Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

W illow forced herself to walk down the corridor, even though her knees felt unexpectedly shaky. Kissing Wraith's cheek had seemed like such a harmless gesture - she'd done the same to Malacar several times. But kissing Wraith had been entirely different, his skin warm and smooth beneath her lips. His scent had surrounded her, a subtle spicy scent that made her head swim.

And those eyes, staring at her with that dark, heated intensity, purple fire burning in their depths.

She pressed her hands against her hot cheeks as she paused outside the small lounge. But it wasn't only her cheeks that felt warm - her whole body felt flushed and overheated, an unfamiliar ache deep inside her.

What's wrong with me? She'd always been the cautious type when it came to dating, waiting until she felt really comfortable with a man before committing to a physical relationship - which hadn't happened often. It had never been hard to wait, but she'd never felt this rush of need before either. Not even when she had been in a relationship.

Maybe its alien pheromones , she told herself, remembering his tantalizing scent. I'll just have to keep my distance from now on.

A resolution that had proven surprisingly easy to keep, she thought regretfully a few days later as she sat at the small table in the common area with Sooni. The area opened to the galley and consisted of a seating area with an oversized couch along with a built-in dining area. Like the rest of the ship, it was utilitarian and completely devoid of personality, but it was well-equipped and surprisingly comfortable.

Sooni was carefully practicing her letters, her tongue flicking out as she concentrated. Willow was both helping her and learning the language herself since whatever translation device she'd been given didn't extend to written language, but her mind was on Wraith rather than her lessons.

Given the size of the ship, she'd expected to find it hard to avoid him, but he seemed equally determined to steer clear of her. But despite both their efforts, she was frequently conscious of his presence. She knew he often lingered just out of sight, listening but not participating. The datapad in her hand was a case in point. She'd been talking to Malacar, bemoaning her inability to read and write Galactic, the most common language in the Empire. A few hours later, the datapad had appeared on the table with a learning program already installed.

"There."

Sooni proudly held up a sheet of the reusable paper that Wraith had also provided, covered with slightly crooked letters.

"Wonderful. You're doing a great job." She smiled at the little girl, amused but also pleased that she had once again ended up teaching. "Shall we try -"

A loud clang from the engine room on the lower level interrupted her, followed by a muttered string of not quite audible curses, and the two of them shared a knowing smile.

"Grandfather's fixing things again." Sooni's eyes were bright with amusement.

Malacar was not good at just sitting around and it hadn't been long before he'd discovered something to fix. Although Wraith had not been happy with his interference at first, he'd eventually admitted, grudgingly, that the results were an improvement.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Wraith's tall form appeared in the doorway. The colors in his skin danced under the ship's lighting, and she felt a familiar flutter in her chest. She firmly ignored it as he nodded curtly.

"How are the lessons progressing?"

"Look! I wrote all these myself."

Sooni excitedly showed him her work, and Willow hid a smile. The little girl often sought him out and despite his brusqueness, he was surprisingly patient with her.

"Very good," he said, and Sooni glowed with pleasure. "Your grandfather wants you," he added, his eyes gleaming purple as he glanced briefly at Willow before looking away.

Sooni bounced to her feet, lessons forgotten. "Coming!"

She scampered off, leaving the two of them alone.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

He grunted, a sound she was learning to interpret as grudging approval.

"The old male has a knack for machines."

"Malacar," she corrected gently. "His name is Malacar."

Amusement flashed in Wraith's eyes before he nodded again and turned to leave.

"Wait," she said, surprising herself. He paused, his broad shoulders tense. "I was wondering if you could help me with this passage. I'm not sure I'm interpreting the program correctly."

He turned to face her, his expression unreadable. She expected him to refuse and told herself that it was probably for the best. Instead he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

As he settled on the banquette next to her, his big frame dwarfing the small seating area, his delicious spicy scent surrounded her and her traitorous body responded. She did her best to ignore it and tapped the screen, scrolling to the section of the text she didn't understand.

"The translator doesn't account for idiomatic phrases," he explained, his voice low and close to her ear. Her pulse raced as she forced her eyes to focus on the words on the screen.

"What does this mean?" she asked, pointing to a phrase.

She could feel the heat of his body, his scent wrapping around her. It was all she could do to keep her breathing steady and ignore the pounding of her heart.

"It means to destroy something." He gestured to the screen. "Read the context and it will make sense."

She started to reply, but the words caught in her throat as he shifted slightly and his knee brushed hers. Heat flared through her, and even though the sensible voice in her head was screaming a warning, she didn't pull away.

His breath drifted across her neck, the barest hint of contact, and she shuddered, the datapad slipping from her hands. When she reached for it, her movements jerky and awkward, her fingers grazed his thigh. His muscles tightened beneath her touch.

"Willow -"

His eyes burned into hers for a moment, and then he was gone. He reached the door of the lounge before she even processed the fact that he'd moved, his face set in its usual cold mask.

"I have work to do."

She sagged back against the seat as he left the room. Her entire body ached with need, her mind reeling. How did he have this effect on her? She was a grown woman, not some teenage girl consumed with lust. Not that she'd been a lustful teenager either. Her fantasies were safely confined to boy band singers. Nothing about her attraction to Wraith felt safe.

No, that wasn't entirely true. She knew he was dangerous, and she suspected that the heat between them could consume her if she wasn't careful, but despite that, there was something about him that made her feel as if she could trust him. That made her feel safe.

She sighed, forcing herself to rise and return the datapad to its charging station, uneasily aware of the heat still simmering in her veins. Alien pheromones , she reminded herself. That had to be it.

He didn't reappear for the rest of the day. Each time she passed through the corridor, she looked up and saw him bent over the console. Was he trying to avoid her by focusing so intently? By the time evening came he'd been in there for hours. She couldn't stand it anymore and went to join him, hovering uncertainly at the entrance to the cockpit. He didn't look up, but she was sure he knew she was there.

She followed his gaze to the wide screen in front of him, a twisted maze of dots and lines.

"That looks complicated," she said quietly.

For a moment she thought he wouldn't respond, but he eventually answered her.

"I'm overlaying records, trying to locate other possible hubs for the slaving operation."

His voice was hoarse, his shoulders tense, and she frowned at him.

"You've been at this for hours. Wouldn't you like to take a break?"

He shook his head, not looking up.

"No time. I have a job to do."

She bit her lip, but didn't bother trying to argue. Instead she returned to the galley and made a pot of the tea she'd seen him drinking, pouring it into a thermal mug. She returned to the cockpit with the mug, setting it down next to him.

"Here," she said gently. "Just in case you get thirsty."

His eyes flickered to the mug, then back to her face, tilting his head as he studied her.

"Thank you," he said, sounding strangely hesitant.

A strand of his dark purple hair had fallen across his face, but he didn't seem to notice. Impulsively she reached out and tucked it behind his ear, the errant lock cool and silky beneath her fingers.

He stiffened at her touch, his head snapping up to look at her, his eyes burning with that purple fire again. Her breath caught in her throat, but she didn't back away.

"Sorry," she said softly. "It was in your eyes."

For a moment, he just stared at her, his expression unreadable. Then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded and turned back to his studies. She turned and left on unexpectedly shaky legs.

He spent the next day tucked away in the cockpit as well. After a long debate with herself, she made him another mug of tea and took it to him. She put it down next to him, then hesitated.

"Mind if I join you?"

He glanced up, his expression unreadable. "If you wish."

She settled into the co-pilot's chair, her heart racing at their proximity.

"Why don't you tell me something about yourself?" she asked gently. "I'd like to know more about you."

"There's nothing to tell," he said flatly.

"I don't believe that. Everyone has a story."

His jaw tightened and she thought she'd pushed him too far, but then he sighed.

"I told you, I don't remember my past. My first clear memory is waking up in a cell on one of the trading stations where they auction slaves. I was ten - perhaps eleven."

Ten? She was momentarily speechless, horror washing over her.

"Oh my god," she finally said. "I don't even know what to say. That's… horrible."

He shrugged, as if it didn't matter, but she saw his fist clench on the controls.

"That was the start of my education," he added in a deliberately casual voice. "Learning how to fight, how to survive. By the time I escaped, I was old enough to begin my own trade."

"And you became a bounty hunter. But if you were a slave, how did you learn to pilot a ship?"

"My last master was a pilot. I paid attention." He looked at her, his face hard. "I took the ship when I killed him."

There was a note of defiance in his voice, as if he expected her to criticize him, but she couldn't find it in her heart to do so.

"Was it… this ship?"

"Gods, no. That was a very long time ago and it wasn't much of a ship. But it allowed me to track down something that had been stolen - and that was the start."

"I'm sorry for being nosy. I know it must be painful for you to talk about your past."

"It doesn't matter. As I said, it was a long time ago and I don't remember much anyway."

"Still," she murmured. She reached out instinctively, then hesitated before lightly touching his arm. "It must have been hard."

He stiffened at her touch, but he didn't pull away. His gaze met hers, and for a moment, Willow thought she saw a flicker of vulnerability in those purple depths.

"It was a long time ago," he repeated, but her heart ached for him.

She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay, but she restrained herself. He was a grown male, not one of her students. He didn't need her comfort. Did he?

"Thank you for telling me."

They stared at each other for a long moment before he cleared his throat and looked away.

"It's late. You should get some rest."

She nodded, unexpectedly disappointed at his dismissal. As she turned to leave, she could have sworn she felt his eyes following her. But when she glanced back, he was focused on the controls, his expression as inscrutable as ever.

She was still remembering their conversation the next evening as she watched Sooni help Malacar prepare their evening meal. He had a contented look on his face, and she suspected he was still enjoying the abundance of food and the variety of ingredients. He was carefully chopping vegetables while Sooni chattered away.

"And then Wraith showed me the navigation system," Sooni exclaimed, her yellow eyes bright with excitement. "It's like all the stars all laid on top of each other. You should see it."

Malacar chuckled. "Perhaps I will, little one. For now, let's focus on not burning our dinner."

She smiled at the two of them, warmth spreading through her chest. This felt so natural, so right. If the future wasn't so uncertain, she could be happy with this life. A home. A family. People she cared about.

Sooni was still chattering happily, giving a somewhat confusing description of the navigation system.

"Wraith's so smart. He knows everything," she said, waving an arm enthusiastically.

Willow laughed, quickly removing the bottle of spices Sooni had nearly knocked over.

"I'm sure he is," she said. "But I think Malacar's right. Let's focus on cooking, shall we?"

"Okay. Do you think Wraith will join us?"

As much as she wished he would, she didn't think it was likely.

"I think he's busy," she said gently. "But you can take him a plate later."

Sooni nodded enthusiastically.

"Then can we play a game? You promised to teach me one."

"I don't see why not," she said and Malacar agreed, his wrinkled face creasing into a smile.

As they sat down to eat, she caught a glimpse of movement in the doorway. Wraith stood there, watching them with an unreadable expression. She opened her mouth to invite him to join them, but he turned and disappeared before she could speak. She bit back a sigh, glad that at least Sooni hadn't seen him.

After dinner she let Sooni take him a plate "all on her own" while she pulled out the pack of cards she'd found in one of the ship's storage compartments. The numbers and symbols were different of course, as were the number of cards, but there were enough similarities for her to teach Malacar and Sooni how to play a version of Go Fish, laughing at Sooni's exaggerated pout when she had to draw another card.

As they played, she noticed Wraith again, just a faint outline in the shadows of the corridor. She pretended not to see him, not wanting to scare him off, but her heart ached at his self-imposed isolation.

Sooni's excited voice drew her attention back to the game. "I have a pair! That means I win, right?"

Willow laughed, shaking her head. "Not quite, sweetie. But you're getting closer!"

They played several games, and then Malacar told them a story about how one of the constellations in the Ssst sky got its name. Sooni fell asleep in the middle of it and Willow carried her to bed, gently tucking her in. She talked to Malacar for a while longer, then went to bed.

Sleep eluded her and she tossed and turned restlessly in her bunk. She kept replaying the events of the past few days in her head - both this unexpected sense of family and her encounters with Wraith. Wraith… Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of him.

Finally she sighed, giving up on sleep. She slipped out of bed and padded quietly through the darkened ship towards the cockpit, the distant starlight beckoning her.

It wasn't until she reached the cockpit that she saw Wraith sitting in the dark, only his silhouette visible against the vast expanse of space. He turned towards her, purple eyes glinting in the dim light as they flicked down over her bare legs.

She was suddenly very conscious of the fact that all she was wearing was his shirt, even though it was so large that it almost reached her knees. In one of his silent acts of thoughtfulness, he'd left one for both her and Sooni to sleep in. She'd had a hard time preventing Sooni from wearing it all the time, even though it came down to the little girl's ankles.

"Can't sleep?"

His deep voice sent a shiver down her spine. She shook her head, moving to stand beside him.

"Sooni talks in her sleep." It was true enough, although it wasn't what had driven her here. She sighed and stared out at the stars. "It's so beautiful out there."

"Yes. Perhaps that's why I feel most… comfortable here."

The admission surprised her, and she glanced up at him, noting the slight softness in his usually rigid posture.

She stood silently next to him for a long time, watching distant galaxies drift by. The air between them felt charged, alive with possibility, and her skin tingled with awareness of his proximity but neither one of them moved.

Eventually she decided to return to bed. As she turned to leave, a sudden impulse hit her. Before she could think better of it, she leaned in to kiss his cheek as she had before.

He froze and she quickly started to pull away, but then he groaned. His arm circled her waist, and he pulled her onto his lap in one fluid motion as his mouth came down over her, hungry and insistent. An answering hunger raced through her and she melted into the kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck as stars wheeled silently beyond the viewport.