Authors: Jade Archer
Arek suddenly appeared in the hatchway, looking flustered, and as always after a confrontation with Rachel, a little turned on.
“Gods damn it, you’d think I set the galley on fire, not left a bloody ration pack out.”
Devlynn chuckled, earning him a fierce scowl from Arek.
“We should ask her to stay on. You never know if you don’t ask.”
“Why in the name of Hellion’s dark moon would I want to do that?”
“Because you like her,” Devlynn replied simply.
Arek continued to scowl at him, but Devlynn noticed he didn’t rush to deny it.
Rachel held her breath. She couldn’t quite believe her ears. Was it possible? Did…did they really like having her around? And what exactly did that mean? Was there something even more interesting waiting just beneath the surface of Devlynn’s words?
She couldn’t deny that the men were attractive. She might have even indulged in a little fantasy about them once or twice. And maybe she looked a little longer than strictly necessary at times.
Oh gods! Who did she think she was fooling? Arek and Devlynn were two of the most gorgeous men she had ever laid eyes on. Okay, so one was intensely gorgeous with a heavy dose of dark brooding and a razor sharp tongue and temper, while the other was holovid gorgeous with a sparkle of mischief evident in his warm brown eyes and easy smile. But at the end of the day they were both drop dead, drool-worthy magnificent. Especially to a farm girl who needed to get out more. Hell, they’d be come-get-me appealing to half the supermodels on Centre, and the other half would just be jealous.
“I’ve seen the way you look at her, you know. And I’ve caught her looking back a time or two.”
Devlynn’s voice was so low Rachel had to strain to hear it. It sounded hesitant and maybe just a little…sad. She didn’t like it. Not one bit. She wanted to march right in and—
“I think you got that wrong, Dev. She watches you all the time.”
Her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest. She hadn’t thought she’d been that obvious. In fact, she’d been going out of her way to prove to them she wasn’t a push over. Especially Arek. He was the kind of self-assured, supremely confident male she could so easily see dominating a weaker mate.
Mate as in crew member, she rushed to clarify. She wasn’t thinking of them in any other sort of ‘mate’ type terms. Her interest in the possibility of ‘something interesting’ happening between them was purely lust based.
Rachel fought the urge to shift restlessly. Sure, she was stiff and sore after spending days making the little freighter liveable again. But she’d done it with a definite purpose in mind. Not only had the place desperately needed it before she even thought about living in it, but she was determined to make herself a valuable addition to the crew. Arek and Devlynn were her ticket to adventure. To freedom. She might not have specifically asked to stay, but she was hoping to convince them to take her on before they reached their destination.
I’m not looking after them.
Shaking off the disturbing thought, she realised she’d lost track of the conversation somehow.
“Yeah, well, if we don’t get this shipment to Nareen on time we better work out a way to push this hunk of junk through space. There won’t even be enough credits for fuel cells without this payment.”
“But you’ll ask Rachel to stay on if we do make it?”
Arek huffed. “You never give up, do you?”
“Not when I think it’s important. She’s good for us. For you.”
“Dev—”
“You’re not nearly such a moody old bastard since she came along. I…missed seeing you like this since…well, you know.”
Rachel needed to step back. She’d felt bad enough that she’d come looking for Devlynn and instead ended up eavesdropping after hearing them talking about her. She couldn’t listen in on the conversation now it had become so personal and…fragile. She wasn’t sure what Devlynn was referring to, but she could hear how raw both men sounded.
Unfortunately, before she could move away, the ship rocked violently. She stumbled forward into the hatchway before the stabilisers could engage and right them again—leaving her stranded in full, guilty view of the cockpit.
Arek stared at Rachel. It was obvious she’d been listening in and had heard something. Enough, if the look on her face was anything to go by.
Fuck. He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t even sure what ‘this’ was. Just that some of the things Devlynn had said, and a few he hadn’t but had hinted at, left him fidgety and uncomfortable. He wasn’t ready to face his crazy attraction to Rachel, or the spike of fear it triggered in him. And he certainly wasn’t up to working out why he felt guilty that Devlynn had pointed it out. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Fortunately, at least for now, they had bigger things to worry about.
Spinning back to focus on the console and the various readouts, Arek let his fingers fly over the controls—assessing and looking for answers to what had just happened. Efficiently breaking the spell that had settled over them.
“What the hell was that?” Devlynn demanded as he turned back to consult his own instruments.
“Looks like the front wave of a solar storm. Damn thing just sprung up out of nowhere.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough. We’re going to have to make a detour.”
Out of the corner of his eye Arek saw Devlynn frown—probably just as worried about missing the delivery window as he was.
“We can’t just push through it?”
Arek shook his head, though he couldn’t deny he’d thought about it as well. “Can’t risk it. The storms building way too rapidly. Looks like it’s going to be a bad one. We can’t afford to make major repairs right now.”
Devlynn nodded reluctantly.
Decision made, Arek concentrated on starting the calculations needed for a course change.
Devlynn spun his chair round and stood to leave. “It looks like the storms messing with some of the instruments. I’m going to head down to the engine room and make sure there’s nothing going on down there we can’t see up here.”
He heard Rachel shift in the hatchway behind him. “Wh—”
“Why don’t you go with Devlynn in case he needs a hand?” he suggested quickly.
He was rather proud of his impromptu solution. Getting Rachel familiar with the ship’s engines wasn’t a bad idea. Everyone needed to know their way around. Just in case.
And he desperately needed a few minutes alone to get himself together.
Finishing up the last diagnostic run on the propulsion unit, Devlynn breathed a sigh of relief. Everything looked to be clear and undamaged. Arek wasn’t kidding when he said they couldn’t afford repair bills right now. Fortunately, everything seemed to have come through the shock wave okay.
Beside him, Rachel studied the ship schematics intently—eyes flying over the display.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a series of panels located on the aft hull plates.
“Solar radiation collectors. They help to extend the life of the fuel cells by supplementing the energy needed for stuff like lights and water recyc.”
“Kind of like the solar cells we have on the turbines back home?”
Devlynn was surprised. From what he’d seen of the Thebian Sector over the last few months, most females confined themselves to hearth and home. He didn’t see an interest in advanced engineering being encouraged.
“You know something about solar collectors and turbines?” Rachel blushed, piquing Devlynn’s curiosity. “What?”
He couldn’t hold back the smile that formed on his lips. He had a feeling there was an interesting story behind the colour rising in her cheeks right now.
“I kind of grew up running wild around the family farm with my brothers. One year we…borrowed a couple of secondary turbines and some solar cells and built grass skiffs. Nearly broke our fool necks. Couldn’t sit down for a week when our daddies found out.” Suddenly Rachel looked up at him, her eyes bright with mischief as she flashed a cheeky smile at him. “Man, those things could move.”
Devlynn laughed, imagining Rachel racing her brothers across the fields. She definitely struck him as the competitive type. She would have been a holy terror.
Something else about what she’d said caught his attention too.
“So you guys had more than one father?”
“Sure. Most females in this sector take more than one mate. There aren’t enough of us girls to go around.”
“Most females…but not you?” He noticed the way she looked away as if suddenly fascinated by the fluctuating turbine displays. “You don’t want two mates?”
For a few seconds Devlynn was sure he’d gone too far. Arek was always saying he didn’t know when to quit. He was about to apologise, when Rachel sighed.
“It’s not that. Well, I mean I didn’t like the idea of being bonded to two men I’d never met before, but…I didn’t want to end up trapped. I want to go out and explore and see things. That just wasn’t going to happen if I bonded like I was supposed to and went off to become some farm wife.”
“So that’s why you ran away? You were getting hitched?”
A searing look of defiance took over Rachel’s expression. “No one would listen to me. When I said I didn’t want to be bonded they ignored me. And when I told them I wanted to go out and see the universe they said I’d get over it. Yeah, I ran away. And I’m not going back.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you,” Devlynn said, holding up his hands in surrender.
Rachel stopped, snapping her mouth shut on whatever she was about to add, her eyes widening in surprise. “You don’t?”
Devlynn grinned at the stunned look on her face. “Nope. Arek and I left home when we were sixteen to go chasing adventure. Kind of hypocritical if I looked down on you for doing the same thing.”
Rachel stared at him in amazement.
Gradually, his light-hearted amusement faded as she continued to stare at him. Devlynn felt every inch of his body come alive and react to her intense scrutiny. Gods, she was beautiful—full lips slightly parted in wonder, intelligent brown eyes wide and luminous, cheeks flushed the same delicate pink as a Drewall sunset.
“Wow,” she finally breathed.
Devlynn couldn’t agree more. He was pretty sure neither of them were talking about what he’d said. Something else had taken over now. Something without words.
He wanted to lean forward and taste the surprise and awe right off her lips. He even found himself leaning forward a fraction, ready to press his mouth to hers and see what happened. Even more astonishing was the tiny sway he saw in Rachel as she moved to meet him halfway—as if she was equally drawn into the uncontrollable need spiralling between them.
The universe slowed to a crawl. Rational thoughts, assumptions, concerns—everything receded. There was only their lips a breath apart, the puffs of air mixing and mingling between them and the sweet, heady rush of desire. Devlynn watched as Rachel’s eyes fluttered closed in anticipation.
Surrendering to the demand for contact building between them, he—
The comm-link chirped—shattering the moment into razor sharp splinters and sending them both crashing back to reality.
“Found anything, Dev?”
Devlynn pulled back so fast he nearly cracked his skull on the bulkhead. Rachel looked just as confused and disorientated as she blinked away the shock of interruption.
Clearing his throat and struggling for composure, Devlynn reached for the data pad at his waist and tapped in the response command.
“Everything’s looking fine down here, Arek.”
Damn fine.
The instant the thought occurred, Devlynn felt both guilty and bewildered. The guilt was easy to understand. He’d been in love with Arek for years. And he knew Arek was attracted to Rachel. Yet here he was about to kiss her. What wasn’t so easy to fathom was the deep seated feeling that the only thing really wrong with the scenario was that Arek wasn’t there to join in the kiss with them.
Devlynn wasn’t sure where to start on the confusing knot of emotions twisting and tangling him up inside. He’d never pictured anyone else with them in the fantasies of Arek he’d indulged in over the years. But he knew down to his bones that what he wanted more than anything was for Arek to join them. To seize the first, heady surge of lust and share it between the three of them.
He couldn’t deny that the sparks of passion he’d seen between Arek and Rachel had worried him. But a whole new world of possibilities had opened up in the last few seconds. The very real desire he felt flare to life with Rachel—the almost kiss that had sent a delightful tingle of excitement dancing across his nerves—changed everything. And Rachel looked just as entranced.
It wasn’t as if the idea of a threesome was alien to her. It seemed to be a frequent occurrence in this sector of space. Perhaps—
“I’ve plotted a new course skirting the edge of the storm,” Arek said, breaking Devlynn out of his chaotic thoughts. “We’re going to have to find a way to shave some time off somewhere if we’re going to make the drop off in time, though.”
“Ah… Yeah… Okay.”
There was a pause. Devlynn could almost see Arek’s frown. He wanted to kick himself for sounding edgy and nervous right now.