3013: STOWAWAY (3013: The Series) (5 page)

As the orbital launch array fell away, Sonja gasped softly and he took a second confirm she was okay.

“It’s amazing,” she breathed, and he realized that she wasn’t talking about the planet, but the expanse of space that was unfolding in front of them. Stars filled the inky void, brilliant lights that shone with a clarity no one on Earth could ever experience. The blackness between the stars was absolute, making every speck of light seem even more precious.

“Give me a second, and I’ll show you something even better,” he said and tapped out a brief sequence of commands. The lights in the cockpit dimmed and the ship rolled as it altered trajectory. The three of them watched in silence as the vista changed, and then the river of blue and white light that was the Milky Way galaxy flowed into sight, highlighted against the curve of the Earth below. Stars without count blurred together into an ethereal glow with dazzling spots of blue, violet and indigo shining through here and there.

“No matter how many times I see that, it always takes my breath away,” Deke confessed quietly and Trevar had to agree with him. The cosmos was full of beauty on a scale that defied comprehension, but this was one of his favorite vie
ws. It had been since the first time he’d seen it, and would be until the day he died.

Sonja reached out one slender hand toward the view screens, framing the beauty between her fingers as if she could actually
touch the constellations. “It’s so much more beautiful from up here.”

“Spoken like someone who has waited all her life to see it for herself,” Deke chuckled and tugged the girl back into his arms with a flash of smug satisfaction strong enough that Trevar felt it without even trying.

“All your life, huh? Well then, kitten, welcome to the party.” Trevar glanced over at her and she turned to beam at him, her smile as bright as the stars outside.

“Thank you. I mean that. Thank you both. Whatever happens, wherever I end up, I’m grateful to have gotten to see this, and to have a chance to make my own choices. I…I know you two could get in a lot of trouble if you get caught. So, thank you for not tossing me onto the station for the general to deal with. She would have sent my ass back to Earth faster than light speed.”

“She doesn’t need the credits as badly as we do,” he deflected Sonja’s praise, suddenly feeling badly about taking her money. Before he could ask her how she knew the commander was a woman, she asked them another question.

“What are you going to do with the credits?”

Deke answered, in part because he knew Trevar would want to focus on navigating them away from the station, but mostly because if Trevar started talking about their goals, he wouldn’t shut up for at least an hour. “We’re working on a down payment for a ship of our own. Once we have it, we’ll leave Alliance service and work for ourselves. Same job, only we’ll be our own bosses, and of course we’ll be hauling much more interesting cargo than the Alliance usually lets us transport.”

She laughed, snuggling deeper into his arms and lowering her head to his chest. “Sounds like you two are looking to run away from home, too. You’re tired of being told what to do, same as me.”

“You got that right,” Trevar grumbled as he studied the displays in front of him.

“I have one last question to ask,” Sonja murmured. Deke glanced down to
see that her beautiful eyes were filled with fatigue, and for the first time he could see how tired she really was. The shock of her wild ride in the cargo hold had faded, but there were shadows lingering beneath her eyes.

“What’s that, sweetheart?”

“Where am I sleeping tonight?”

“My bunk. Don’t worry, I won’t be in it. Trevar and I are going to be up for hours yet.”

“Don’t want to be stealing your bed.”

Trevar chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, kitten. Tomorrow we’ll talk about sleeping arrangements. Tonight, you need to get some rest.”

“’Okay, but not yet. Can I stay up here and watch? Or am I going to be in the way soon?”

“You’re not going to be in the way. You can stay right where you are until we activate the jump engines. You won’t want to miss that.”

She nodded and he felt her grow relaxed and heavy in his arms. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, and as far as Deke was concerned, she could stay there for the rest of the damned night if she wanted. He was already formulating a plan to address their sleeping arrangements. All he needed was a few hours to program the holo-room. If things continued to work out between them, neither man was going to need to use it for recreation this trip. Not when they had something infinitely better to occupy their time.

***

CHAPTER FIVE

“How much longer do you think she’ll sleep?” Deke asked for the sixth time in the last hour, and Treva
r finally gave in to the need to laugh. The
Arca
was flying on automatic pilot, leaving the two of them free to relax in the small amount of space that was the officially designated recreation area on board. In reality, it was a combination mess, gym, and observation lounge, separated from the galley only by a half-wall that doubled as a counter.

“
How the fuck would I know? I’m always long gone before a woman wakes up in the morning. She had a rough night, and we have no idea what happened before she stashed herself in our cargo bay. It’s been what, ten hours? She’ll be up soon.”

Deke slouched a bit deeper into his chair. “So, we’re actually going to do this? You, me, and her?”

And there it was. He’d been waiting for Deke to broach the topic the younger man had been avoiding since they had tucked Sonja in last night and left her to heal and sleep. “Why shouldn’t we? Our kitten seems to have made her feelings pretty damned clear.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Deke lifted his hand slightly in his minimalistic version of a shrug. “I just never thought about us partnering the same woman.”

Trevar pushed himself out of his chair and started pacing the small space as he organized his thoughts. He didn’t like talking about the past, but if they were going to do this with Sonja, Deke needed to know where he stood. “I never thought about it either, because I never expected it to come up. You know I was partnered before, and you know how that ended. Not to mention the fact that most of the women we meet are either off limits or professionals. That said, I consider you a damned good friend. The only man I trust to have my back no matter what. So I have no problem sharing Sonja with you.”

Deke cocked a brow at him. “Did you rehearse that?”

“Maybe. If you repeat a word of that I’ll beat your freckled ass from here to the ashes of Krytos, we clear?”

“Crystal. And for the record? I consider you my best friend. Now, can we be done with this emotional shit or do we need to hug first?”

“I’m your
only
friend, asshole, and if you try and hug me I will hurt you.”

“Well, damn. I was hoping to see you two hugging it out.” Trevar spun around to see Sonja leaning against the galley counter. She must have showered, because her hair spilled over her shoulders in still-damp waves, and her face was alight with cheerful health with no sign of fatigue or fear. She was wearing the clothes they’d found for her…at least some of them. Apparently the pants hadn’t fit, because he was being treated to an eyeful of long, bare legs. His cock went instantly hard and the temperature in the lounge felt like it went up five degrees in three seconds or less.

Holy fuck, his clothes had never looked so good.

There wasn’t much in their wardrobes that would come close to fitting her much smaller frame, but they’d found the best of what they had and left it at the end of her bunk. She’d picked out one of his sweaters, and the knitted, dark-blue fabric came down past mid-thigh
. Her feet were encased in a pair of thick socks, soft enough to act as a cushion in case her feet hadn’t fully healed yet, and so big that they sagged around her slender ankles even though she’d folded them over.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Deke observed, and Trevar felt slightly better when he noted the other man was staring at her like she wa
s the desert cart at New Vega’s finest eatery. At least he wasn’t the only one losing his mind at the moment.

“Much better.” She
absently tugged at the edge of the sweater where it hit her thighs. “Thank you for letting me have your bed, and for the clothes. This is yours, isn’t it, Trevar?”

“Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”

“The top, it smells like you,” she said, blushing slightly at that confession.

His mouth opened, but his brain was too busy short circuiting to form actual words for a long few seconds. That shouldn’t have been sexy, but
damn, when she said it, it was.

“You gave her a dirty sweater? For fucks sake, we did laundry three days ago.”

“I gave her a clean shirt, thank you. I’m not a total barbarian.”

Sonja couldn’t help it, she giggled. The two of them were being so cute. And the scene she’d witnessed between them a few minutes ago had touched her deeply. Sonja hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when she’d left Deacon’s room she’d heard their voices and followed them down the narrow corridor. Her brazen courage of the night before had faded, and she hadn’t even been sure what to say to them now. What if they had changed their minds?

Listening to their conversation had disabused her of that notion. They still wanted her, and as she watched them, she knew she still wanted them, too. They were so different, but she wanted them both.

“What are you laughing at?
” Deke asked, pushing out of his chair to stand next to Trevar.

“The two of you. You’re really cute when you bicker at each other. How long have you been friends, anyway? Because you sound like my brothers. Well, one of them. Nicolai bitches and snarks at his best friend the same way. They were at it all the way to the ceremony yesterday. I thought Alayna was going to smack them both by the time we got there. Alayna is my new sister-in-law…and I’m babbling, aren’t I?”

“You are. It’s adorable. And I need you to back up a bit there. Is that why you were all dressed up and on the base last night? You were at the base generals’ bonding ceremony?”

“Well, yeah. Not even my parents were going to keep me away from my brother’s bonding ceremony, though I did have to take an extra bodyguard along. Not that it stopped me from running.” She grinned at him.

“Oh, fuck.” Deke groaned and scrubbed a hand over his beard.

“You’re brother’s the general in charge of Fort Saken? I thought his name was Neilson?”

“That’s my brother’s partner, Colin. They run the place together though, Nikolai runs security.”

“Kitten, you are going to be the death of us, you know that, right? Just so I’m clear on the details, your family is rich and happen to own one of the biggest robotics companies on the damned planet, if not the whole system. And your brother is the commanding officer in charge of the base we stole you off of? Anything else you want to tell us? Is your mom on the Council of Regents? Maybe you’re related to High Commander Jax fucking Spartan? Yeah, I bet you’re cousins…”

She laughed and shook her head. “Nope, not related to the Spartan family. I’ve met them, though. Lovely people, and Jax’s sister is a lot of fun.”

“Of course you have,” Deke groaned again and then crossed his arms across his impressively broad chest. “Anything else?”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

“Good,” Trevar said and gave her a slow smile as his
eyes raked over her half-dressed body. She could feel his gaze like a physical caress, and goose bumps chased up her arms as her body responded to the fire flickering in his slate-gray eyes. She glanced over at Deke and found him looking at her with an expression as hungry as his partner’s. She’d offered herself to both of them, and by the stars, it looked like she was going to get them. Soon.

They seemed bigger today, filling the room with both their physical presence and the power of their personalities. Trevar’s hair was as dark and wavy as she remembered it, but there were a few flecks of silver at his temples that she hadn’t noticed the night before. He was slightly taller than Deke, with a powerful frame packed with muscle.

Deacon was at least six-foot seven, and his uniform fit every inch of him to perfection. He was immaculate, from his polished boots to his perfectly brushed hair, and Sonja yearned to rumple his shirt and run her hands through his hair until it was standing on end.

“Like what you see?” Trevar’s question came out as a roughened growl as he took a step toward her, then another. She felt like rabbit being hunted by a pair of eagles, if the eagles were really, really big.

“If I say yes, what happens next?”

Deke actually chuckled at that. “What would you like to happen, sweetheart?”

“Um….” She lifted her hands, palms up, as she struggled to find the right words.

“Funny, you didn’t have any problem showing us what you wanted last night. Ah, that’s the problem, isn’t it, we’re talking too much.” Trevar walked up to her and set his hand down on the counter to her right, while Deke mirrored his actions on her left.

She was caught.

Trevar was right. Talking wasn’t working for her, action would be easier. She had to stretch her arms to reach them, but she managed to place a hand on each of their shoulders, drawing them in closer. They came willingly, pressing up against her so there was no more space between them.

Trevar moved first, dropping his head to slant his mouth across hers. The moment their lips met, she forgot why she’d been nervous. There was no need to be. He kissed her slowly, sampling her lips and then moving deeper. His teeth nipped at her lower lip, sending a sizzling flash of heat coursing through her. This was what she needed, what she’d always craved and never been allowed to have. Here was someone who wanted her for something besides the mark on her face or her family’s wealth. No, she corrected herself with what was left of her mind. Here were
two
someones, and they both wanted her.

Trevar knew he was in deep trouble the second his mouth touched hers.
Kissing Sonja was like standing inside a plasma bomb’s blast zone at the moment of ignition. She seared his skin with every touch, sending Trevar’s blood boiling and his dick aching with the need to be inside her. She was beautiful, sexy, and breathtakingly naïve. Part of him wanted nothing more than to send her home again, to live out a safe, protected life of luxury. Instead, he was charging her a small fortune to deliver her to an uncertain future, and he was going to do it while showing her everything he knew about pleasure. The thought gave him a moment’s twinge, but he ignored it. He’d deal with the fallout later, after they’d gotten safely to X2.

She rubbed herself against him, enticing him and inflaming him at the same time. There was
no artifice to her actions, no games being played. He delved into the sweet heat of her mouth and felt her shudder in response, loving the honesty of her reactions. She was so different from the hardened women he usually spent time with. Sonja was still touched by innocence. He could sense her emotions, need blending with nervousness and hint of uncertainty, and it was almost enough to break him. Almost, but not quite. She was far too good for a bastard like him, but that knowledge wouldn’t stop him. He was going to have her anyway.

He lifted the hand that had been set down on the counter and speared his fingers into her hair, the cool, soft weight of it tumbling through his fingers. She’d selected some fragrance he
couldn’t remember the name of for her cleanser, a subtle, fruity scent that freshened the recycled air around her like a sea breeze on a hot summer day.

Fuck, he had it bad if he was waxing poetic about her damned shampoo.

It was the weight of Deke’s hand on his shoulder that reminded Trevar that he wasn’t alone with Sonja. It was an act of pure will to lift his head and release her. Her eyes ice-blue eyes were clouded with desire, and her lips were swollen from their kisses. He liked seeing even those faint marks of possession on her. He reminded himself this was only temporary. A pleasant distraction, nothing more. Once they got to X2, she’d only be a memory. He planned on making it a damned good one.

For the first time since puberty
, Deke was having trouble controlling his emotions and no fucking luck at all controlling his body. He’d been impatiently waiting for her to wake up for the past few hours, and none of his usual calming techniques had done more than take the edge off his need to see her again. He hadn’t done more than kiss her yet, and she was already wreaking havoc in his world. This didn’t bode well for the day they parted ways, but right now he didn’t care. All that mattered was getting her back in his arms.

She greeted him with a dazed smile and rose up on her toes to kiss him, her hand moving from his shoulder to the nape of his neck as he wrapped both arms around her and tugged her in hard against his body.
Damn, she felt good in his arms, warm, and soft, and eager. She wriggled closer, brushing against the hard ridge of his cock and he groaned into her mouth at the pleasure of that brief contact. He couldn’t wait to feel her hands on him, or her mouth, or how good it would feel to drive deep into her hot pussy.

Deke
slid his tongue into her mouth and she moaned, the vibration coursing through him and leaving nothing but raw need in its wake. She opened to him completely, her tongue twining with his as she molded herself to him. He unwound one arm from her waist to run his hand down her side until his hand found bare skin. The silken warmth of her thigh inflamed him.

More. He needed more.

Her sweater rode up as he pushed it aside with his fingers, baring her to his touch as his tongue plumbed the depths of her mouth. His hand moved ever higher, and his heart nearly stopped when he reached the curve of her hip without reaching any other barriers. Fuck, she wasn’t wearing anything but Trevar’s sweater and a pair of socks. That knowledge pushed him past his breaking point, shattering the last of his control.