by Kate Rudolph
And then Brax surprised her. “Actually I want to be an artisan.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “I don’t know why I told you that.” Was he blushing? It was kind of hard to tell with his blue skin, but she thought his cheeks got a little darker, edging into Oscavian purple.
“I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to.” That wasn’t true. Vita didn’t talk to people. Her prisoners didn’t give good conversation and if she hung out at Roski’s headquarters for too long she wasn’t doing her job.
Brax’s grin was infectious. “Is that before or after you put the handcuffs on?”
She shuddered. “I’m throwing that thing away.” That was the bright side to losing her job. Now there was no need to ever use the control cuff again. No need to feel like a slaver. Maybe the smart thing to do would be to keep the paraphernalia. All she knew was how to be a bounty hunter, but if there was a way to do it without robbing people of their free will and draining their resistance then she would find a way. Roski had given her that cuff. And she was done with anything that had to do with him.
“It was effective.” But Brax wasn’t exactly trying to convince her to keep it.
“It’s an abomination.” That was final. If it hadn’t been locked away deep in her weapons cache Vita would have grabbed the thing to chuck it out the airlock. But there were better ways to dispose of parts, and given the lack of supplies, maybe Brax could strip it of useful materials before they got rid of it.
Maybe it was unwise to offer it to her one-time prisoner, but she trusted him. Already. When she had trusted no one but Roski for as long as she could remember, and even then that was conditional.
Something clanked from the bowels of the ship and Vita braced herself for something to go wrong, but they kept flying. Still, Brax turned toward the sound. “I’ll go check on that.”
That was good. She still wasn’t used to staying around people, and the conversation had veered toward the intense. A few minutes alone would give them time to breathe. “Put together a list of what we need. We’ll be at the market before you know it.” And Vita would do her best to find Brax a way home. She owed it to him, even if a part of her would miss him for a long time.
CAYSTER MARKET WAS a little-known hub for small time traders and folks local to the star system. The prices were fair and the pickings were slim enough that slavers kept away. They were dozens of light years from the nearest Oscavian outpost and the inhabitants of Cayster wanted to keep it that way. The Empire grew by the day, sucking up small planets and turning them into principalities and dukedoms. That knowledge was clearly at the forefront of the Cayster consciousness, given the anti-Oscavian signs plastered up around the place, but Vita didn’t have time to get mixed up in politics.
She’d offered to let Brax stay on the ship while she went shopping, but he’d insisted on coming along. Whether it was because he wanted to stretch his legs on real ground, or because he didn’t trust her to purchase the correct items, she wasn’t sure and she wasn’t about to ask. In the past two days things had settled into a comfortable routine together. Brax did what he could to keep the ship afloat while she piloted them to the market. Then, since he was usually busier than her, she slapped together a meal of flavor packs and protein paste which they shared while speaking of nothing in particular.
It was almost like friendship... if she had any of those to compare it to. She’d spent more time with Brax in the last two days than she’d spent with anyone since she’d finished training with Roski. How pathetic.
But Brax didn’t make her feel pathetic. No, she felt something entirely different around him. Something hot and wanting, and she was pretty sure he felt the same way. She caught him looking when he didn’t think she was paying attention. He hadn’t yet caught on that she was always paying attention. Something in her was tuned to him, and she couldn’t look away.
Like right now she could see the Caystan local smiling at him while he paused at her stall to look at some of the wires she had on display. She saw the way the little green woman sidled up close to him and brushed up against him while showing him different gauges.
Really? How obvious could she be?
Vita stepped up on Brax’s other side and looked where he was pointing. It was her limited credits that would be funding this shopping trip, and she had to make sure they didn’t get screwed out of a fair price.
The Caystan woman laughed at something Brax said and Vita had to grit her teeth to keep from snapping. What had gotten into her?
“What do you think?” she asked, bumping Brax with her hip to get his attention.
He turned toward her and it was like the Caystan woman ceased to exist. He smiled and she wanted to melt. Then she straightened her spine and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the woodsy, masculine scent of her companion.
It didn’t work.
“I think if we circle back later her prices will be more reasonable. She thinks we’re naive tourists.” He kept his voice low enough so the vendor couldn’t hear them.
“Not many tourists in these parts,” she had to say. “But she’s looking for a trip alright. To your bed.”
Brax looked at her funny and then glanced back at the woman. Was he considering it? Had he not noticed? Vita had no hold on him and there was no reason to stop him from having a bit of fun. There was even the possibility that the vendor would cut them a better deal if a few hours with Brax came with the package. And yet she had to clench her fist to keep from latching onto his arm and physically pulling him away.
“She’s bound to be disappointed then,” Brax said. “I’ve no interest.”
In bedding the vendor? In bedding anyone? Vita bit her tongue to keep from asking. It was inappropriate, she reminded herself. She had kidnapped the man. She didn’t get to invite him to her bed when he was dependent on her.
“Then we should move on. There’s much to find and not much time.” There. That sounded completely sane and not at all possessive.
But when Brax put his hand on her back as if he were the one leading her through the market, she didn’t try and push him away. And if she smiled sweetly back at the Caystan woman as they left, well, that was just her being friendly.
Yeah, she wasn’t fooling anyone there.
Deeper into the market the prices were a bit fairer, and she barely had to haggle when they made it to booths of people she knew. She’d hit up Cayster at least twice a year since she’d started out on her own and it was enough to build relationships.
“Vita, my dear girl! You honor us!” The Oscavian man calling across the pathway was a welcome sight, as was his wife, a pink and green alien with long fingers and a longer tongue that had suckers on it. A Kyrnand. Her kind wasn’t native to the Milky Way and she hadn’t ever shared with Vita how she ended up here. Though she and her husband had shared much more.
“Addex, Kya, so good to see you!” She held out her hands and Addex took his time to kiss her fingers while Kya embraced her and then kissed her cheek, her tongue darting out and one of the suckers latching on long enough to bruise. Under other circumstances she might have stepped even closer, but she found herself pulling back and turning to look for Brax.
Clearly she’d gone crazy. Addex and Kya would be happy to make her forget her crush for the night, and yet she couldn’t even pretend she was going to take them up on the offer they were sure to make.
“Hello,” Braxtyn greeted. He wrapped an arm around Vita, not holding her tightly, but clearly not ready to let her go. “Vita’s been kind enough to show me around the market. And she’s put up with me for the last several days. She didn’t mention your names.”
Addex looked Brax up and down with undisguised amusement while Kya ran her fingers through her husband’s hair. “Addex,” he said, with a slight bow of his head. “Kya is my wife. We are friends of Vita.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t sound convinced.
Amusement warred with something darker at the contest going on between her former lovers and her current... person. Bu
t they had things to do and she wasn’t going to let Brax get them off track. She couldn’t. “We’re just here for a supply stop. No time to linger. I was hoping you’d help with a few items?”
“So you’ve finally taken on a partner?” Kya asked, her wide mouth grinning and showing teeth that were too sharp for anyone but a predator. “He’s well built.” She reached out a hand and Vita swatted it away without thought. Kya’s eyes opened wide at the display of possessiveness. Vita had taken her share of lovers over the years, but never for long, and she’d never much cared who else wanted them. And now she wasn’t Brax’s anything and yet she wouldn’t let Kya near him.
“Can you get us the supplies?” Brax asked, his voice more stern than she’d ever heard.
What was he trying to pull? Sure, Vita didn’t want Kya and Addex to get any ideas, but that didn’t mean that Brax was suddenly in charge of this situation. Addex looked between her and Brax and an amused smile tugged at his lips. When he answered, he was facing Vita full on. “Give us a list, dear girl, and we’d be happy to make your dreams come true.”
And now Addex was in it too! Vita wanted to scream. What the fuck was going on? And who could she punch to make it stop?
With a set jaw she pulled out her communicator and forwarded her list to the pair. They could stand here arguing all day, or she could get this done in a decent amount of time.
Kya’s communicator beeped with the incoming message and she scanned the document with a practiced eye. “This shouldn’t be a problem. Ship troubles?”
Vita had to hold back a growl. “When aren’t there ship troubles?”
“You know we could always use the third set of hands,” she offered with a smile.
“And you know this isn’t my scene,” Vita retorted, as she always did. She might have been tempted into Kya and Addex’s bed more than once, but their life held no appeal. Not when she had the stars out there calling to her.
“Are we done?” Brax asked with that same aggression that had come from nowhere.
And now was not the time for Vita to find that hot. Really? Since when did a pissing contest make her want anything more than a quick escape? Pathetic.
“We’re done.” But before she turned to go, Vita took her time hugging both Kya and Addex. She’d planned to kiss them, just to show Brax he had no claim, but something made her turn her cheek at the last minute and only accept a peck.
“You’ve got it bad,” Addex whispered with a laugh as he shoved her towards his wife.
“He looks like fun,” Kya added.
“Not for you,” Vita shot back, and her cheeks flamed as she realized how possessive that sounded. Kya just laughed.
She and Brax managed to get a few dozen meters away before she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She put a hand on his arm and pulled him into a little alcove, out of the path of market goers. “What in the name of the white hell was that? Addex and Kya are friends, and not only that, they run fair trade. They’re not going to make us pay an arm, leg, and soul for a handful of direly needed supplies. And you’re risking that because of... I don’t even know!”
Brax’s eyes had shifted to that brilliant blue that haunted her dreams. She’d seen Oscavian eyes before. Addex’s glowed like lightning, but there was a depth to Brax’s that was different, a tinge that had them verging on purple. She could get lost in eyes like that. But she was mad at him right now, not trying to get lost in his gaze.
“Denya, I—” he clamped his mouth shut.
There was that word again. Denya. If Vita trusted her ship to function correctly she would have looked up the translation. But it had slipped her mind.
Before she could ask, he was speaking again. “I didn’t realize we would be meeting with your lovers,” he said, sounding like he was being dragged over hot coals. “I didn’t know you were spoken for.”
He knew he’d messed up. He was apologizing. Vita could just let it drop and move past it. But she couldn’t. For some stupid reason she wanted him to know the truth. “I haven’t seen Addex and Kya in months. And while I have indulged with them in the past, I had no intention of taking up with them on this trip. No one has any claim on my body or my heart.” Her heart? Really? She was going into that? She plowed on. “Relationships out here... well, it all gets complicated quick. I can’t promise you won’t meet any other... exes. But it’s not like no one’s been flirting with you!”
His brow wrinkled. “Who?”
Was the man serious? “The vendor! Oh, let me show you my wires.” Her voice went up an octave and she fluttered her lashes. “I think they’re crossed. Can you help me untangle them, you beautiful specimen?”
Brax clamped his lips together but his eyes, which had faded from blue to black, danced. And Vita’s cheeks were on fire.
“Beautiful specimen?” he asked. He took a step closer, and suddenly it was like all the air had been sucked out of the market.
If Vita took a step back she’d run into the wall. How had she let herself get trapped like this? Stupid alcove. Stupid mouth. Gods above, she wanted to taste him.
“It wasn’t an exact quote,” she said, “but there was subtext.”
Brax smiled and leaned closer. “I don’t care about her subtext.”
This was bad. Vita had to get away or she was going to do something stupid. Like lay a claim to him she had no way of backing up. There was nothing between them except this one journey. She’d kidnapped the man, and she was trying not to cross any lines. But as he leaned closer, he seemed eager to cross them himself.
Screw it.
Vita surged up and claimed his lips, his taste exploding in her mouth as her arms went around him and pulled him close. She could have lied to herself and said she only meant for it to be a chaste kiss, but from the way their tongues clashed, there was no use in pretending. She’d been dying for a taste of him for days. Perhaps since the moment she’d seen him. And there was something so right about the feel of him in her arms, his big body pressed against hers in a way that shielded her from danger.
She didn’t let people protect her, didn’t trust them to do the job. But with Brax she wanted to surrender. Just a little. Just enough so that she could breathe easy for one day. Was that so much to ask?
In a minute it would be. In a minute she knew her walls would shoot up and tell her there was no way she could let herself feel this way, no way she could risk cracks in her foundation and the surrender of her freedom.
In a minute.
Gods above, she didn’t want this minute to end.
But time had a nasty way of sneaking up on her and when Vita and Brax separated, she could feel just how precious this breath of a moment was.
His eyes were blue as he whispered, “Denya,” and she wanted it to mean something special. She wanted it so bad she ached.
If she asked him, she was almost certain he’d tell her the meaning right now. They might have been standing in the middle of a bustling market, but it felt like they were the only two people that existed in the universe. He’d tell her.
And then she’d know.
So Vita held the question in and took a step to the side. “We’ve still got work to do,” she said, ignoring that her voice came out husky. “Let’s make sure we’re not forgetting anything for you to fix my ship.”
Brax trailed his fingers down her arm until she shivered, but he didn’t try and stop her from making her escape. She had to escape if she was going to survive.
“Of course,” he responded. And she could hear the promise of more in every syllable.
Chapter Seven
BRAX’S LIPS TINGLED with the memory of his denya’s mouth and the rest of the day went by in much of a blur. He wanted to kiss her again, wanted to commit the feel of her flesh to memory until there was nothing left in either of their minds but the feel of them together. He hadn’t expected to be hit so hard by the sight of her with the aliens at the market. He’d had no claim on her and until he explained what the denya bond was or she told him otherw
ise, he still had no claim. But his claws itched to flash out and threaten anyone who would try and touch her.
They’d made their way back to the ship after making a few more stops, and there were no more lovers to get in their way. Had Vita left a string of broken hearts and empty beds across the galaxy? Was she one of those people who took no satisfaction in a permanent relationship? He was getting ahead of himself. One pair of lovers was nothing to base an entire sexual and relationship history off of, and if she knew of his own past there were plenty of beds he’d warmed for only a night or two before moving on.
He’d started to grow dissatisfied by fleeting nights before he and his family left Honora Station, but seeing Shayn and Naomi together had cinched it. Brax wanted a relationship like his brother had with his denya, like he’d heard that their parents had, something true and deep.
And he wanted it with Vita.
The bond was pulling them together and he was happy to go along with it. He’d always wondered if there were people out there who would resent the pull of the denya bond, but if they existed he wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t some painful force, jerking him against his will to his destiny. It was more like a gentle stream, one he could float along until he found what he needed and claimed her as his own.
And kissing. He definitely wanted more kissing. One taste of her had only made him hungrier for more and he’d die of it if he had to wait too long. Was it dramatic? Perhaps, but she was his mate and he would actually die eventually if they didn’t do anything about that.
The ship was docked with several other land capable cruisers, all of them the size of large buildings. Nothing smaller could manage the vast distances of space, and anything bigger was too fragile to break atmo and would need shuttles to ferry passengers to the planet. Vita’s ship wasn’t much to look at, its gray hull battered by debris and the fire of the atmosphere breaches. But it had got them this far, even with its... creative patch work. And now that they were on the ground, Brax was able to do some of the more tricky fixes he didn’t want to risk in the vacuum of space, not when he couldn’t trust her redundant life support systems.