Faros

by Layla Nash

  The medic kept his attention on Faros, but answered her in a clipped, professional tone. “He was shot at least half a dozen times, and the damage accumulates. It’s mostly internal.”

  “Is he going to…make it?” She didn’t even want to ask, but there wasn’t anything else to do but face the possible consequences of what she’d made him do. “He has to make it.”

  “He’s stubborn,” the medic, Vlaq, said. “And he’s been injured worse than this before.”

  “But you said there’s a lot of damage,” she said. It felt like a ridiculous time to be arguing, but she needed some kind of reassurance that the most annoying Xaravian pirate in the universe would be totally fine and would annoy her more in the future.

  He sighed and leaned around her to retrieve another regen pack, feeding it into the tech that circled around the prone captain. “It would be easier if we had more than half power.”

  That she could help with. “Great. We’ll get the power back on.”

  “It’s not that—” he started, but Violet didn’t hear the rest of what he said as she headed back into the corridor.

  It took forever to find a Xaravian with a radio back to Wyzak on the Sraibur, and Violet half expected them to refuse to let her use the radio. Most of the Xaravians seemed inclined to drag her back to the Sraibur, despite insisting she was the captain of the Lovelace until Pyix was back on his feet. She eventually got a comms link that connected her to the Sraibur, and she kept her voice as steady as she could. “We need full power again. Reverse the kill switch on the Lovelace. It’s important.”

  She didn’t want to just announce that Faros was unconscious and dying, since saying it aloud meant it might actually be true. And she couldn’t stand to think about that.

  Despite some grumbling and muttering, Wyzak complied—though it wasn’t a fast process, apparently. Things were still at half power as she made her way back to the sickbay. She’d almost made it when another Xaravian jogged up to ask her to take the bridge, as there was a transmission from the merchant ships that needed a response.

  Violet sighed but went, having to trust that the medic knew what he was doing and could care for Faros appropriately. She wouldn’t have been any real help after all, since she knew nothing about the sickbay and its tech. She made a mental note to at least learn the basics, but then she was on the bridge and dealing with three merchant ships that wanted to know if they could depart without being shot to pieces by Tyboli or pirate ships.

  She tried to focus on each problem as it appeared in front of her, even though Faros was always in the back of her mind. If she let herself think about him for too long, her sinuses burned and her control started to fray. She had to shove down her emotions and keep her attention only on the issue of keeping the pirates from rebelling as she gave the order to return all the Lukkan silk to the merchants.

  Everything would be fine. Everything had to be fine. She clenched her fists on the arms of the captain’s chair as the viewing screen lit up in front of her and showed the Tyboli ships departing the area, the merchant ships receiving their cargo and heading in the other direction, and the Sraibur nearby to provide shields as the power slowly returned to the Lovelace. Violet took a deep breath and prepared to face what waited in the sickbay. Everything had to be fine.

  Chapter 48

  Faros

  Faros thought he’d died. It sounded that way, and it damn sure felt that way. The way the medic, Vlaq, spoke, he probably should have died. The only thing missing was Violet’s confident voice nagging him to do the right thing and survive.

  The thought made him smile, and someone next to him grunted. “About fucking time.”

  Faros made the supreme effort of raising his head to squint at the ugly face of his second-in-command. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Keeping you from getting more injured,” Wyzak said. Despite the long-suffering expression and tone, the second-in-command’s scales gave away that he’d been at least somewhat worried. Faros didn’t want to think about that too much, since Wyzak wasn’t prone to worry if there wasn’t due cause. “You kept fighting off Vlaq and everyone else we put in here to keep you quiet.”

  “Violet? Did I hurt Violet?” Faros lurched upright and immediately groaned, holding his stomach as he fully expected his guts to fall right out of him. It felt like he’d been chopped in half. “Where is she?”

  “She’s fine,” Wyzak said, getting up to block Faros from bolting for the door. “And you need to lie down before you hurt yourself more. She’s on the bridge. She’s fine. She came to check on you and then had to go back to deal with some business with the merchants.”

  Faros shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his thoughts. What the hell was Violet doing on the bridge, dealing with the merchants? “I should be—”

  “You should be right here,” Wyzak said, snorting. “You’re hurt, brother. Vlaq patched you back together, but you apparently tried to walk through every stunner round in the entire ship and the damage is deep. She’ll be on her way down here the moment she hears you’re awake.”

  He damn well hoped so. Faros scowled but didn’t try to get up, since Wyzak was right about one thing—all of that shit hurt. And if he wanted to greet Violet the way she deserved to be greeted, he needed to get his shit together.

  Faros lay back on the table with another groan, cursing roundly, and stared up at the ceiling as another regeneration machine beeped and flashed and started another scan over him. “What the fuck happened?”

  Wyzak filled him in rather quickly, though Faros made him repeat the part where Violet took command of the ship and made all the Tyboli surrender. He wanted to laugh and swing her around for the sheer ballsiness of it, and that it had succeeded.

  He was far less entertained when Wyzak said something about the cargo of Lukkan silk being returned to the merchants. The second-in-command had to have gotten that detail wrong. Otherwise Violet was the absolute worst lawyer he’d ever met.

  Faros wheezed his disbelief as Wyzak admitted the crew followed her orders right away, and that the Lovelace crew, the merchants, and even the Tyboli fell in line as well. He’d never been so damn proud of anyone in his entire life.

  “To be fair,” a familiar voice said from the door. “There was a lot of cursing involved, so it’s possible they thought it was you giving orders.”

  Wyzak snorted as Violet appeared and eased into sickbay. Faros immediately propped himself up on his elbows, knocking aside the regen scanner, and drank in every inch of her. She still wore his robes, thank the moons, but had wrapped them around to give herself pants. It was almost as sexy as her being totally naked. A distant almost.

  She smiled as she got closer, though she still hung back farther than he wanted. Faros held out his hand and gestured impatiently. “Get over here.”

  Her eyebrows rose and she stopped in her tracks. “I beg your pardon?”

  “That’s my cue,” Wyzak said under his breath and retreated for the door. He muttered, “Just don’t destroy the room, and hook him back up to the regen pods when you’re done,” and disappeared.

  Faros ignored the second-in-command’s ridiculous directions, and tried to sit up. He wanted his female closer and for some damn reason; she wasn’t nearly close enough. “Get over here. I want to touch you.”

  She put her fists on her hips, accentuating the soft swell of flesh and whetting his appetite even more, though her expression was more difficult to read. “You stay right there. The last time I got close to you, your dirty thoughts almost killed you.”

  He laughed, a sharp bark of disbelief, and debated getting all the way to his feet so he could go to her instead. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “In the cargo bay, after Kryken dis-disappeared,” she said. Her voice cracked and he tensed. She was upset. Something upset her. Violet didn’t move, steeling herself for something unpleasant. “You were hurt and I checked on you, and you started to get…excited,” and she gestured at his groin for g
ood measure. “And then you almost died. So I’m staying over here for now.”

  “The one had nothing to do with the other,” he said. “And even if it had, I wouldn’t care. I want you. Now.”

  “I’m also pretty sure you’re not the captain of this ship and you don’t get to order me around,” she said, a hint of a smile starting to break through despite that her eyes remained red.

  Red was never a good color on the Earthers, unless she was about to climax and that delicious flush rose from her breasts all the way up her throat and face... “I get to order you around as much as I want,” he growled. “I heard you gave away all that cargo, so you owe me even more than before.”

  “About that...” She flushed more and looked away, like she’d suddenly gotten more shy in the time he’d been unconscious. “It was the right thing to do.”

  “Bullshit,” he said, and laughed. “How the hell am I going to pay for repairs on the damn ship without any money?”

  “You’ll find a way.” Her hands twitched, like she wanted to touch him as much as he wanted to touch her, and Faros couldn’t take it.

  He pushed himself to sit upright without moaning and groaning like a wimpy sandsnake, and held out his hand to her. “Come to me, Violet.”

  She bit her lip and he nearly collapsed from sheer need. But she shook her head and her voice stayed low and afraid. “You’re really hurt. You need to heal up before…anything happens.”

  “I’m not made of glass,” he said. “I’m not going to break. And you’re going to make me get up and walk to you myself if you don’t get over here.”

  “You can’t get up,” she said, and abruptly strode over to stand in front of him.

  Faros grumbled his relief and gripped her waist. He wanted her astride him, moving all slow and sweet like she had...

  “See?” she said, and laughed as his body reacted and suddenly his cock stood up between them.

  “Don’t make a warrior wait,” he said, then lay back on the table and knocked aside the equipment that remained. “You’ll make me feel much, much better if you just hop on and—”

  “You are impossible,” she said. She wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks and frowned down at him. “I was so worried. Really worried. You wouldn’t wake up, and—”

  “Don’t think about that,” he said. Faros reached up to squeeze her hand, then tried to guide her around so she could hop onto the table. When that didn’t work, he tugged on the front of her belt so the robes moved softly into place and nothing stood between him and the soft folds of her body. He just had to get her into place...

  He leaned so he could catch her face in his hands, drawing her down so he could kiss her fiercely, and she melted against him. Violet sighed and lay against him, trembling, and he reached to squeeze her ass. It didn’t take much effort to grab her and swing her up onto him, though she squeaked in surprise and dug her nails into his shoulders as she levitated and then knelt on the table, straddling him.

  Violet laughed and lightly smacked his chest. “You should not be doing this sort of thing.”

  “No one in the universe would blame me for wanting to fuck my female after surviving that kind of fight,” he said, utterly serious. “It’s the only thing that kept me alive.”

  “You’re so full of bullshit,” she said. But her body nestled against his iron-hard cock and her hips moved just a bit. Her head tilted back and her lips parted as her core slid against him, and Faros knew he had her. Violet’s hands clutched into fists against his chest.

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “You’re what kept me alive. I knew I had you to come back to. It wasn’t just this—although this is amazing—it was you. Just you.”

  She smiled and her nails drifted along his scales. Her knees pressed against his sides as she rose up and slid against him. “Just me?”

  “Yes,” he groaned. Faros held her hips tight and tried to encourage her to sink down on him so he could bury his staff deep inside. He needed to feel that velvet glove clenching around him as she climaxed.

  “Not just this part of me?” she murmured, and her hand drifted down to touch herself, right where he wanted to be.

  The sight of her soft fingers touching herself, playing with the bead of nerves that made her entire body jerk with pleasure, nearly sent him over the edge. Faros’s fingers dug into her hips and tried to rock her forward so he could thrust into her, but Violet leaned back and moaned so sweetly he went still.

  Moons help him, maybe he just needed to enjoy the show. His voice came out throaty and rough. “Touch me.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered but she didn’t open her eyes. Her hand, already slick with her desire, wrapped around his cock and stroked with a firm grip that nearly killed him. He groaned and lifted his hips to meet her next stroke, sliding against her palm, and gripped her thighs until her breath caught and she squeezed against his sides.

  She kept touching herself, then moved to using his cock to pleasure herself instead. He laced his hands behind his head to watch Violet as she undulated against him. The robes hid almost everything except where she stroked him, which just made it sexier. He had to imagine how her breasts looked as she moved, as she drew closer and closer to a climax and went still and rigid against him. Faros growled in anticipation and slid his thumb against that bead of nerves, pressing hard as he watched her face, and Violet cried out. She jerked against his touch over and over, her mouth drooping open, and Faros could have watched her forever.

  Except... well, he wanted to fuck her, too.

  Violet remained rigid over him for what felt like an eternity, then she slowly sagged forward to lean against his chest. His cock still pressed against the softness of her stomach, but he took the time to stroke her hair and kiss her neck, murmuring about how beautiful she looked when she came and all the things he wanted to do to her. It made her laugh a huffy little breath, since it wasn’t particularly romantic to say he wanted to pound the shit out of her, but Violet apparently didn’t mind.

  She stayed sprawled across his chest as Faros lifted his knees, spreading hers at the same time, and guided his cock toward her center. She murmured and adjusted how she lay, and his cock finally parted her folds.

  She arched her back and started to grind down on him, taking his throbbing cock deeper and deeper, and her breasts bounced with each jerk of her hips. He could have watched her forever. He stripped off the belt that was all that held the robes in place, and let the fabric fall open to reveal her nudity. He pushed them back so he could appreciate the smooth expanse of her skin, but didn’t get rid of them completely.

  “I like you in my robes,” he said gruffly. He lifted his hips slowly, wanting to pump into her until he lost all of himself, and reached for her luscious breasts. “You wear them better than I do. But most of all, I like taking them off you.”

  She made an exasperated noise that disappeared into a moan as he played with her nipples. Faros leaned up and pulled her down at the same time so he could use his mouth on the delicate pink flesh until she sighed and writhed and worked her fingers into his hair. Faros wanted to close his eyes and revel in the sensations, but he didn’t want to miss a second of watching the pleasure on her face. He’d never felt more alive.

  Chapter 49

  Violet

  It took forever until she could breathe normally, and even though it wasn’t entirely comfortable sprawling across Faros’s chest in the sickbay, she couldn’t have moved for anything in that galaxy. Not just because his cock had swelled again and bound them together, but because there was nowhere else she wanted to be. With the robes covering them both, she wouldn’t have even minded—much—if someone walked in.

  But the crew knew better, apparently, or Wyzak had warned them off, because no one disturbed them. Faros played with her hair, his eyes still closed, and occasionally lifted his hips in an absent thrust that triggered ripples of ecstasy all through her core. Violet pressed her face against his throat and murmured in appreciation as she s
ettled closer. “Just like that.”

  “My female is pleased,” the pirate said with a smug look on his face. “Good.”

  She wanted to be irritated but was too tired, too sated. “Don’t get cocky.”

  “I get what I want,” he said. He squeezed her ass and turned his head enough to bite her earlobe. “And I want you.”

  Violet lifted her head to rest her chin on his chest, studying his expression as Faros finally opened his silver eyes. One of the things she liked the most about him was his capacity to joke around, to be the very opposite of serious, since she was usually serious enough for everyone around her. But sometimes that meant pinning him down to establish what he actually meant took some doing. “For how long?”

  “How long? As long as I have breath,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  Violet snorted and pushed up on her elbows, though that distracted him as her breasts rested right in his line of sight. “Not how long do you want to fuck, how long do you want…this.”

  His attention remained on her breasts, even though his hands stayed on her ass. “This? What are you talking about? I can’t translate ‘this.’”

  “Us,” she said, searching for words. She didn’t want to just go out and say it, but... he had a point. A language barrier definitely existed—although it was there mostly when it was convenient for him. “This…relationship, whatever it is. If this is short-term, then okay, but I want to know that. I don’t want to plan for forever and end up disappointed.”

  “Short-term? No, that is not okay.” His dark eyebrows drew down as he studied her. “When I say ‘as long as I have breath’, I meant it. I have no use for temporary females. My life is complicated. I want you to be part of it, even if you make everything more difficult.”

  “I make everything more legal, I think you mean.”