Actual sunshine warmed the back of Tane’s neck, and he grew hot in the heavy leather coat he wore. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt direct sunlight. It hurt his eyes.

Up here, the air was cleaner, free of the low-hanging layer of smog that normally draped the lower city. In the upper city, the rich were even entitled to better oxygen.

The military base sat on the outskirts of the metropolis like a huge bastion perched atop the lower city’s rising waters and even faster rising refuse.

He thought it humorous to see such wealth sprawling out in front of him in the form of defense weaponry, space shuttles, high-flying drones, and countless soldiers. Yet none of it was for the people below, only those above. A base this size was more than equipped to handle the scourge of the slums and keep people safe in their low-budget shanties, but Tane doubted the soldiers’ boots had ever touched the flood waters.

“This should be easy,” Kinyi said from beside him.

He snorted.

They sat at a table in a local coffee shop just across the skylanes from the base. The cafe was high enough to see the sweeping expanse of the defense deck, where all the ships and trucks spiraled around the shining centerpiece: the battleship.

“It looks bigger in person,” he commented. The massive ship took up most of the deck. With numerous lowered ramps and open hatches for supplies and weapons to be loaded, it looked like a huge metal spider with legs sprawled out beneath it and a hundred little baby soldiers scurrying around at its feet.

“Most things normally do.”

He cut his gaze back to Kinyi. “Does everything come back to sex with you?”

Her eyebrows spiked above those icy blue eyes. She’d pulled her hair over her shoulder to conceal the stark white bandages on her face. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid.” She gave him a pointed look. “So yes, it does.”

Tane smiled into his cup of coffee as he took a long, slow sip. They didn’t have java like this down in the lower city. It sparked bright and bitter across his tongue, and he felt the caffeine brighten his insides.

“What’s your plan?” he asked Kinyi. “Take out a soldier, steal his badge and uniform, and waltz right in?”

She glanced around, making sure none of the patrons had overheard his comment. But the cafe was crowded with other looky-loos like themselves, and the chatter was loud. He could barely hear himself think, much less anyone else’s conversation. “Security will be too tight for that amateur shit. We need something better.”

“We?”

“You have to help me get in there.”

“And how will I get back out?”

“Look.” She leaned across the varnished table that smelled like actual disinfectant and citrus. It smelled clean. “You’re not going with me. I can accept that. But you can be a gentleman and help me get onto that base since you’re the reason I’m in this situation.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t come down here on a fool’s errand, you wouldn’t be stuck here.”

She spread her fingers wide across the table. The smile inching across her face was slow and dangerous. Maybe it was the caffeine, but hell, the expression turned him on, even though he knew she was vividly imagining murdering him.

“Call me a fool one more time,” she whispered, still smiling, “and I will slowly peel back your skin and expose your ribs so I can pry them open one at a time and turn you inside out while your heart still beats in the cold, unforgiving air. You’ll take your last breath as the Skax pick at your innards.”

He inclined his head. “Good use of imagery, but we don’t have Skax in these parts. We have buzzards. But to find them, you need to head out toward Chicago.”

“Fuck. You.”

He drank the last of his coffee. He wanted to reach for Kinyi’s and finish hers, but he knew better. He liked his hand. It was a good hand and he wanted to keep it. “Lucky for you, I’m in the mood for some G.I. Joe stealth action. So, give me the plan, Hawkeye.”

She stared at him for a long beat before sitting back on her side of the booth. “I don’t know what the hell you just said, but I don’t care. Here’s what we’re going to do.” She held up a finger as if he’d been about to interrupt her. He hadn’t. She was beautiful like this, with a bright flush across her cheeks and her eyes shimmering with adrenaline. If he listened close enough, he could hear the hum of excitement in her body. She lived for this.

“But if you even say my plan is crazy one time, I will drive you out to Chicago just for the buzzards. Got it?”

* * *

“This plan is crazy,” he hissed. “You’re crazy.”

“Buzzards,” Kinyi whisper-hissed back.

“I won’t have to worry about where you’ll kill me, because these assholes will beat you to the punch.”

“Oh, I’ll punch you.”

Tane rolled his eyes skyward, which was hard to do in a large wooden box halfway packed with space food. “That’s not what I meant.”

The convoy truck they were riding in hit a large bump, and their box banged into the other boxes packed around them hard enough to jar him into Kinyi. He bit his tongue and swore.

“You’re sitting on my hand.”

“Then count your blessings,” he hissed. He batted away a few packets of sealed nutrients and tried to find a more comfortable position.

Slivers of light worked their way through the slats of the box, which was barely big enough for his big body and Kinyi’s long-limbed frame. He hadn’t realized just how long her legs were until they were folded around his waist and he had to origami his big ass around her.

It had only taken a few calls to his contacts to find someone who knew someone in the military. From there, it had been easy to track down what was coming in on all those trucks. Apparently, it took a lot of space packets to feed an invading army charging off into the galaxy to save their hostage commander from the evil aliens.

Within a few hours, Tane had gotten them outside the food packing facility. The boxes were lightly guarded since all the soldiers in the metropolis were currently mobilizing toward the base, and it had been child’s play to open a box, remove and hide enough packets to make room and conceal their weight, and seal the lid back on from the inside. They’d been loaded onto a truck shortly after.

And he was miserable.

How the fuck was he going to get out of this? He should have sealed Kinyi inside, patted the box farewell, whispered good luck to her through the slats, and gotten the ever-loving fuck out of there. Now, he would have to sneak off the battleship, which would be far harder than the food packing facility.

But the thought of leaving her alone had nearly crippled him, and he’d climbed in beside her before she’d gotten into position.

Now all he could smell was her scent and his gut ached deep, deep inside him and his brain was filled with thoughts of her, alone, on a battleship, with all these idiot humans who couldn’t even drive around a pothole to save their lives.

Fuck.

They hit another bump, and he smashed his forehead against the rough-hewn wood.

He swore again.

“Cheer up.” Kinyi breathed easily in the box, with a knee folded up beside her ear and his weight heavy between her legs. “This is awesome.”

But even her obvious glee couldn’t keep the growl from his voice as he said, “I hate small spaces.”

“Maybe you should have told me you were claustrophobic before I nail-gunned us into a small box.”

He would have sighed heavily if he could expand his lungs that far. Being locked in a tight space with a Draqon female like Kinyi straddled the very, very fine line between pleasure and pain. A divine sort of torture and pure hell at the same time.

“Excuse me,” she said, her voice rising dangerously, “are you getting hard right now?”

“Shut up,” he growled, pinching his eyes closed. “Just shut up.”

The drive to the base was graciously short, and apparently sensing the fine line she straddled as well, Kinyi wisely kept her mouth shut the rest of the way. The truck braked beneath them, smashing the boxes together some more, and the engine turned off. A short wait later, the truck’s back door opened, and they heard the beeping of a large machine approaching to unload the boxes.

When it was time for their box, he and Kinyi braced themselves against the walls. Tane gritted his teeth as the box was picked up and whisked through the air. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck. Kinyi’s breathing whooshed silently against the side of his face, her excitement fueling his sense of dread.

What the hell had he done? How would he get out of this now?

The machine beeped and bumped all across the smooth tarmac of the deck toward the battleship. Tane mentally tracked their progress based on their reconnaissance from the coffee shop. It wasn’t a long ride, but it felt like it was taking ages, as if at any moment the machine would stop and a self-important soldier would stride over, demanding to investigate this box’s contents.

That would have been just Tane’s luck.

But they made it. The machine set their box down neatly and drove away, its beeping growing fainter as it moved farther away.

He met Kinyi’s eyes, but she held a finger to her mouth. He took a deep breath and instantly smelled the scent of sweat and human flesh, like slightly overcooked meat. He pointed to his nose. Kinyi nodded. She smelled the nearby soldiers as well.

They heard them a moment later, walking back and forth, carrying heavy loads from the sound of their loud boot steps. From the news this morning, Tane knew the battleship was preparing to leave tonight, so last-minute preparations were in full swing, even though they’d snuck into the box right at dusk.

How much time did he have to get out of here and sneak off the ship before it took off? His stomach tightened, and his body swelled in the tight space. His heart galloped at full speed and battered his sternum.

Kinyi’s hand pressed against his chest, her fingers sinking hard into his skin. A second later, warmth spread out from her palm and soaked into him, soothing him like a balm on burnt skin. He released the breath locked in his throat. Almost instantly, his panic dissolved, whisked away in his bloodstream for later.

He stared down at her, and she merely blinked cool blue eyes back at him. She dropped her hand. All too aware, he sensed every place their bodies touched. Her legs around his waist. Her warm core pressed against his crotch. Her hair against his forearm. Her ribs near his hand, her breast just inches from his touch. If he lowered his chest—

“Tane!” Kinyi growled, more a breath of warning than an actual word.

He shifted his hardening cock away from her and gave her a dark look.

She shrugged, raising her brows as if to say it wasn’t her problem he was a horny bastard who couldn’t control his body’s reactions. In his defense, they had been locked in this box for a long time, and like Kinyi, he hadn’t gotten laid in a while either.

He really needed to work on that.

If he ever got out of here.

He inhaled again, searching through the scents of cheap pine, Kinyi, and his fear of anything human. But the ship’s innards reeked of human, and he couldn’t tell whether someone was close enough to see him opening the box.

He would have to risk it.

He reached for the first nail. Maybe their box was in the back of the group and he could sneak off once he knew Kinyi was safe. Their original plan had been to wait until all the boxes were loaded, but he couldn’t wait in here another second.

His fingers closed around the nail’s metal head.

Kinyi grabbed his wrist and shook her head violently, her finger pressed to her lips.

He shook her off and pulled carefully. The nail slid free without a sound. He gave her a long told-you-so look. She gritted her teeth, nostrils flaring. He pulled four more nails free and moved on to the last one.

He pulled a little too quickly. The wood splintered with a deafening crack.

Kinyi hissed, her body stiffening. She shushed him rather loudly.

He froze with the nail half out of the box’s lid.

He strained to hear the approach of soldiers’ feet or the warning shout that there were intruders. What would he do if he got Kinyi caught? Arrested? He couldn’t exactly pay off the military police like he could the local Cyn City cops.

But there were no sounds of approach, nothing out of the normal. His shoulders relaxed, and he pulled the nail free. Ignoring Kinyi’s glare, he lifted the lid and looked out.

Piles of boxes surrounded them like mini skyscrapers. From the ductwork overhead and the exposed structure beams wrapped around the hull of the ship, he assumed they were in a lower cargo bay, which meant they were also along an exterior wall. He shifted and looked behind him, seeing only more crates. They were in a storage bay in the belly of the ship, which was almost the best he could have asked for. But from the smell of fresh air, he knew a ramp was still open somewhere close. An open door meant soldiers moving around. He still had to be careful, but he could get out of here before he was sealed inside.

He pushed the lid back and scanned every inch around him as he unfolded his stiff body. After setting the lid aside, he climbed out and stretched his back.

Behind him, Kinyi straightened, her eyes darting around. He sensed her heart fluttering like a hummingbird. Adrenaline coated her skin in a fine mist. She punched his arm hard enough to make him clench his teeth.

He growled at her.

She flipped him off.

He grabbed her hand and bent her finger, barely straining the joint. He bared his teeth at her.

She swung at his head with her other hand, but he grabbed her hand and jerked her in for a kiss. He slammed her against his cock as he devoured her, pouring all his pent-up frustration into her.

He raked his hands up her sides and stopped just short of her breasts.

She rolled her hips against him. Her hands fisted around his shirt to hold him against her.

A boot crunched over metal behind him. He swung away from Kinyi, spinning her behind his bulk, and whirled around in time to see a soldier round a stack of boxes.

The human froze. He was young, his uniform too baggy on him, but the gun he held across his chest gave him a maturity he hadn’t earned. His eyes stretched wide. His reaction time was too slow, his finger stretching toward the trigger a beat too late.

In that fraction of youthful hesitation from the guard, Tane thought many things.

But he felt so much more.

His Draqon seethed right beneath his skin, ready. It roared to life at the sight of the gun, at the soldier’s trembling finger reaching in slow motion for the trigger. Every instinct he’d been born with on a planet far away screamed to protect Kinyi at any cost. To shift. To rip this soldier to pieces. To shred anyone who would ever think of harming his female.

It was all right there. With every fiber of his being, which was, and had always been, pure Draqon male, he wanted to shift.

But he couldn’t.

Shifting meant killing. Burning. Death. He’d kill Kinyi just as easily as he’d kill the guard.

And his madness whispered in the darkness too. It hummed in the back of his mind that their deaths would be worth it.

Worth it to feel his wings on his back. To feel the air again. To feel the fire again.

Fuck, he missed the fire.

The soldier’s gun swung up, his face lowered to the stock. His mouth opened to shout for backup.

And Tane couldn’t move. If he moved, he might shift. And if he shifted, he’d kill everyone, and he wouldn’t even regret it. Not until he shifted back and had to live with the destruction he’d wreaked.

Kinyi swung around him and launched herself at the soldier, not waiting a second longer for Tane to react. She collided with the soldier and tore his gun from him. It hit the metal floor with a clatter. Her hand went to the soldier’s mouth, her fingers closing over his nose. He thrashed against her, and her muscles strained from the effort, but the struggle was mostly silent.

She waited until the young boy passed out before lowering him to the floor. She cast a quick glance around before turning to Tane, her eyes wide in question.

He’d almost gotten them killed.

He shook as he stepped forward. He knew Kinyi saw his hands tremble just like the soldier’s had. He picked up the young man and stuffed his lanky, unconscious body into the box half filled with space food. He put the lid back on.

Kinyi picked up the gun and slung the strap over her shoulder. She still watched him, her eyes on his back like two suns.

He turned around and met her gaze.

“It’s the madness, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her. “When you shift, what does it do? Burn everyone? Or turn you into a killer with no control?”

“I catch fire. I can’t control it.”

“How does it not burn you? A Draqon’s fire is the only thing that can burn him.”

Tane shrugged as if it were that casual, that easy. As if it were nothing. “I burned to death and lived through it. That’s the madness, Kinyi. That’s the curse.”

“But what happened during the battle if you simply caught fire?”

It would be so easy to sink into the memories of that day and float away on them. He held them off. “My fire spread. It spread like it had a life of its own. It used the air as fuel and it just kept growing.”

“It spread?” She made a small sound of understanding as she put it together. She lowered her voice even more. He hadn’t heard her exactly, but he knew the words. “It spread to the other Draqons.”

He nodded. “I didn’t win us the battle that day.”

He met her blue eyes. The color had always reminded him of the ice around the hive. She was home. She was everything he’d never see again.

“What happened, Tane?”

“I killed them all.”