“You stole my ship?—”
“Borrowed,” I muttered.
“—so what was the next part of your plan?”
Plan?He thought I had a plan?I managed to keep my hysterical laughter on the inside, but it was a close thing.
“Get as far from Elegium Station as I can.”Obviously, that wasn’t my whole plan.Once I was somewhere safe, I’d explore the mysterious data drive.Was it the map that the men had demanded?
“That’s it?”Dax frowned.“If that’s all you need, we could have avoided this whole mess if you’d just booked a trip on another ship.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head.“Yep, totally easy to do when running for your life.”He wasn’t wrong, though.At this point, any ship would have been a better option thanFortuna.
“Easier than stealing a ship?”He studied me and I tried not to squirm.“How did you steal my ship, anyway?”
I shrugged.“The door was open.”If he didn’t know his ship’s vulnerabilities, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.
His eyes narrowed.
Yeah, he knew I was lying.The question was, what was he going to do about it?
“Since you just want off station, how about I drop you off at the next stop?”
Despite the sarcasm, his gruff voice was soothing.Warmth radiated from him and I leaned closer, my eyes fluttering shut.
“You okay?”
My eyes snapped open.“I told you, I’m fine,” I said grumpily.
He looked toward the ceiling.I think he mumbled something about not deserving this.His stubble accentuated his frown.I wanted to run my fingers over those firm, angry lips.
Wow.I was way more tired than I realized.My body swayed forward and it was lights out.
9
Dax
When Lacyswayed and pitched forward, I was already moving toward her.I caught her by her upper arms and her weight sagged against me.Her head flopped forward, resting on my chest.A tiny snore broke the silence.
Another, slightly less delicate snore followed.I laughed.I was still pissed at how royally she’d fucked up my plans—with not even a hint of regret—but there was something compelling about her.In any other circumstance, I might have tried to buy her a beer.Now I mostly just wanted to find a planet to drop her ship-stealing ass on.
That was a problem for later.Now I had to deal with my stowaway.
“You okay, Lacy?”When her only response was another snore, I slid one arm under her knees and swept her up into my arms, taking care not to jostle her shoulder.The nanos and the pain meds should be working their magic, but why risk it.
Cradled against my chest, she shifted toward me, burrowing closer.Dark lashes fanned out over pale skin.Asleep she’d lost the pinched, in-pain look, though the dark circles under her eyes still pointed to a rough day.Beneath the smudges of dirt on her face, she was pretty.Not stop-your-heart beautiful, but pretty.
What made her attractive was the way she’d looked me in the eye and stood up to me.I’d met marines who couldn’t manage that.
And though I’d never admit it out loud, I was impressed that she’d somehow managed to steal my ship.Not enough to ignore that she’d cost me a valuable cargo deal—I hated that—but the way she’d stolen our ship was ballsy.
When she was awake, I’d demand she tell me how she did it.Otherwise, reviewing the ship’s entire security system was going to be a hell of a lot of extra work that I didn’t have time for.Not to mention the time it would take to review the ship’s manuals beforehand.
For now, what to do with sleeping beauty here?Was she a mystery to be solved or a problem to be gotten rid of?
I hadn’t decided yet.Until I did, I needed a safe place to stash her, somewhere she wouldn’t cause any more trouble.
Med bay was one option.The patient beds were equipped with restraints, but that thought brought a sour taste to my mouth.
