"What the hell did you do to this ship?"

At the strident, accusing words, Tolan Lark glared at the little mech.  "I attacked a satellite to liberate people from all the known galaxies from Warrung and his death games. I was not, as your tone implies joy riding through the Gordian Moons for the fun of facing death."

She narrowed her eyes at him and seemed to study him to verify his veracity.  "Uh-huh,” she finally said doubtfully, pulling out a blown transit section and showing it to him while he gnashed his teeth.  "Have a little pride of ownership."

Irritating little...

Jax had to turn hurriedly back to the gutted drive before she burst out laughing at the cat's face.  Honestly, the man was too easy, with his prissy clean ship and his temper.  Most insults he just shrugged off, but even touch on his ship or his armory and the man went tight as an overstrung lightbow.

"This is going to take me a while," Jax said as soon as she could be sure her voice would not give her away.  "Try to do something useful, and far away, while I work."

She practically heard the snap of his jaws.  Heh, this is going to be more fun than I thought.

"Sure you can handle it?"  He spaced out the insult tauntingly.

Her head snapped around, all humor gone, as she glared at the Shakien's irritating and broad muscled back in skintight nanite armor.  She did not have a chance to blast him for his doubts.  He was already leaving with that smooth cat stride of his, but she yelled loudly after him anyway.  "As if there is anyone, anywhere better at mech than me!"

When he laughed at her, he made no attempt to disguise it. 

Big irritating...

She turned back to the task at hand, without even finishing the thought.  At least she could spend some time with just her and the beautiful machine at her fingertips now that he had absented himself.  There was nothing Jax loved more than immersing herself in a machine like this one.  All top of the line, with the latest tech.  Not what she was used to dealing with on Rindel.  She had regretted that she had needed to move so fast the last time The Fire came under her hands.  This time she was taking the time to enjoy it, once the light breaking tech was up and running and they weren't in imminent danger of being ambushed by Gorson raiders.

***

Tolan Lark might have been laughing when he left the pretty mech behind but by the time he made it to the bridge he had a hard time finding anything funny.  He knew he could not leave her on Rindel so exposed, but bringing her with him could potentially be even worse.  She might have made her own enemy in Warrung, but he had more than that and sitting on Rindel waiting for them to show up was not his idea of a good plan.  But an even worse one was taking off without at least partial repairs done.  So they would sit on Rindel for as long as it took Jax to fix the light breaking tech and patch the holes in his ship. 

As fast as she had worked last time, he had been a little disappointed to learn that it was not her usual way of doing things.  She could not afford to be weakened when she had no idea what they would be facing next.  Not to mention his ship was way more damaged than it had been before.  Since it took a huge toll on her physically to fix things with her mech magic, it was going to be the old-fashioned way this time, unless it was an extreme emergency, which he was hoping it would not be, since that would mean either Warrung had come back or the Gorson raiders had located The Fire.

As much as he wanted to find Warrung, he preferred to do it on his terms, and this situation was not ideal for survival against such odds.  But if the little tech thought he was going to sit idly by while she tinkered with his ship, she was in for a big surprise.  He was not without his own abilities and he could help, at least where the tech was concerned.  Bonus, if he was going to be stuck here he might as well have some fun irritating his mech. He would just have to keep an eye on the skies for surprises while he did it.

***

Three Rindel Solar Cycles into repairs.

"Must you breathe over my shoulder in that irritating way?" Jax asked.  There was no reason she could see that he even needed to be on the bridge at all.  She snapped a slap across his reaching hand.  "Do not touch that," she practically growled.  "I have everything exactly where I want it and if you mess with it, I will kill you."

"Death seems extreme for touching a tool, don't you think?" Tolan Lark said dryly.  Reaching for another one in what looked to him a haphazard order at best.  "Especially when it's not even yours, but mine, that you are borrowing?"

"I am working with these tools," she growled, slapping at his hand again.  "That means that for the foreseeable future they are mine, and you will not touch."  She slapped at the next move he made with more than her hand.  He narrowed his eyes at her when he just managed not to get lasered by the hand-held she was presently using to repair some fried wiring.

"It makes more sense to keep all your laser grips in the same section,” he said helpfully.

"To you maybe, but I have other criteria besides extreme prissiness."  She ripped the next tool out of his big hand and placed it back where she had positioned it among the tools surrounding her.

"Are you actually suggesting there is some kind of order to this?" Tolan Lark asked with a doubtful look of revulsion at her organization.

"I am not suggesting anything, prissy kitty," she said, goaded beyond endurance.  "I am telling you to keep your paws off."

"I am not..." It was his turn to growl.  "Prissy."

"Uh-huh." Her taunting doubt made him want to do things to stop that mouth. When he realized he had gone beyond play and was contemplating biting her in interesting places he turned and left the room so fast he left Jax blinking after him.

Jax could not hide the disappointment on her face at his departure.  She had been goaded beyond belief by the Shakien mercenary but that did not mean she had not been having fun.  It had been too long since she had someone around to spar with, and he was better at it than most.  She growled her displeasure but got back to work. 

Typical. Still, it was probably for the best after all; she had her doubts about him and no matter how much he made her want to alternatively whack him with her stick and then throw herself bodily over him and find out just what he looked like beneath all that sexy armor, it would be best to remember they were confined to a ship together under extreme circumstances.  Thinking sexy thoughts about the likes of Tolan Lark was not how a person stayed safe.  But then when had she ever taken the safe road?

***

Fourteen Ryndel Solar cycles into repairs

Tolan Lark finished reorganizing the armory.  The irritating mech had used one of his blades and left it lying about, no doubt just to irk him, since there was absolutely nothing she could possibly need a blade for that another tool would not do better.  But he had found her distraction sitting abandoned on the table in his secure armory, which meant checking that she had not disturbed anything other than his knives.

Lucky for the little witch she didn’t nick the blade.  If she had, they would be having an entirely different conversation.  Once he finished in the armory he changed all the locking codes and doubled the security to the room.  He had no doubt that she could crack it if she had a mind to, but his system should warn him she was trying before she managed the feat. 

He knew she did it just to annoy and distract him and he had to admire that about her.  She knew exactly what to say and do to get under his skin.  And let's face it, he had quite the thick skin, unlike his pretty mech, who took exception to every damn thing.  Which was all kinds of fun, when he thought about it.  When she wasn't making him crazed.

She wasn't afraid of his Shakien nature.  He liked that; the feral part of him liked it even more.  Maybe too much--it would probably be a good thing to keep his distance from the challenging and delectable mech witch.  But where would be the fun in that?

***

21 Rindel Solar Cycles into repairs

Tolan Lark snarled at the female, wondering how bad it would be if he bit her.  After putting up with her presence in his space for three ship standard weeks he was more than ready to find out.  Her scent was driving him feral.

"I needed access to the tech panel in that section," she said, glaring back at him as if he had not grown a foot in his Shakien rage.

"The only thing in that section is communications.  Deleted and encrypted communications at that."  When she did nothing but shrug her slender shoulders, Tolan had to fight the need to lunge at her throat.  "You have no business there, or in my armory, or in my private quarters when I am busy elsewhere." He growled the words.  That had been the worst, finding her scent in his personal space.   A space that was protected behind locks, firewalls, and a fucking retinal scan.

"I can hardly go snooping when you are in your quarters, now can I?" she asked blithely, not even pretending upset at being caught where she did not belong.

He knew his eyes had shifted to lavender because his senses were hyped up to the max, which meant not only was he seeing and hearing everything to the smallest degree but he could smell the female's desire along with her compelling scent.  Was it necessary that she smell like wild and green growing things and sex beneath the engine grease and the sparks of electrical charge that seemed to cling to her skin and clothes?  And where the fuck was her fear?

She was standing there with her hands on her hips like she had no fear of his reaction at all.  He was Shakien, something she could not miss since he was having to exert every modicum of his control to contain his warrior form and was only succeeding marginally.  He really needed to bite her.

"Are you trying to rouse my beast?" he asked.  It came out more bestial growl than question since he had to force the words through clenched jaws.  Jaws that held a set of sharp white teeth that ached to taste her delicate flesh.  "Do you have a death wish or are you that big a fool?"

She narrowed her eyes at the insult.  "You wanted me on this ship, kitty cat.  You know what I am, and what I can do.  If you expect me to take your word that you aren't a danger to me without checking for myself that you aren't working for Warrung, or someone equally dangerous to me, then you are the fool, not me."

That she had a point did not make him any less angry at the situation.  Yes, he knew she was a mech whisperer, but he had never heard anyone who could do what she did.  So finding out just how far her abilities went was a bit of a shock.  If he had known what she was capable of he still would not have guessed she would be so damn eager to incite the wrath of a Shakien by violating his personal sanctuary.  Having her all over his ship was bad enough, but his den?  He gnashed his teeth.

Jax crossed her arms and waited for the next threat she would ignore, just like all the others.  They both knew he needed her way more than she needed him. They were on a ship.  If she was in the jungle she might be a bit worried about the flashing feral lavender glow in his eyes, or the way his body could not seem to decide between forms, but on a spaceship, no.  This was her playground, and if he thought he could intimidate her while she was surrounded by mech and tech, he was seriously deluded.  It might be his ship on a normal day, but if she was on it, it belonged to her, in ways he could not begin to imagine.  So he could take his threats and choke on them.  She would do exactly what she wanted to do, wherever she needed to do it.

"You do not," he began, his growly voice low and warning.  But she stopped him right there with a hand up and a scoffing reply.

"Please, no more threats."  She ignored his growl, and the way his eyes glowed brighter, and the way it made her tingle from her toes to the hard points of her breasts.  "We both know you need me to fix The Fire.  You aren't going to risk it, or your quest to track Warrung, because I opened a door you wanted to stay closed."

"Let me make this perfectly clear to you," he said, moving closer in a smooth glide. 

He came close enough that Jax could feel the heat that seemed to be pulsing off him, and she could smell the wild male scent of him.  She might not have the senses of a Shakien but Dainaree were not normal humans either.  They tended to rely on their senses more than most, and his wild scent tasted like fire and earth, and danger.

The heat and scent made her lose her thoughts for a second and she had to fight the urge to lick her lips to see if she could taste that scent on the air around them.  He glided closer, and she almost took a step back, but ground her teeth and held her position.  She could not afford to show any weakness. Not to the man, and not to the creature that watched her out of Shakien lavender eyes.  Unfortunately, he kept coming, pushing her into movement with his big, hard body so that she went back in jerks and stutters until she hit the metal wall of the ship at her back.  The force of his over-hot body pinned her there. 

If he thought she was helpless pressed against his ship he was in for a surprise.  But once he had her pressed between hot man and cold steel he stopped and spoke again. 

Jax made sure her senses were connected to the ship behind her in case she needed to defend herself but she didn’t make a move, figuring his threats would be more of the same threats he had been spouting since she met him.  My ship, blah, blah blah. Or else. Blah blah.

She was getting very good at ignoring both his threats and her body’s reaction to everything he did.  And she had to ignore it.  The idiot male ranted and teased but never made a move. So irritating.

"My Shakien nature is always in search of a mate with strength."

At his unexpected words she stilled utterly, her eyes flying to his.  What?

"You know I am Shakien but you have no idea what that really means or you would not test me the way you do."  It sounded like his usual threats but something about the way he was bent over her, caging her with his hardness while his eyes caressed over her face, had her doubting this was his usual threats, and his use of the word mate had been attention grabbing, to say the least. 

"You would not be fearless and challenging."  He ducked his head and smelled her neck, making Jax tingle just a bit at the growl that accompanied his actions.  "You would not act as if my ship is your ship, or invade my personal space.  For a Shakien those are the actions of a prospective mate, and little witch," he said coldly, his eyes coming back to hers hard, and hot at the same time, "you do not want me finding your scent near my bed again.  Or I might take you up on the invitation you are sending."

Jax raised her chin and tried to ignore the fact that these new threats were actually worrisome, and seriously hot. "It was not an invitation."

"That's where you are wrong," he muttered, his eyes going over her face and landing on her neck where he had scented her.  "Everything about you is a challenge and invitation in one."

She watched his eyes flash hotter and wondered what he was thinking while he stared at her neck with such hunger. 

"Are you," she started but had to clear her throat when her words broke a bit.  When she continued, they were stronger and full of incredulity.  Not, she made sure, the niggle of excitement she felt at his words. "Are you flirting with me?"

Tolan Lark shot eyes to her face and growled again, clearly irked by her reaction.  "No. I'm telling you that you are flirting with me."  He stepped back and swept molten lavender eyes over her.  "Keep it up and you may not like the consequences." Then he walked away and Jax was left blinking after him. 

She might like the consequences was her first thought.  The second was that mating was a little more serious than she was ready for.  So fine, these threats made an impression on her his others had not.  She would steer clear of his cabin in the future. 

She had learned enough to know he was not with Warrung, and that he was probably an Alliance spy.  Jax could not deny that she played with ideas of taking the big dangerous Shakien to her bed, often, but mating?  That was taking a little bed play too far, no matter how her body had begun to crave his.  Or how she missed his presence on the ship whenever he left to go handle business with the merchants.

That was probably just proximity.  They were forced together on a small ship in extreme circumstances.  She would have to be crazy to make something permanent out of that.  Especially when she still wanted to whack him with her stun stick at the end of nine out of ten of their conversations.

She was not ready to admit, even to herself, that a Shakien mercenary called to her in ways no one else ever had.