“No. I’m dead.” Allie dropped an arm over her eyes.
Shank chuckled.
“Is anyone about to kill us, catch us, or drive us into a star in order to escape detection?”
“Nope.” The bed tilted as Shank sat next to her. “We are safely into bat territory. You know...that just doesn’t sound right.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Allie lifted her arm enough to look at Shank. He was a bit ragged around the edges. “Are you okay?”
Shank smiled down at her. When he gave her that crooked smile of his, she would follow him to hell. “I’m not the one who had to pilot through that mess.”
“Don’t remind me. Ever. I don’t want to think about the last day and a half ever again. I can die happy if I can find a way to scrub all the stress out of my brain so it’s like it magically never happened.”
He stoked her arm. “We’re safe. You did it, and Command won’t risk coming into bat space even if they knew where we were, which they don’t.” Shank slipped his fingers under her shirt and traced a figure across her stomach. “I know how I can make you forget this.” He brought her hand up and turned it gently so he could place a kiss on the palm. “Unless you’re too tired.”
“I’m too tired to touch a nav control. I’m never too tired for you. After all, if I fall asleep on you, we won’t end up driving into the corona of the nearest sun.”
Shank pulled back. “If you fall asleep on me?” he demanded in an offended voice. Luckily, he continued to grin, so Allie figured she hadn’t made too big of a mess.
“I didn’t say I would. I saidifI did. AndifI did, it would be Command’s fault, not any lack of interest on my part or skill on yours.”
“Okay, that sounds like a challenge, and you know how I can’t resist a challenge,” Shank said. He leaned down and kissed the inside of her elbow.
“Really? I never would have guessed.” Allie caught the back of his head and pulled him in for a long kiss. Shank didn’t waste any time. He ran his hand across her stomach and then tugged on the bottom of her shirt in a tacit request for more.
Allie captured his wrist, holding it. He had so much power in his frame, yet he watched her, his eyes dark and dilated. Already she could see some of the playfulness vanishing, and a raw need taking its place. This was her Shank—hers to protect, even if outside their quarters he was the protector.
“You’re beautiful, my yumni,” Shank said in a worshipful voice.
Allie started to pull off her shirt, and Shank immediately moved to help. Of course, his assistance actually slowed her down. He kissed a line up the center of her stomach as she lifted the hem. He continued until he reached her bra. Only then did he lean back and pull her shirt all the way off.
“I know something that would be even better.” Allie opened his shirt. She had to tug each silver button free, and as she worked, she could feel his body heat. He reached around her, but while she expected warm hands skimming across her back, instead Shank unhooked her bra. The last button yielded, and Allie pushed Shank’s shirt down his arms so the fabric caught around his elbows. It would hamper his movements.
“What do you like better, touching or having your hands tied behind your back with your own shirt so you can’t touch, and I get to explore every inch of you?” Allie pulled her bra free and tossed it aside.
Shank ran a thumb over her nipple, and she could see the shirt pulling tight as he fought the improvised restraints, but he didn’t try and free himself.
“I like both for different reasons.” Shank leaned closer and licked her right nipple before blowing on it.
Allie sucked in a quick breath as she arched into the beautiful sensation. Shank trailed fingertips over her stomach with a featherlight touch that scrambled Allie’s brain. While Shank repeated his tender treatment on her left nipple, he slipped one hand into her waistband.
“Roll onto your stomach.”
Shank froze. There was something cautious in his gaze, but he quickly moved. “Hands behind you,” Allie said, although that part should have been obvious already. She tugged at the shirt, which pulled Shank’s elbows back, but he kept his hands up front for a half second before deliberately putting them behind his back where she could wind the fabric around his wrists and tie it. If he squirmed enough, he’d get free, but he was going to have to do a lot of wiggling and endanger the life of one of his favorite black shirts.
“Comfortable?”
“Not uncomfortable,” he said as he rolled over onto his back, which forced him to lie on his hands.
She hummed as she skimmed her fingers over his chest and down to where his cock made a hard bulge in his pants. “I don’t know. That looks uncomfortable.”
“Okay, maybe it is a little.”
“Then let me help with that.” Allie unzipped his pants and slipped her hand into the opening. She pressed her fingers against the hard shaft and watched as Shank bowed his spine and threw his head back into the pillow. She kept her hand inside his pants to tease him while she bent down to suck on one of his small, dark nipples.
Shank gave a strangled cry and then either fell into muttering in Lakota or was so incoherent that he stopped forming actual English words. Allie didn’t know which. She sat up, and Shank panted, his breath harsh against the silence of the room.
“Please,” he begged.
