan escaped as her head fell back to rest on Ash’s chest. “Say yes to us.”

  “Why? Korm doesn’t even like me.” The man in question settled a hand on her waist, pulling her towards him. Her flesh met his in a silken slide. His penis pressed against her belly, large and hard, and free of the towel he’d stubbornly worn all day.

  “You do not know what I like, woman.” Those steel eyes bored into hers, kith fang flashing as he spoke. Drew’s hand settled on his bare hip, the hot skin searing her palm. “Are you brave enough to find out?”

  “Fuck you, Korm.” The words held little heat. All her fire was centring in her core, weeping more as Ash rubbed a fascinating path up and down her ass crack. One hand found her left breast, while the other held her so each hip was grasped by a different man.

  “What do you want, Captain Drew Richards?” Ash was the voice of sin, while Korm pulled her thigh up, pressing the thick heavy length of himself against her swollen pussy. She couldn’t think. Not rationally. “Do you want one, or both?” they stilled, simultaneously, pulling a whimper from her at the loss of sensation. “Or neither. Say no and we’ll let you alone.” Breath whispered along her skin, lips touched, then softly sucked against the side of her neck, but neither responded to her squirm for them to begin again. It was maddening. “Pick, my captain.”

  Drew moaned, making a growl of frustration. “You have to say it,” Korm ordered, bringing her eyes open and drawing the fire back to her surface. “Say it, lady.” Her chest heaved in frustration as she rubbed enticingly against his very rigid cock. “Say what you want.”

  “Bite me, Kormec.” Drew growled at his laugh.

  “Is that what you really want?” The steely eyes mocked her. Bastard. Drew twisted her hand, trying to get free. “I’ll bite you, lady, but it comes with a steep price.”

  “Fuck me. Damn you both.” She shoved back, wanting to be free to vent the fury and
lust running through her veins. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me. Fuck. Me,” she spat at him. “Is that clear enough?”

  “One or both?” the silken voice with the hands of iron breathed in her ear. Fucking bastard had the gall to suck on it too. Drew shuddered a moan at the pure sensation travelling to her already throbbing core.

  “Sadist. Both.” Hot dangerous men surrounded her. She felt like a meteor, burning its way through the atmosphere. Her tank disintegrated in a rip down the front. Her shorts were jerked down, disappearing under her feet and kicked aside before Korm’s large hand covered her pussy. She thought she’d pass out from the pleasure. Then there was Ash rubbing first up her ass, then down against her swollen pubis. She tried to reach for Korm, only to have him trap her hands again in one large grip. Ash pulled her further against his chest, tilting her back. “I want to touch you.”

  “Not this time, lady.” Korm’s fingers slid against her slit, burying in the wetness. Back and forth, they achieved a rhythm. Ash riding her ass while Korm’s fingers teased her clit, pinching a mangled scream of pleasure from her. His fingers slid in and out, bringing a ragged sob as she tried to force him deeper. Instead, Ash changed position, bending her over to push inside her body. He hit bottom with a growl. She didn’t know if it was satisfaction or dominance. Or care. Thrusting again brought a strangled sound from both of them.

  “No, damn you.” Ash’s voice roughened as Korm’s fingers slid between her legs, this time finding more than her clit to tease. “I won’t last.”

  Korm’s answering chuckle was dark and knowing. “She can take it.”

  “Korm…” Drew forgot her intent as Ash’s cock rubbed her depths. “I—I want you in my mouth.”

  His growl was punctuated by deft fingers pinching her clit again. His mouth descended, hot and wet on her breast, his canine teeth pressed warningly against her flesh while his tongue swirled against her nipple. Ash, thrust hard against her, the sudden breath of his stiffening body sent Drew spiralling in a shout that mingled with hers. He slumped, sliding out with a shudder that scattered his hair over her body. “I wanted to wait.”