Elana lay half sprawled on her belly, with Rynan’s hot weight pressed against her back. She felt him press a kiss to the back of her neck.

Her skin tingled so much, she felt like she was glowing. She was lying there, naked, with Ry wrapped around her. She felt his hardness against her softness, the scrape of the hair on his thighs against her bottom.

She shivered. Ry, naked and sexy with her. God, it was too good to be true.

Rough hands rolled her over. He slid one hand into her hair and tugged her face up. “Okay?”

She’d always been honest with him. One of the things she’d always liked was that she could tell him everything…well, except for that whole being in love with him thing.

“I’m scared you’re going to disappear. That all this will just be a dream. That I’m still unconscious in the wreck of the Pathfinder and hallucinating.”

He pressed her hands to his chest. “We’re both wide awake.”

“Okay, well, maybe I’m worried you’ll get up, walk out, and pretend this never happened.”

“I’m not planning to head out in a snowstorm.”

She bit her lip and nodded.

He leaned down and nipped at her bottom lip until she opened for his kiss. “Even if it wasn’t snowing, I wouldn’t be going anywhere. I won’t lie and say I’m not more than a little freaked about this.”

“This?” she asked slowly. She’d never seen Ry freaked over anything.

“You and me. I suck at this kind of thing.”

“Ry, you’ve never had a relationship.”

“I never, ever wanted one.”

“Because of your childhood?” she said carefully.

A short nod. “Shitty dad, shitty mom, and a beyond shitty stepfather.”

He’d dropped snippets about growing up, so she knew it had been bad. “Just makes me prouder of you. You and your brothers grew up with that and are not shitty.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ve been holding myself back from you for years. I’m done.” He nipped her bottom lip again, his teeth sinking in. “You’re mine now.”

Her belly quivered. Big, bossy Ry was hers. Warmth exploded inside her.

She reared up and pushed him back, intent on exploring that body she’d dreamed about for so long.

“I want to explore all of you.” She pressed a kiss to the center of his chest, dragging her teeth over his skin. “Every inch.”

He raised a brow. “Every inch?”

She looked up at him and grinned. “Oh, yeah.”

“You want my cock, gorgeous?”

She looked down at the thick length of him. “Definitely, yes.”

She scooted back until she was balanced on the strong columns of his thighs.

He slid one arm under his head, his gaze glued to her. “Then I’m all yours. But I warn you, Elana, after you have your fun, I want to fuck your mouth.”

Her breath hitched, and a flood of wetness dampened the skin between her thighs.

“I’ve imagined those lips of yours wrapped around my cock so many damn times,” he murmured.

Oh, God. Desire was a sharp singe in her belly. She’d always known that Ry would never be a smooth, suave lover, but she hadn’t guessed that he was capable of this frank, dirty talk… God, she was getting even wetter.

She lowered her head, her breath moving over the long, thick cock rising up. His hand moved, fastening around the base.

“Lick the head,” he growled, voice gritty. “Let me see your tongue on me.”

Elana did, lapping at the salty pre-come leaking out.

He groaned. Empowered, she licked some more, tracing a thick vein down the side.

“You want more?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Open your mouth.”

She did, desperate for the feel of him, and he fed his cock into her mouth. One of his hands slid into her hair, tilting her head back. Oh, no. He was being his usual, bossy self, and trying to take over.

Nope. She wasn’t having it. This was her time to play and drive him out of his mind.

She sucked him deep and started working him hard.

He groaned, and his hands fell away, his hips shifting beneath her. She slid one hand down and cupped his balls, massaging them.

“Elana.” He groaned again. When his hips bucked this time, it was uncontrolled, and she felt the head of his cock butt against the back of her throat.

Then his hands were buried in her hair, his thumbs brushing her jaws.

“I…wanted to last longer.” His groan this time was part untamed growl.

She sucked him harder. She didn’t want him to last. She loved driving him wild.

“No.” He pulled her off his body.

“Hey!”

“I’m coming inside you, Elana.” Those gray eyes of his were stormy. He pulled her up over him, until she straddled his hips.

She smiled. Okay, she liked this. She positioned his cock and started to slide down on him.

“That’s it, gorgeous.” His voice was so guttural his words were barely comprehensible. “Ride me. Sit on my cock and take all of me.”

She lowered herself on him, moaning as he filled her. He was so damn big.

His fingers cupped her ass, squeezing her skin as he urged her to move.

She pressed her hands to his chest and started to ride. Up, down. Hard. Slow.

“God—” he groaned.

He started to help her, quickening her pace, and helping to lift her up and down on his cock.

Sensations were building, coiling in her belly. Hot, fast, and unstoppable.

They didn’t last long.

With a few wild slams onto him, her orgasm smashed into her, setting her body alight. Elana threw her head back and screamed his name. A second later, his fingers flexed on her skin, and he pulled her down hard.

As he emptied himself inside, her name was a stark groan.

* * *

The howl of the snowstorm outside was an eerie accompaniment, as Rynan worked on the broken beacon. He lifted his multitool and tinkered, working to link up the joints and wiring. So far, it was actually going quite well. He was remembering everything he needed to do. Still, his gut was telling him that the beacon was ruined beyond repair.

Suddenly, he felt a warm weight against his back and Elana leaned over him. She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

“How’s it going?”

He nodded. “It’s going, but this thing is busted to hell.”

“Well, you have time to work on it, with that storm raging out there.” Her voice changed. “I wonder how Goldie and Arus are holding up?”

“Hopefully, they’re getting some rest.” Because the minute the storm cleared, he wanted to move again, and try to get to some higher ground.

He reached up and pulled Elana closer. This time, the kiss was slower and he took his time savoring the taste of her. When he pulled back, her face was soft, and she was watching him with those clear blue eyes.

“Elana, I’m likely going to screw this up. Us. You and me.”

She rubbed her nose against his. “I know. But you’re a smart, determined guy. We can make it work…if you want it to work.”

“Hell, yes.” He kissed her again. But what Ry didn’t say was that if they didn’t get off this ice world, they wouldn’t get a chance to try anything.

His arms tightened around her. He would protect her. He would damn well get her out of here, one way or another.

“I…have something for you,” he said.

Her eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

He fished around in his backpack and pulled out the tiny device. He set it on her palm. He’d been carrying it around for days.

She frowned at it. “What is it?”

“I made it for you.” He touched a button on the device and music started playing.

“A music player!”

“It holds more songs than your old one and it’s smaller. I…uh, added all your music collection to it.”

Her face had gone soft. “Thank you, Ry.” She pressed her lips to his.

The kiss deepened, hunger stirring again. Ry groaned and forced himself to break the kiss. “If I’m going to get us off this planet, I need to fix this beacon.”

She slapped a kiss to his cheek. “Then get back to work.”

He went back to work on the beacon, but it wasn’t long before his frustration built. One of those damned blanks in his head appeared, and he wasn’t sure what to do next to try and fix the damn thing.

“Fuck!”

“Here.” Elana handed over another tool. She picked up a piece, and turned it until it fit with the piece in his hand.

He blew out a breath, and with Elana helping, joined them together. Her hands brushed against his, and he watched as they worked together on the beacon.

“You’re getting better every day, Ry,” she murmured. “You just have to remember not to push too far, and to accept a little help.” She wrinkled her nose. “I know you’re not very good at asking for help, but I’m here.”

“I’m scared my head will never be right. I miss working on my upgrades—”

She nuzzled into him. “And your gadgets and inventions. I love watching you work on stuff. Big, muscled Rynan working like a mad genius.”

He wasn’t sure he liked her description. “Elana—”

“You’re an amazing man, Ry. Whether you can invent fancy weapons and tech, or not.”

Something inside him stilled. Did she really believe that? “Why?”

“Because you’re loyal and strong.” She nipped his shoulder. “Protective and smart.”

“I come from two people who weren’t any of those things.”

She watched him steadily. He hated talking about his past. Mostly, he just wanted to forget it.

“We aren’t our parents, Rynan,” she said quietly.

“My dad was a selfish bastard who ran out on his wife and three young sons. And my mom…she left us to be beaten by our monster of a stepfather.”

“That’s on her, not you. You and your brothers have made something of yourselves. You’re good men. You’ve built something important with the convoy.” She stroked his arm, her fingers tracing his tattoo. “If you go with the theory that what our parents were runs in our veins, then I’d be a stressed-out workaholic with a dozen kids whose names I barely remember but who are cheap crewmembers.”

“What?” Ry’s head snapped up.

“You know I’m from an ice-mining family in the Scandia quadrant. It’s common for the ice-miners to take multiple spouses and have loads of kids.” She managed a stiff smile. “Cheap labor.”

Ry’s hands tightened. “They treated you like a slave.” He wanted to punch someone. Starting with her family.

She shook her head. “They fed me and no one beat me. But, I was just one tiny, insignificant part of the crowd, and they worked us hard. No one saw me, or cared about what I liked or didn’t like. When I turned eighteen, my father started talking about me marrying a fellow ice-miner of his. A much older man his age.”

“Bastard.”

“It’s what they knew, Ry.” She released a breath. “Then I got sick and my father wouldn’t detour off the latest mining venture to get me help. I was sick with Dynarean Plague.”

Ry straightened. “And your family didn’t get you treatment? Fuckers. You could have died!”

“I survived. After I got better, I left. I took nothing with me except my battered music player and I left.”

“You were alone.”

She nodded, something painful crossing her face. “But I was free. For the first time in my life, I got to make decisions about what I wanted and didn’t want.” She pressed her hands together. “The plague…it left me sterile.” Her lips twisted. “I didn’t care. I watched all the women in my family have baby after baby. I had to help raise my younger brothers and sisters.”

He stared at her, picturing a young, desperate woman trying to escape her fate. “You didn’t want kids.”

She shook her head vigorously. “I knew I never wanted to be a baby-making machine, never wanted my child to be a pawn, and never, ever wanted to see them forced into work.”

“I don’t want them either.” He thought of that dark basement. “Ever.”

Elana’s eyes turned distant. “I never forget that I’m one of the lucky ones who had the courage to get away.”

“Because of your grit and determination.” His gut hardened. “It can’t have been easy for a young woman, all alone.” The galaxy was filled with assholes who wanted to take advantage of young women.

A faint smile. “There were a few bad moments, but I made it. I made me. Not my mother or father, or their choices. Me.”

His voice turned to a growl. “I wish I could teach them a lesson—”

“Hey.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “I talk to them once a year. They’re happy to talk, but distant and busy with the mining. I came to terms with my past a long time ago. I won’t let it rule me or shape my life now.”

But he did.

Shit. Ry occasionally still had nightmares, and so much of what he did with his life was still driven by the horrors of his childhood. The horrors of being locked down in a dark basement and hearing the creak of steps above, and knowing what was coming.

He pulled Elana closer. God, she was stronger than he’d thought. A spine of damn steel. He pressed his lips to hers.

Then she pulled back and tilted her head. “Listen?”

He couldn’t hear anything. “What?”

“Nothing.” She smiled. “The storm’s passed.”

Then they both heard it. A faint shout. “Help!”

It was Goldie. Rynan scrambled up, Elana right beside him.

“Move it,” he growled, yanking his cold-weather gear on.