“It’s enough,” Suki says, her fingers flying across her console. “That push got us to 30%. If we can keep stalling—get creative—maybe buy another ten minutes—”
But I’m not listening anymore.
Because Polly is looking at me.
She’s across the room, still at her console, but her eyes are fixed on my face. Wide. Dark. Burning with something that hits me harder than the orbital bombardment ever could.
Pride. Hunger. Heat.
That,she sends down the bond, the thought so loud and clear it makes me stumble,was the hottest thing I have ever seen.
I feel blood rush to my face. To other places. The micro-scales beneath my skin ripple with sudden, inappropriate awareness.I was merely... negotiating.
You were lying with the face of an angel and the voice of a god.Her mental voice is breathless, awed, and underneath it all, I feel the pulse of her desire like a drumbeat.You just made a Dreadnought commander piss himself with nothing but words. Remind me to never play poker with you.
It was a calculated risk.
It was hot as hell.She pushes away from her console and crosses the room toward me, weaving between Zaterran warriors and tactical displays like they don’t exist. Her eyes never leave mine.You realized you couldn’t outshoot them. So you outthought them. You used your brain instead of a weapon, and it worked.
She stops in front of me. The mark on her neck pulses gold, matching my heartbeat. Through the bond, I feel her desire like a physical touch—hot, fierce, overwhelming.
“You did good,” she says softly, for my ears alone. And then she grabs the lapels of my ruined jacket and yanks me down to her level.
“Polly—” I manage, glancing at the room full of soldiers. “We’re in the middle of—”
“I don’t care.” Her voice is rough. Her eyes are dark. “You just saved us. You just bought us time with nothing but that silver tongue of yours. And I am going to kiss you for it, and anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me later.”
She kisses me.
It’s not gentle. Not soft. It’s quick and hard and fierce, her teeth catching my lower lip, her hands fisted in my jacket like she’s trying to drag me closer even though we’re already pressed together. The bond flares hot and bright, her satisfaction and desire and pride crashing into me like a wave.
I kiss her back. I can’t help it. My hands find her waist, pulling her closer, and for a moment—just one moment—the War Room disappears. There is only her. Only us. Only this.
You’re magnificent,I send through the bond.
You’re not so bad yourself, Lord Chaos.
We break apart, breathing hard. Her lips are swollen. Her eyes are glittering. She looks like she wants to drag me into the nearest supply closet and show me exactly how impressed she is.
Later,I promise silently.When we survive this.
Holding you to that,she sends back.
“Touching moment,” Henrok rumbles from behind us.
I turn, expecting censure or perhaps amusement. But Henrok isn’t looking at us anymore. He’s moved across the room to where Suki stands at her console, checking the charge on a heavy plasma repeater that looks like it could punch holes in starship hulls.
He stops beside her, and the air between them shifts. Changes. It’s subtle—the way his massive frame seems to lean toward her, the way her shoulders relax even though a Dreadnought is preparing to resume fire outside. The crystalline veins in his arms pulse brighter, and I see the answering glow in the thin tracery of crystalline patterns barely visible at her wrists—the bonding marks of a Zaterran mate.
“Little courier,” he says, his voice dropping to a frequency that’s almost below human hearing. A rumble that vibrates through the obsidian floor. “You should be in the core sanctuary with the civilians.”
Suki doesn’t even look up from her weapon check. “And miss the fun? Not a chance, big guy.”
“This is not a request.” His hand comes up, massive and clawed, and cups the side of her face with impossible gentleness. His thumb brushes her cheekbone, and I see her lean into thetouch like a plant turning toward the sun. “When the boarding pods breach, it will be... unpleasant.”
“I’ve seen you fight before.” She finally looks up at him, her eyes soft in a way I’ve never seen directed at anyone else. “Remember the Corsairian raid? I was right there beside you.”
“You were in the command center. Behind three meters of reinforced obsidian.”
