Page 28 of Stolen Fire (N.O.A.H (Nostradamus Outerspace Advancement of Humanity) #2)

“Normally, on a standard ship, you would have different engineers to do the various jobs, like the PHALCON or Booster Engineer. But it’s important that you are proficient in as many positions as possible because this increases your value to the crew and captain, and you’re qualified to apply for more jobs.

” Blaize met the eye of each of the five girls she’d picked up earlier in the day for some hands-on training.

She loved working with the budding engineers, knowing that because of their hard work and the opportunities she was helping to provide, their futures would be so much brighter.

They’d lost a few of the students, Elaya for example, but the eagerness of these five more than made up for it.

One of the girls raised her hand.

“Yes?” Blaize wasn’t used to hand raising to get her attention.

“What’s a falcon?”

“That’s an abbreviation for power, heating, articulation, and lighting controls. It’s the crew member who basically oversees the environmental systems. It’s more about the internal systems to keep the crew alive, versus navigational or power systems used for flight.”

The girl nodded and made notes on her handheld.

“How many engineers does this ship have?” The girl with bright purple hair didn’t wait to raise her hand.

“One. Me.”

“Seriously?” She swiveled her head, looking around the main engine rooms where they stood. “This ship is huge. I mean, how?”

“I do a lot of things proactively, and I have a lot of checklists.” Blaize shrugged. And she was used to working alone and worked twice as hard to even be accepted as an engineer. These females didn’t know how blessed they were to be in an all-girl academy.

She divided up the team, giving them checklists to complete.

She rotated the teams so that she could work with each one individually over the course of the time they had.

Too soon, it was over and time to take them back to the academy for last meal.

They chattered in the sled all the way back.

Blaize was both sad and relieved to see them go.

It was inspiring to work with them, to see the next generation develop, but it was exhausting to answer all their questions and make sure no errors were made.

Although they were seniors and had done a great job, in the end, it was her ass that was going to be on the ship. There were no do-overs in space.

She dragged herself from the sled and up the gangplank.

No matter how tired she was, she needed to do a little more, had to go back down to her precious systems. It wasn’t about going by Cifer’s old cell.

But she couldn’t help but step in and look around.

It felt like part of him was still there, which didn’t make a ton of sense.

Dez had used this cell too before Cyra had accepted him.

But Blaize had no sense of Dez’s presence, only Cifer’s.

She dropped onto the bunk for a quick rest, just for a moment.

His scent was still on the pillow, just like it had been in his apartment.

Drawing a deep breath in through her nose, she let his essence flow through her before she closed her eyes and slept.

Cifer shook her gently. “Wake up, Beauty.”

Blaize rolled over and rubbed her eyes. “Where were you?”

“Had some business to take care of.” He laid his body over hers and kissed her, his tongue tangling with hers.

His spicy taste satisfied a craving she didn’t know she had.

They moaned in unison. He drew down the zipper on her suit.

For some reason, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her breasts sprang free, nipples hard, demanding his attention.

He didn’t leave her wanting. He rolled one nipple between his thumb and first two fingers as he descended on the other with his hot, wet mouth.

Blaize arched her back into his touch. It wasn’t enough.

She ran her fingers through his coarse dark locks and pulled him tighter to his body.

His touch was perfect, intense without being painful.

He released her wet nipple into the cold air and moved to the other sensitized bud.

He was going to make her come just from playing with her chest. She pressed her thighs together, trying to relieve the achy want at her core.

Cifer released the nipple he’d been teasing with his fingers and pressed his hand firmly between her legs. It was like he’d read her mind, or at least her body.

“Yes,” she moaned, parting her legs.

Cifer’s palm was on her mound, and his fingers pulsed and pinched her lips through her suit.

Why wouldn’t he take off her clothes? They needed to be naked.

He needed to be inside her again. She needed to come around his cock again and again.

He pressed harder and nipped her breast. The orgasm wasn’t an explosion…

It was a series of small detonations that snuck up on her and resonated deep inside before a rush of hot cream filled her panties and darkness filled her vision.

She opened her squinted eyes, staring at the ceiling of the cell, completely alone. But her panties were wet, and she was panting for air. Her nipples were as hard as stone but covered by her crew uniform.

A dream.

It had been a stupid sex dream.

She had to get out of this cell. It was just another space in the bowels of the ship, nothing special. It was ridiculous to be drawn to a space that didn’t contain the object of her desire. And as far as the desire went, that was the stupidest thing of all. She had to survive the trip to Hiargus.

She should return to her quarters to take another shower and get some rest. Yet, there was still a ton of work to do before they would be ready to take off.

Working with the students had been rewarding but inefficient.

There would be no more time to fantasize if they wanted to take off on time.

Cyra probably wouldn’t care, but it would embarrass Blaize to miss a deadline.

So, a few hours of sleep, and then she would get back to the most important thing in her life, The Treasure .

Maybe Cifer would find something to keep him on station, and they wouldn’t even have to go to Hiargus.

Blaize slunk back to her quarters, making sure to check around corners before taking any turn. It wouldn’t do to run into Cifer with soaked panties from a wet dream about him. Not that he would know the dream was about him, but she would.

Fortune was with her, and she made it to the peaceful isolation of her bare cabin.

She did a quick wash, where she had to resist the temptation to finger herself to the image of Cifer between her legs.

She was hopeless. In bed, she recited the power equations she’d learned in school, hoping sleep would finally take her away.

Just as she was about to drift off, she heard voices in the corridor. He was there. Her heart raced. Cifer was on the ship, and he was reclaiming the room next to hers.

Blaize did her best to tiptoe through the corridors on her way to the galley.

The dread at the thought of seeing him was quickly replaced by disappointment when she reached the empty room.

Blaize chastised herself for caring and opened the cabinet that contained the protein bars.

She grabbed three, prepared to spend the entire cycle rerunning the checklists.

“Hi, Blaize.”

The soft voice startled her, and she fumbled with the bars. “Veda. Where is everyone? I expected to be late for the meal again, but it seems like I’m either way too late or possibly early. That never happens.”

Veda smiled. “You didn’t miss anything. Dez didn’t cook because Rhysa stayed with Gareth to keep negotiating our fuel rate. And Bodi had errands to run before we leave. Dez and Cyra have been locked away in their quarters since very early, when Cifer left.”

“Cifer was here?” She’d known that, but maybe playing ignorant would yield some info.

“He met with the captain and Dez last night. I’m not sure of the details, but it seems like there was some problem he needed to take care of before he can travel.”

Blaize bit back a variety of uncharitable answers.

They would only make Veda uncomfortable.

“Right. Well, I’ll be in the engine room if anyone needs me.

” Blaize took a few steps to the door and paused.

“Also, I’m sending a load to the laundry service—coveralls, sheets, and towels—if you have anything. ”

“Oh, yes. It takes so long to process the big stuff with our onboard machines.”

“Leave the pile by the bay door. I’ll make the arrangements. If you see anyone else, let them know.”

“Thank you, Blaize.”

Veda’s warm approval stayed with Blaize for several hours, until she realized that she’d completed reviewing the checklists.

The girls had done an admirable job. She’d stripped the cell bedding and her own and arranged for the service pickup, and still Cifer was gone.

She shouldn’t notice that. Rather than stare at the cold, empty cell for a moment longer, she went to find the captain.

To tell her about the laundry run. Nothing else. Not a word about Cifer.

But as she turned the corner, Dez rushed forward, and Blaize had to sidestep quickly to avoid being run over.

“What’s wrong?”

Dez kept moving without a word.

Cyra emerged from her quarters. “Cifer is in trouble.”

“What?”

Cyra moved past Blaize toward the bridge. Dez raced for the exit.

Bodi was at the communication station. Cyra curled around behind her to stare at the screen. “Do you see Dez?”

Bodi pointed at the screen where a dot moved along a map of the station. “Here.”

“Good. Don’t lose him.”

Blaize stomped her foot and bellowed, “What is going on?”

Cyra stood and blinked at Blaize. Her gills flapped. “Cifer made us promise that if he wasn’t back by a specific time, we should contact the authorities. But we did that, and they don’t seem to care. So Dez is going after him.”

“How are you going to find him among the millions of beings on the station? He could be anywhere.” Blaize tried to breathe, but her heart was beating so hard, her lungs couldn’t make room for air in her chest.

Cyra held out a data pad. “We put a tracker on his pad, but it stopped moving, and then it went dead. Dez is going to the last place it pinged.”

“Dez went by himself?”

Without waiting for an answer, Blaize ran for the toolbox in her engine room. She grabbed the huge wrench she’d used for securing the shelves and lights with Veda and ran out of the ship. On the way, she called Bodi on her comm.

“What?”

“Send me Dez’s tracker info. He can’t go by himself. He has one hand.”

Dez had barely survived Varik’s last attack. If Blaize had to break rules and crack skulls to protect her captain’s mate, then she would.

It had nothing to do with Cifer being at risk. At all.