“Hang on.”

That was the only warning I got before Mack started running. Night shift had started while we were in the viewing chamber, but my eyes were still filled with stars, my mind reeling at Mack’s touch.

What had just happened?

I wasn’t a virgin, but I’d never lost control like that. Never wanted to.

But my skin still smoldered where he’d held me, stroked me.

An aftershock rippled through my core, forcing a low moan of need from my lips.

Mack’s arms cradled me tighter as he picked up speed. I buried my face into his chest, drinking in the smell of him.

Unable to stop myself, I tasted the sliver of skin I’d exposed.

“You’re going to kill me,” he rumbled, moving even faster through the corridors. “Be still, or I’m going to find the closest alleyway, passersby be damned.”

I was half tempted to test him.

I half wanted him to do it.

But I lay quiet in his arms, fighting the urge to squirm just the tiniest bit.

* * *

As we approached the silent residential hive, I wiggled.

“Zayda,” he warned.

“Let me down, we don’t know who’s still up.”

“I don’t care.” But, grumbling, he lowered me to the street outside the door. I gave myself a quick check-over to make sure everything was covered, then moved to re-fasten his shirt.

“Careful.” Mack held my wrists, golden eyes narrowed.

“Behave for five minutes.” I slipped my hands free, continued to fasten his shirt, ignoring my own heated pulse. “Once our door is closed, I’ll make it worth your while.”

It was a good thing we took those moments outside, for, as I reached for the hive door, it slid open.

Mack stepped in front of me, but it was only Granny Z.

The twinkle in her eyes betrayed the bland expression. “Glad you’re home safe, children. Go on up to bed now, I’ll lock up behind you.”

We stumbled over our thanks in embarrassment, both anxious to get upstairs.

“Have fun, children,” she laughed behind us and I felt my cheeks flame.

As the door slid closed behind me, I leaned against it, hands covering my face. “Well, that wasn't awkward at all.”

Mack stood over me, his broad hands running up and down my arms. “I get the feeling she's seen and heard it all before.”

His hands slid down my arms, continued to my back and then, in one swift motion, scooped me up so that our eyes were level.

The heat in his words rekindled the spark within me, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, running my fingers through his short-cropped hair. “Where were we?”

“Right here is good.” I kissed him, biting at his lower lip, desperate to taste more of him.

I felt his hand at the back of my neck, fighting with the clasp of my dress. “I like the way this looks on you but I want it off you, now.”

“Wait,” I squealed and reached behind my back to undo the fastening. “Right now, it's the only clothes I have.”

But he was silent, staring at me as the fabric crumpled down around my waist, baring me to his gaze.

I squirmed away from his intensity. “Let me get the lights.”

“No.” His voice was raw, rough. “I want to see all of you.”

He lowered me to the bed and, as I pulled the dress over my head, he began to work down my body, kisses and light nips mixed with strong, languid strokes until I writhed at his touch, barely able to tell one from the other.

His thumbs hooked at the sides of my panties and in moments I lay bare, exposed before him.

“Come here,” I whispered. One by one, I undid the fastenings of his shirt until his wide-muscled chest lay exposed to my touch.

I ran my fingertips down his sides, following the lines of the muscles of his abdomen as they disappeared into the waist of his pants.

With a sharp intake of breath, he shed the shirt, tossing it to the floor instead of his usual neat folds, then stretched out beside me.

“Arms over your head.”

“Mack, what...” I trailed off in the face of his burning gaze.

“I've behaved. You promised to make it worth my while.”

One hand clasped my wrists, holding them to the bed, while the other traveled lazily up the inside of my thigh.

I squirmed away from the featherlight touch, but he pinned my leg with his own, keeping me open and exposed to him.

At the first brush of his hand against my clit, I came off the bed. He covered my mouth with his own, swallowing my shout, even as he matched the thrusting of his tongue to the rhythm of his fingers below.

The sensations washed over me until I felt stretched like a balloon, every nerve exposed, ready to shatter.

With a final thrust, he ground the heel of his hand into my mound, and I exploded, the stars from the viewport all I could see.

When my breathing finally evened, I was curled, nestled in Mack’s arms, the soft glow slowly fading.

“I thought I was supposed to make it worth your while,” I murmured.

His soft laugh rumbled in his chest. “That was very much worth my while.”

I wiggled against him. “That doesn't seem fair to me at all.”

“I got what I wanted, I promise.”

I reached down and stroked the hard length of him, felt him jump in my hand. “I don't think that's quite the case.”

He groaned as I slipped out of his arms to lay beside him, running my fingers down to the base, back to try to circle the head with firm strokes.

“Tell me you already have everything you want from tonight,” I whispered.

I licked my lips, watched the iron control in his arms twitch, and knew he was mine as surely as he’d taken me.

Dropping my head to his stomach, I kissed my way down, ever closer as I stroked him.

There was no warning.

Just a quick flip of motion, and he lay on top of me, his breath panting and eyes wild.

“Zayda, you don't know what you’re doing.”

I locked my legs around his, guiding him towards me. “I know you,” I breathed and lifted my head to kiss him.

Still he refused to move.

Slowly, I ran my tongue across his lower lip, inviting, daring him. “One night.”

With a shuddering lunge, he sank deep inside me. Every nerve I thought had been wrung out by his previous attentions flared as I panted, adjusting to him.

The slow rhythm built to a crescendo, drowning, overwhelming me, until I clutched at him as my only solid point in the world.

Every thrust battered the shards of my control, until I broke apart once more. Frantic to keep myself from screaming, I bit into his shoulder.

At the touch of my teeth to his skin, he froze, and then shattered, gripping me to him until, exhausted, we tumbled to the side in a tangle of limbs.

He kissed my forehead as I curled under his shoulder. “I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight, darlin'.”

“I can't imagine either of us will.”

I waited until I was certain he was asleep, fairly certain the nightmares wouldn't come, then gathered my clothing and slipped out of the room.

I paused at the door, dimming the lights. I hated this, but there wasn't a choice. I slipped out the front door of the hive, hoping I'd be able to get back before he woke.

Swiftly, I retraced our steps from before, back to an old public comm unit we had passed on the way to the viewport chamber.

I didn't have any credits on me. I wouldn't need them.

The comm number was one I’d never be able to forget, and I tapped my fingers, waiting impatiently for the connection to finally be made.

I was about to give up, try again at the next chance, when finally the screen cleared and the lined face of Stanton appeared from the static.

“Zayda?” he asked. “Where the hell did you go, kiddo? When you went dark, I damn near went out there myself.”

Limp with relief, I checked in with my superior.

I passed lightly over Mack’s details. Just a guy who'd been useful to help bust me out.

That's all the Agency needed to know.

“Do you need to come in? I can have a pickup there in no time at all.”

I smiled. That was Stanton, tough as nails, but soft for his trainees when it came down to it.

I never wanted to disappoint him.

“No. I'm safe enough. I'll ride it out, wait for the package to return and then get out.”

“Where did you hide that thing anyway?” He yawned. “Sorry, kid, this old man keeps earlier hours than you do.”

“It’s somewhere safe enough.” I hated talking over open comms. “Just not in reach for a few more days.”

“Well, take care of yourself. Don’t go dark again, kid.”

After he winked out, I touched the screen where his face had been.

As I hurried back to the hive, my thoughts were still on our brief conversation. Stanton had been as much a father to me as a trainer, a handler. The one person in the Empire I could trust implicitly.

What about Mack? a quiet voice from the back of my head asked.

I shoved the thought away. I was sure I could trust him. Mostly sure. But my first loyalty had to be to Stanton, the Agency, the mission. That was all I knew, all I had been trained for.

I repeated the line to myself over and over in the hope the refrain would quiet the small, insistent voice.

But when I turned the final corner to get back to the hive I stopped, frozen in my tracks.

Mack stepped out of the shadows, waiting for me.

“It’s not safe out here. Where did you go?”

I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. I took a step back and shock crossed his face.

“Do you think I would hurt you?”

“No.”

But the damage had already been done.

“That's it. I don't know what to do. When I touch you-” he broke off. “It doesn't matter.”

“Mack,” I reached for him, but he pulled away. A sharp pain stabbed my chest, and my arm fell, lost.

“Just stay here until day shift.” He turned his face away from me. “The door to the hive will unlock, you can go in and be safe.”

He was right. I had chosen the instant I’d left our bed. Even if I didn't feel like I had any other options.

“What will you do now? I whispered into the darkness.

“Same plan as before. Find a ship, get the hell away from here.”

Away from here, and away from me.

There was nothing left to say. We waited as the dark hours stretched before us.

The lights had begun to brighten for day shift when a muffled scream broke the stillness and we both jolted to our feet.

“Stay here,” he snapped and tore towards the sound.

“Like hell, I will,” I muttered and chased after him.

I lost sight of him in the twists and turns of the district, but another scream guided me.

A pale woman struggled with two black-uniformed men as they dragged her into an alleyway.

Mack launched himself at one of the attackers, knocking him away from the woman. The two grappling figures rolled away down the half-dark street, the sounds of their blows echoing.

The other dark figure stood in the shadows, unmoving.

I looked around for anything to use as a weapon and found a long, thin pole.

Without much confidence in its strength, I swung it wildly at the head of the man still holding the woman and heard a sickening crack.

Metal snapped in my hands, and he turned towards me, releasing her to slump against the cold deck.

“Get away from her, you bastard,” I said and swung again.

He caught the pole easily, wrenched it out of my hand, and threw it away with a clatter. As the lights of the level turned up another notch, he stepped out of the shadow.

He. It.

The ghost.

The story had been laughable up on the satellite, but backing away from its looming shape, I couldn’t think of a better term.

Flat black uniform that covered the entire figure, but it was no uniform I’d ever seen, nothing I’d heard of in training. The rumors were right, there was no face. Instead, it wore an opaque helmet, the domed shape oddly disproportionate to cover a human head.

Icicles crept up my spine, and I scrambled back to get away from it.

“Get down!”

At Mack’s shout I fell to my back and rolled away without hesitation.

The second figure flew through the air, smacking into the wall next to where the first helmeted shape stood, hard enough that lights flickered on in the residential hive above.

“Are you hurt?” Mack pulled me from the ground and, for a moment, I felt the warmth of his arms before he released me.

I shook my head, and together we turned to watch the ghost rise as if nothing had happened to it.

“Stay behind me.”

Stepping beside him, I brushed his arm. “Not happening.”

But as the level clicked to the full brightness of day shift, like smoke, the ghosts disappeared into the night.

Mack started to follow them, but I called him back.

“Please,” I forced myself to meet his eyes. “Help me get her back to Granny’s, and then do whatever you want.”