Life in Fusion (36 page)

appearance. Motivate me to get better faster so we can fu—”

“You’ll have to suck on this for now, slut,” Donny ordered,

cutting me off and causing Wade to laugh.

The cup of water and bendy straw didn’t look as appealing as

Wade’s cock.

“I’m tired.” I took a sip while Donny held the water steady for

me. “Yummy good, thanks.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” Gabe said before heading out the door

with Tommy.

“You need to rest,” Lonny said as he and Donny both

followed suit and vacated.

I closed my eyes, exhaling. “Thanks for letting Gabe do that.”

264 Ethan Day

“The doc said you were supposed to keep quiet.”

I stuck my tongue out him.

“I saw that,” Wade said. “And you’re welcome.”

“You were right.”

I purposely didn’t finish the statement despite listening to

Wade sit up. I knew he was watching me, wondering if I’d fallen

asleep or was merely being a shit head.

A few more moments passed before Wade finally said, “I’m

always right.”

I opened one eye and he was grinning all evil-like.

“About Gabe, I mean.” I closed my eye again. “He finally

came around.”

“Just took you getting run over to do it.” I heard Wade lay his

head back down.

“Almost worth it, then.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But it is nice that something good

came out of it. Make that two things.”

The sound of his voice was relaxing me, the deep timber of

it soothing. “What’s the second thing?”

“That rust bucket, piece of shit car of yours is finally toast.”

“Mmm,” I said, feeling myself dozing off. “Thanks for loving

me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I am sorry, you know.”

“You will be if you don’t close your mouth and sleep while

you can.” Wade ordered. “They’ll be in here waking you up every

couple of hours to test your alertness.”

I felt my lip curling at that prospect. “Well that’s just rude.”

“You be nice,” Wade said, laughing.

I moaned softly, feeling his fingers gently brushing the hair

off my forehead. It was all I needed, slipping off into a haze as

sleepiness took me over.

Life in fusion
265

q q q

Taking in a sharp breath, I stirred slightly. I could hear voices

but couldn’t seem to force open my eyes to see who was in the

room with me. A groan escaped from between my lips and I

became aware that the talking had ceased.

“You sure you’re okay?” I heard Gabe ask.

I listened to Wade groan slightly, then he blew his nose. “I’ll

be fine. I don’t even know why the hell I’m crying. He’s gonna

be fine.”

“Probably just from the relief,” Gabe said.

“Relief crying?” Wade grumbled. “That’s a new one. I haven’t

been this much of a mess since my dad died.”

The room went quiet and I felt incredibly sad that I’d put

him through all of this. It wasn’t anything I’d done on purpose,

obviously, but the poor man had been through enough sadness

for one lifetime. I was supposed to be his reward. The whole lotta

happy he was gifted with for losing his parents at such a young

age.

“I really hope you can forgive me for being such an asshole,”

Gabe finally said. “I’d like to say I had some sort of excuse,

but—”

“Honestly Gabe,” Wade cut him off, “it’s nothing. You love

him, I get that more than anyone. But, if you feel so horrible that

you just can’t seem to help yourself, you can make it up to me by

visiting…a lot.”

“I can do that,” Gabe said.

“If you could even come up and stay with us the first week or

two after Boone moves in—”

“Really? You don’t have to do that, Wade.”

“You’d be doing me a favor. I think it would make him less

nervous about the move if you could be there.”

I felt a smile forming, or at least I thought I was smiling.

“I’ll ask Tommy if I can take the time off, but I’m sure it

266 Ethan Day

wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Is he smiling?” Wade asked.

Gabe chuckled. “Looks like it.”

Silence seemed to fall over the room and I figured they were

likely watching me. My eyelids felt heavy, like they were weighted

down with lead. I wanted to reach out to Wade, wanted to feel his

body against mine so I could feel warm and safe again.

“You have an open ended invite Gabe, seriously. You’re

welcome as often as you like.”

“Thanks man. I don’t deserve that from you, but I appreciate

it. I’m going to miss him.”

“I understand.”

I wasn’t sure if I’d remember any of their conversation later,

but I hoped I would, ‘cause I wanted to give them both a big

hug. Wade’s fingers brushed through my hair once again and I

was already at home in my mind. It was unimaginable to me that

I’d ever considered letting him go. My entire body reacted to his

touch and I could feel myself falling back into the haziness as

sleep once again took me over.

Love Conquers All…or Some Such

Nonsense

Buck fell back into the captain’s chair in the

cockpit, his brow moist from the determined sweat

that had formed over the last twelve jumps. The

tiny jet black hairs surrounding his face were damp

and he rubbed his hands together in an attempt

to release the stress. He stared into the vast

blackness at the canopy of stars that stretched out

endlessly all around them. It managed to relax him,

even though he was aware it was a false sense of

security.

He knew they’d burned an excessive

amount of fuel, making so many jumps in such a

short amount of time. But the beauty of having a

smaller vessel like the Zephyr was in her ability

to outmaneuver and outrun the larger Federation

Flag Ships. Buck knew he could continue to win

the race, but they needed to rid themselves of the

tracker in the kid if they intended on staying lost.

The kicker was, the Federation now knew

his ship was transporting Halo, considered highly

illegal contraband. Before, they were way off the

radar, now this simple snatch and grab for some

quick coin had become more difficult, and a hell

of a lot more dangerous. The Zephyr had certainly

270 Ethan Day

been flagged and there was by now, no doubt, a

very large bounty placed on all their heads.

“Damn it,” Buck cursed.

Gostric turned to look his way, similarly worn

out, the stress showing around his eyes, as the

wrinkles there seemed to cut deeper than before.

He was smaller than Buck, but well developed and

strong. He could be every bit as stubborn but never

allowed his personal beliefs to prevent him from

doing what was asked of him. Buck had grown

to depend on him, despite what he knew to be

true, that there was no one he could trust in all the

galaxies outside of himself.

The fact that their sexual proclivities each

lay in the separate sexes, had only aided their

bond. Whatever the species, Gostric preferred

the female to male, which prevented any drunken

brawls during their excursions in between jobs—no

fighting over a piece of tail.

Despite the fact Buck wanted nothing more

than to sink his cock inside the piece that was

currently hiding out in his medical bay, he knew

damn well what a mistake that would be. He’d

heard many a tale of how manipulative humans

could be. It was another thing that made them

dangerous. How something so beautiful managed

Life in fusion
271

to also be so ruthlessly cunning was beyond

Buck’s comprehension.

He knew taking this job had been a mistake

the instant Messiah had contacted him. Anytime

the colonials dangled that much coin, it was a bad

idea. His greed had finally fucked him.

“This is why I never get involved in all this

colonial, freedom fighting shit.”

“Of course not,” Halo said, standing in the

open doorway leading to the cockpit, his hands

behind his back. “Heavens forbid you stick your

neck out for anyone other than yourself.”

“It’s a nice neck, kid. I’ve grown attached to

it.”

Halo stepped into the cockpit, visibly disgusted

by Buck’s penchant for self preservation.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Buck

said.

“And that’s saying something considering

what his ass is worth,” Gostric said, rubbing the

back of his neck.

Buck laughed. “If I had any sense, I’d blow

him out a damn airlock and be done with it.”

“You’d probably do it too, you miscreant.”

272 Ethan Day

Halo shook his head, but he didn’t act as though

he actually feared for his life.

“Miscreant?” Buck lifted a leg and pushed on

Gostric with his foot. “Who the fuck talks like that

anymore?”

“Never mind that, as a seer, I’m the very last

of my kind.”

“Which is exactly what makes you

dangerous.”

“Spineless,” Halo spewed, in contempt. “I

come from a royal lineage.”

“That ruled a race that tried to enslave all

others with your skunky kink-musk.” Gostric

accused.

Halo sighed. “That was several millennia ago.

Since then we have been hunted down, enslaved

and nearly eradicated. You’re Mamarian, correct?”

Halo asked Gostric, who nodded that he was

indeed. “Your people suffered the worst at human

hands, yet you continue to flourish. Meanwhile,

doing your best to wipe out mine and for what…the

sins of our ancestors?”

“Don’t lump me in with that lot,” Gostric said.

“I’ve never raised a hand toward you or any of your

kind.”

Life in fusion
273

“Yet you have also neither offered me or any

of my kind a hand, I would venture to guess.”

“We just saved your ass,” Gostric mumbled,

smiling at Buck, who was obviously enjoying the

debate.

“Because it was your job,” Halo pointed out.

“Not by choice.”

“This is all fine and dandy, your eminence,”

Buck said sarcastically. “And I hate to be the one

to break it to you, but you don’t have any humans

left to rule. The eight colonies are long destroyed.”

“Yes, but not the ninth colony,” Halo said,

folding his arms.

“Son of Nebulon whore,” Buck said, sitting up

straight in his chair.

“I am most certainly no such thing!” Halo

snapped.

Buck stood up. “I’ve never heard anything

about a ninth colony.”

“It was meant to be that way. It’s time to wake

up, Captain,” Halo said. “A resistance is forming

which will eventually be large enough to take on

the Federation.”

Buck pointed at Halo. “Nothing but trouble!”

274 Ethan Day

“It may not be this year, or even the next, but

eventually even the likes of you will have to choose

a side.”

“Damn the heavens above and the hell I

had the misfortune of dragging you out of. You’re

trouble!”

Halo shook his head, disappointed.

Gostric now looked pale, as if he’d heard

more than he wished he had.

“I have no intention of getting sucked into your

senseless cause, Halo,” Buck said.

“Of that, I hold no illusions, fly boy. I assure

you.”

“Well…good!”

“All I ask is that you get me to the Jenatar Star

System.”

“So that’s where your fool’s errand is taking

me.”

“You know as well as I, that prejudices still

abound. I am likely the only one who has any

chance at unifying the resistance. Without me—”

“The bickering will never cease long enough

to organize a rally let alone an attack.” Buck shook

his head. “I get it kid.”

Life in fusion
275

“So you’ll do it,” Halo said, smiling—looking

very much like a young, carefree man for the

briefest of moments.

“First thing’s first,” Buck said, pointing at

Halo’s arms, which were still hidden behind his

back. “We need to cut out that tracker.”

Halo grinned, holding up his hand to reveal the

blood stained bandage wrapped around his wrist.

“It went down the incinerator four or five jumps

back.”

Buck was impressed. For a slave to remove

their own tracker was a punishment most often met

with death, not to mention the fact the kid had the

balls to actually cut it out himself. A weaker man

wouldn’t have been capable.

“Let’s face it,” Halo said, as if reading

Bucks thoughts. “I’m dead either way, should the

Federation get their hands on me.”

“You’re alright, kid,” Buck said slapping

Halo on the shoulder, nearly knocking him off

balance. “Strap that lily white ass of yours in, your

eminence.”

“You’ll be a hero to many for this, Captain,”

Halo said, strapping himself into the second row of

seats behind Buck.

276 Ethan Day

“Get your holier-than-thou britches out of

their moist little bunch, boy.” Buck clicked his own