Sevda woke with a start. What the hell was that noise? Had something hit the ship? “Eddi, report!” The words were out of her mouth before she was even fully awake.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” drawled a male voice that was most definitely not her ship’s AI.

A name popped into her aching head. “Raze?”

“Mhmm.”

She sat up and got her first look at her surroundings. This was not her ship, and Raze was…wow. No wonder she remembered him. He was big, sexy, gruff, and…not wearing much.

She ignored the screams of protest from her bruised and battered body and scrambled out of bed, then nearly jumped out of her skin when another boom of what had to be thunder shook the walls of the cabin.

“What happened? Where are we, and where the fraxx are my clothes?” She was wearing her panties and a shirt two sizes too large for her, and as far as she could tell, that was it.

Raze chuckled and rose up on one elbow, baring more of his heavily muscled chest. “At least you’re consistent. That’s pretty much the first thing you asked me the last time you woke up.”

“What was your answer the last time? And when was that?” She shook her head, trying to clear some of the cobwebs, but all that did was make her headache worse.

“You landed your ship in my valley, went for a walk during a thunderstorm, and got caught in a flash flood. I fished your soggy ass out, you checked in with Eddi, and then I carried you back here, to my home. Hypothermia’s a bitch. I saved your life. You’re welcome.”

His grumpy delivery jogged her memory even better than his recital of the facts. She remembered him catching her in the cold floodwaters and his casual dismissal of what would happen to him if he got hurt out here on his own. He was like her, alone in the universe.

“Thank you.” She rubbed her aching head and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Again, you’re welcome. How are you feeling?”

“Like I got bounced across a riverbed and nearly drowned in the process. I’m stiff and sore, but I’ll live. I’d ask for a pain-blocker, but given what you are, I guess you don’t have any need for them, do you?”

“Afraid I don’t have anything like that.” He frowned for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “But I do have something that should help. It’s an ointment I use on the noats. At least, I try to use it. The stupid beasts like the taste so much they keep licking it off.”

“What’s a noat?”

Raze got out of bed before answering, revealing more of his stunning physique, and a body with more than a few scars. Cyborgs had been created to fight in what the corporations called bloodless wars, but judging by what she could see, he’d suffered and bled more than she could imagine.

“They’re an indigenous herbivore. My batch brother, Slash, named them noats because they’re not goats, but they’re similar. Not goats – noats.”

“You have a brother out here? I thought you didn’t want company?”

His sea-blue eyes turned stormy. “I don’t. I’m alone.”

He walked away without another word. Perfect. She’d been awake for less than five minutes, and she had already managed to piss off the only other self-aware lifeform on the planet.

“This is why I work solo,” she muttered to herself.

The floor was cold under her bare feet, so Sevda climbed back under the covers while she watched Raze check the contents of several drawers until he found what he was looking for.

“Try that.” He lobbed the container to her.

“Thanks.” She caught it automatically, then winced as hot pokers of pain stabbed into her shoulder. Her cybernetic prosthetic merged with her body just above the elbow, which meant that her shoulder and upper arm had taken a lot of abuse while she had clung to the rock. Might as well start there.

She opened the container and the scent of camphor, mint, and a host of herbs she didn’t know the name of, instantly transported back in time. Her mother had used this ointment, or something very like it, to fix everything from aches and bruises to sore throats and chest colds.

Amazed, Sevda lifted the container to her nose and breathed in deeply, not caring that the fumes were strong enough to bring tears to her eyes. She could almost hear her mother’s voice and feel the gentle touch of her hand.

“It stinks, but it works,” Raze said.

“I know this stuff. My mom called it her magical fix-anything medicine. I haven’t seen it in years, though.” She gently applied some of the ointment to her cheek. She didn’t need a mirror to know she had a bruise there, she could feel it. After that, she scooped out a dollop with her fingers and smoothed it onto her bicep, belatedly realizing she should have rolled the sleeve up first.

“Magical fix anything medicine, huh?” Raze reappeared at the door of the sleeping alcove and crouched in front of the wood stove.

“Mhmm.” Sevda was trying to focus on massaging the goop into her aching muscles, but her gaze kept straying to the chiseled god crouched only a few feet away. If things were different, she’d be tempted to reach out and touch him right now. Hell, she was tempted to do it anyway, and that was probably the worst idea she’d had today. He had made it clear he liked his solitude, and while he’d been kind enough to save her life, that didn’t mean he’d welcome a sexual overture from a mixed-race mutt like her. Not to mention the fact that her arrival meant his time on this planet was likely coming to an end.

When he opened the door of the stove, she stopped breathing. Flames licked at the logs as he tossed fresh wood on the fire. Fire. She hadn’t seen a fire burning in years. She lived in a high-tech world of space travel and artificial atmospheres, where fire wasn’t just archaic, it was fraxxing dangerous.

“You okay?”

She shook herself free of the memories and discovered Raze was standing in front of her, a look of concern softening his eyes and making him even more attractive. “I’m okay. It’s just been a long time since I saw an open flame. Or smelled old-fashioned ointment, or sat in a log cabin while a storm raged outside for that matter. It’s all taking me back to my childhood.”

“You grew up like this?” Raze sounded utterly stunned by the idea.

“Well, our farmhouse was by a creek instead of halfway up a mountain, and we had cows and sheep, not noats, but yeah, otherwise this all feels sort of familiar.”

Raze took the ointment out of her hand and sat down beside her on the bed. “Give me your arm. You’re going to tie yourself in knots trying to apply it to yourself.”

She lifted her right arm and he drew it toward him, holding her wrist gently as he started working the ointment into the aching muscles of her upper arm. It was hard to think of something intelligent to say when he was touching her, turning her brain gooey, so she didn’t say anything at all.

He broke the silence stretching between them. “How did you end up working as a scout pilot? You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”

She snorted. “We’re both a long way from everything.”

“True. But it doesn’t answer my question.” His chuckled, working his way down her arm.

“I was orphaned when I was thirteen. I had no other family, so I ended up in a corporate-run facility.” It was a simple summary of what had been a nightmarish time in her life. Alone and grieving, she had been little more than a shadow of her former self; barely speaking, rarely sleeping, and fed a scant diet of food-tabs and nutri-gruel.

“That sounds unpleasant. Having been a guest of the corporations, I have firsthand experience of their idea of hospitality.”

“It wasn’t as bad as what you lived through. They couldn’t get much work out of us if they didn’t keep us healthy.”

“If you disliked being under corporate control, why did you stay?” he asked without looking up from what he was doing.

“I didn’t have a choice. We were billed for room and board, clothes, even our education.” She pointed to a thin scar that circled her arm above her elbow. “I lost an arm in the fire that killed my family. It was crushed and burned so badly they had to amputate. I had a basic prosthetic, but the only way to get something better was to sign on with the corporations and have them pay for it.”

His calloused fingers traced the scar with fascination. “I would never have guessed. It looks well… real.” He winced. “And now I sound like one of the idiots who would make those same comments to me. I’m sorry.”

“Coming from you, it doesn’t have the same negativity attached. Hell, I should probably be thanking you. My arm works so well because it’s based on the same tech as yours.”

Raze ran his hand down her arm until he could close his fingers around hers. “I’m starting to realize we have a lot in common. We both like solitude. We’re both outsiders. We share the same technology.”

“And we’ve both lived under the thumb of the corporations. The only difference is, you escaped. I haven’t. Not yet.”

“Not yet? So one day you’ll be free?”

She nodded, and her heart tripped a little faster in her chest. Soon. Soon, she’d make her final payment and fly away to start a life somewhere. Her life would finally be her own. “I’ve spent the last fifteen years working for Torex. When I’m finished this last run, I should have enough scrip saved up to pay the last of my debts.

I’m almost free.”

Raze saw the determination and hope gleaming in Sevda’s eyes and understood exactly what she was feeling. There had been a time when he felt the same way. Those memories stirred feelings that he thought he had buried with his siblings. They hit him hard, filling the emptiness he’d lived with for years. He kept hold of her hand and pulled her in close enough to look into her eyes. He bowed his head and claimed her mouth with a hunger fuelled by years of loneliness. He knew he was overstepping every line there was. She had every right to slap him, or scream, or shove him away, but instead, she uttered a soft moan and kissed him back with a fervor that matched his own.

They ignited like a spark hitting a tank of rocket fuel. Hard kisses. Light touches. Hands tugging at clothing. Her lips parted with another moan, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, eager to taste her. A hint of spice. Cinnamon? He didn’t really care what it was, only that he wanted more.

He tore his mouth from hers to plant a line of open-mouthed kisses along her jaw and down the curve of her throat. She tipped her head to the side, offering herself to him, and he let himself get lost in the scent and taste of her body. Hard muscles under silken skin, that elusive whisper of cinnamon again, and her.

Her fingernails raked down his back, following his spine down to the waistband of his pants. She slid her fingers under the fabric and sank her nails into his flesh.

“More,” she whispered, her voice gone rough with need.

“So much more. Everything. Just say yes.”

Her hypnotically dark eyes widened and a smile curved her lush lips into a smile that promised a thousand pleasures. “Yes.”

That was all the permission he needed. The storm outside was no match for the one raging inside him as he rose to his feet. “Shirt off.”

She smirked at him. “Bossy.”

“You have no idea. Now, get my shirt off before I decide not to lend you any more clothes for the rest of your stay.”

She bared her fangs at him and stuck out her tongue for good measure, but she skinned the shirt over her head and let it drop to the floor without another word of argument. Her panties came off next, and when she straightened to look at him, he forgot to breathe.

She was beautiful. Strong. Curvy. Soft and sassy. He wouldn’t have to worry about hurting her. She wasn’t a delicate human woman. She was so much more.

She reached for him, and before he realized what she intended, his pants were torn apart and the tattered remains fluttered to the floor beside his shirt.

“Now you owe me a pair of pants.”

Sevda laughed and wrapped her fingers around his cock, making it hard to think of anything except how good it felt to have her touching him.

“And you owe me a set of clothes. Shall we call it even?”

“Vixen.”

“You have no idea.” She pumped her fist over his steel-hard dick, then leaned down to swipe her tongue across the tip. He buried his fingers in her dark curls and cradled her head in his hands as she hummed in pleasure and took him deeper into her mouth.

His balls tightened, and his next breath came out in a strangled hiss. Nothing had ever felt this good.

She chuckled softly and released his cock to grin up at him. “Nothing, huh?”

Damn. Did I say that out loud? Judging by her grin, he must have.

“Nothing, ever,” he clarified.

Her smile turned wicked. “Good.”

She lowered her mouth to the crown of his cock again, and this time she dragged the delicate point of her fang across the tip before taking him deep. Her hand pumped his length as her hot little mouth devoured him. She worked him with her tongue, her teeth, and her fingers, teasing and tasting until his legs were unsteady and he was on the verge of losing the last shreds of his control.

“Enough. When I come the first time, I want to be inside your pussy, fucking you until you scream my name.”

There was a gentle pop as she released his cock. Then she scooted back onto the bed with a welcoming smile that turned his insides to molten metal. This beautiful, sexy woman smiling that way at him. The scarred one. The broken machine.

“Maybe I want to hear you scream mine.” She crooked a finger at him as another blast of rain and water slammed against the walls of the cabin.

“Let’s see who screams first.”

He was on top of her in a second, and she buried one hand in his hair, pulling him in for a kiss so hot it seared his soul. Her free hand rose up to touch his face, exploring his scars with her fingertips.

“These are sexy,” she whispered.

“I’m damaged.”

“So am I.”

Damaged was the last word in the galaxy he’d use to describe the beauty staring up at him. Sexy. Intriguing. Beguiling. Those were the words he’d use. “I don’t think so.”

For a moment, he thought she was going to argue. Instead, she tugged on a lock of his hair until their lips were a breath apart. “Then shut up and kiss me.”

Tongues dueled as their naked bodies rubbed against each other, setting him on fire all over again. He needed to touch her, to stroke and explore every inch of her body. Without warning, he rolled them over so that she was on top, and she laughed as she straddled him. Her slick pussy pressed against his dick, their bodies so close he could feel the pulse and flex of her inner walls before he was even inside.

“Much better.” He reached up to cup her breasts, letting their warm weight fill his hands as her nipples pebbled beneath his palms.

“Mhmm.” She leaned forward, leaning into his touch.

He tweaked a tender nipple with his fingers, aware they were still lightly coated with ointment. Her breath caught as the menthol and other ingredients made her skin tingle, and when he did it to her other nipple, she moaned and surged against his hand.

That simple movement rocked her hips against his cock, snapping a few more threads on his control. “Do that again and things are going to move faster than I planned.”

She ground herself over him in a long, slow swing of her hips. “This?

“You were warned.”

She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and laughed as he bucked his hips hard, and shifted positions so he was notched at her entrance. They held eye contact as he slid into the heat of her body. She was perfect. Hot and tight and already so wet he didn’t stop until he was balls deep inside her. He groaned her name.

Sevda threw back her head and uttered a wild cry of pure need that resonated deep in his heart. This was what they both needed. The storm, the world, and the loneliness faded away. His cock twitched, then started to throb. A gentle thrust, a gasp, and she started to move with him.

She was liquid fire wrapped around him, riding him harder with each rise of his hips. With every breathless cry she made, he lost a little more control. Harder. Faster. Wilder. She let go of his arms to brace herself against the bed, her lips finding his. She screamed his name, the sound captured by his mouth. She gave herself over to him, a creature of pure pleasure. His. Hers. Theirs.

He kept one hand on her breast, the other cradling the back of her head as they flew together, two hawks riding the winds of a tempest until he finally reached the height of ecstasy. He came in silence, too far gone to summon any words, not even her name. She shuddered atop him, sitting up to reach between them and bringing herself over with a touch of her fingers.

It was the sexiest thing he’d ever witnessed.

She slumped onto his chest in a breathless heap, and he found himself wanting to stay like that. It was a dangerous temptation. She wasn’t staying. He wasn’t going anywhere. This was never going to be more than a brief respite for either of them.

A muffled comment drew him out of his dark thoughts and made him smile.

“You screamed my name first.” She declared, lifting her head to flash him a triumphant, if flushed, grin.

“I don’t recall it happening that way. I said your name. You screamed mine.”

“And here I thought all cyborgs had perfect recall. Yours is clearly faulty.”

“I’m in perfect working order.” He grinned at her as an unfamiliar lightness filled him. “Or do you have complaints to file?”

“Veth, no. No complaints. If you worked any better, I’d probably die of satisfaction.” She flexed her inner walls around him, and his cock twitched as a fresh surge of blood rushed south.

“You’ve already had one near-death experience today. If you don’t want to risk another one, you might want to keep still.”

“If I didn’t like danger, I’d be in a different line of work.” She made a show of looking around his cabin. “Besides, unless you’ve got a holo-vid player tucked away somewhere, there’s nothing else to do until my ship is repaired and this storm ends.”

“I don’t have a lot of tech in here.” His cabin was rustic, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a vid player or most of the other modern conveniences. He just didn’t use them. They were stashed onboard his ship; which was parked only a few yards away from his cabin. He housed it inside a building designed to shield it from the elements…and from being detected by passing ships like Sevda’s.

“I noticed. You live simple.” She touched the wall. “But snug. I like it.”

Pride filled him. Raze had never expected anyone else to ever see what he’d built out here. It surprised him that her approval meant so much to him—but it did. “it’s not much, but it’s more than I ever had before. And you’re welcome to stay here with me, in my snug cabin, for as long as it takes to get your ship fully repaired.”

“Thank you.” She stroked his cheek. “