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“Of course it does. We each have rules that we live by.”

“What are your rules, Gen?”

Her smile turned brittle. “No passengers aboard my ship, ever. No one in my bunk when my alarm wakes me in the morning. No touches from anyone I think might want anything more than a few pleasurable hours. No one at my back. Those rules have kept me alive a lot longer than someone like me has any right to expect.”

She curled her fingers so her nails dug into my skin through the jumpsuit. It hurt, but I liked this kind of pain. I wanted more of it.

“And yet hereyouare,” she continued. “Onmyship, inmybunk, atmyback. You were here when I woke up covered with your stardust. I’m breaking all my rules for you.”

“Why?” I genuinely wanted a truthful answer, and wondered if she’d give me one.

She twisted her fist in my jumpsuit and pulled me closer until our lips almost touched.

“Because I’ve always liked being cold,” she said. “I like being in front, in the lead, taking charge and giving orders. I like making decisions, issuing commands, and keeping myself alive and my ship fueled and full of cargo. I have a good life, especially compared to the ones I’ve left behind. But now I want heat, and I want you to give it to me.”

I didn’t need my enhanced senses to discern that she had spoken the rawest kind of truth, in words she might never have even articulated to herself.

“How much heat do you want?” I asked.

“All you can give me.” She flicked my lower lip with the tip of her tongue. The movement mesmerized me.

“Until we get to Ymar II?” My voice sounded strained with the effort of holding back as the scent of her arousal grew.

“Until then.” She looked up at me, her eyes dark with desire and some other emotion I couldn’t identify. “By the time we dock, we’ll know whether we want to keep breaking our rules or go back to the people we were before.” Her expression changed, became something almost feral. “I’m cold, Kerian. I’m so fucking cold. Give me heat.”

If Gen wanted heat, by all the gods above and below, I would not stop until she blazed like a sun.

I pulled her body to mine and kissed her.

chapterfive

gen

Kerian’s kisswas unlike any I had ever felt before.

He kissed me with hunger, possessiveness, and need, as if my lips, mouth, and tongue were his to claim and do with as he pleased. I had never felt sowantedby a man’s mouth before.

His lush jungle scent grew until it filled my lungs and seemed to soak into my skin. It had undercurrents that reminded me of wines and spices I’d tasted on some other world years ago, long before I’d become the captain of theNebulaand left my old life behind.

His hot tongue slid over my lips and shimmered with stardust. I opened my mouth again, inviting him to share the taste of the dust with me. The moment our tongues touched, a jolt of pleasure ran straight through me like a bolt of plasma, causing my thighs to clench. I moaned.

“Please take off your nightclothes,” Kerian rasped. His dark eyes glowed like starlight. “Before I ruin them.”

I pulled the soft sleeveless tunic over my head. Rather than toss it aside, I rubbed the cloth over my breasts and stomach, transferring the shimmering stardust to my bare skin.

“Let me,” he said, and took my top from me. He swept it over every inch of my back, from my shoulders to my waist, and then nudged me to lie flat so he could do the same to my chest. His fingertips grazed my hard nipples. I cupped my breasts for his attentions and he took his time ensuring every quivering centimeter glimmered.

With my upper body now coated in dust, he slipped his fingers into the waistband of my pants and drew them slowly down my legs, dusting my skin with the shirt as he went.

The moment my pants were halfway to my knees, he leaned over to drag his tongue over my abdomen and then farther down. I moaned, my hands clutching at the bedding.

His tongue delved between my barely parted thighs. I cried out and tried to open my legs, but he held me still as he flicked his tongue on my most delicate and sensitive skin. This was torture.

“Take off my pants,” I told him breathlessly. “Don’t make me wait.”

“You like giving orders.” He gave me a smile that sent a shiver through my entire body. He slid my pants down my legs until they were off, and then dragged them between my thighs as he crawled back up my body to kiss me again.

“And?” I panted as the soft fabric ran over my inner thighs. The stardust tingled on my skin, heightening my sensitivity until I swore I could feel each individual particle of dust.