27. Aurelia

TWENTY-SEVEN

I yawned,stretching out on my blissful cloud. Sylas's chest rose and fell beside me, and Brina was sleeping at my feet. Though I would have been content to fall asleep in his arms after our glorious shower, I'd felt guilty leaving her alone in my room for the night.

She was like a little puppy, all too happy to just be around her humans. We'd also stolen a pad for her to use and some more fish from the kitchens, which meant we were all stocked up for our little alien otter-puppy hybrid.

"How am I supposed to sneak out of here?" I whispered, glancing at the time on the clock. "I need to go get a fresh uniform."

Sylas wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to his chest. "Don't leave." He buried his head in my hair, inhaling deeply. "I like you in my bed."

A little smile curled up on my lips.

This was so, so wrong, but I couldn't help myself anymore. It felt right.

"I like your bed too, Captain Kellar." He swatted at my bare ass, and I poked at his chest in retaliation. "It's much more comfortable than mine."

"Captain's perks," he said, a smirk dancing over his lips.

"Oh?" I crossed my arms, letting them rest on his bare chest, and rested my head on them. "What do you call this, then?" Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Mmm." He hummed, like he was thinking about it, wrapping his hands around my hips. "Mine."

I laughed, pushing him off and trying to get out of bed.

"Do we really have to get up?" He groaned the word, throwing his forearm over his eyes.

"Yes." I poked at his chest. "Because you're the captain, and you're the one who planned this planetary research mission for today."

He grumbled under his breath, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

"I have to take Brina to my room, too." It wasn't like she was going to live here, in Sylas's room.

Except I was pretty sure she was in love with his bathtub. We'd filled it up with a few inches of water, letting her splash around and use that powerful tail to swim around. Hopefully, I'd get the chance to use it myself at some point.

He sighed. "I know."

"I should take her back," I whispered. The thought had only just occurred to me. We were taking a transport ship back down to the surface today. It would be the responsible thing to return her to the wild. To her home. But… I was already a little in love with her.

Sylas brushed a hand over my hair, like he knew what I was thinking. "If you want. But if she doesn't want to go, then we'll find a way to make it work."

"Really?" I looked up at him, my heart swelling in my chest.

Oh, this was dangerous. He was dangerous.

Probably for my heart.

My plans tokeep Brina a secret were quickly foiled that morning when Finley asked, "Aurelia, what were those noises I heard coming from your room last night? Because it sounded like barking, which is weird, because no one has a dog on the ship."

Shit. Guess the walls weren't as thick as I hoped.

"About that. I…" I winced. "I sort of had an additional passenger come along yesterday."

We were all in our flight suits, ready to board one of the larger transport shuttles down to the planet's surface. Most of the officers were staying behind, but Finley and a few of the head researchers—including Zaria and Ryder, who were twins that looked uncannily alike—were accompanying us.

"What?" Finley's eyebrows were practically at her hairline. "You…"

Yeah, I could see how this didn't sound good.

"I had a stowaway. Syl—" I quickly caught myself. Dammit, I couldn't keep slipping up like this. "Captain Kellar and I came across an injured native animal and I, uh, assisted it." A sheepish smile crossed over my face. "She somehow got into my bag, and I didn't realize it until we were already on the ship."

"She?"

"Brina. Ah—the creature. It's a girl." Something I was like 90% sure about, assuming their anatomy was at all similar to creatures on Earth. If not, I was calling her a girl, anyway. I was simply too stubborn to admit when I was wrong.

"You named it?"

"Yup. Well, the Captain did, technically."

"Sounds like you two have been spending a lot of time alone together." Finley raised an eyebrow.

I blushed. I couldn't help it. "It's not like that."

But it was. It was so like that. And I was dying to tell someone about it, but who could I tell? Our relationship was strictly forbidden. He was highly off limits. If anyone knew, they should technically report it.

Which meant I couldn't confess to my best friends about all the sex I'd been having. Good sex. No—amazing sex. A smile slipped on my face as I thought of Sylas this morning. How he'd tried to keep me in his bed.

But we had a mission. This ship wasn't just here for vibes alone. And we had landed on a geological wealth of a planet.

Even if I had this unsettled feeling in my gut that my dad had found it, too. But why hadn't the federation known about it? Or if they had, why send us on this same path? Something didn't add up.

"Aurelia?"

"Hm?"

"You ready?" That was Kayle. Sylas was staying behind, partially because of the whole captain of this ship thing, and also because we couldn't afford to get caught if someone noticed we were always in the same place. But mostly because I needed to pilot the ship, to make sure we had a safe and smooth landing. Given that I'd already flown into this atmosphere once, I was the smartest person for the job.

Plus, I could show everyone what we'd found in the caves.

"Yes." I settled into my seat, strapping in before going through the process to boot up the ship. At least I couldn't fuck this up as badly as I did before.

The motions took over, fingers flying on the console as I set our flight path, adjusting the variables slightly based on yesterday.

I looked out of the cockpit, finding Sylas standing there, a proud expression on his face. The warmth flooded in my system, just from his small smile. That show of belief and support he could only communicate in one way.

And to think, two months ago, he'd tried to kick me off the ship.

I snorted, and Kayle looked over at me, her face showing obvious amusement.

"Shut up," I mumbled, not wanting to explain the train of thoughts that led me there.

Then, with a few pushes of buttons and flipped switches, we were ready to go. Sylas disappeared with a wave, and the airlock was open.

Time to fly.

"Good work today, everyone,"Kayle called as everyone filed off the ship. "See you back here tomorrow, bright and early!"

The ship was abuzz with excitement, mostly because Finley and her researchers couldn't believe what we'd stumbled upon. Not only the native creatures; but also the crystals that seemed to glow.

Ryder seemed to think the energy stored within them could be harnessed somehow. I found that blasphemous, but then again, we were on a starship millions of light years away from earth.

What did I know? I had an engineering degree, not an advanced geology degree. Sure, I knew a lot about a wide variety of topics, but I certainly wasn't an expert on rocks or crystals.

"How are you feeling, Aurelia?" Kayle asked, watching as I rubbed at my shoulder muscles.

"Good." Sore. I was a little tense, too, but there was no point in mentioning that. "Just tired. Sleeping on that cave floor the other day really did a number on my back.

"Hmm."

"What?" I raised an eye at her.

"Nothing." She gave me a sweet smile. "I wanna meet your little creature, though. Think she'd be up for it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe?" I had no idea how Brina would be with strangers. So far, it had only just been me and Sylas. Would she bite? If she was going to cause problems, I'd have to take her back. And I really didn't want to have to abandon my new little friend. Especially when I'd bonded with her. "I don't know…"

"It's okay." She gave me a small smile. "I'm just curious."

A laugh burst out of me. "You and everyone else on this ship."

"Can you blame us? Those little guys are so cute!"

"What"s cute?" came that deep voice I knew without even looking up. Sylas. My body relaxed as he walked up, standing behind me. We weren't touching, and more than a foot of space separated our bodies, but it still felt like his body heat radiated to me.

"Brina." I turned back to him, having to tilt my chin up to look at him. Holy tall. Sometimes, when I wasn't in his presence for an extended period, I could forget how tall he was, and then he would stand over me like this. A shiver worked its way down my spine.

A genuine smile lit up his face. "She is pretty cute. I was just on my way to find you, actually."

"Oh?"

He nodded, running his hands through his hair. "She's in my room."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I—" Was it just me, or did Sylas look nervous? "I felt bad about her being all alone all day. So I rescued her."

"You…" My jaw dropped. "You went into my room?" My voice was so low it was practically a whisper.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant. I didn't see your stuffed cow."

My cheeks were definitely on fire now. "I?—"

"I let her splash around the bathtub for a bit. She's a very happy pup."

Kayle looked between the two of us like we'd grown two heads. "What is going on here?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You're acting like pet parents right now." She whirled on Sylas. "And since when do you smile?"

His face dropped. "Since always." He was messing with his hair again. I liked that it was his nervous tell, because it meant I knew when he was feeling out of control.

It made him feel more human, especially compared to the larger-than-life grumpy captain I'd once thought him to be.

Now he was just… Sylas. The man I cared for, more than I wanted to admit. The man who was helping me care for a strange alien animal like she was our beloved pet. The man who delivered more orgasms in bed than I'd ever had before.

"It's no big deal," I said, trying to brush his sister off. "We found her together, so it only makes sense that she likes both of us."

"Right." Sylas nodded. "I can't exactly abandon the little bugger, now can I?"

I held back a giggle at his words, and Kayle looked at the watch on her wrist. "Shit. I gotta run. I, uh… have somewhere I need to be."

Sylas and I shared a confused glance, but when she said nothing else, we both waved goodbye, watching her sprint away.

His hand rubbed at his beard, his jaw working. "That was… weird."

"You don't think she suspects something, do you?"

"Of course not." He turned his body fully towards mine, and the smell of his cologne hit my nostrils. God, I loved the way he smelled. Like the night air. I wished I could bottle it up. Or better yet, sleep with that scent on my pillow.

Because it wasn't like I could bury my face in his chest every night. Right?

He pinched my ass, causing me to glare at him. "What was that for?"

"You had this look on your face."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I did not."

He smirked, but I knew the exact face he had seen. Lust. I inhaled deeply. Fuck. Me.

"Are you coming to my room tonight?" Sylas asked, the words so low that even if anyone else was around, they wouldn't be able to hear.

I glanced around before pulling him into an abandoned supply closet. The dim blue safety lights flickered on, and then I was in his arms, my body pressed against the wall as he kissed me.

"What are we doing?" I asked, pulling away from his mouth long enough to get the words out.

He pressed his lips against my neck. "What do you mean?"

"We're not like…" I struggled to find the words. "In a relationship or anything. Right?"

I wanted him to say yes. That this was something more. That he wanted to be with me—fuck the rules.

"If anyone catches us—" I started again.

Sylas silenced my protests with another kiss. "They won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

Because whenever people were convinced they were really being sneaky, people around them already knew what was going on. A few too many of his flirty smiles or heated stares in my direction, and the entire crew would know.

And that would be mortifying. I didn't want people to think I was sleeping with my captain. Not after we'd gotten to such a rocky start at the beginning of the mission.

"Because it's us." He ran his fingers through my ponytail, undoing the elastic so it would fall around my shoulders. "Because this is good. And it can't be wrong if it feels like this, right?"

Sighing, I rested my forehead against his chest. "I don't know. I'm worried your sister will figure it out. She's too perceptive."

"Maybe. But she won't tell on us, Rae."

"She's legally required to."

"She's my sister," he insisted. "And she's all I have."

My hands were still wrapped around his collar. "What about me?" My voice was soft. "And Brina?"

"Fuck. Little star?—"

I shook my head. "I'm just wondering if we're in over our heads here, Sylas. We're not supposed to be together. You're my Captain, and you're?—"

"Too old for you." He groaned. "I know."

A giggle burst from my lips. "That's not what I was going to say."

"No?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care that you're ten years older than me, Sylas. I care about what kind of man you are. And all you've done is show me that, day after day."

He frowned. "I'm just a grumpy asshole who doesn't deserve someone like you."

"I think the opposite is true." I pressed my lips to his cheek in a soft kiss, brushing my face over his stubble. "I think you deserve someone exactly like me."