Page 17 of Tempting Cargo

I rubbed my chest, easing a sudden twinge. As I held up my comm, telling the computer to add vegetables to our stores at the next stopover, my gaze fell past my wrist, and I let myself take him in. About as tall as me. Almost as broad as me, seemingly impressive for a human. The rest of them were puny and very, very breakable.

Garrison wasn’t. In a strange way, he was built like us, substantial without being showy. Instead of headspines, his short, dark brown mane looked soft to the touch. And his firm, round buttocks made me want to grab them and slap them. The sleeves on his strange tunic were short, stretching around decent-sized muscles, wrapped in skin that had to be much softer than a kri’ith’s. It was all one colour, a warm light brown echoing the amber tones of my torso. Strange symbols and images were inked on his skin, and I almost wanted to ask him what they were and what they meant.

His face was still alien, but having seen these humans for a day or so now, I was beginning to acclimate to their appearance, and if I had to pick which was the most attractive, it would easily be him.

Not that I needed to, of course.

The ship lurched, probably as it hit a patch of phased debris, pitching me down the corridor towards him.

His arms were full of blankets, and despite a valiant effort, quickly grabbing onto the turb-handle, he staggered. He’d have stayed upright if a large kri’ith female hadn’t landed on him—except in the narrow corridor, I fell right into him, driving us both to the deck.

TheDorimisaheaved again, bringing our bodies apart and together. I braced myself over him so as not to crush him under my bulk, warmth suffusing my body where we touched.

Another lurch meant I narrowly missed slamming my forehead into his, and I turned at the last minute so my face was pressed into his neck.

What was the harm in breathing in?

Gods. His smell was peculiar but pleasant. Pungent, in a heady way, but also fresh, like hillside air.

What am I doing?

The turbulence seemed to have stopped, so there was no reason not to get up, no reason to remain on top of him.

I should move. I should.

“It’s okay, you won’t squash me.” His voice was lower, grittier than I’d heard it before. “Are you hurt?”

I shouldn’t have looked into his eyes. I shouldn’t have—but I did, and as soon as I did, I couldn’t tear mine away.

His gaze was steady, his large, black pupils surrounded by a slim circle of rich brown.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Are you?”

“Probably just some bruises tomorrow,” he said, but his breathing sounded laboured, and perhaps I needed to get him to the medbay just in case. Muzati was the medic, not me, but she was probably busy with things that came loose in the turbulence, so I shouldn’t bother her.

You waste time with unimportant things, Shohari.My father’s voice rose unbidden in my mind, and I snarled it away. Except, of course, my face was right next to Garrison’s, and he shrank back, or as much as he could with a kri’ith on top of him.

Skyk. What am I doing?

I scrabbled off the human, and after a heartbeat’s delay, offered him a hand up. His grip was firm in mine, warm, and acceptably strong.

A familiar heat twisted through my core.He would put up a pleasing fight in the sheets.

I tamped it down. He was cargo in my care, not a warm body at a stopover cantina.

“We should get you to medbay,” I said, pulling on my usual brusque tone.

Garrison didn’t smile at me this time, and his husky voice echoed in the metallic corridor. “I’m okay, Captain. I’d better check on the others, check they aren’t hurt. I’ll clear these up in a few minutes.” He gestured to the mess of things strewn acrossthe floor from the storage compartment before giving a curt nod and striding away.

Muzati’s voice came through my comm. “You okay, Captain?”

“Aye. Any problems?”

“Nothing too serious. Couple of panels fell loose, but nothing’s broken. It shouldn’t take too long to fix.”

I had no doubt my engineer could sort it on her own, but two pairs of hands were always better for this kind of repair. “Stand by, I’ll join you. Want me to bring a tea down?”

“You’re the best, Cap, wouldn’t say no.”