“I can’t believe you convinced me to take you onto the space station,” he grumbled.

Given Emma had won the battle, she totally rubbed it in. “That will teach you to argue with me. I told you I was coming with you. As if I’d let you get in the way of my first chance to see a real space station.”

“They’re really not that interesting. Cold. Damp. Kind of smelly too.”

“You can stop trying to dissuade me anytime now. I won. You lost, so suck it up, princess.”

“That is prince to you,” he said with a hint of a sneer.

She couldn't help but giggle at his indignant expression. “Prince? Maybe the prince on a can of pasta.”

“Even I know that’s supposed to be a chef on the pasta, not a prince. And you are intentionally distracting me again. Would you stop doing that?”

Sometimes Rafe was so easy to rile. It probably didn’t help that she did it on purpose because riling him provided its own form of entertainment, especially since he proved so frank about what he felt, such as his honesty about wanting her.

It flattered to know he was frustrated—because of me. Emma never had a guy try so hard, and she’d never fought so hard to resist.

Just like she fought tooth and nail to get onto the space station. Despite his warnings, she wouldn’t miss out on this chance. Emma wanted to see aliens—and not the kind determined to tear her into chunks. She wanted to experience everything this adventure had to offer.

Rafe kept saying she could never go home. If that were the case, then the sooner she adapted to her new life, the better for her. Adapting meant learning how to navigate space stations—which, she wondered, if they would end up as fantastical as those seen in movies—and what better way to start than with Rafe by her side? He was wide and would make a great shield to stand behind.

The waiting proved the hardest as they coasted in slowly to their assigned berth. In order to enter the station, first they had to connect the ship. The dock itself appeared as a long arm extending out from the boxy caterpillar body. According to Rafe, having numerous loading bays for all of the vessels just wasn’t feasible in some of the smaller places.

Some stations, he explained, had taken over large asteroids, building within the craters to create a network of tunnels and habitats. On those, ships could dock directly to the station. But on the more mobile stations, space came at a premium.

She could barely contain her excitement at the various clanging noises as the Annabelle anchored. They entered the antechamber, and to her surprise, Rafe didn’t motion for her to grab a suit.

“Don’t we need to get ready?” she asked as he punched in the code to the outer door.

“Not in the same way we did for the planet. The tunnel linking the ship to the station has oxygen and is pressurized.”

“Then what are you getting?” she asked as he opened a locker set within the wall.

“Have you already forgotten the first rule? Never go anywhere unarmed.”

She held out her hand.

A shake of his head and a snicker was his reply.

“Still worried I might use a weapon on you?” she asked.

“You wouldn’t kill me, but I’d rather you not accidentally cause an incident because of culture shock.”

Good point.

She watched Rafe as he slid a knife into each boot. He also strapped a longer one to his thigh. A pistol hung low from the holster on his other hip. Unlike her, he’d found better clothing, clothing fit for a pirate.

He wore a shirt for once, not wandering around with just his pants on taunting her with his deliciously muscled upper body. A shame because she did rather enjoy the visual feast he presented. Still, he looked very dashing. His white shirt billowed in pirate-like fashion, the impression enhanced by the fact that it sported an open collar with a thin string loosely laced. He’d tucked it into tight black breeches, which were then shoved into some ass-kicking boots, a big black pair. And that was the end to his gear.

She frowned. “How come you’re arming yourself to the teeth, and yet, you’ve got no body armor on? I mean, if this place is so dangerous, shouldn’t you wear some kind of futuristic bulletproof vest or something? Even the knights that used to exist back in the olden days on Earth wore tin cans over their bodies to try and protect them.”

Rafe arched a brow at her. “Are you seriously asking me why I’m not wearing armor? You do realize I’m a man, right? Men don’t wear armor. It’s just not done. Nor is it considered sporting.”

She couldn’t help but snort at his reply. “Not sporting? Weren’t you the guy who was telling me that I should stay on board and be safe if I want to live another day?”

“I did. And, once again, you seem to forget I am sexist and a hypocrite.”

At that, she couldn’t help but laugh, laughter that died as the door connecting the ship to the docking tunnel slid open. Rafe stepped through first, showing not the slightest hint of trepidation. Her racing heart couldn’t claim the same.

I asked for this.

She couldn’t chicken out now. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the tube and didn’t immediately die.

Point.

But that point could be short-lived. She regarded the patched walls with a bit of skepticism and ran her finger over one of the ragged ridges. “Is it me or does it look like somebody had to glue this thing back together?”

“I’d say this particular dock has probably been repaired more times than you can count. But the good news is the hatch would not have opened unless the tube was pressurized and filled with oxygen that we can breathe.”

Needing distraction, she latched onto what he said. “So we’re breathing oxygen? I gotta ask, I watched a lot of movies and I read a lot of books before actually embarking on this adventure. The one thing a lot of those sci-fi movies had in common was the fact the aliens all spoke different languages and they all breathed differently than humans. Yet, here you are, and not only do you look just like me—”

“I wouldn’t say that. I definitely don’t have tits.”

“You know what I’m getting at,” she snapped. “You look human. You act human. You speak perfect English. And you breathe the same air. Now, I know you tried to claim the Roman Eyes—”

“Rhomanii.”

“Whatever. The R’s might’ve been my ancestors, and I’m not even going to argue that point today. But you said it yourself. You are only one kind of species roaming about the galaxy. One. From what you’ve said, this space station is going to have all kinds of other aliens, different aliens, and here we are, about to go onto a space station not wearing any kind of breathing apparatus. Are you telling me that everybody on that space station breathes the same thing we do?” She really had to wonder because, despite all these innovative things she’d discovered on Rafe’s ship, the one thing he didn’t really have was books. Actually, there was a disturbing lack of reading material. Unless she counted the picture kind and what lay within those pages wasn’t the kind of culture she felt a need to learn about—although she did wonder if the women with six tits had been born that way or had a little work done.

Given Annabelle barely talked to her, Emma didn’t know what to expect—and what to believe. She noticed Rafe delighted in teasing her with extreme possibilities. Some true. Some defied logic. And asking for a straight answer just netted her more teasing. Jerk.

Several paces ahead of her in the tube, Rafe answered over his shoulder. “There is one thing Earth scientists have gotten right. Biological life, to a certain extent, requires specific building blocks. This is not to say that there are not other kinds of life, but if we are speaking biologically, which means flesh-based, then yes, there are certain things that are immutable. One of those, for some reason, is an oxygen-based mix for breathing.”

“We all breathe the same air? That’s good to know that I’m not going to suddenly walk in there and flop to the ground like a fish out of water.”

He chuckled, the soft sound brushing over her skin and making her shiver. “Be assured, you’re not going to die on me. Although the flopping that you described is a popular dance on the Qua’qia planet.”

Judging by his serious expression, he’d told the truth. Or had he? She kept staring until he laughed again. She accused him. “You’re screwing with me, aren’t you?”

He stopped before the hatch at the far end of the tunnel and turned a smirk her way. “Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m not.”

“You are not amusing.”

“Oh admit it. My teasing is fun. You enjoy it.”

Yeah. She did. A reluctant admission to herself that she did not confess to him. Emma wouldn’t inflate his head any further than it already was. But he was right about one thing. He did make her laugh.

He also makes me want to smother him with a pillow.

The end of the docking tube did not open at their arrival. An electronic panel beside the door blinked, the light yellow, not the red she would have expected. Then again, Rafe kept telling her to lose her expectations, Earth expectations.

Rafe placed his hand against the screen. It stopped flashing and shone with a steady brilliance before shifting to orange. Although nobody asked a question, Rafe spoke. “I am Ra’fhai Aba’ddon, captain of the vessel Annabelle. Requesting permission to enter.”

The last seemed kind of obvious.

A tinny voice emerged from the light pad. “State your business.” The English, while heavily accented, was recognizable.

“I’m here to refuel and pick up parts.”

“Where have you come from?”

“None of your business.”

“Who is your companion?”

Given Emma was tired of Rafe calling all the shots, she leaned forward and said, “Hi, my name is Emma. Emma of”—she looked at him and smirked—“New Mexico.”

“You idiot,” he hissed, and more loudly, “Ha. Ha, such a comedian my cousin is. Her name is Emma Aba’ddon. Related to me on my father’s side. She’s with me.”

Didn’t that have a ring of possessiveness to it? Apparently Rafe had yet to learn he didn’t own her. She might have to work for him until she figured things out, but that didn’t mean he was the boss of her. Okay, he was technically her boss. Still, that was for work, not her as a person.

The voice didn’t speak again, but there was a buzzing sound and then the crank of metal as the hatch door before them slid open. To her surprise and relief, they didn’t get sucked into the hole. Instead, with Rafe leading the way, she walked into a galactic version of Wonderland.

I think I should have stayed on the ship.