Page 81 of Tempting Cargo

“Not necessarily. It depends which one he got sent to. We have connections with two, but there are others we’ve never been able to access.” Tokki’s mouth twisted. “But they might be still easier than tackling a trader enclave.”

“I have to take him from under my parents’ noses. We need a slick plan to get him on theDorimisabefore anyone realises he’s there, then make a quick getaway.”

Tokki raised his eyes to the gods. “Let’s go over everything again. Even the slightest small detail may help. You say Airida is housed in a cottage on the outskirts of the grounds?”

“Yes. Very secluded. So nobody will see him.” Gods forbid anyone saw the shameful family secret.

I pinched the ridge between my eyes. I needed more chrya. So much more chrya.

THE GALLEY WASalready full of people and chatter when I entered, the aroma of stew filling the air. I almost expected to see small humans on all the chairs and Muzati rifling through assorted junk on the table.

Like that night we’d left Draim, I sat back on the sofa, a contented observer. There was an undercurrent of hope, of excitement. Camaraderie. The stew warmed my stomach, and as the conversations drifted and flowed, I almost believed this could work.

I shoved Muzati off her stool to sit next to Garrison. My arm went round him, and the smile he rewarded me with was everything.

“Sorry I didn’t have time for a shower,” he said. “We were caught up in the cargo bay. It looks good, by the way.”

I wrinkled my nose. Underneath the scent of cargo bay and hard work, I still caught a trace of fresh hillside air. “Don’t worry.”

Gods, his leg was so firm. I traced idle patterns over the taut fabric. “I have to go back to the bridge after this. Be sure you shower before you come to bed.” I planted a kiss on his grinning mouth.

When I slid into bed behind him later, he smelled of sonic booth foam, and I almost missed the scent of his sweat. Maybe I’d find time to grab him after a training session tomorrow.

I ignored the thrill in my bones. Couldn’t I just enjoy this, the now, his warm strength cradled in my arms?

My stomach twisted and writhed. I couldn’t allow myself to get used to this any more than I already was. But he was just sohere. And so… Garrison.

One more night. I could be sensible tomorrow.

He turned his head and kissed me, and I forgot why I was arguing with myself. And when he settled on top of me, both of us as hard as each other, the only thing I wanted was him.

Sometimes, the captain of the ship got exactly what she wanted, even if it was only for one more night.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Voidspace

Garrison

I’D NOT beensure how Shohari would be with me, whether she’d go back to the distance she’d created just before Vadias, or whether she’d soften now we were going to bring about the freedom she craved.

Last night, we’d buried those worries under joining bodies, tender touches, and whispered words. She was all business again this morning, but it didn’t diminish the contented hope fluttering in my chest.

After she departed the galley for the bridge, I headed to the cargo bay with the shaa’ith.

The guns were a strange mix of familiar and alien. Their version of the assault rifle was more bulbous, the polymer of its body a strangely smooth texture, but the weight of it in my hands was familiar, as was the motion of locking in the cartridge, and the crisptchikof the safety lever.

I gawped every time the target dropped the spent bullets and remoulded itself, filling the large frame with a smooth, semi-translucent ballistics gel.

“It’s not very thick,” I said, peering from the side as it coloured and swelled into a new target.

Tokki laughed. “Why would it need to be thicker?”

I sent him an incredulous look. “To stop bullets going through?”

“Didn’t these ones stop okay?”

They had, but I might not have fired if I’d known the target was only three inches thick.