VANESSA

“It looks pretty small.” I stared at the sleek fighter touching down onto the ground. Its downdraft blew up a cloud of sand at the edge of the pavement. “I’m not sure there’s going to be enough room for us in there.”

Avren didn’t answer me. He had a big grin on his face as he watched his brother Anders and a gorgeous redhead climb out of the ship.

“Anders, Gwen, this is Vanessa.” He gestured at me. They both shook my hand and murmured a greeting.

“Vanessa, this is my brother, Anders, and his wife, Gwen.”

Gwen smiled at me. “Another ginger? I like her already.” Her grin was so contagious that I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Technically, there’s someone else who you haven’t introduced.” She patted her belly, which I hadn’t noticed was slightly protruding out of her flight suit. “We’re not sure if we’re having a boy or a girl yet.” She glanced apprehensively at Anders. “I’m sure it will be a girl. After all, I’m not a carrier for the gene. I’m not looking forward to their wings developing, though.”

Gwen clapped a hand over her mouth and glared at Avren. “She knows, right? You couldn’t recruit her to work on the gene without knowing about the wings. Fuck!” She trailed off. Both men gave her a stare that was a combination of amusement and exasperation. She stuck out her tongue at her husband. “I’m like an embarrassing in-law from the wrong side of the galaxy.”

Avren looked like he was going to burst out laughing. I liked seeing the joy in his heart. Was this what it was like to have a family?

My mother and I had always been alone. My father had left before I was born. My mother was an only child, and her parents died early. For my entire life, Mom and I only had each other.

There was an endless stream of boyfriends running through our house, none of whom ever hung around for more than a couple of days. She said they were all jerks, but I knew better.

Men never stayed. They came into your life for a while and disappeared, like my father. Like Joe, the only boyfriend of Mom’s I had ever cared about. He lived with us for fourteen months. He had carried me to bed every night, pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex, or a bull, or whatever I wanted. I loved him like a father, but he was only passing through my life.

It only took three months for me to stop asking when Joe was coming home. When my mother finally snapped and screamed that he was never coming back, I understood he was going to be like everyone else. I cried myself to sleep for almost a year before I learned how to harden my heart.

I never allowed another one of her boyfriends into my life. I was always polite and respectful, but I never cared about any of them. I learned the hard way that men weren’t going to be there no matter how much you loved them.

There was no way in hell I was going to start anything with Avren this time. He had left me before, and he would do it again. They all did.

“Calm down, Gwen. Give him a chance to answer.” Anders wasn’t giving Avren an opportunity to speak either. The pair was quite amusing. “She already knew. They were friends before the decree.”

Avren had told me that his father had issued an edict — the Auxem were forbidden from telling anyone about their wings. After a planet had reneged on their deal to provide women to Auxem due to their wings, they believed Earth was their last chance. He hadn’t wanted to reveal his people’s wings and be rejected again.

“It was never a secret for me, Gwen. I’ve even been flying.”

Gwen glanced at Avren for a second and then back at me, waggling her eyebrows.

Avren mumbled under his breath. “We dated for a while in university.”

“I see. That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?” Gwen looked at me like she could see through me. For the Auxem, flying with a passenger on your back was practically an intimate act.

“We’re all business now. Right, Avren?” I tried to help him gracefully ease his way out of the embarrassing situation.

“That’s right.” He looked at the ship, avoiding my eyes. “Are we ready to go?”

Anders nodded. “We fueled up before we arrived and we can leave whenever you want. Vanessa, you only have one bag?” Anders held his hand out to take it from me.

“Yeah, this is it. I’m going to have the rest of my things shipped. I don’t need much.”

“Maybe it won’t take too long with you geniuses working on the problem.” Gwen looked hopeful as we all walked toward the ship. “I was under the impression it could take some time. It doesn’t seem like something that will be solved overnight.”

I didn’t want to raise anyone’s expectations unnecessarily. “It’s hard to say. Avren has done a lot of the preliminary investigation already. I have some experience with genetic pain. If we combine our expertise, it should be much faster than working individually, but it might still take a while, assuming we can do it at all.”

I hoped it was a professional explanation. I couldn’t say I was helping because Avren looked so hot that he could make me wet with a glance. Or if he wanted to, he could probably charm the pants off Earth’s president. The project was exciting and could advance my career.

Nothing more.

When we climbed aboard, I realized I was right about the space inside. There wasn’t any. Two chairs occupied the front of the spacecraft, with four monitors facing each seat. Two more seats were in the rear. A curtain blocked off part of the ship. Everything looked smooth, ergonomic, and state-of-the-art. It was perfect for fighting, not traveling.

I wasn’t going to complain.

“Vanessa, you and Avren will take the gunner seats at the back. Anders and I fly it from up here.” Gwen gestured to the two seats with the monitors.

“Good thing we had this baby altered and installed the extra chairs.” Anders patted the wall of the ship fondly and sounded smug.

“Yes.” Gwen shook her head. “You’re very smart.” She looked at me. “Are you okay back there with Avren?”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. How long will it take to reach Auxem?”

Anders ran his hand over the console as he sat down. “At the rate this beauty can fly, we should be there in six days.”

My mouth dropped open. Anders made it sound like it was going to be a quick trip. I would be stuck sitting next to Avren in a tiny spacecraft for almost a week. I worried about keeping my distance and staying under control, but then I remembered we were going to have chaperones.

“We’ll be taking off in about ten minutes.” Gwen didn’t look up from her monitor. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

How was I supposed to be comfortable sitting next to the man who had broken my heart years ago and who was currently setting my panties on fire with desire whenever he looked at me?

The flight was going to be many things, but pleasant wasn’t one of them.

* * *

AVREN

I sat down next to Vanessa and tried to suppress the excitement and happiness in my stomach. Happiness always ended. It wouldn’t be smart if I let myself get used to it.

On the other hand, I couldn’t deny that having Vanessa next to me again was lifting my spirits. She had agreed to help me, and we were going to work together. For the first time since I conceived the idea to prevent our pain genetically, I thought I had a chance at success. With Vanessa’s razor-sharp mind working on the problem alongside me, I knew we had a good chance at changing Allex’s life.

Strapping the belts across my chest, I felt Vanessa’s knee touch mine as she settled herself. I didn’t think about the burst of desire I felt from her touch. Our chemistry together shouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t let her step on my heart again. She was trouble, and I had always gone out of my way to avoid trouble.

The next six days were going to be an exercise in restraint. Auxem men were masters of self-control when it came to sex. We had to be, considering the dire consequences of fucking the wrong woman. My first mate had to be a lady I loved. She would become my bond mate. I would be faithful to her and love her for the rest of my life. If she died or left me, I would never mate again.

I could usually handle my urges, but I didn’t know what would happen with Vanessa next to me. She could make my cock hard simply by brushing against my knee.

Staying calm and professional was easy, except when I was around her. I felt and acted differently in her presence. Being around her changed me.

It didn’t matter, of course. After the project, Vanessa was out of my life. She had said as much.

We couldn’t go back to what we had before, no matter how much I wanted to try.

* * *

VANESSA

We had been traveling for almost five days. I was getting extremely cranky on the tiny ship, but I became alert as soon as I heard Gwen’s tone of voice.

“What the fuck is that, Anders?”

He immediately leaned in and looked at her screen.

My lips twitched. Gwen certainly had an unusual vocabulary. Avren must have noticed my expression. “Starship pilots aren’t known for speaking politely in mixed company.”

“It looks like a spaceship. Did you notice the trajectory?” Anders sounded confused.

“No, I didn’t.” Gwen swiveled in her chair to check the object on Anders’s screen. “Goddammit, Anders. It’s heading right toward us.”

“Why would someone want to intercept us?” I couldn’t help asking the question. It didn’t make sense to me.

“There’s only one reason a ship would move like that. They must have aggressive intentions.” Gwen started working at her console.

Anders looked at me. “Gwen’s trying to say that they’re going to start shooting at us.”

Our ship lurched to one side, and I glanced at Avren, feeling afraid. He took my hand.

Anders was already unbuckling himself. “Avren and Vanessa, get into the changing room. I’m going to need access to the weapons, and I don’t want any distractions.”

I scrambled to undo my belt, and we jumped into the new seats. They were smaller and less comfortable than the ones we had just left. I imagined they were only used during emergencies.

“I hope you guys are secure back there.” Gwen was practically shouting. “There’s no time to wait.” Gwen swerved hard to port and pulled us into a tight loop. Avren reached out and turned on monitors that showed us a view from each side of the ship.

“Are they firing on us?” I felt like I was going to throw up.

“It looks like it.”

“Do you think they’ll blow up our ship?” I hated that my voice sounded small and scared. But I couldn’t imagine how we were going to defend ourselves.

Avren laughed. “Vanessa, we’re going to be fine.”

I didn’t know why he sounded so sure. I twisted around to get a good look at him. “How do you know?”

His face lit up with pride. “We happen to be flying with two of the best pilots in the Milky Way. Anders is the only person to have ever beaten our computer simulator.”

“He beat a machine?” I didn’t believe it.

“Look it up. There should be plenty of references. Anders always claims he’s great at blowing things up. Today he has a chance to prove himself.”

I grabbed his hand as Gwen made another evasive maneuver that made me feel like I was going to lose my lunch. I knew Avren believed his brother and sister-in-law could get us out of here, but I didn’t. I was anxious and scared.

Nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

“Try to relax.” Avren’s voice sounded soothing. “It will help with your nausea.”

“How do you know I feel queasy?”

“If I am, you must be.” Avren squeezed my hand. “Tensing up will only make it worse.”

He was annoying, but I knew he was right. I took a deep breath and tried to relax my stomach, but it was a lost cause. I looked around for something to vomit into if Gwen pulled off another fantastic move.

“Gwen, give me ten seconds to get a lock.” Anders was yelling from the back of the ship.

“Hurry up back there. I don’t want to get shot while you’re taking your time.”

“Take evasive action. If you could fly straight for ten seconds, it would be easier to shoot, Gwendolyn.”

“Kiss my ass, Anders.”

“Gladly, but give me ten seconds first.”

Avren changed our feed to Anders’s screen. I felt glued to my seat, as the target moved onto the other ship.

“Come on, Anders.” Gwen was starting to sound worried. “You only need three seconds.”

“I almost have it.”

“You’re taking too long.” Gwen had a tremor in her voice. “They’ve launched missiles at us.”

“Give me four more seconds.” I couldn’t look away from the screen.

“Four.” She was starting a countdown.

The target locked and flashed red for a second before Anders lost it. I didn’t hear him swear. It was silent in the ship except for Gwen’s counting.

“Three.”

I bit my lip. Anders couldn’t do it. Best pilot in the galaxy, my ass.

“I need to pull up, Anders.”

“Wait.”

“Two.”

A chime sounded as the screen turned red. Anders fired immediately.

Our ship lurched upward to avoid the incoming missiles.

I wondered if our fire was going to kill the people on the other ship. But there wasn’t an explosion or disintegration.

“We should call emergency services for them.” Anders’ voice sounded as relieved as I felt. “Their oxygen is going to run out in about ten hours.”

“Are you feeling merciful today or something? What did you do to them?” Avren sounded curious.

“We used the electromagnetic pulse cannon. It disables the electrical circuits in a ship. I made sure to hit their fuel system.”

“Have you done this before?”

“Yep. It’s painless, and I don’t have anyone’s death on my conscience.”

Gwen stood up and marched to the rear. Her face was red. “Maybe we should call the cops instead. They weren’t firing electromagnetic pulses at us. They were trying to blow us out of space.”

“We need some answers.” Anders had a frown on his face. “Who was attacking us? And why were they doing it?”