Chapter 10

"Get those shields fully charged!" Bran shouts from his spot in the captain's seat. "Shuvo. Crank. You're both on guns."

I reluctantly back away from Nita, wanting nothing more than to sit with her while we get away from this station, but it's all-hands if we're going to get out of here in one piece. So, I drag myself onto the bridge and into one of the seats at the back of the cockpit, grabbing a headset that will act as the view screen for the gun I'll be manning. Crank drops into the seat across from me, and we nod at each other before I focus on the screen that drops down from the headset. Then I settle my hands on the control panel in front of me and wait.

With Bran at the helm, our ship weaves slowly through the rows of docked cruisers toward the exit. Before we can make it any farther, an automated voice comes over the intercom, "ATTENTION: All travel has been halted until further notice. Please return to?—"

"Yeah, fuck that. Get ready, boys," Bran grumbles as he lines us up with the exit. With a manic grin, he slams the throttle, and the ship jumps forward.

We barely clear the station when we run into dozens of small single-pilot fighters that are waiting for us.

"Vittu! There are more than I expected!" Crank grunts when the fighters open fire.

My mind narrows to a laser focus as I begin systematically taking out one fighter after another. My body rocks with each evasive roll of the ship without taking my eyes off my task.

"How are the shields?" Bran shouts.

"Shields are holding."

"Good. Good." Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him lean back in his chair and kick his feet against the controls, like we aren't in a dogfight right now. "Gents, let's wrap this up and get outta here."

We've taken out almost half of the fighters when a bright light suddenly engulfs the ship from the station.

"Vittu!" Bran drops his feet and leans over the controls. "No one told me they had a tractor beam!"

Crank and I continue to take out the fighters while Bran's fingers fly across the controls. The engines roar, and he pushes the ship, trying to break us free from the beam.

"Get the hyper warmed up," Bran barks over the rising roar of the engines.

A crackle over the comm precedes the frantic, increasingly high-pitched voice of Madam Althea: "This is your last chance. Give up and return my human, or you'll all be nothing but space dust! Do you hear me? I will?—"

Bran slams his fist on the control board, abruptly ending her tirade as another wave of fighters comes from around the backside of the station. "Where do these kurving fighters keep coming from? Clear a path! We need to be farther into space before we can jump."

"Hyper is fully charged, Captain."

My fingers are light on the trigger as I seek out and fire on fighter after fighter, doing what I can to make a hole for us to engage the hyper.

"Shields?" Bran shouts.

"Ninety percent. They might as well be firing pebbles at us for all the good it's doing them."

"As soon as we have a clear spot, we're gone," Bran grits.

A chorus of cheers rises up as Crank and I finish clearing a spot wide enough for us to get through. No sooner has the last fighter fallen away, Bran hits the hyper, and we're all pinned to our seats for a moment before vanishing from the station's airspace.

"Well done." Bran laughs as he collapses into the back of his chair. It only lasts a few moments before he perks back up and leans over the control panel once more. "Now, set a course for…"

I'm barely listening as I unfasten my harness and toss the headset away.

"Shuvo. Wait."

I glance up to see Bran has turned his chair around and is staring at me. "Madam Althea isn't a good enemy to have," his voice is low and serious.

I nod, well aware of this and trying to guess what he's getting at.

"I hope you're prepared to be on the run for a long time. The Madame isn't known for giving up easily. Hell, I've heard she still has bounties out on the other two humans she lost revs ago. We've got your back—make no mistake about that—but I just want to make sure you understand the mess you just stepped in."

It was never my intention to put my crew in any kind of real danger, and it's hitting me what Nita has been trying to tell me. I raise the communicator to my throat. "This was never your fight. I wasn't thinking?—"

Bran snorts, "Please, you know I love a good fight, and it's been too long since I've gotten to stretch this ol' girl's wings. I just need you to understand what you're getting into."

I give him a sharp nod. "I do. We'll part ways as soon as I can get a cruiser that will take us where we need to go."

Bran recoils like I shoved him. "Now, wait a minute. That's not what I meant!"

"I know," I assure him. "But you're right, and if Nita is going to be truly safe, I'll need to take her somewhere the Madame cannot find her."

"Well, in the meantime, you'll have whatever you need from us."

I nod and then push myself up, clapping a hand on his shoulder as I pass and giving him a squeeze before hurrying to where I left Nita. She is still strapped to the jump seat, her face pinched in an angry scowl that smooths, but only slightly, when she sees me.

"Are we safe?" she asks when I kneel before her and start working her harness loose.

I nod, and she sinks into her seat with a relieved sigh. "Now what?"

Instead of answering her, I lift her into my arms and stride purposely to the back of the ship where my quarters are. It's a small room, as are all the crew quarters. Only big enough for the narrow bed against the wall, a small table and chair in the corner, and barely enough room to walk between them. There are built-in cabinets in the wall, and what doesn't fit in those I keep in my rucksack tossed in the corner.

Nita does a quick look around the room and then turns to me. Her lips are twisting into a smile she's trying to hide. "Somehow, this is exactly what I expected your space to look like. Sparse and tidy."

The door behind me slides closed, and we're shut into the small space together. Nita is several inches shorter than I am, forcing her chin to tilt up as she examines me.

"I can't believe you really stole me." Her lips quirk again, and she shakes her head slightly. "Madame Althea must be having kittens about now."

I frown at her strange analogy, but then she's leaning into me, lifting her arms and bracing them on my shoulders so she can lace her fingers behind my neck.

"So, what do we do now?" she asks.

My cock stirs, and I settle my hands on her hips. I pull her close so that our bodies are pressed together and she can feel every inch of me. When we come out of hyper, we'll need to decide where we'll go, but we have some time before that, and I plan on using that time to show her all the things I've been imagining doing to her when I got her alone.

I toss the communicator onto the table behind her, no longer needing it, and curl one arm around her waist. The other slides up her back and under the cascade of her thick hair to cup the back of her head.

Lifting up on her toes, Nita's hand curls around the back of my neck, and she presses her lips to mine. Her soft breasts flatten against my chest, and I can feel the hardened tips of her nipples through her shirt and mine. Her other hand slides down to fist my shirt. Her lips open beneath mine, and when I thrust my tongue into her mouth, she meets it hungrily.

I groan, savoring her taste. Our lips, teeth, and tongues clash in a furious dance until I'm lightheaded from breathing our shared air.

"Shuvo," she whimpers my name between kisses.

With our bodies fused from hip to chest, I stagger to the side of my bunk as my hands slide down her body. Gripping the bottom of her shirt, I pull it over her head. Nita giggles when I send it sailing across the room, quickly followed by her pants, before fusing my mouth back to hers.

Not wanting to be left out, her hands tug at my shirt in a frenzy. Little whimpers fall from her lips as she pushes it up my stomach, and I'm forced to break our kiss so I can pull it over my head.

As soon as my lips leave hers, she drops down to start working my pants down my legs, putting her at eye level with my cock and claspers. No other species that I'm aware of has claspers. There wasn't much time spent scrutinizing our differences back at the station, and she pauses, looking her fill at my anatomy. When she runs the tip of her finger down one of the ridges, I can't hold back a groan. They aren't especially sensitive, not like my cock, but her light touch on my skin feels kurving good.

When she licks her plump lips, the hood of my cock flares just under the head in anticipation, and a breathy groan leaves my throat. Her eyes flick to mine and then back down to my cock. Her mouth falls open, and before I can brace myself for what happens next, she sucks me into the heat of her mouth.

My hands grip the sides of her face, and my claspers quiver as my head tilts back. A silent bellow passes my lips when she starts to bob up and down, trapping the pliable hood against my thick shaft and applying just the right amount of suction.

All the Gods!My fingers sink into the thick strands of her hair, and it's a fight to clamp off my rising seed before I flood her mouth with it. With a grunt, I pull her up and off my cock. Locking my eyes with hers, I jerk my head to the side, trying to tell her not yet. In case she didn't understand, I turn her so her back is to my narrow bed, then I push her down to the soft blankets covering the thin pad. Her legs spread and hitch around my hips as I follow her down, settling my weight on top of her. When I nestle my cock between her legs, her folds coat me with her cream.

"More, please. You feel so good," she moans, rocking herself against me.

Staring deep into her dark eyes, I memorize every green and golden fleck in the dark brown abyss of her iris. My hips circle and slide until I find the spot I need and notch it.

"Please," she begs, her knees falling to the sides. Arching up, Nita meets my thrust as my hips flex, and I sink deep inside her. With a blissful sigh, she takes me all the way to the very end of her, and I swear I see nebulas exploding behind my eyelids at the feel of her clenching around me. Bracing my weight on either side of her with my elbows, my claspers unfurl to pin her hips as I plunge in and out of her scorching heat. Her legs circle my hips, and I love the way her heels dig into my ass, urging me deeper. Harder.

All too soon, she's wild and bucking beneath me. Her cunt is gripping me tight as we fuck each other with a desperation I've never felt with another partner before. I think if it were possible, we'd climb into each other's skin and live there forever.

"Oh, God! Yes, yes, right…. there… Ah! Don't stop!"

Her eyes are wide and locked with mine as nonsensical words and sounds tumble from her plump lips. My hood hits something deep inside her, over and over, until she falls apart with a howl, and I fall right along with her.