Suddenly there was the loud roar of engines. Dathan’s salvage ship, theInfinitas, hovered above them. In the cockpit at the front, she spotted Zayn at the controls.
A line fell down in front of them. Dathan clipped the end onto a hook on his belt. “You’ll have to wrap yourself around me.”
She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck.
“And the legs. Don’t want to lose you on the way up.”
He helped boost her up and she wrapped her legs around his lean waist.
She forgot all about being chased. As the line retracted and they whizzed upward, she stared into his blue-green eyes.
That handsome, battered face was so compelling. It was filled with so much life. Adrenaline and the flush of success zinged through her veins. It felt good.
He was hot and hard and pressed against her in the most intimate way. If she moved her hips, she’d feel the hard ridge of him settle against the space between her legs.
She was attracted to him. To a man she wasn’t sure she even liked. But he was just so alive; he leaped into adventure, into life, in a way she never had.
It had to be the adrenaline making her feel like this. Nothing else.
They jerked to a stop. Niklas hauled them aboard the ship. “You two okay?”
She nodded, releasing Dathan and standing on shaky legs.
“There a reason Eos was wrapped around you like a pleasure worker? You could have used the secondary harness I sent down.”
Her gaze dropped to the second harness rigged to the bottom of the line. She smacked Dathan in the stomach. “Idiot.”
She expected that roguish smile. Instead, his face was serious. “You’re bleeding.” He brushed her forehead.
She felt a slight sting. “That guy pushed me and I bumped my head. What about you? You took some blows.”
Niklas raised a brow. “Darc beat you up again, Dath?”
Eos’ head shot up. “That was Darc?”
Nik nodded. “Nera Darc. Treasure hunter and pain in the ass.”
“And she has a thing for Nik’s ass, although I seem to always get caught in the cross fire.” Dathan frowned. “I know you two keep trying to one-up each other, but this is getting ridiculous. Did you kill her dog or something?”
Niklas’ jaw clenched. “No.”
Dathan shook his head. “I’m worried about this thing you two have going on. It’s going to get one of you killed and believe it or not, I’d prefer it wasn’t you.”
“Just drop it, Dath.”
“Darc wasn’t after Niklas,” Eos said.
Both men’s gazes locked on her.
“She wanted Star’s End.”
Now they both cursed.
“It’s not a surprise,” Niklas said. “We knew Braxx and Darc likely had the mining scans.”
Dathan’s mouth twisted. “And she suspects Eos has more intel.”
“We’ll have to stay one step ahead of her.”
