by Siren Allen
“That’s just how we are.”
“But,” he stared at Beta then back at her. “We don’t like to see you cry. I don’t want my mate to cry, ever.”
“She will, at some point. And the tears may be happy tears like mine are. We just do that.”
“I don’t get it,” Gamma shook his head.
“My mate will not cry,” Beta announced.
“I bet you she will,” Malia joked.
“I’ll take that bet.” He said. “Watch. My mate will be a warrior.”
Gamma laughed. “His mate is going to run the moment she lays eyes on him.”
Malia smiled as she watched them joke with each other. Hardened criminals? No, they couldn’t be. Malia covered her mouth as she yawned.
“No more crying, Malia,” Gamma told her. “We don’t like it. And Silver will hate it.”
“Silver can’t control my tears.”
“True, but he won’t give you a reason to cry in the first place. That male is crazy about you. Every decision he makes revolves around you and how it will affect you. Trust me, you won’t have to cry at all being his mate. I’m going to be just as protective of mine when I get one.”
Stars, Gamma’s words only made her want to bawl more.
“Can I have my mate back?”
Malia stared at the doorway. There stood Silver, smiling at her. She had no idea what made her do what she did next. One moment she was seated at the table. The next she was in his arms, with her arms wrapped around his neck holding him close.
“Missed me?” He whispered in her ear.
Yeah, she had missed him. But the hug meant so much more than that. It meant she wasn’t letting him go. She wasn’t leaving him. This would be her new home, with him, with this crew. Fate had never steered her wrong before.
“I missed you a little,” she whispered back, burying her face in his neck, embarrassed by her actions.
She yelped when he scooped her up in his arms.
“One of you lazy asses man the ship. It’s time for me to take my mate to bed.”
“Silver,” she exclaimed, cheeks heating, embarrassment growing.
As he stomped from the kitchen she heard Beta say to Gamma. “Don’t worry buddy, that’ll be us one day.”
Hardened criminals didn’t long for mates. Her crew were the good guys. She didn’t care what they’d done in the past. Silver furthered her belief in him when he placed her on her feet in the bathroom.
“Uh, why are we in here?” She asked.
“You like to shower. We will shower before bed.” He winked at her.
“Oh really, we’re just going to shower, that’s it?”
“If you wish.”
She did not wish. Placing her hands on Silver’s shoulders for balance, Malia slipped her shoes off. Barefoot, she watched his eyes turn black.
“Is it my sexy feet that got your eyes turning black?” She joked.
“It’s you, just you.”
Stars, his words had her getting wet and she wasn’t even in the shower yet. Calling on her inner kink, she slowly undressed, loving the low growls he emitted as he watched her slide her panties down her legs. She pulled her shirt and bra over her head.
Before the garments were off, she felt his mouth at her breast, licking, sucking. Gasping, Malia tossed the shirt aside and gripped his head, holding him to her. His tongue twirled around her nipple which puckered as pleasure spread through her.
His hand found her center and began rubbing delicious circles against her clit. If it wasn’t for his arm around her waist, she was sure she would have dropped to the floor. Her legs felt like noodles.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as his fingers parted her folds. He released her nipple then kissed her, their tongues dancing together while his fingers wreaked havoc on her body.
The kiss ended too quickly for her. He pulled away. A protest was on her lips until he gripped her hair and pulled her head back.
“Watch me make you come.”
“Oh stars Silver.” Anything else she planned to say came out as a moan.
His fingers moved faster over her clit. Her body grew wetter. She wanted to close her eyes, but when she tried he gripped her hair tighter.
“Watch me,” he growled.
“O-okay.”
He slid one finger inside. He used his thumb to keep torturing her tiny bud that was throbbing with desire. She gripped his shoulders, her legs beginning to tremble. She was close. Oh so close.
“Silver,” she whispered.
“I know, baby. Let it come.”
Stars, she couldn’t stop it if she wanted to.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he told her. “Since that first night I walked into your diner.”
So had she. She was too caught up in her feelings to say so.
“I dreamed of my fingers inside of you.” His deep voice sounded like a rumble, so dark and filled with lust. It turned her on. She worked her hips, grinding against his hand.
“I’ve dreamed of fucking you every night since I first saw you bussing tables. And when I’m not thinking about fucking you, I’m thinking of other ways to make you happy.”
He slipped another finger into her. “That’s all I want to do Malia. Make you happy. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Oh stars, Silver I’m close.”
“Even if you want to live on Venus,” he told her. “After I finish helping my crew find what they’re looking for, I’ll live wherever you want. What I can’t do is live without you.”
He won her heart with those words. He’d won her body that first time he licked her. She wanted to tell him so, but her orgasm was coming. Right now. Malia dug her nails into his shoulders. He didn’t seem to notice.
“That’s it baby, come for me. Come on my fingers.”
Her body wouldn’t stop shaking, her orgasm had her in its grip and wasn’t letting go.
“Damn, sweetie, your pussy is so tight. I can’t wait to have my cock inside you. Will your walls grip my cock the way it’s gripping my fingers? Will it sweetie?”
All she could do was nod.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard, baby.”
“Yes…” Stars, she felt like she was about to pass out.
“Give it all to me,” he whispered, lowering his head and placing a kiss on her neck.
She held on for dear life as he licked her collar bone and pushed his fingers deeper into her. She screamed out. His name tore from her throat as her body jerked. She felt like she was floating.
She could hear him whispering to her, yet she had no idea what he was saying. Her body was limp in his arms. His lips pressed kisses on her neck, her face, her lips, her forehead. Her mind was slowly returning from cloud nine. Malia tried to stand up.
“I got you.” His fingers slipped from her body. Her cheeks heated when he put those same fingers that had been in her, in his mouth and licked away her juices. Damn, she was getting wet again.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of tasting you.” His black eyes held her captive. “I don’t think I want to.” He lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “Ready to shower?”
All she could do was nod.
Chapter Seventeen
A daily routine developed between the crew members.
And Malia truly considered herself a part of the team now. Every morning she made breakfast for the guys, not because they expected her to, but because she enjoyed doing so. It made her feel like she was contributing something.
After breakfast, while Silver and his team discussed their future plans or whatever it was they huddled together and discussed, Malia spent time with Frost. They had strict orders on where they could go and where they couldn’t go on the ship.
According to Silver, Gamma was working on fixing some parts of the ship that had been damaged before they arrived on Venus. He didn’t want her and Frost frying themselves on electrical wires or something.
She didn’t know whether she believed that tale or not. However, she couldn�
�t go exploring with Frost by her side, so for now, she pretended she believed it. She’d yet to hear from Striker.
She hadn’t even heard Silver mention Striker. A couple of times she almost brought up the computerized host then caught herself. Silver hadn’t told her about Striker. If she mentioned him he would know something was up.
Or rather, something had been up. Malia had no intention of leaving this ship any time soon. She was happy with what fate had given her. Every day she learned more and more about running a ship from the crew.
Beta was hell bent on teaching her how to use stars to plot coordinates. She was a slow learner when it came to that. But he was being patient with her. Gamma was teaching her how to fix things.
So far, she’d learned how to fix a toaster. That was the only thing Silver would let her play with. Gamma promised he would show her how to work on the ship’s propulsion engine when they made it to Qoaran.
Epsilon was the quiet one. He was also very mysterious. The others joked around a lot. He usually kept to himself. When he wasn’t spending time with Frost, or hiding out in his room, he was on the flight deck, or navi-deck as Silver called it, staring at a console, his slanted eyes furrowed as he concentrated.
One morning she’d asked him what he was staring at and he’d said a nasty virus. She didn’t know if that was true or not. She didn’t really want to know. She just hoped it was nothing serious.
Her nights were spent enjoying her mate. She’d lost count of how many nights she stayed up listening to him talk about his family. She’d told him about her cousins and her parents. She even told him about the pet bunny, Bugs, that she’d once had.
Her dad had brought it with him from Earth after he’d gone there for trading. She told him how she cried when Bugs died of old age. Every waning, after they’d spent hours talking, they spent a couple of more hours touching on each other.
They hadn’t had intercourse yet. But they’d done everything else. He loved massaging her. His hands were magical and worked wonders on her body. After his hands worked wonders on her, he would use his mouth to finish the job.
Their time alone together was her favorite part of the day. At night, he liked to bring her snacks. Instead of letting her feed herself, he would feed them to her. She was a hundred percent sure he liked feeding her chocolate because of the fact that she licked his fingers clean after she was done eating.
He was turning her into a naughty minx and she loved it. And though she still had questions and concerns, she was willing to wait until they visited Qoaran to share those with him. He seemed stressed enough.
Their trip to Qoaran seemed like a big deal to all the guys on the ship. The closer they got, the tenser the males seemed. Malia tried to stay out of their way and let them do their thing.
According to Beta, they would reach Qoaran before the next waning. It was hard to tell when it was night and day out here, seeing as there was no sun. Malia was used to the heat not the cold. But the region they were in was freezing.
Frost seemed to thrive under the conditions. She had on two pair of Silver’s pants and three of his shirts, while Frost was running around the ship barefoot with just a pair of cut offs on. She tried to keep the kid out of the crew’s way during the day.
It wasn’t a burden. Playing with Frost was fun. They didn’t talk much. She usually watched him play video games. He was just as secretive as the rest of the males on board. When she asked him about Nahid, his mata, he would only say that she was sick and that Epsilon promised he would make sure she was okay.
The boy placed a lot of trust in Epsilon and the other males on the Striker. Malia was starting to do the same. Sitting with her legs crossed on the floor of Silver’s room, Malia listened as Frost explained to her how the new game worked.
She had downloaded the game months ago. She’d yet to play it. Frost figured it out after one attempt. The child was practically a genius. But today he seemed a little anxious. And though he was a quiet child, this was one of his less talkative days. But there was only so much silence Malia could take.
“Frost, do you like being here?”
The boy shrugged.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Another lifting of his shoulders was his only response.
“Are you happy here?”
She expected another shrug. He surprised her by speaking. “This is better than where I used to be.”
“And where did you use to be?”
“In a lab, with bad people.”
A chill crept over her. “W-what do you mean in a lab?”
He looked up to her, his eyes turning blue. The temperature in the room dropped. Malia wrapped her arms around her, attempting to shield herself from the cold.
“I can’t tell you. If you know too much, they’ll hurt you.”
“Who will hurt me? Silver? The other crew members?” Dread settled in her chest. Was she wrong for trusting in Silver? No, she couldn’t have been. He was good. They all were. “Who will hurt me, Frost?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Frost dropped the E-Pad, stood up and raced to the door.
Malia jumped to her feet. Damn it, why did she have to ask him questions? Now, Silver would know she’d been poking around in his business. Malia chased Silver down the hall. He rounded the corner before she did.
Though she called his name he didn’t stop. Either he was the fastest kid alive or she was terribly out of shape. She turned the corner and nearly tripped over her own feet trying to stop herself from running into Epsilon.
The male stood in the hallway staring down at Frost. The child was staring at his feet. Ep’s hands were on the kid’s shoulders. Uh oh, she was in trouble. Frost would tell that she’d been asking questions.
He would tell them what he told her. Then they would know that she knew something wasn’t right. Her mind raced ahead to the torture they would subject her to in order to keep her from talking to Galaxy Patrol.
Damn it, she should’ve listened to Striker and not allowed herself to get close to them. She’d done the one thing she promised Striker she wouldn’t do. She had fallen in love with Silver. And he would probably be the one who tortured her. Shit.
“Are you two playing hide and seek again?” Ep asked Frost.
Malia held her breath. She wanted to run. But, there was no where she could go where they wouldn’t find her. To her shock, Frost nodded his head. Ep smiled.
“My bad, I’ve slowed you down. And now she’s going to catch you.”
“Actually,” Frost glanced back at Malia. “I’m tired. I think I will go to bed.”
Thank the stars. Malia nodded, too nervous to speak. Her voice would undoubtedly shake if she tried. Then Ep would know something was wrong.
“Come on kid, I’ll take you to the room. Do you want to make a stop first?”
Frost nodded. Ep steered him away from Malia. She stood in the hall staring after them, glad the kid hadn’t ratted on her. But, why hadn’t he? This whole encounter left her puzzled.
Just as she was about to turn and head back to Silver’s room she stopped. Epsilon had ceased walking. He was standing in the hall with his hand pressed against his ear. Oh yeah, the communication devices.
“I have them both with me,” Ep said aloud. “Are you fucking shitting me?”
That didn’t sound good. He pushed Frost behind him.
“I’ll secure them then come to the deck.” He turned to Malia. “Come with me.”
Was she in trouble? Should she try to fight back? Her thoughts were chaotic as Ep led her back to Silver’s room. When the door opened he ushered them inside but remained in the hallway.
“You two stay here until one of our crew members comes for you. Do not open this door for anyone but one of us, understood?”
Frost nodded. Malia had questions.
“Is something wrong? Have we reached Qoaran?”
“We are close. Just stay here. And do not leave.”
“But…” He closed
the door before she could finish.
Scared, Malia turned to Frost, planning to offer him some type of comfort. His words frightened her to her core.
“People are about to die.”
The ship jolted. What the hell was going on?
***
They’d almost made it to Qoaran with no problems. Apparently luck had turned its back on them.
“How the hell did we not detect them sooner?” Silver asked.
“They dropped out of nowhere. I didn’t pick up on their presence until it was too late,” Beta told him. “They were probably cloaked this whole time. I didn’t even sense warp drive in the vicinity.”
Silver didn’t like this at all. “I can’t see their colors. There’s no flag hanging from… fuck yes there is.” It was the Galaxy Patrol. “It’s GP.”
“Captain,” Beta called. “We’re receiving a transmission. Should I accept?”
“We don’t have a choice. We can’t outrun them. Let them through.”
Silver stood behind Beta’s seat, waiting for the lines to connect.
“Your mate and the kid are secure.” Ep came to stand next to him.
“Good.” He wouldn’t be comfortable until he laid eyes on Malia himself, just to make sure she was alright. “Gamma, Ep, go to the cargo hold but keep your comms on. Remain in misted form only. I don’t want their sensors detecting your presence. Ready the weapons. We are not relinquishing this ship.”
“Do you think we can make it to Qoaran?”
“Not without the GP attacking.”
“The Striker can take a few hits without being destroyed.”
“Let’s save that as a last resort.”
Ep nodded. He and Gamma left the room. Damn, this was the one thing Silver was hoping wouldn’t happen. He’d die before he allowed the GP to punish Malia for what he’d done in the past.
“Connected,” Beta told him. “Image coming across…. Now.”
An image of a male neither of them had ever seen before appeared on the screen. He was wearing a blue uniform with a red G.P in the upper right corner. You’d think those bastards would’ve invested in a different uniform after all these years. The stranger introduced himself.