Angela shifted in his arms and pressed her lips to his.

Normally, Treyjon wouldn’t have minded a kiss—he enjoyed her kisses a great deal—but after standing behind her as she writhed against him, her soft body exquisite as it ground against his, his cock was so hard that he was struggling to remember that he was on an enemy ship and in a dangerous situation. He wanted nothing more than to drag her closer, shove up her dress, and find an angle where he could plunge into her. And when she kissed him, the sweet taste of her on his lips, it became even harder to think of being responsible.

“We can’t,” he whispered against her mouth. “Not here.”

Despite his words, his hips strained toward her, and he couldn’t keep his cock from jamming into her stomach. It wanted to jam into something that was a far better fit, and he tried to stifle a groan as she trailed her fingers down his chest.

It crossed his mind, not for the first time, that he could open his fly and quickly take care of himself. But he had a notion that masturbating in front of a woman wasn’t that polite. Hadn’t his father said that? No masturbating in front of girls you like. Maybe that had been his older brother.

Angela’s fingers hooked into his belt and fumbled at the fastener. She pulled her mouth from his to look down. It took him a moment to realize that she wanted to help him take care of himself. As he’d done for her?

His heart skipped into double time as he imagined her hand around him. And he wouldn’t need to drop his trousers to his ankles for that. He wouldn’t be as defenseless if someone burst in on them.

Not that he deemed that likely. He had good hearing. If someone was coming, he would have a warning.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” he muttered.

“What?” Angela whispered.

“I said, let me help you with that.”

She hadn’t been making quick work of the fastener—maybe it was alien technology to her, or maybe she wasn’t that experienced at yanking down men’s trousers. He smiled at that notion and twisted the clasp, undoing it. Their hands bumped, and then the back of her hand brushed him.

He froze, his every nerve aware of her and her touch.

She pushed aside his trousers and underwear and slipped her hand in to draw him out. Not that it took much. As soon as his cock could push out, it did. Like the tail of a svenkar jerking up when it was hot on the trail.

She slid her hand along his shaft, and he closed his eyes, pressing into her. He couldn’t keep from nudging her eagerly, and as she stroked him, he bent his head, finding her lips again. He felt needy and demanding, as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and his cock into her hand, but she smiled against his lips and returned the kiss as her hand explored him.

Those light explorations almost drove him over the edge of their own accord. He throbbed with intense urgency, and he almost reached for his cock to finish the deed on his own. But he didn’t. He wanted her to do it. This was something new, rather than the same old thing. It was enticing and stimulating. So stimulating.

She must have sensed how close he was, because she tightened her grip and worked her hand along his sensitive flesh in a more precise rhythm. She didn’t have the practiced grip of some prostitute, but he didn’t care. He appreciated this and her, and was a little glad to know that she wasn’t incredibly experienced. They would have much to explore together, much to do later on.

As he crept closer and closer to the edge, he could hear his own rapid breaths, echoing in their dark nook. He did his best to quiet them, but he was so ready. He planted one hand against the crate and one against the hull, afraid that if he grabbed Angela, he would grip her too hard. She quickened her pace for him, then shifted to the side. He started to warn her that he was coming, but he’d waited too long, and his cock had a mind of its own. It thrust hard in one final satisfying explosion.

He would have stood limp-muscled and basked in it, but he realized he’d thrust so hard that he’d forced her off-balance. He reached out, clumsily finding her shoulder, though she had already caught herself on the crate.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was, uhm—”

“Eager?” She sounded more amused than alarmed or annoyed. Good.

“Yeah. I hope I didn’t… er, make a mess.”

Usually, he would have had a towel or tissue or something on hand. Since he hadn’t planned on masturbating on this spy mission, he hadn’t brought any such thing.

“Well, I got out of the way, but I’m pretty sure you defiled that crate.”

He chuckled and pulled her close again. “That’s what they get for spying on my captain.”

“Your loyalty to him is impressive. Not every soldier is willing to defile enemy property for his superior officers.”

“I’m a particularly good soldier. But let’s not tell the captain about this.”

“Trust me, I wasn’t planning on bringing it up with him.”

Treyjon almost snickered at the image that created in his mind.

She hugged him, and he pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her as much as he could in the tight space.

“Treyjon?” she murmured.

“Yes?”

“Even though we can’t here, I was wondering how… I mean, I assume your people do something for birth control. How is that handled?”

A surge of delight rushed through him at the realization that she was contemplating having sex with him. Not that it should have come as a surprise after she’d so intimately handled him, but it pleased him, nonetheless.

“Quite simply, really,” he said. “At least if you’re with a fleet soldier or a Star Guardian.”

“Oh? Do they keep condoms on your ships?”

He chuckled softly. “Yes, actually, if you’re going somewhere dubious and want to protect yourself from disease, you can grab some from sickbay. But for the unmarried men, we get a couple of shots a year that temporarily make our sperm infertile. The government got tired of dealing with paternity lawsuits from planets all over the Confederation. As you might imagine, men on shore leave like to, hm, explore their options.”

“Is that what you were doing under my dress? Exploring options?”

He kissed her temple. “Absolutely. Like I said, it’s all temporary, and if you get married and want to have children, you just stop getting the shots. It’s cut down a lot on unexpected and unwanted pregnancies with people you barely know.”

“That’s good to know because I didn’t bring anything. This being a rather unexpected trip.”

“I can imagine,” he murmured, and squeezed her close.

After a time of pleasant hugging and the occasional kiss, he reluctantly refastened his trousers. He needed to think about heading out to explore the ship.

He’d no sooner had the thought than a low snarl reached his ears.

Treyjon jerked his head up. He recognized that type of snarl. It came from a svenkar.

He pressed a finger to Angela’s lips again, though she had probably heard it, too, and would know better than to start clapping and shouting. Not that women usually did that after working him over. He didn’t imagine it was that exciting.

“In here?” a man asked.

“Seems the most likely spot.”

Another snarl came from the same direction as the voices. Dread settled into the pit of Treyjon’s stomach. Not only had that snarl come from a svenkar, but it was the sound one made when on the trail of something.

“It would be nice if the internal sensors were a little more precise.”

“Just keep an eye out.”

Treyjon groaned inwardly. He should have known that he and Angela wouldn’t be able to stay here until the time to reveal themselves was convenient.

The sounds of snuffles and snarls came closer. The svenkar would know right where they were, and it would lead the men to their spot.

Treyjon lowered his finger from Angela’s lips and leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Stay here.”

She nodded once.

The svenkar growled. Had it heard the whisper? Probably.

The lighting increased. Treyjon grimaced. He would have preferred deep, dark shadows.

He pulled his stunner off his belt. The men had stopped talking, but he could hear their soft steps now, as well as the rustle of clothing.

He set the stunner on the top of the crate, then gripped the lip and pulled himself up slowly, trying not to make a sound. Once there, he stayed in a crouch so low that his butt scraped the wood. The crate was wide and tall, but if the men were farther away than he thought, they would see him.

The snuffling sounds came right toward him. Treyjon couldn’t see the svenkar or the men from his position, but his ears told him when the beast stuck its snout into the gap he and Angela had used to peek through. The svenkar exploded in a frenzy of growls and snarls, claws scraping at the plastic crates. No, tearing at them. The faux wood boards cracked against the deck as they were ripped away.

“Stop that thing,” one man growled from a few feet behind the svenkar.

Treyjon could just see the top of his head, and he sank even lower in his crouch. The men would be looking at this particular crate, so he scooted to the next one and then the next one. He hoped the svenkar wouldn’t hear him and point a snout in his direction.

A pained yelp came. A shock collar being used.

Knowing the animal would be distracted, Treyjon hopped across several more crates. He reached the end of the row and the corner of the cargo hold. There was about a foot gap. He sucked in everything and slid to the deck.

“We know you’re back there,” the other man said, still at the crate Treyjon had left. “Come out or get eaten.”

His buddy snorted. “Or come out and get eaten.”

“By the svenkar or the Zi’i ambassador?” the other asked.

“Maybe they can share the table.”

Treyjon peeked around the corner of his crate. Both men were looking into the gap, toward where Angela hid. The svenkar, a big female that had to weigh more than four hundred pounds, lay on its back, its belly in the air. One paw swatted uselessly at the collar around its neck.

Treyjon frowned. The shocks were still going off. Did the handler know that? Was he inept or intentionally cruel?

Treyjon fired the stunner, half wishing he had a bolt bow or other more deadly weapon.

The men whirled toward him at the soft whine of the weapon, but they were too late to do anything. A blue nimbus filled the air around them as the energy unfurled. They stumbled, then fell.

The svenkar jumped to its feet in an instant. Treyjon hesitated, wondering if there was any way he could convince it to obey him instead of its handlers, but that would take a great deal of time. For now, he was an intruder in its eyes. Indeed, the female charged across the deck and sprang.

He fired the stunner, hitting it square in the face. He also threw himself to the side, doing a somersault across the deck to avoid being struck. The svenkar’s momentum took it into the hull where it smashed with a clang.

“Will she be all right?” came a worried question. Angela. Her head stuck out of the gap between the two crates.

“They’ve got tough heads, so yes. But I’m not sure what to do with her. Or them. The stun will wear off in about twenty minutes. Probably less for the svenkar.”

After checking around the cargo hold and making sure nobody else was in there with them or coming down the corridor, Treyjon jogged to the men. He yanked off their logostecs so they couldn’t easily comm the rest of the crew, then pulled off their belts so he could tie their hands behind their backs. Maybe if he did that and stuffed them behind the crate where he and Angela had been hiding, it would be a struggle for them to get free.

Angela eased out, looking toward the svenkar and then toward the corridor.

Treyjon hefted the men up one at a time, grunting as he hoisted them above his head and onto the top of the crate. He followed them up and rolled them over the far side and down into the tight space. They clunked hard as they landed, but didn’t stir. Maybe they would be knocked unconscious and stay out for an hour.

He dropped down beside Angela again. “I’m not sure what to do about the svenkar. I can’t tie her up or heft her over my head.”

Being stuck behind a crate probably wouldn’t slow down the strong, agile beast for long, either.

“Let her wake up. Maybe she’ll run out and turn on the crew. What were they doing to her? Was that from the shock collar?”

Treyjon smiled at her indignation, feeling the same way. Some people favored harsh training methods with svenkars, claiming it was the only way to get through those thick skulls, but he’d found that the lightest of taps from the collars would redirect their energies. And as Angela had found with her stuffed gordoza leaves, there was nothing wrong with a food reward here and there.

“We could leave her free,” he said, “but it’s more likely that she’ll find us and attack us at an inopportune moment.”

Angela shrugged. “We can be on the alert for it.”

She lifted the stunner he’d given her before they left the ship. He’d forgotten about it, but from the way she gripped it firmly, she had been ready to use it on those men.

“Agreed. We better hurry, though.” Treyjon headed for the corridor. “Best not to test our luck.”

“Captain’s cabin?”

“Yes.”