Chapter 4

Chapter Four

T ight quarters made making a move on the tempting captain a bit tricky. And Ro had tried. But Kiki was a little firecracker who had run of the ship, and whenever Ro thought she could get Dash alone, the kid showed up and wanted to talk, or play, or eat. Were all kids like that? Ro had never been around one for long enough to find out, and she couldn’t wait to drop Kiki off. Not that the kid was annoying, but time was running short, and if Ro woke up one more time on the edge of release and couldn’t do anything about it but use her own fingers, she was going to go crazy.

Dash was right there. and there was as much desire in his eyes as she felt in her lower regions.

They had three more days together, since flight regulations meant they had to wait in orbit around the moon before they could make their approach to Earth. It would have driven Ro to violence if she wasn’t suddenly grateful for the delay. For the first time in years she wasn’t thinking about work, and a lot of her other stresses had gone away. Dash seemed to radiate calm and happiness to an almost supernatural degree, and it made her want to sit at his side and soak it up for hours and hours. She had, actually. Well, they’d been talking, but she’d found endless subjects to discuss just so she didn’t need to walk away. Half the time Kiki sat there with them and added her own observations. Did she feel the same positivity that Dash handed out? Or did she just want to not be alone?

Either way, they were docking on the moon base soon, and Kiki’s parents would be waiting to retrieve her. And then she and Dash had the whole day to themselves.

Rowan had plans . Plans that ended with both of them naked in a bed together. Or against a wall. Or on the floor.

She was fucking horny and she wanted to get off. With Dash. Multiple times.

But for the moment, she had to be a responsible adult whose brain hadn’t turned to mush with want. Kiki was still on the ship, and it felt weird to have these thoughts when the kid was around somewhere. Not like she could read Ro’s mind, but still. She’d noticed that Kiki had a way of looking at a person as if she could see under their skin. Was Lee going to be like that?

Kids. Weird.

As Ro headed out of her quarters to go join Dash in the cockpit, she heard Kiki yelp and turned, heading toward the girl’s room instead of her intended destination. Kiki was sprawled out on her bed, her bag having seemed to explode open.

“You starting a career as a smuggler?” Ro asked, leaning against the door. “I think you’re still a bit young.”

Kiki rolled to her side and sat back up. “My stuff won’t fit. I didn’t add anything, but I can’t get the bag closed.”

She spoke with a quiet earnestness, and Ro wondered if that was normal for children or if Kiki was a special case. “Need some help?” She could see rolls of clothes and a shoe; presumably the rest was somehow jammed into the bag. The kid was clearly smart, but she hadn’t learned the finer points of packing.

Kiki nodded and scooped up a couple of pieces of clothing that had fallen to the floor. She piled it all in the suitcase and tried to shut it. “I almost have it.”

Ro had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. “I don’t think so, kiddo. We might get it latched, but all your clothes will get wrinkled and it’s all going to explode out of the case when you open it again.”

The girl sighed and flipped the case back open. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“Lay all your clothes out in a single layer. Then we’re going to roll them all up.” Traveling so much for work made packing second nature, and there was something oddly satisfying about teaching someone else to do something so simple.

“Don’t we have to fold them?” Kiki flattened a shirt as she asked.

“Rolling is easier than folding, and I think it saves space, though some have disagreed. Those people are wrong.” Ro’s tone got arch as she said it, and Kiki giggled. They spent a few more minutes packing up clothes, and when they were done, stuffing in shoes and other odds and ends along the perimeter of her bag, it closed easily. Ro lifted it off the bed and set it on the ground with a thump. “How can you carry that, kid? It’s got to weigh as much as you!”

Kiki rolled her eyes. “I’m strong. And it’s not that heavy.”

“We’re approaching Moon Base Alpha,” Dash’s voice cut in over the speaker. “Buckle in for our final descent.”

Ro wanted to rush up to sit with Dash, but the part of her that was excited to go see her nephew for the first time in years didn’t want to just abandon Kiki. She held out a hand. “Want to go sit in the cockpit with Dash? He said it’s cool to watch the landing.”

Kiki latched onto her and they went to the cockpit, where Dash greeted both of them with a smile that made Ro’s heart flip. When he looked at her like that, the lust between them felt like something more. Something she’d be scared to name if she could identify it. She’d dated before, but none of those men had made her feel a fraction of what the gentle captain had made her feel in just a few days of flirtation and promise. How was that possible?

She strapped in and let Kiki take the seat closer to Dash since it had a better view. “How long are we stopping for?” Ro asked. They were so close to Earth she could practically taste it, and she’d caught sight of the big blue marble as they started their lunar orbit.

“At least a night,” Dash said, and he had the sense to grimace. “The ship needs fuel and maintenance, and I know the mechs on the lunar base. We’re not cleared for Earth entry for another two days, anyway, so it makes sense to get this done while we’re here.”

Ro could throw a fit, but it wouldn’t get them on Earth any faster. Entry to the planet had to be scheduled, and she didn’t want to risk mechanical failure slowing them down any more. So she nodded and tried to keep her disappointment in check. Maybe if she called May from the moon, her sister would believe she was actually going to make it home in time.

Yeah, right.

They watched out the view screen as the buildings for Lunar Base Alpha came into view. It wasn’t much to see at first, just the suggestion of a few globes and tunnels connected to each other. But as they got closer, Ro saw vehicles zipping around and people in lunar suits out on the dusty moon. The exterior of the moon wasn’t livable, but the bases were terraformed and provided most of the necessary food and water for the inhabitants and guests of the several permanent bases. Ro had seen brochures advertising vacations at another lunar base, but she’d never wanted to go. Mars had its own moons and one was just as good as another, as far as she was concerned.

But Kiki was practically vibrating in her seat at what she saw. Though it might have been the fact that they were so close to her family, rather than the moon itself. From what she’d heard, it had been months since the girl had seen her parents in person.

It took a few minutes to land and dock, and the second Dash gave the okay, Kiki was out of her seat and sprinting back to her room to get her bag.

“You’d never know she was on Mars because of an illness,” said Ro. “She’s a ball of energy today.”

Dash smiled wide, and his eyes almost seemed to glow. “It’s an exciting day. You might want to pack an overnight bag. The maintenance crew will most likely kick us off the ship overnight. I’ll cover the cost of a room on the base for you since we didn’t agree to this beforehand.” He unhooked his own harness and stood.

Ro reached out and grabbed his hand. “I’m sure we can make do with one room between the two of us.”

Somehow his smile got even wider. “I have to take Kiki to her parents. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Good cheer buzzed all around Dash, and if he felt any more, he might just start spontaneously flying. Which was bad. People weren’t supposed to fly without the help of machines. Bad buck. No. Kiki’s parents had been waiting at the terminal, and the minute the girl saw them, she’d dropped her bag and taken off sprinting. One of her mothers crouched low and held out her arms, and Kiki had jumped into them. Her other mother waited until the first woman stood with Kiki in her embrace and then wrapped her arms around both of them. They glowed with cheer, or they would have if it was something Dash saw rather than felt.

Energy buzzed in his veins, and he wanted to run up and hug them all. The two women had been working hard on the base to make sure their daughter could have the best medical treatment the solar system could provide, and now Kiki was close to being healthy and they’d all get to spend the holidays together. It almost couldn’t get any better than that.

Dash scooped up Kiki’s bag and followed the path the little girl had taken, resisting the urge to run and spend some of the energy building up in him. It felt so damn good to finish a flight like this. And holiday flights were the best. Everyone ended up so happy .

The woman with Kiki in her arms—Miranda, Dash recalled from their calls—smiled at him. Her wife, Fleur, let go of her loved ones and took the suitcase from him. “Thank you, Dash. I can’t remember the last time Kiki looked so happy.” She turned quickly and kissed her daughter’s curly hair. “Ettie said you were just the man to get our little girl home. I’m glad she was right.”

“She usually is,” Dash grinned. His cousin had sent this family his way, and he was thankful for the recommendation. “Kiki was a great passenger.”

“Rowan taught me how to pack,” Kiki piped in.

“Rowan?” Miranda asked. She set Kiki down. She might have been ecstatic to see her kid, but eleven year olds weren’t exactly light, not even tiny ones like Kiki.

“Another passenger,” Dash said.

“She works on Mars and she’s traveled the whole solar system, but she’s from Earth, and she met the governor of Mars once at dinner, and she’s really cool.” It came out in a rush, as if there was too much interesting stuff about Ro that Kiki had to let it all out.

For someone who’d been adamant about not being a babysitter, it seemed that Rowan had spent a good amount of time with the girl. Perhaps the woman had a more open heart than she seemed to think. It gave Dash hope. Then again, high on good cheer and feeling better by the second, it would be impossible for him to feel anything but hope at the minute.

“That’s great, honey,” said Miranda. “Now why don’t we get you back to our rooms. Uncle Kurt is coming over for lunch and he’s excited to see you. The whole family is.”

Kiki turned around and threw her arms around Dash. “Thanks for bringing me home.”

It took a few more minutes to get everything settled, but Kiki and her family eventually left for home. Dash turned around and practically ran back to the ship and to the promise of everything he and Rowan could do together. They’d simmered in flirtation for days, and now it was time to act.

But there was also so much he could show her on the moon! His mind whirled with possibilities. He wanted to get her into bed and dedicate all of his energy to pleasing her, but he also wanted to show her all the hidden wonders the moon had to offer. Everyone knew of its research stations and vacation hotspots, but they didn’t take time to truly learn the place. He’d ferried enough kids back and forth that he’d spent a good chunk of his time here, and Ettie basically lived on Lunar Base Alpha, and she had plenty of tricks to show him.

He couldn’t give Rowan the world, but he could give her a little slice of adventure that people rarely got to see.

He forced himself to slow down as he got to the docks, and he tried for a sedate amble into the ship, but he was pretty sure he was practically skipping. He just couldn’t care. Why should he? Kiki was with her parents and now he had Rowan all to himself for the next few days. Life couldn’t get more perfect.

Well, he could have Rowan for longer. Forever, maybe.

Maybe he could sneak away and shift really quick, just to confirm if his suspicions were correct. The longer he spent around Rowan, the more certain he became that she was his mate. And even if she wasn’t, he still wanted to be around her. She was smart, and funny, and sexy, and everything he’d never knew he wanted in a partner. He wanted her to be his mate so bad he could probably make his horns glow spontaneously if he thought hard enough. But before he could bound off to go check his suspicions, Rowan entered the cargo hold.

Today she wore a red sweater and black pants that hugged her every curve. He wanted to run his hands over her until she was panting under him, but he didn’t think now was the place. People could see them. And he might have been bursting with energy, but it hadn’t turned him into an exhibitionist.

“You seem… chipper.” Rowan grinned as she saw him.

“Chipper?” Dash couldn’t stop grinning, but he hadn’t even said anything. How could she know about the good cheer he’d harvested that was ready to explode out of him?

“You’re practically bouncing in place. Did someone give you sugar? Or six coffees?” She got close to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Deep breaths.”

Her presence didn’t do anything to calm him. And now she was close enough to smell. Dash breathed deep. Her scent was mixed in with the metallic taste of the docks around them, metal and fuel and recycled air, but strongest of all was the floral scent that was embedded in Ro’s skin. He leaned in close and only kept himself from licking the exposed flesh of her neck at the last moment. He took another breath and it went straight to his cock.

Who cared if anyone could see them? He had Ro in his arms. This was the best day ever.

“Bay doors are open, buddy,” Ro said, giving him a bit of a push to get a little air between them. But she didn’t step out of his grasp. “I’m not saying no, but let’s not put on a show.”

Right. Yes. No shows.

He had to get himself under control. But he had Rowan and a shot of good cheer from delivering Kiki to her family. He was drunk on it, and he wanted to spread the feeling even more. He laced his fingers through Rowan’s. “Come on, I want to show you something.” He tugged her toward the cargo doors.

“Shouldn’t we bring our bags?” But she didn’t resist, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“We’ll get them later,” he promised. They had hours before the ship was scheduled for maintenance and a bit of time before they could get into the room he’d rented. But there was plenty to do until then.

Lunar Base Alpha was primarily a research station, but there was an entire wing dedicated to visitors and it was filled with restaurants, entertainment, and hotel rooms. It wasn’t nearly as grand as the other lunar bases, which were tourist destinations in their own right, but it had its own quaint charm. And it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the other bases.

Dash took them past all that and down a little traveled hall, past a door that said Authorized Personnel Only, and down another hallway. The only beings they saw were cleaning bots.

“Uh…” Rowan didn’t slow down or pull her hand out of his grasp, but she sounded doubtful as they got further and further into the bowels of the station.

Dash gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Trust me.”

“I don’t know why it’s so easy.” She clearly meant to mutter it to herself, but Dash heard and grinned even brighter.

Then he came to a stop in front of a door with a sensor panel on one side. He placed his hand on it and waited until the lock disengaged. The lights didn’t turn on automatically. This wasn’t a playroom or dance club. But to someone who spent most of his time on his ship, it was even better.

“I can’t see anything,” Ro said. She clutched at his hand and reached up with her other to feel for him. Her fingers landed on his chest and splayed out. “Oh, that’s nice.”

Dash placed his free hand over hers for a moment before reaching towards where he knew the wall panel was and turning the lights on.

“What is this…?” Ro trailed off. She let go of his hand and tilted her head back, taking a look around them. “Should we be in here?”

It was a good question. About ten years earlier Dash had done a favor for one of the security guards on the station and he’d needed an out of the way place to work. This storage room had been the solution. For some reason Dash’s prints had never been removed from the system and he liked to check whenever he was back on the moon.

Wires of dozens of colors ran along the wall in straight lines, creating their own kind of decoration. And the walls themselves were ten meters high, opening up to a large window that looked out at the dark night above them. There were rows and rows and rows of supplies and equipment, most of it disused, broken bits and bobs that weren’t worth destroying since they hadn’t yet been used for parts. He walked up to the nearest shelf and grabbed one of the smaller boxes, moving it to an empty table and prying off the lid.

“This place shows the history of the moon better than any museum could ever hope to.” He reached in and came out with an old fashioned communicator, something that hadn’t been used in the better part of a century. “Did you know that when humans first landed on the moon their common vehicles couldn’t even fly? And almost all of their communication had to be directly wired. Their first craft were beyond primitive. This,” he held up the communicator,” would take decades more to become common.”

Ro wasn’t looking at the communicator, she was looking at him, and the smile on her face was… fond. Or condescending. But Dash chose to believe it was fond. “You’re a giant nerd. Emphasis on the giant.”

His cheeks grew warm, and he was glad for his dark skin and the dim light of the room hiding the expression.

But Ro must have figured out how he interpreted it. “I don’t mean it in a bad way. I like that you’re excited. Tell me more.”

And so he did. For more than an hour they devoured the box of knickknacks, with Dash telling the stories he’d heard over the years. But as the time went on, he and Ro ended up closer and closer together, until she was practically sitting in his lap as he showed her how an early radar sensor worked. Finally she took the device from his hand and set it down.

“I’m impressed,” she said. “This is the most interesting date anyone’s ever taken me on.”

Date? Dash bit the question back. It hadn’t occurred to him to ask her out properly. And if it had, he never would have brought her here. He would have done dinner, dancing, something seductive. He would have over thought it completely. But he had to say something before she misinterpreted his silence. “It’s not something I’d share with just anyone.”

Her eyes softened and she reached up to cup his cheek. Then he was leaning down and their lips met. It was soft, gentle for a moment, but as her taste invaded his senses, Dash’s body went into overdrive. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, pressing their bodies firmly together as he plundered her willing mouth. She opened for him easily and their tongues danced, learning one another, sampling what they both wanted more of.

She was hope and possibility, a future he’d never dared dream of. And she’d come willingly to his arms.

He wanted more. Needed everything.

The wild thing inside him tried to rear up and take things further. And it almost won when Ro hitched a leg over his hip and rubbed against his hardening cock. He groaned. How could he do anything but groan at the decadent sensations she was giving him?

If he didn’t have her, he was going to go mad. He wanted to swipe the devices off the table and take her, wanted to get rid of all of their clothes and ravish her until she remembered no lover before him and couldn’t bear to think of anyone coming after him. He wanted to shift and show her his glorious other form, with his proud antlers that were sure to glow and his strong body made to endure harsh winter winds and snow and ice. He wanted to show her everything he could do, everything he was.

And he never wanted to stop kissing her.

But he wasn’t just a beast, and he wasn’t going to take her for their first time over a rickety table in a stock room on the moon, not when there was a sumptuous bed surely ready by now.

It took more will than he knew he possessed to back away, to pull his lips from her and separate their bodies. His cock ached to fill her, so hard it practically hurt as it rubbed against his pants. He had to reach down and readjust himself, and Ro’s eyes followed, her gaze growing dark as she watched him.

“Come on,” said Dash. “Our room should be ready by now.”

Ro grinned. “This date keeps getting better and better.”