Entropy

by Jess Anastasi

  “Are you going to kiss me, or just stand there and stare at me all night?” Her voice came out a little husky, and his lips kicked up slightly on one side, as though he liked that he could affect her without doing anything.

  “I don’t know. The view is pretty damn good.” His gaze dropped to the low-dipping V-neck of her top.

  She set a finger under his chin and brought his attention back up to her face.

  “You might not appreciate it as much when it’s my ass walking away from you.”

  “Impatient, are we?” His grin told her he didn’t mind that fact very much.

  “Not impatient, I just like to make the most of my time.” She backed out of his grasp, running her hands over her own curves. “But maybe I’ll just go have fun all by myself.”

  “Like hell.” He caught her again and pinned her up against the galley bench. “Gorgeous and brazen, just the way I like it.”

  He went to kiss her, but she stuck her hand in his face to stop him. “Let’s get one thing clear; this isn’t going to be one more conquest in a long line of faceless partners for you.”

  “Isn’t it just?” His tone had a slightly condescending edge to it that sparked her temper. She reached up and grabbed a handful of his hair, making him wince.

  “No, it isn’t. Because I’m not just anyone. So I better not find out you bragged to your drunken buddies about tonight. It’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

  He didn’t look the least bit worried, but he did slowly drop down to his knees. His hands landed on her hips, thumb finding the seam between her pants and T-shirt, brushing over her skin, the heat of his fingers almost shocking.

  “What if I beg, will that make it better?” From the suggestive tone of his voice, she got the feeling his idea of begging and her idea of begging were two completely different things. Her breath shortened as he lifted the hem of her shirt a little, lips feathering over her stomach gossamer-light.

  Reaching up, he pushed her jacket from her shoulders slowly, letting it drop to the counter behind her. Following that, he pushed up her T-shirt, revealing the plain black bra underneath. When he would have pulled her T-shirt off altogether, she hooked her hand into the edge of her bra cup and pulled it down, offering her nipple and distracting him from his task. No way was she getting naked in front of him. Not him or anyone else. Ever.

  Her ploy worked as she pulled his head closer, and he closed his mouth over the tip of her breast. She exhaled, long and uneven, sinking into the immediate pleasure as his tongue worked against the nipple, sending sharp sparks shooting through her body.

  Suddenly, he surged up, tipping her backward, still laving her breast as he set his hips between her open thighs. His already hard erection came up against her core, and despite all the clothes between them, it left her throbbing. She yanked impatiently at his shirt until he threw it off, leaving his chest gloriously bare. He had a swirling galaxy of stars inked across his left chest, ending just below his collarbone. The art was beautifully detailed, gorgeous, and definitely sexy.

  As though he could read her mind, knew how much she was aching, Qaelan’s hands shifted to her pants, unfastening them, tugging them down a little. Just enough to slip his hand into her underwear, his fingers finding her unerringly and without apology.

  Oh yeah. That was exactly what she needed. Only…

  Only, for some reason, the thought of empty, one-sided pleasure wasn’t doing it for her. The idea of her own hand wrapped around his hard length, the sound of him groaning in her ear, sent a hard and fast spurt of ecstasy through her and before she knew it, she’d worked his pants open and pulled his erection free.

  Just as she hoped, he groaned low and husky, his mouth leaving her over-sensitized breasts, skipping over her bunched-up T-shirt to land back on her skin at the base of her neck, tracking up until he took her mouth again.

  The kiss left her shuddering, his tongue sliding sensuously against hers, thickening her blood, making her heart pound harder. She stroked him, matching the rhythm he’d set with his fingers inside her. His hips bucked against her, thrusting into her palm, dragging her deeper into utter euphoria.

  “If you don’t stop that, this is going to end before we really get started,” he murmured, easing his body back a little, but keeping up the torturously wicked slide of his fingers into her over and over.

  She simply grinned, clamped her free hand on his ass, and pulled him back to her, not giving up her prize, not when she was so close to getting exactly what she wanted. She locked her ankles around his lower back just to be sure, shifting the angle of her hips, leaving his fingers going deeper.

  He cursed, straining against her, but not trying all that hard to escape. His mouth came down hard on hers, almost punishing, but it only amped her up even more. When his other palm landed on her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers, it was the final assault on her besieged senses.

  Her grip tightened around his erection involuntarily, causing his hips to jerk. She welcomed the typhoon roaring up within her, riding the satisfaction of him grinding against her hand, a guttural exclamation against her mouth because they were coming at the same time.

  The waves of pleasure lashed her, and she let herself drown in sensation. When the tide receded and she could breathe again, she collapsed back onto the bench, enjoying the last ebbing retreat of ecstasy. The tension she’d been carrying for she-didn’t-know-how long was blissfully absent.

  Qaelan dropped his head against her still-only-half-bare breasts, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs.

  “That was—” His voice was like smoky, dark bourbon, sending a pleasant aftershock rippling through her body. “Jezus, I don’t know what that was.”

  He sounded kind of dazed, which of course only made her more satisfied. At least she knew she wasn’t the only one who’d had their mind blown.

  After another long moment, he brought his head up to look down at her. His blue eyes had darkened, and he was looking at her like she was the most delicious thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

  “How about we hit the shower and take things up in bed?”

  She set a hand in the middle of his chest and urged him to straighten so she could sit up. Leaning in, she kissed him, shamelessly enjoying the way his mouth moved sensuously against hers.

  “That was amazing,” she murmured against his mouth. She pulled back, running a hand through his tousled hair. “But now I’m leaving.”

  Pushing him back a step, she slid down from the counter and then tugged her bra cup into place before letting her T-shirt drop down.

  “You’re joking, right?” There was a note of uncertain amusement in his voice.

  She pulled her pants back into place and refastened them. Damn it, wet panties. Not that she was complaining about the reason for them. A shower was definitely on the cards…just not with him.

  “Nope.” Leaning over, she grabbed her jacket. “Bye, Qaelan. Thanks.”

  She brushed by him, biting her lower lip to stop from laughing at his adorably stunned expression. He probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

  “Thanks?” he repeated, grabbing his T-shirt off the floor and using it to mop himself down before yanking his pants back into place. He then took to following after her as she trekked through his ship. “That’s it?”

  “I don’t do one-night stands.”

  He moved to cut her off as they reached the cargo bay. Without his shirt on, the tattoo, the sexy ruffled hair, and with his pants still unfastened, he was like a walking fantasy. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “That means I’m not having sex with you tonight. You got off, I got off. We’re both happy. Don’t make this into a thing.”

  Both his eyebrows hiked toward his hairline. “Don’t make it a thing?”

  She reached up to pat his cheek. “This repeating everything I say routine is cute, but I really have to go.”

  Pushing up on tiptoes, she kissed his cheek.

  “Totally worth it,” she murmured
, more to herself as she stepped back again.

  With one last, satisfied smile, she turned and walked to the hatchway.

  The last thing she heard before she stepped off the end of his ramp was Qaelan muttering, “Son of a bitch.”

  Chapter Four

  Rian’s face got acquainted up-close-and-personal-style with the padded mat as Varean came down on top of him and tried to pin him in place. Hefting the solid weight off him, Rian kicked free and rolled to his feet, wiping away the sweat on his brow with the back of his arm before it could drip into his eyes.

  Varean got to his feet more slowly, panting as he hiked his hands on his hip and eyed Rian in exasperation. “You about done for today? I told Ella I’d meet her around now.”

  Rian shoved back his sweat-dampened hair, beads on his wrist clinking together, restless irritation still rolling through his veins hot enough to burn. The mention of Ella didn’t help. Temptation and aggravation rolled into one gorgeous package of serenity and courteousness. Sure, they’d been doing a great job of avoiding each other for the past twelve months, but it’d apparently only made his gut reaction to her that much more acute. Her simple presence set him on edge in a way nothing else had ever done—a potent mixture of irritation, awe, heat, and light. For someone like him, who existed and thrived in the darkness, she was the paradox of all that he’d become.

  “One more round.”

  Varean dropped his hands and lowered the center of his body, bending his knees slightly. “Okay, so you’re looking to be punished again today. Just like yesterday. Are you going to tell me what happened on that last run you and Qae took to get those transducers back for Blackstone, or am I just supposed to keep kicking your ass for the next week straight?”

  The restless irritation sparked into outright anger and he leaped forward, catching Varean with a hit to the jaw.

  Varean barely stumbled, simply ducked away from him and then shook it off. His retaliation was sudden and vicious, and Rian didn’t see it coming. Varean managed to catch him in the side with a sharp jab that left his ribs aching.

  And that was exactly why Varean and he had started this little regular sparring match. He didn’t need to worry about the darkness simmering within him, about losing his head and accidentally killing the guy. Varean—with his dual Reidar and Mar’keish parentage and commando training—was the one person who could maybe seriously take him down if the need ever arose.

  Instead of intimidating him, it actually gave him a measure of comfort. Because if the Reidar ever did manage to get their hands on him, if for some reason one day he lost the battle he constantly waged in his mind to keep the darkness at bay, then at least he knew there was someone out there who had half a chance of stopping him before he did too much damage to the universe.

  Besides, it wasn’t like he was taking advantage of the guy. Neither of them ever went easy on the other. Because of his Reidar DNA, Varean had almost as much bottled aggression and the same spectre of darkness hovering in the back of his mind as Rian. Over the past year they’d formed a deep bond, brothers forged by the Reidar in the darkest pits of hell. They understood each other, a little too well at times.

  Varean had gained his intimate knowledge of all things Reidar by being pulled into the hive-mind all Reidar shared and nearly being consumed by it. He’d survived and become stronger. Rian, on the other hand, had been captured by the shape-shifting aliens, tortured and experimented on for over a year before they’d completely taken over his psyche and turned him into the perfect killing machine. He’d been their tool, their assassin, their deadly shadow stalking the unsuspecting universe for years before something had snapped him out of the trance and he’d escaped; physically whole but psychologically beyond broken.

  With a regular outlet for the violence that lived inside him, Rian had actually settled. Wasn’t on edge all the time. Didn’t worry anymore he was going to blackout and accidentally kill someone.

  He breathed deeply through the ache in his side and then threw himself at Varean, driving him across the mats and into the wall with a thump. Varean simply laughed, grasping a handful of his T-shirt at the collar and locking his elbows to stop Rian from getting any closer.

  Clenching his teeth, he tried to break out of the hold, but before he could disentangle himself, Varean spun them around and flipped Rian over to land on his back hard enough to jolt the air out of his lungs.

  Varean dropped down on top of him, trapping his arms against the mat with vise-like grips on his forearms, and this time pressing his chest to Rian’s using his entire body weight to stop him from escaping.

  “Seriously, I can do this all day,” Varean drawled. “Want a black eye to match that bruise coming out on your jaw?”

  Rian bucked against him, but admittedly it was half-hearted.

  “You gonna tell me now?” Varean shifted his weight slightly, firming up his hold until Rian gave up straining against the pin and huffed a breath. Yep, he was done.

  “When are you two going to shag, already? This flirting has gone on long enough.” Qae leaned against the doorway of the room, arms crossed, expression indolent.

  “We’ve talked about this.” Varean tossed over his shoulder before Rian could say anything. “Two people beating the shite out of one another is not considered a healthy form of seduction.”

  Qae prowled into the room, arching an eyebrow. “Some of the best nights I’ve had started with me and someone else beating the shite out of each other.”

  “And people think I’m the twisted one,” Rian muttered as Varean rolled off him and he could finally draw a deep breath. He sat up and caught the towel Varean tossed him. He mopped it over his face as he regarded his cousin who seemed more restless than usual. “What are you doing here?”

  Qae sent him a faintly insulted look that was nowhere near serious. “I can’t come hang out in your fancy villa that Blackstone gave you? Since all but one of my crew abandoned me when I decided to stay on the Belt, pretty much everyone I know is here. What the hell else am I going to do?”

  Varean slung a towel around his neck. “I’m beginning to think you two should have been the ones hitting the mats today.”

  “No thanks. My insides are still aching from the last fight Rian got me into.” Though Qae’s tone was light, his expression had an edge to it. “Which wasn’t actually a fight, considering I was chained to the ceiling.”

  “Are you really still pissed over that?” Rian climbed to his feet and stretched out his aching muscles. The restless irritation he’d been trying to dispel was swiftly returning. “You agreed to the plan.”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know.” Qae sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “I had a shite night last night. Couldn’t sleep.”

  “So you decided to make it my problem?”

  Qae started to advance on him, but Varean got in between them, keeping them apart with a hand on each of their chests. “I might have spent the last hour working Rian down, but you take a swing at him, and this place is going to end up bloody.” Varean gave them each a shove, sending them both back a few steps. “Now, what the hell is up with you two?”

  “I’m fine. Rian is the one who’s skulking around, making me do most of the shite-hauling for freck all creds to keep the agreement he made with Blackstone. Hey, Rian, I think you had a ship, once, right? Where’d that end up, again?”

  Rian clenched his fists as the anger flared brighter and hotter, only just stopping himself from going through Varean to get to his cousin. The problem was Qae was right, even though he’d rather eat a round from his own nucleon gun than ever admit it.

  If it’d been anyone else, they’d be unconscious on the floor right now, if not dead. But Qae very rarely got in a bad mood, so whatever happened last night must have really done a number on him. Plus, being the charming asshole he was, Qae had proven he could get away with saying things to Rian and live to talk about it when others wouldn’t have.

  “Qae, you might want to walk away now,” Varean s
aid in a low, monotone voice like he was trying not to startle a wild animal. But there was also a hint of anger in the words, like he was pissed on Rian’s behalf.

  “All right, then.” Rian was surprised he actually sounded reasonable and managed to get a leash on the antagonism within him fairly quickly.

  Both Varean and Qae turned to look at him with varying expressions of surprise and confusion.

  “We’ll go get the Imojenna back.”

  Qae scowled. “We’ve been looking for the Imojenna for a year. It’s not like we’re just going to randomly fly out into the galaxy and find her parked at the first backward-ass mother-loving station we dock at.”

  “We’ve been playing it too safe.”

  He was really warming to the idea. Far past time he had boots back on the decks of his own ship. After losing Callan and Jensen, he’d been trying to protect the crew he had left—especially from one Reidar in particular named Baden Niels, who was currently wearing the face of a multi-galactic company CEO. Rian had unknowingly snatched Ella from Niels’s clutches and ever since then, the alien had been going out of his way to take both Ella and him. However, for some reason, the Reidar had never made a play for them while they were in the Belt, so he’d figured they were safe enough in Blackstone’s domain.

  But twelve fruitless months had dragged by and he was still shipless and no closer to working out what they were going to do about the Reidar invading their universe.

  “First thing tomorrow we’re heading out in the Ebony Winter, and we’re not coming back until we’ve found my ship.”

  “Frecking jezus in a juicer, Rian, you go from zero to a million in a nano second. That’s not what I—”

  Rian brushed by Varean and stopped in front of his cousin. “You do want me to get the Imojenna back, right? It’s not like you owe me or anything. Not like I didn’t get Tannin to hack the IPC and have your name and the Ebony Winter taken off their most-wanted list and all charges miraculously dropped so we’re free to fly your tiny little ship wherever we want in the universe.”