Chapter 1

ONE

Aboard the drift cruiser Biswas , 2270

" B ingo!" the old blue-haired lady beside Zed chirped, thrusting her hand over her head to get the caller's attention. "Ha! Eat it, sucker!"

That last bit was directed at Zed, and it was so unnecessary. He'd never wanted this bingo excursion to turn into some sort of competition, but the lady had somehow decided they should be archrivals or something. Just because he'd won every game so far…

It wasn't like he was going to keep the money—he sure as hell didn't need it, and this was all for fun. He was going to donate the winnings to charity. Sharing that with his seat-mate didn't endear him, though—if anything, she'd gotten more belligerent at the news.

Whatever. He'd had enough. Maybe Flick was done napping and they could find some real fun. He pushed away from the table. "Thanks for the games, ladies."

There were a few murmurs from the other ladies, but his archrival shot him a glare. "That's right. You run away now. Buh-bye." Then, under her breath, "Sucker."

Zed barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes as he left the bingo hall and started back toward the suite aboard the pleasure cruiser Biswas that he was sharing with Flick. His husband.

It was still hard to believe, that after all their history and everything they'd been through—particularly over the past year—they'd actually managed to walk down the aisle and say their vows without some galactic emergency looming over them. Everything was quiet, though Zed didn't dare make that observation out loud for fear of tempting fate, and for what seemed like the first time since their reunion, he and Flick had a chance to just…breathe. And be husbands. Before leaving Alpha Station on their drift cruise, they spent the first two days of their honeymoon wrapped up in each other in bed. Or in the shower. Or on the floor. Or the couch. And there'd been that one time hard up against the wall…

It was awesome .

The drift ship Biswas was an enormous hulk of human engineering, but Zed kind of liked the size. He didn't mind that they had to walk for fifteen minutes and traverse about three decks, at least, to get to any of the activities on board. Being off the beaten path was great—it meant their cabin was quiet, and he could almost pretend they were spending time planetside somewhere. A drift cruise hadn't been his first choice for their honeymoon, but Zed didn't think he'd get Flick down to the surface of a planet again for a long time, not after their last trip like that had ended in a crash landing and being stranded.

He was cool with compromise, though. That's what marriage was all about, right?

The door flashed green as he approached, recognizing the ID stored in his wallet, but it didn't open until Zed pressed his hand against the doorjamb and it read the lines on his palm. He stepped inside, quietly, in case Flick was still asleep.

Turned out, he needn't have worried.

Zed froze on the threshold of the suite's living room, the smile curving his lips dropping away as he took in the…carnage. That was really the only word to describe what he was seeing. He couldn't even make sense of it—all the dismembered bits and pieces scattered around the room in a horrible, graphic puzzle. With Flick sitting in the middle of it all.

"What did you do?" Zed gasped.

"Huh?" Flick looked up at him, his eyes still with that distance that said he'd been truly absorbed in a task. "I've never seen one of these before. It's a 'factor—kind of. Like that little one I made for Elias, to make 3D maps?" Zed vaguely remembered something like that—it had been a gift for the captain of their ship, the Chaos . "Except, it makes even bigger, more complex things. And super high quality. Look!" Flick held up a silk shirt in the vibrant cool colors that Zed preferred. It had the sheen of expensive smart-fiber tech, rather than the dullness Flick's shirts usually sported after a couple of days. Flick was hard on clothing.

But…no, that sheen wasn't just from the quality SFT. "Are those crystals?"

"Yeah! Isn't it cool? There was a huge selection of customizations available, more than I'd seen with other 'factors."

"So you took it apart."

"I had to." Flick beamed at him and…damn, it was really hard to be exasperated or annoyed when he looked so goddamned pleased with himself.

Zed eyed the mounds of indistinguishable crap strewn around Flick's legs. "Are you going to be able to put it back together?"

Flick made a dismissive noise. "Yes. Of course."

"Flick…"

"Probably," he amended. "At least I made you a shirt first, right?"

Putting the 'factor back together was neither the challenge, nor the point. Now that he'd seen the inner workings, Felix could improve it. Would improve it. The difference between any small matter printer was in the memory and extrusion models—what it could make, in how many different forms. The larger the apparatus, the more variety, therefore smaller 'factors tended toward specialization.

The giftfactor was the most complicated small printer Felix had ever seen. Designed to manufacture souvenirs and tokens, it pushed the limits of what was possible with a limited extrusion models. Now he knew why—and with parts from the neighboring snackfactor, his refurbished model would be able to make clothing, flags, souvenir towels, crystal solar system models, sparkly retro postcards and donuts.

It would also brew coffee.

Felix tightened the last screw, flipped open the control panel and connected it to the holo hovering over his bracelet. His upgrades required a few programming tweaks. Qek's input would have been invaluable here. As he waited for the interface to update, he indulged in a moment of… Could you be homesick for a person?

Qek would be delighted by such a concept. Nessa would find it wonderfully mushy. Elias would tease him mercilessly—which was why he didn't miss Elias at all. Nope. Not one little bit. Besides, why would he miss his crew and his ship when he had everything he'd ever wanted right here. Speaking of which…where was Zed?

His neck crackled like snack nuts when he looked up from the display. Also, he couldn't feel his legs. What he wouldn't give for a good work bench. Ah, there was Zed. On the bed. Asleep. The sonorous buzz Felix had mistaken for the 'factor coming to life was in fact Zed snoring.

Not trusting his legs to work until blood flow had been restored, Felix crawled across the floor of the suite, wincing as something dug into one of his knees. A screw. He tossed it into his new pile of spare parts and continued across the floor until he got to the bed. There he tried a reverse slither, up instead of down, and succeeded in pulling most of the quilt off the side before he got onto the bed. Zed laid supine, face pointing toward the ceiling, arms and legs perfectly aligned—as if he'd only meant to lie there for a second and then drifted off.

His new shirt was amazing. Bright but not too garish—besides, if anyone could pull off color, it was Zed—and perfectly tailored to his build. He looked sexy in the shirt. Of course, Zed could work a webbed cargo restraint or a trash chute liner. He also redefined the word sexy. Made it something fuller, deeper, more meaningful.

Felix could look at him and get hard. Instantly. Hell, he didn't even have to look at Zed to get hard. A lingering whiff of his cologne could do that. Or a stray thought. The memory of what they'd been up to that morning. Zed in the shower—and how even water needed to caress his skin, defining every ripple of muscle and strong curve. The color of his eyes when he smiled, when he laughed, when he said I love you (or thought it). When he came.

More often than not, however, when Felix looked at Zed, he didn't immediately think with his cock. His heart took over the show—beating more furiously for a handful of seconds before falling back into a strong rhythm designed to keep him apace with Zed's love.

Zed awoke with a forehead wrinkle, a snuffle and flickering eyelids. He rolled his head toward Felix, who hadn't gotten much beyond kneeling on the side of the bed.

"Have I told you how creepy it is when you watch me sleep?" he said.

"Nope. Because you love it. Admit it—if you woke up and I wasn't there staring at you, you'd wonder where I was."

"I'd just assume you were off making trouble somewhere."

Felix huffed softly. "Shirt looks good. How does it feel?"

Zed shifted his shoulders a little. "Not the best choice for sleeping. I think the crystals have pressed a new constellation into the back of my shoulders."

"Better take it off then."

Grinning, Felix reached for the shirt buttons. Zed captured his fingers and brought them to his lips. "You just want me to take my shirt off."

"Well, yeah. I could offer you back rub or something. But really, I just want to have sex."

Or he could give a whole speech about how he felt bad for getting lost in another project while they were on their honeymoon, but Zed already knew that. He could feel it through the connection between Felix's crystal arm and the small chip of resonance in the back of his neck. The quiet loop of feedback formed an undercurrent to most of their conversations.

"You're so romantic," Zed murmured. He kissed Felix's fingertips and an extra layer of love zinged across their connection.

"So, about the giftfactor..." In other words: I'm sorry I got lost in a project and then forgot to notice how sexy you looked in the shirt I made for you and then let you fall asleep while I cleaned up my mess. And I love you. Always and forever. And I can't promise never to do this again. Do you still love me?

"I married Felix Ingesson, didn't I?"

"For some strange reason." Felix extracted his fingers from Zed's hold and went back to pulling open buttons. Zed grabbed his fingers again. "Much as I want to get naked with you right now, we don't have time."

"We don't?"

"We have about ten minutes to get ready for our spa appointment."

"Spa appointment?"

"We talked about it yesterday."

All Felix remembered about yesterday was wondering if he could combine all the 'factors in their room into one monster machine. And the sex they'd had in the shower. "Does getting ready involve having a shower?"

"Probably a good idea. It's only polite to get clean before most spa treatments."

Felix could feel his eyes narrowing. "What sort of treatments are we getting?" He vaguely recalled the conversation now. Something about blackheads (apparently his pores weren't meant to look like this) and hot stones (to melt stress away from points of tension—which actually sounded pretty good).

Mostly, he remembered Zed's desire to share something he enjoyed with the man he loved.

"Bisilius mineral wraps followed by an energy scrub and Swedish massage," Zed said.

"What does all that mean?"

Zed's grin had a slightly evil cast to it. "You'll see."