Zakota sat cross-legged on his bunk, his scrimshaw tools scattered around him, the hide holding his current project spread across his lap. He wanted to finish it before going to pick up Katie, who had agreed to a date. He grinned, still pleased at that notion. Also pleased that the Zi’i had been driven out of the system and the Falcon 8 had been able to land. They were at the very space base where they’d docked weeks earlier, before Sagitta decided to disobey orders and take the women back to their world. Or so he’d planned.

The capital hadn’t taken any damage, thank Qat. The space fleet, with the help of the two Star Guardian ships in the system before the Falcon 8 arrived, had done their best and sacrificed much to keep the Zi’i from reaching the planet. A celebration and awards ceremony was being scheduled, but a state funeral would take place before it. Lieutenant Arkyn wasn’t the only one who would be mourned at the event.

It had been two days since the fighting ended, a day since the ship had landed for repairs, and Zakota had replayed events often, wondering if he could have done something to prevent Arkyn’s loss. Would things have been different if he had stayed to pilot the warship? If he had, would the shuttle mission have succeeded? That had been the turning point in the battle. After the cube had been damaged, rendering the rockets inoperable, most of the Zi’i had stopped fighting and fled for the gate. The rest had been routed.

Last he’d heard, the Zi’i government was denying knowledge of the attack force, saying it had been financed and led by an upstart seeking to make a name for himself and gain political power. So far, the archons hadn’t released a statement about whether they would retaliate. Zakota doubted much could be gained by starting another war.

He shook his head, bringing his thoughts back to the moment, to the gift he was making. It was mostly finished. It just needed a couple more scrapes, a couple more details brought out of the ivory…

He lost himself in the work and twitched in surprise when his door chime rang. It was the middle of the night on the ship, even if it was late afternoon planet-time, and he hadn’t expected visitors. He and Katie weren’t supposed to meet for a few hours, for their dinner/breakfast date, which would involve a stroll into the capital. She was excited to get out and had insisted they rent something they could fly, so she could see the city from above.

He grinned as he rolled up his scrimshaw kit, set it aside, and padded barefoot to the door. He would have to find a way to get her on the bridge of the Falcon on the way to her home world, assuming things worked out and they were still able to take the women home. Even though Katie had talked of enrolling in one of the flight academies, she would surely want to see her friends back home again, if not the mother she’d said few good things about.

When he waved at the door sensor, it slid open to reveal Katie standing in the corridor. Her red-brown hair fell to her shoulders, and she smelled nice, of floral shampoo and soap. He wondered if she’d gotten them from Lieutenant Coric or Ensign Thangi. The shower tiles in the lavatories didn’t dispense anything so pleasant smelling.

Though he hadn’t expected her this early, and he wasn’t scrubbed and dressed, his grin widened. They’d shared a couple of quick meals in the mess hall since returning to the Falcon, but Zakota, along with almost everyone else, had been pressed into helping the engineers with repairs. It had taken a lot of work to ensure the ship could survive the flight down into the atmosphere to land.

“Is this the allure you were talking about?” she asked, waving at his bare chest.

“This is what I sleep in.” Zakota plucked at the soft pajama bottoms he favored when off shift. “If you find it alluring, then I’m delighted.”

“It’s more your chest I was talking about.” She touched a couple of fingers on his bare abdomen, and a zing of heat scorched his body. He found himself puffing out his chest, shifting a bit so the light of the corridor mingled with the dimness from his cabin and created interesting shadows across his musculature. “Not that the pajamas aren’t lovely. Are those woolly mammoths?”

He looked at the faded print. “Zetrandi. You can hunt them on Osun. They’re huge and ferocious.”

“Maybe in person, but I’d say they’re closer to cute on pajamas. Can I come in?”

Though he worried that cute wasn’t the adjective he wanted pegged to something he was wearing, Zakota stepped aside, more than pleased to invite her in.

He thought she might look around and comment on the decor, but instead, she stepped closer to him and rested her hand on his chest.

“I’ve been by several times,” she said, meeting his eyes, her gaze bold. Bold and interested.

More heat poured into him, and his groin stirred.

“You weren’t here,” she added. Disappointed? Aggravated?

The thought that she’d come to his cabin, wanting to spend time with him—to have sex with him?—swept all thoughts of cuteness and pajamas from his mind.

“We’ve all been working double shifts.” Zakota waved at the controls to close the door, then lowered his hand to her waist. “Had I known you were looking for me, I would have found a way to take a break.”

“I don’t think a break would have been sufficient.” Her thumb brushed his nipple as her hand came up to his shoulders, fingernails tracing a trail across his skin.

His groin went from stirring to springing fully to life.

“You’re saying you need hours rather than minutes?” He eased closer and let his hands start exploring her body, one running up her back, the other cupping her ass. He’d wanted that ass ever since she’d jiggled it while reaching for the weapons on the shuttlecraft.

“Maybe days.”

Before he could consider a response, she rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. He kissed her back. Hard. They picked up where they’d left off on the bridge of the Zi’i warship, their mouths equally eager, equally demanding. He pulled her into him without considering if she would be put off by his cock jabbing into her stomach.

She wasn’t. She wrapped her fingers around the back of his shaven head and rubbed herself against him. Her tongue swept into his mouth, and she lowered her hands, scraping and kneading his arms and his back, as if she couldn’t get enough of touching him.

Pride and desire surged into him at the thought that she wanted him so badly. He definitely wanted her.

He shifted, pushing her against the wall beside the door, pressing the long length of his body against hers, his hardness contrasting with her soft swells. As they kissed, tongues fencing in each other’s mouths, he pulled his chest away just far enough that he could undo the buttons of her top. She lifted a leg, hooking it around his waist, as if to lock him to her.

He broke the kiss to push her top off and pull her bra over her head, getting his first look at her beautiful breasts. She thrust her chest out, pushing them into his hands, and he growled with approval, first stroking them, but then, as her sweet pink nipples hardened, bending to taste them.

She gripped his shoulders, arching further toward him, grinding her hips against him. Intense waves of arousal rolled through him, and he brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her hungrily.

He reveled in her taste, her feel, her smell, but also her keen interest. He’d slept with female pilots before and had been with women who were excited by him, something that many Star Guardians had experienced, but with her, it was different. He had a feeling she didn’t get excited about many people—she had that jaded edge that made her hard to impress.

Katie tugged her pants down and kicked her shoes off, an impressive feat considering she never broke their kiss while she did it. His pajama bottoms followed, and he pressed against her, flushed flesh to flesh. Her leg returned to his waist, hooking around him again, and he slid his hand along her bare thigh. He was tempted to lift her other leg into a similar position so he could thrust into her, but he didn’t want to rush this. She’d wanted sex with him to take hours—days—hadn’t she?

Instead, he let his hands continue to explore as they kissed and rubbed against each other, stroking her breasts, then drifting lower. He slipped his thumb between her lower lips, eliciting a gasp from her as he brushed sensitive flesh. He stroked her, excited by how ready he found her.

She groaned and pushed against his hand. “Zakota,” she panted against his mouth.

“Katie,” he said back, smiling at the way she writhed under his touch.

“Now that… the introductions… are over… why don’t you put… your flight stick to use?”

“My what?” he murmured, his smile broadening. He brushed her clit, and she gripped his shoulders as she ground herself against him.

“This.” She dropped a hand to wrap it around his cock.

It was his turn to gasp, his body wanting to thrust into her grip. Into her.

His smile and some of his control waned as she rubbed her hand up and down his length, the friction sending more waves of pleasure through him. Soon, he was panting even more than she, his hips shifting toward her with each stroke. He jabbed her in the stomach and started to apologize, but she spoke first.

“That’s my bellybutton. Wrong hole.”

He snorted.

“Try lower.”

“Thanks for the tip. I always get the holes mixed up.”

“A pilot with a bad sense of direction. Very comforting.”

“You’re a wicked woman.”

Not disagreeing, Katie grinned and returned to kissing him. Meanwhile, her hand moved faster on his cock. All conscious thought fled from his mind except one, that he wanted to take her. He wanted to take her fast and hard and now.

Growling deep in his throat, he pulled her other leg up, spreading her for his throbbing cock. She complied eagerly, locking him between her legs, almost jamming her hot core against him. He parted her lips with his cock, having no trouble finding her warm, inviting entrance despite his words to the contrary. Though he wanted to pound into her with unrestrained abandon, he eased inside, feeling her stretch and tighten around him, the sensation utterly exquisite. He filled her to perfection. Judging by the moan that escaped her lips, she agreed.

He rocked back and forth, intending to take his time, but that didn’t last for long. Maybe she drove the pace or maybe he did, but they accelerated like spaceships needing to make escape velocity. Her legs tightened about him as she neared her edge. He was even closer, but he didn’t want to come first.

He kept her against the wall with one arm, but he brought his free hand back to her clit, rubbing her gently with his thumb even as they pounded together, their movements almost frenzied. She cried out at his first touch of her swollen nub, her body going rigid, her legs locking around him so tightly he might never escape. And that was fine. He thrust into her one more time, deep and hard. Every nerve in his body exploded with sensation, and he planted his hands against the wall, pouring himself into her.

She hooked her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck, still breathing hard. He was too. And it felt so damn good.

He shifted his hands downward to cup her cheeks, to hold her more gently. Somehow, he’d forgotten they were thrusting and bucking against the hard wall. That couldn’t be the most comfortable spot for her.

Though he enjoyed having her cradled against him, the sweat from their hot bodies mingling, Zakota extricated himself from her. Katie lowered her legs, and he helped settle her on her feet.

“I do have a bunk over there,” he said, feeling sheepish that he hadn’t offered it earlier, or simply carried her over to it. Not that she had complained. He’d had the sense that she might have complained if he’d stopped long enough to take that handful of steps. “You didn’t get the tour, so maybe you didn’t notice it.”

“I didn’t mind the wall. It’s firm. Good for my back.” She grinned at him.

“You can sleep on my chest if you need something firm.” He swooped her up, deciding he would be gentlemanly and carry her over there now. Better late than never, right?

“I’d call you cocky, but it’s not untrue.” She looped one arm around his shoulders and patted his chest with the other.

“Ku leads the exercise sessions for my squadron. He’s a tyrant.” Zakota settled her onto his bunk and noticed his scrimshaw kit, lying where he’d left it when she came to the door. “I have something for you.”

She looked at his groin and cocked an eyebrow.

“Not that. You already had that.”

“I thought you might be ready to share it again.”

“Well, not now, but that could happen soon. Very soon, considering how long it’s been since it was last shared.”

Her other eyebrow went up.

“Not because I can’t find people to share it with,” he hurried to say. “Just because we’ve been busy. It’s been months since the captain let me take leave. And there are few options on the ship, unless you’re into men. Which I’m not. But it’s fine that some are. Er.” He rubbed his scalp. Why was he blathering like an idiot? She’d already had sex with him, and she hadn’t fled the cabin immediately after. It wasn’t as if he had to puff up his ego for her. Of course, he did want her to think him appealing enough to have sex with again.

“Thanks for the clarification. What do you have for me?”

“This.” Zakota sat on the bunk next to her and picked up his kit. He unrolled it and pulled out the piece he’d been working on, but he kept his hand over it, wanting to surprise her. At the same time, he was nervous to unveil it. Would she like it? Had he gotten it right? It had been hard to carve a three dimensional figure when the original image had been in two. “Your friend Indi showed me a picture of an old-fashioned plane that she had on her little computer, one she said you pointed out because you wanted to buy it one day.”

“Really?” Katie leaned closer, her bare shoulder pressing against his as she peered at his hand. That felt nice. Yes, he would be ready to share other things with her very soon. “I wouldn’t have guessed she kept that text I sent with it. It’s not like I could actually afford to buy it any time soon.”

“It looked like a neat antique. We had something similar during our earlier aviation days.”

“Have you ever flown one?”

“Yup, at Hierax’s parents’ place, if you can imagine it. They have a ranch that’s been in the family for centuries. He invited me to go there with him last year when we both had leave. He told me we were going to relax and hang out by the lake. What he really wanted was for someone to help load up a bunch of his tools. He was taking them to his place in the capital. Anyway, he rolled open this old barn door, and there was this beautiful biplane under a tarp, collecting dust. I told him he had to help me get it working again if he wanted me to tote his junk. He agreed, and I took her up. The engine was loud enough to deafen you, but it was great.”

“That’s amazing.” Katie rested her fingers on his forearm. She was still looking at his hand.

Her interest in his gift delighted him.

“That I was able to fly such an old aircraft?” he asked, purposely drawing out the moment a little longer. “Or that I went on leave with Hierax?”

“Both.” Her fingers slid down his arm to the back of his hand, gripping him lightly. “Are you going to show me what you’re holding, or will I have to resort to drastic measures to get it?”

“Such as?”

“You have other body parts I could grip.”

“That’s not drastic; that’s exciting.”

She swatted him, and he relented and opened his hand, turning his palm upward. A small carved ivory biplane rested there, the propeller pointing toward his fingers, the tail toward his wrist. He’d included a pilot with goggles and long hair back in a tail, the way she often wore hers.

“Oh!” She grinned and kissed him. “It’s wonderful.” She kissed him again, lingering longer.

He set the carving safely to the side and slipped his arms around her waist. Since they were both naked already, things shouldn’t take long to progress. Not that they’d taken long last time, either. He looked forward to some horizontal lovemaking.

His logostec beeped from the deck where he’d flung it.

Zakota groaned. Hierax couldn’t possibly be looking for him for another job. They were on the ground now. Resting. The captain had promised they could go back to single shifts.

“Do you have to answer that?” Katie asked, rubbing her hands over his shoulders.

“If I don’t and it’s somebody important, I could end up on double shifts for a lot longer. I might miss our date.”

She leaned back and dropped her hands. “That would suck.”

His gaze snagged on her naked breasts, breasts he wanted to spend a lot more time with. He had to tear himself away to fetch the logostec.

“Zakota, here,” he said, going for audio only. He didn’t need anyone to see him naked. Or Katie naked. Only he got to see that.

“You still on the ship?” Sagitta asked.

“Yes, sir.” Was he about to wish he wasn’t?

“Good. Round up your combat team for the public ceremony later. You’re going to get awards for risking your asses to blow up the weapons platform.”

Katie’s eyebrows rose. She looked like she might have jammed her fists against her hips if she hadn’t been sitting down.

“Uhm, just me and the combat team are getting awards?”

“I am too,” Sagitta said, sounding dyspeptic.

“Does that mean your command isn’t being stripped away and you’re not being thrown in jail, sir?”

“One would hope.”

“It’s good that we’re all getting honored, sir, but what about Katie? She was every bit as critical to the success of that mission as everyone else on the team.”

“More,” Katie mouthed.

“As she would humbly tell you if asked.”

Sagitta grunted. “No doubt. And yes, I put everything I knew in my report. She’s getting an award too. I tasked Tala to find her and let her know.”

Zakota debated whether to confess that he knew exactly where Katie was. It wasn’t as if Sagitta could complain about his pilot having a relationship when he was canoodling his doctor at every opportunity.

“I think I know where she is, sir,” Zakota said. “I can let her know.”

“Good. Sagitta, out.”

“You think?” Katie smirked.

“Yes, I believe I saw her recently, but it’s dim in here, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Not too dim for you to ogle my breasts.”

“Men have built-in night vision that comes on for such opportunities.” He slipped his arm around her waist, pleased when she leaned across him to pick up the carving and rub it gently with her thumb. “Are you excited to get a medal? It might work as well as a letter of recommendation.”

“I’ll take both.”

“Most pilots don’t get medals until after they’ve gone through the flight academy.”

“Technically, I have.”

“The space flight academy.”

“Details, details. Weren’t we doing something when your captain interrupted us?”

“Yes, I believe so. Shall we continue?”

“Definitely.”

This time, their kiss wasn’t interrupted.