1. Elodie

Ihave the Monday morning blahs when I wake up. I don’t want to get out of bed, and I definitely don’t want to go to work, but unfortunately, these things aren’t optional.

Then I emerge into my pod’s galley kitchen and see Calder, and my mood brightens immediately.

I stop in the doorway and admire the view of his back. His shirt hides most of his physique, and his pants do nothing for his ass, but clothes can only hide so much. His shoulders are broad, his waist is narrow, and there’s not an ounce of fat on his body.

Calder is built.

He’s been my podmate for six months, and I thought the effects of all those muscles would eventually fade. And it has. Mostly. But every once in a while, when I least expect it, the sheer physicality of his body punches me in the face.

I must make a noise because he turns around. I catch sight of his bruised face and choke back a gasp. Someone did a number on him. Again. There’s a long cut on his left cheek, stretching from his temple down to his chin, and his right eye is swollen and puffy.

“What happened?”

Calder seems to hunch into himself. “I got jumped,” he admits sheepishly. “I was making a delivery in the Aztec Sector, and I wasn’t paying attention.”

I sigh. Calder is Karven. We don’t see too many of them in Harte, but we hear the stories. The Karven are supposed to be elite fighters, brutal soldiers, and hardened mercenaries.

Yeah, no. I’ve been living with Calder for six months. He works as a courier and comes home bloody more often than not. He seems to be the target of every bully in Harte and never fights back. I don’t think he knows how.

But there’s a secret, shameful part of me that wishes otherwise. A secret, primal part of me that feels a little disillusioned every time Calder comes home bruised and beaten.

Ugh. I am an awful person. A giant hypocrite. A lack of fighting skills is certainly nothing to condemn a person for. It’s not like I can talk. I’m useless at hand-to-hand combat, and I’ve never even used an energy weapon.

Besides, Calder’s skills, or lack thereof, are none of my business. He’s my podmate, not my partner.

“They had you deliver something in the Aztec Sector?” I move into the room and drop a caffeine tablet into a mug, pouring hot water over it. “You need to quit that job. It’s seriously detrimental to your health.”

He shrugs. “It’s just a cut,” he says mildly. “It’ll heal.” He throws me a smile. “As usual, I made too much food. Will you join me for breakfast, Elodie?”

Did I want to sleep with Calder when he first moved in? Yes. Of course. I’m not immune to the appeal of his body. But moments like this make me grateful I didn’t. Trust me on this. A podmate who is kind, quiet, and cleans up after himself is a lot harder to find than someone to temporarily warm my sheets.

Not that anyone’s warmed my sheets in a long while.

Whatever he’s made smells delicious. “What is that?”

“I picked up some new flavoring cubes while I was in the Aztec Sector.”

“Was this before or after you got jumped?”

A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Before.” He heaps a generous amount of meat into my bowl, topping it with the flavored sauce. “The spices remind me of home.”

His willingness to feed me always takes me by surprise. There are sixteen billion people on Harte. We don’t starve, but food is never abundant. Meat is a rarity. Mostly, we eat protein cubes. Sharing a meal is rare here, something reserved only for the closest of friends.

But things must be different in the Karven Federation because Calder always buys meat and always shares his food with me.

I sit across from him with a murmur of thanks. “Do you know, I have no idea where you’re from.”

He hesitates for a beat and then answers. “Chiara.”

I didn’t know that. Come to think of it, I know very little about Calder. He told me he was Karven when he applied to be my podmate and asked if it was going to be an issue. Of course it’s not—I’m not a Crill zealot—but that’s all I know about him.

“Is it nice there?”

“It’s very quiet. Nothing ever happens on Chiara.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Nothing ever happens on the entire planet?” Stars, this meat is delicious. It’s spicy, smoky, and practically melts in my mouth. I can’t even imagine how much it cost.

A small smile hovers over his lips. “Pretty much.”

“Is that why you left?”

“I left because I wanted to see the universe.”

“And you ended up on Harte, working as a courier. Is that better than staying on Chiara?”

He laughs. “My sister Enola runs the family farm. Her three children are loud, noisy, and demand constant attention. Anything is better than staying on Chiara.” He fingers his cut absently. “But I don’t want to be a courier forever. I want to be a bounty hunter.”

I didn’t know that either. I’m learning more about Calder in this one conversation than I have in six months. “A bounty hunter?” I try really hard to keep the skepticism out of my voice. The guy gets pummeled constantly as a courier. He wouldn’t last ten days as a bounty hunter.

He nods. “Like you,” he says, “I’m saving up to buy a ship.”

I almost open my mouth to suggest we pool our savings and buy a ship together but stop myself. What the hell is wrong with me? “You shouldn’t share your meat if you’re saving for a ship.”

He shakes his head immediately. “That’s not our way, Elodie.” He glances at his comm. “Your company is always a pleasure, but don’t you have to be at work?”

I look at the time and jump to my feet. “Oh stars, I’m so late,” I moan. It wouldn’t have mattered in the past, but ever since Rand Onel died and his son Jarel took over, Onel Corp has become an increasingly stressful place to work. I have saved the company hundreds of thousands of credits, yet, if I am not at work at the stroke of nine, Linae Neff, Jarel’s assistant, tells my boss Maro, who then places a reprimand in my file. “I better call a skimmer.” It’ll be expensive, but there’s no helping it.

“Or I can give you a ride. I’m heading in that direction.”

I beam at him. Calder is the best. “Could you? That would be wonderful. Thank you so much, Calder. I’ll be ready in three minutes.”

A skimmer seatsfour or more people. A speeder, which couriers use to get around in Harte, is a two-seater. I sit behind Calder’s solidly muscled body and wrap my arms around his waist. I don’t know where the guy gets his muscles from—it’s clearly not from fighting—but as we get underway, a shiver of involuntary lust goes through me.

Cut that out, Elodie.

But try as I might to push my lustful thoughts away, it takes everything I have not to trail my fingers over his sculpted abs. His muscles tighten as we race through the streets, and, riding pressed tight against his back, I can close my eyes and let my imagination run rampant. I can’t see his bruised face, so I can pretend he’s a dangerous and predatory bounty hunter, and I’m caught in his trap. “What can I offer you to let me go?” I ask in my fantasy, and his eyes glitter with sudden heat. “You,” he growls. “Naked.”

Sooner than I’d like, we pull up in front of the Onel Tower. I get off, my knees weak. I must be shaky from the death-defying way Calder weaved through traffic. My reaction has nothing to do with being pressed against him as we raced through the sector. Nothing to do with the fantasies that consume my mind and send fire raging through me.

“Thanks for the ride.” My voice sounds as if I’ve run all the way here. “It was really nice of you.”

“It was nothing.” Unlike me, he sounds perfectly normal. “See you tonight.” He flashes me a smile, lifts his hand in a wave, and zooms off.

Resisting the urge to stand on the sidewalk and stare at his departing back, I walk into work. My friend Danica is waiting for me just inside the entrance. “From the silly smile on your face, I take it that was your tall drink of water?”

What a strange expression. Dani’s favorite thing to do is to ask me when I’m going to get together with Calder. Whenever my podmate drops me off at work, I give her fresh ammunition. “He’s not my tall drink of water,” I reply repressively. “I was running late, so he offered to give me a ride, that’s all. Were you waiting for me?”

“I was, yes.” Her expression turns serious. “Something is afoot. There are rumors that the Chief of Engineering position has been filled by one of Jarel’s friends.” She gives me a concerned look. “I wanted to give you a heads-up before you got blindsided.”

It’s no secret that I applied for the Chief of Engineering role and didn’t get it. It’s kind of Dani to warn me. “Thank you, but I’m fine,” I say, lying through my teeth. “I’m a little relieved, to be honest. The job would have been more stressful than it was worth.”

There would have been more stress; that much is true. But the job also came with a nice pay bump. I could have bought my ship in two years, not seven.

Just then, both our comms go off. I glance at my screen. “Mandatory meeting on Level 199,” the message says.

That’s not ominous. Not at all.