Max’s arms were warm around her, fighting off the cool air coming from the distant water. Inrit snuggled into him even as her mind turned inward. With her psychic eye, she saw a glowing bond anchored deep within her that stretched out far beyond her senses. She poked at it and enveloped herself in the essence of Max, who stirred as she strummed along the bond.
His arms tightened and he pulled her even closer with the leg that he’d thrown over hers. The hard rock underneath them should have been uncomfortable, but Max could sell his services as a human mattress and make a killing at giving out comfort. Well, he could have before she saw him. Now she’d slice up anyone who dared get so close.
“You’re smiling,” he said against her cheek. “Keep doing that and the crew’s going to think something’s wrong.”
Inrit nestled her head into the bend of his neck and nipped at him. The mark that she’d made on him the night before had already faded into a healing bruise, much to her disappointment. She’d staked a claim and the primal, animal being within wanted the whole of existence to know it.
“You’re mine,” she said fiercely.
Max’s cock hardened against her stomach as she made the declaration. “You’re my denya,” he replied, sliding into her.
This loving was quiet, intense, but sweet, unlike the desperate passion they’d fallen into the night before. Inrit gripped his shoulders as he thrust within her and never broke his gaze. They barely blinked as they held onto the connection, and only when she reached her peak did she slam her eyes shut as the pleasure took her again and Max shot within her.
“I love you,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled out of her.
Inrit’s mouth dried and she couldn’t find the right words to respond. But Max didn’t seem to mind. With quiet economy, they cleaned themselves up and dressed, heading back to their rented vehicle and driving into Ohra as the sun crested the horizon behind them.
The boarding rooms they’d rented should have been quiet so early in the morning, but instead they were a whirl of motion as the crew dragged their supplies and crates of food to the front of the building. Krayter was the first to notice their return and he ran up to them, his hair a mess and his shirt only half tucked in to his pants.
“Get your things,” he said in a rush. “Captain said we’re pushing off in an hour and he’s not waiting for stragglers.” Krayter glanced between the two of them and his eyes flicked down to their joined hands. For a moment, Inrit almost pulled away, but Max’s hand tightened on her own as if he expected it, and he wouldn’t let her. Then Krayter found the healing love bite on Max’s neck and his eyes widened. “That’s…” He couldn’t find the words. “You’re… what?”
Inrit looked up at Max and they shared a secret grin. Her heart was full to bursting and she couldn’t stop smiling. Every pulse of emotion shot down that bond and straight towards Max, just as all the heat and strength of his love flowed into her. She’d never realized how true the bond could be.
Had she truly told Stoan that she didn’t want a mate? How could she have honestly believed it? With Max by her side, she could do anything, anything was—
Something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and stopped her thoughts dead. She turned away from Max and Krayter and saw a tall Vrinlander man approaching. Her blood froze to ice as he got closer, and she caught sight of the scar that snaked its way down from the bottom of his ear to the base of his neck. A tattoo of exotic flowers bloomed around the jagged tissue.
Yrotho Gol, pirate and wannabe king. The last Inrit had heard, he was dead. She’d heard wrong.
“That’s the man that Morvellan met with last night,” Max told her, his posture as stiff as her own. Whether he was nervous because of how she was acting or because of what he’d seen, she wasn’t sure.
Inrit dragged her gaze away and turned as much as she could so that Gol would not see her if he looked. She didn’t fool herself into thinking that she was beautiful enough to be remembered throughout the galaxy, but plenty of pirates wanted her dead, and she didn’t know if Gol was one of them. And if he recognized her, he might tell the captain or sell the information to one of her enemies.
She couldn’t risk being spotted.
Max understood and moved with her, Krayter trailing silently behind them as they made their way up the stairs to the rooms in the building.
“What’s going on?” Krayter asked. “What just happened?” As a passenger, he had no reason to know anything about the minutiae of the ship or the captain’s shady dealings.
Inrit kept it simple. “That man used to be a pirate, and I’m afraid that he’s up to no good.”
“Right now, I think he’s merely a smuggler,” said Max before Krayter could start asking questions about why Inrit knew so much about pirates. “The captain seemed to trust him to some extent, so I think we need to see how this plays out.”
A hundred thoughts of how this could go wrong piled up in Inrit’s head until she was a jumble of nerves with no idea of what would happen. But she agreed. Sometimes pirates did retire.
That thought didn’t help her relax.
***
The glow from their bonding hadn’t worn off, but the heat had waned enough for Max to think straight. He vowed to himself that he was going to take Inrit somewhere nice where they could take real time for themselves. Days for themselves without needing to steal it or camp out on surprisingly comfortable rocks.
The mood had been hushed on the trip from the ground to the ship, and the boat was crowded with three times as many passengers as it should comfortably hold. When they docked and readied to leave, Captain Morvellan called everyone to the canteen for an announcement.
Max and Inrit stood towards the back of the room and let the passengers and crew crowd in front of them. They needed to hear the captain; it didn’t matter how well they could see him. But, perhaps thinking of that, Morvellan climbed up onto one of the sturdier tables before saying anything.
“Thank you for all gathering, I apologize for cutting our stay short,” he said without a hint of apology in his tone. A few passengers grumbled, but not loud enough to single themselves out. “We’re adding a short stop on the trip which will delay our call into Honora Station by a week. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable. If this inconvenience causes you to miss a connecting ship, please let my assistant, Jinje, know, and she will work to make new arrangements for you. I will personally cover any costs associated with it.”
The yells erupted in earnest and for a moment, Max expected a mutiny. But while the passengers asked questions, Inrit tugged on his hand and they escaped the melee through the back door.
The door to the canteen slid shut behind them, cutting off the noise and plunging them into deafening silence. Lines of worry appeared between Inrit’s brow, and Max leaned forward and kissed her there, taking the right that she’d given him. When he pulled back, her eyes were still worried, but the line was gone.
“I’m going to assume Gol gave him something to transport,” said Inrit. “And I’m going to hope that this just looks suspicious. There’s nothing we can do yet.” She paused and a considering look crossed her face. “Well, nothing that doesn’t involve mutiny.”
Max couldn’t help but grin even though he was almost certain she was serious. “We keep our eyes open,” he replied. “And we reassess when it’s time.”
She agreed. Max just wished he didn’t have a sense of doom hanging over him.
***
An hour later, Inrit was back in the engineering bay when the captain walked in unannounced. She shot to her feet and set down the knife that she’d been playing with. It was her favorite stiletto, but she couldn’t very well hold it while standing in front of the captain.
“Sir?” she asked. His eyes darted around the small control room, looking for something, or someone. “It’s just me in here right now, Captain,” she assured him. Was he worried that Max was here? Or was this just general dodginess?
“Seal storage bay four and cut life support,” he told her once he was satisfied that they were alone. “Code it for me and Lieutenant Harper alone.”
Storage bay four was the most out of the way container on the ship. As far as Inrit knew, it wasn’t currently in use. Whatever Gol had given to him must be there. She nodded. “Of course, sir. Standard containment?” she clarified.
The captain nodded. “Yes, thank you. Once it is done, send the confirmation to the bridge. Use my private line.” When she nodded, he turned and left.
Inrit sat back down in her chair and picked up her knife again. Standard containment and no life support meant they probably weren’t carrying anything living. Of course, anything traveling in bio-stasis wouldn’t need life support. She sealed off the container with a few commands on her console and sent the confirmation to the captain.
And then with a second set of commands, she gave herself access to the container under a hidden identity. If she and Max wanted to know what was in that bay, they’d need to see for themselves.
***
Max was accounting for all of the weapons that had been taken planet-side when Captain Morvellan entered the weapons locker. Max’s hand clenched on a blaster at the unexpected company, but he placed it back in its spot after ensuring that it had been powered down.
When he turned, the captain startled, as if Max had moved too quickly for him to see. He hadn’t, which meant that the captain wasn’t paying attention, or he was nervous. Smuggling might do that to a man.
“I want a guard rotation posted to the outer storage bays,” said the captain. “No passengers or crew should be in that area and a concern has been raised about free access to private property.”
In other words, the captain didn’t want passengers to accidentally stumble upon his smuggled goods.
“I’ll place a guard within the hour,” Max promised. “We’ll make sure no one accesses anything they shouldn’t.”
Morvellan nodded, his shoulders sagging with visible relief. “Good, good.” He turned and took two steps before pausing. He turned half around and spoke too casually for it to be natural. “Oh, I almost forgot. We had a minor malfunction with the life support in bay four. I’ve had it sealed off for safety. Make double sure that no one goes there. No need for more injuries.”
He couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d thrown a spotlight on it. But Max just said, “Of course. Thank you for the warning.”
Satisfied that he hadn’t given away his secret, the captain left Max to his duties. Max waited five minutes before locking up the weapons and going to find Inrit. They had things to discuss.