Entropy

by Jess Anastasi

  Qae turned and headed back up the stairs, Cami a step behind him. The woman was trouble walking. Obviously, Qae hadn’t had the first clue what he’d be getting himself into when he’d kissed her in the bar the night before last. No doubt he was now wishing he’d never laid eyes on her.

  Chapter Nine

  Qae tugged Cami up the stairs and headed for the captain’s cabin, unable to decide if he was roundly impressed with her latest tactic against him or completely infuriated.

  His ship. She’d messed with his ship’s systems. People had died for less.

  As soon as they stepped through the door of his quarters, he used her cuffed arm to swing her around and press her up against the wall.

  “What did you do to my ship?” he murmured in a low voice, teasing, yet with a hint of deadly warning to the tone.

  She stared at him for a long moment, shifting against him like she was uncomfortable having him so close.

  “I’ll tell you if you promise not to go back on your word that we’ll work together.”

  A beat of frustration pulsed through him. “I told you, I don’t break my promises.”

  “Then promise me you won’t tell, because otherwise Rian will kick me off the ship.” Her expression took on an imploring edge.

  “Cami—” He didn’t like keeping things from his cousin. The two of them were putting him in a hard place. Not the kind of hard place he usually enjoyed.

  “Just until we leave the Belt and he can see working together is the better option.”

  He sighed and pushed back from her so their bodies were no longer pressed together, but kept his arms braced against the wall and her trapped. It was an illusion, though. No doubt she had the skills to escape him whenever she wanted.

  “Fine. Just tell me what you did so I can fix it.”

  Her expression actually turned sheepish. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “What?” Now he was completely stumped. He hadn’t sobered up enough to have this conversation.

  “I didn’t do anything. I was just bluffing so you wouldn’t let Rian get rid of me.”

  A small smile slipped over her face, though clearly she was trying to contain it, like she was waiting to make sure he thought it was funny before really laughing about it.

  All he could do was shake his head. She’d outwitted them all. “You’re diabolical.”

  “Thank you.” And now she was looking all self-satisfied, no doubt considering she’d won another point on the tally they’d both lost track of hours ago.

  He really needed to hit the mattress and sleep off the remaining effects of half the night spent at Wyl’s bar. But before he did that, he was going to make sure he got one up on her in return. And now, he was fully prepared to fight dirty.

  “Come on.” He pushed off from the wall and tugged her across his room and into the privy.

  “What are you doing?” For the first time, she sounded worried about the fact they were cuffed together.

  “Shower. Then bed.” He pulled his shirt off one handed, but then realized that because of the cuffs, he couldn’t remove it altogether. Or put on a clean shirt. Damn.

  “I’m not getting in the shower with you!” She dug her heels in, gaze following his hands to where they’d dropped to unbuckle his belt.

  After everything, showering with him was where she drew the line? He was surprised, because the first few hours they’d been cuffed together, she’d unashamedly used the hot spark between them and his promise not to touch her as an initial play to unsettle him, getting into his personal space, brushing against him, teasing him into insanity. What had changed since then that the idea of them naked together was making her balk?

  “I didn’t say we were getting in the shower. I’m getting in the shower. You can do whatever the hell you want, starting and ending with uncuffing us whenever you’re ready.”

  Qae shucked his pants and kicked them to the side, then stepped toward the shower stall to tab on the water, not bothering to look back at her. Whether she was checking him out was incidental. He had no hang-ups about his body or his sexuality—that was all other people’s issues.

  Cami shifted to lean against the wall with a sigh that sounded tired, and he ended up cutting her a quick glance she didn’t notice. Truthfully, he felt for her. Which was why he’d ended up agreeing to work with her in the face of her father’s wrath, when any other sane person would have been trying to extract themselves from the middle of a messy situation like that.

  He couldn’t imagine what it’d be like having Rene Blackstone for a father. Clearly, Cami was stifled under her father’s rule. He wasn’t dumb enough to wonder why she hadn’t gone elsewhere and started a new life on her own. She couldn’t. It’d be like living on the run. Always looking over her shoulder. Different name, different look, unable to be herself. Always worrying someone would work out who she really was and use her against her father.

  Something else was going on beneath the surface. His head might have been a little foggy from the late night and copious amounts of alcohol, but he’d caught the short emotional exchange with her father before Cami had cut it off. Something that had happened to her in the past, the reminder of which she saw in the mirror every day. The circumstances that had spurred her father into becoming even more protective than he otherwise might have been. Had someone attacked her, left some kind of scarring on that gorgeous body of hers?

  He was a sucker, but he’d never been able to walk past someone in trouble or people who needed help. It was why he’d struck out beyond the law after resigning his commission with the IPC military when the Assimilation Wars had ended. Because he’d seen the IPC weren’t always willing to help the little people, the everyday people. The people flung out in the far reaches of the outer systems who didn’t have the same easy access to tech and creds and sometimes even the most basic medicines and amenities.

  Maybe he hadn’t made a difference on a large scale, but he’d made a difference in small ways to the lives of people who were worth more than the shitebag politicians, CEOs, and military brass sitting pretty in the central systems. Most of whom had turned out to be frecking Reidar, anyway.

  So his damned conscience and bleeding heart had kicked in, and he hadn’t been able to do anything except agree to Cami’s deal, because he hadn’t wanted to watch her father drag her out of his ship and maybe damage that blindingly bright and brash personality of hers.

  Now, however, she looked about done in, and he wanted to suggest she give up the game for her own sake, but knew she wouldn’t agree.

  “Cami, if you want to take a shower, I promise I won’t try anything. You look like you could use it.” His voice came out about as serious as it ever got, and she met his gaze with wary surprise.

  “Now who’s trying to look after who?” she asked, tossing his words from earlier at the bar back to him.

  He gave a careless shrug. “That’s what partners do. We are in this together, aren’t we?”

  She nodded, but while she stared at the water rushing out of the showerhead in longing, she didn’t move to join him.

  “How about I finish up, and then you take a turn?” This new, uncertain side of her had definitely thrown him.

  She bit her lip as she clearly turned the idea over in her mind. “Can you— I want to, but I need you to promise not to look.”

  He could have made a joke about the fact she was looking at him stark naked right now, and it was only fair he got the same opportunity. But he could see it in her eyes. For some reason this was vitally important to her.

  “Okay,” he replied slowly, even though he got the feeling he was agreeing to something far more than just a promise not to look while she took her shower.

  He turned his attention to quickly lathering up his hair and then washing himself down, the silence between them expanding, but not uncomfortable. Once he was done, he stepped out but left the water running as he grabbed a towel for himself. From the corner of his eye, he could see Cami hesitating, so he
fully turned his back on her—a little awkward considering how they were cuffed together—and busied himself with drying off. When he was done, he wrapped the towel around his hips and waited patiently, not even a little tempted to look.

  Yeah, he knew she was sexy as hell, and of course he would love to see her naked. It would probably send him to his knees. But making sure she knew she could rely on him, that she could trust him implicitly, was much more important.

  After a few minutes, the water shut off and he managed to hand her a towel without turning around. She silently took it and he continued waiting, counting the seconds until she stepped up next to him.

  “Thank you.” There was a sincere light of warmth in her gaze as she stared up at him, and also perhaps a hint of surprise, like she was seeing him for the first time. She’d redressed in her long-sleeved top, but hadn’t put her pants back on, standing there in her black boy-shorts underwear while her long, shapely legs definitely did things to his insides.

  “I may have a certain reputation, but I’m not a complete jackhole.” He hitched up his towel, hoping she wouldn’t notice the reaction he’d started having to just her damn legs, because that’d no doubt convince her otherwise of his status as a jackhole. “Come on, let’s catch a few hours sleep before the next round of insanity begins.”

  They went out into the main cabin and Qae swapped his towel for a pair of sweatpants. Cami climbed onto the bed first and then slid across to make room for him. As they settled beside each other, the Ebony Winter hummed to life around them. Neither of them said anything, but Qae got the feeling Cami was holding her breath as the ship took off a few minutes later. Reaching across the short distance between their cuffed hands, Qae linked his fingers into hers. She squeezed his hand in return, and he could practically feel the tension leaving her body.

  …

  Someone nudging Qae roughly in the leg roused him from the deep, dreamless sleep he’d fallen into. He blinked his eyes open, first registering the weight of a lithe body in his arms, curled up against his side, and secondly focusing on Rian glaring down at him.

  “You’re an idiot,” Rian said before he could get his brain fully functioning. “What happened to your promise to Blackstone not to touch his daughter?”

  “We’re not sleeping together.”

  Rian arched an eyebrow.

  “I mean we slept together but we didn’t— Why am I even having this conversation with you? Don’t you know how to knock?”

  Cami stirred and rolled onto her back away from him.

  “I did.” There was a tight note of annoyance in Rian’s voice. “Several times. And tried your comm. But apparently you sleep like a coma patient.”

  “What’s going on?” Cami asked with a yawn.

  “Crew meeting.” Rian barely spared her a glance. “Which you’re not. So time to get those damn cuffs off. There are things I need to discuss with my cousin. In private.”

  She pushed up to sit. “If this has anything to do with making plans on how to get the creds, then whether I’m crew or not is irrelevant.”

  Rian speared her with an icy look that would have sent most people fleeing the room. People who didn’t have Rene Blackstone for a father. As it was, Cami only looked slightly insulted in return.

  “There are things about us that you can’t know. Once we’ve settled on a plan, we’ll tell you everything you need to know and you’re welcome to contribute.”

  “You can’t cut me out,” Cami replied heatedly. She held up their cuffed arms. “These are not coming off.”

  Rian moved quicker than Qae could track. One second, he was standing perfectly still, gazing down at Cami in annoyance, the next he had his nucleon gun in hand and a single shot had severed the short chain between their wrists and then impacted into the wall behind them, leaving a blackened smoking mark.

  “Frecking jezus on a bike, Rian!” He shifted around to look at the damage to his wall while Cami simply stared at her now-free arm with wide eyes. He shoved to his feet and tossed Rian a dark glare. “You’re paying for the repairs.”

  Rian slowly put his nucleon gun away, unfazed. “Be up on the bridge in ten. Without Cami.”

  Before either of them could say anything else, Rian spun on his heel and left the room.

  Cami retrieved the e-key from where she’d apparently left it on the nightstand beside his bed to unlock the now useless cuff.

  “Your cousin is—”

  “A sonuvabitch? Deranged? Completely crazy-pants?”

  “I was going to say a crack shot. How did he even do that?” She actually sounded impressed as she rubbed her wrist where the cuff had been. Of course she would be. Cami Blackstone wasn’t like normal people. He was beginning to think she was as insane as the rest of them and would no doubt fit in with the crew just fine. He took the key from her and unlocked his own cuff.

  “I long ago stopped asking how Rian is able to do anything.” Mostly because the answer always came back to the Reidar and whatever hellish things they’d done to his cousin when they’d experimented on and tortured him in some kind of alien lab. But he couldn’t explain that to Cami and was no doubt also why Rian wanted to talk to him without her around.

  Rian didn’t want Rene Blackstone to know about the Reidar for whatever reason, so quite obviously they couldn’t tell his daughter. Though Qae had an unfailing belief that if they did tell Cami and asked her not to share it with her father, she’d take it to her grave rather than betray them. It wasn’t his call to make, however. When it came to all things Reidar, Rian was the expert and they went along with his call on the situation, no questions asked.

  Qae ducked into his closet and pulled on the first clothes he could lay hands on and was stomping his feet into his boots as he came back into the main room. Cami had dressed as well in the clothes she’d been wearing yesterday, but still looking ready to go on a mission.

  “Cami, I’m sorry, but you really can’t come.”

  Her expression darkened and she opened her mouth, presumably to give him a piece of her mind. But he held up a hand to cut her off.

  “This isn’t about trying to cut you out, I promise. This is about Rian. There are things about him no one knows, that no one can ever know.”

  She crossed her arms, not looking convinced. “What does that have to do with getting the creds for my father?”

  “Everything, unfortunately.” The damned Reidar always did. No doubt Rian wanted to discuss how they were going to avoid the shape-shifting bastards while they were out of the Belt. “I’ll try to make sure we don’t make any major decisions without talking to you first, okay? Rian won’t budge on this, and you already got a glimpse of his particular brand of negotiating.”

  She huffed a sigh and dropped her arms. “Fine. But if you double cross me—”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. Now, why don’t you go grab your bag out of the cargo bay, find a bunk, and make yourself at home.”

  “Something wrong with this bed?” She cocked her head, a sly smile creeping over her lips.

  “This is my bed.” He was pointing out the obvious, but it seemed appropriate.

  “And you have a problem with sharing? Didn’t your mama teach you it’s rude not to share?” She drifted closer, laying a light hand against his chest and then sliding it up a little. “Or are you worried you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself, and that promise to my father will get broken faster than Rian shot apart the cuffs?”

  He gave a sharp laugh, trying to downplay how her touch affected him. “Oh, I see. Starting a new game, are we?”

  “You’re the one who said you had some kind of long-term strategy,” she said with a shrug. “I’m just making my next move.”

  Rian was right, he was an idiot. Especially if he agreed to let her stay in his cabin—enticement within reach at all times. But if he made a big deal about her bunking elsewhere, it’d be like conceding ground. He might as well tell her she tempted him to the point where he didn’t know if he could keep
that promise to her father, after all. Stupid stubborn. That was him all over. Actually, it kind of ran in the family, since it was also an accurate description of Rian.

  “Fine. Make yourself at home right here. Just don’t use up all my cupboard space.”

  “There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” She patted him on the chest with a triumphant smile before letting her hand drop away.

  “Oh, there’s going to be something hard all right,” he murmured under his breath.

  She grinned at him but didn’t take the bait, heading for the door instead. “Off you go, then. Better not keep Rian waiting.”

  With a little wave she left, presumably heading for the cargo bay to fetch her bag.

  Qae took a moment to draw in a deep lungful of air, willing the slight warmth running through his veins to dissipate before he went to face his cousin.

  When he arrived up on the bridge, he found everyone already there, and the viewport taken up by an image of ex-Captain Admiral Zander Graydon and Mae Petros sitting on their liberated IPC flagship, the Swift Brion.

  “Nice of you to finally join us, Forster,” Zander said as Qae went over to pour himself a coffee.

  “Captain Admiral Twat, how’s that stick up your ass?” He turned to lean idly against his bench. Except then he remembered what he’d been doing and with whom, the last time he’d stood there, and had to shift.

  Instead of being annoyed like he once would have, Zander sent him a sharp smile. Probably because since he’d gone rogue from the IPC and stolen an entire IPC flagship, Zander almost had more street cred than Qae.

  “How’s life on that tin can you call a ship?” Zander asked.

  Too crowded these days, especially with certain people who invited themselves onboard.

  “Insulting my ship, huh? Come on, Graydon, size doesn’t matter, it’s how you use it that counts. And I know you’re just jealous I get Rian on my ship.”

  “You might get Rian, but mine’s still bigger,” Zander drawled with a shite-eating grin that once would have made him want to punch the guy in the face. Not anymore, it seemed though. Huh. Progress.