T’arq
He strode into the hangar and headed straight to his stealth ship, still sitting where he had left it. A technician was running through the pre-flight checks, and handed T’arq a tablet as he approached. He began tapping the screens and passing around the ship, going under the belly and between its landing gear to access a maintenance hatch.
T’arq was barely conscious of his movement, borne of regular practice, and his mind wandered. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. It wasn’t as if this was an actual mission. It was just a test flight. Normally he would have found someone to swap with, traded a favor to avoid what would be a mind-numbing few hours. He was used to a lot of action, which was why he was a combat pilot and didn’t fly freighters. But the thought of someone else sitting in the cramped cockpit with Krystal? No. Not if he could help it.
I promised Zac I’d look out for her.
He knew that wasn’t the entire reason. There had been something vulnerable about Krystal when he had told her he wouldn’t do the test flight without her. He paused, hand hovering above the panel in the maintenance hatch, and sighed. T’arq regretted putting her in that position, but he had told the truth. Testing something he did not know how to operate was foolhardy. It was a recipe for disaster. He knew his limits.
But it didn’t mean he couldn’t sympathize. She was obviously afraid of getting in the small shuttle, but he really did need her on the test flight. He turned his back to the ship and leaned against it, his head falling back to rest against the side of the ship, his eyes closed.
Krystal. Soaked to the skin in some awful smelling cleaning fluid that reminded him of the medical bay. She should not have been so appealing. He grinned. He had been propositioned by courtesans in silk and lace, and none held a candle to Krystal.
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. What he really wanted to know was, did she want him like he wanted her? She had laughed at him. Actually laughed. That had been a blow to his usually quite robust ego.
What did it matter, anyway? She wasn’t meant to be his. He’d promised to keep her safe, not get involved with her. Because that would not end well. He was all about having a good time and, although he knew they could have afantastictime together, he would hurt her when he moved on. Because he didn’t do relationships. Ever.
He pushed off from the ship with a sigh and reached toward the latch that would engage the ladder for him to climb into the ship. The first time he had seen one of the small stealth ships, it had struck him how strange their appearance was. Their exterior was smooth and rounded, like an elongated egg, and their landing gear gave them the appearance of a bug. Their wings were deceptively strong, holding his weight easily, which was thankful as his preferred way to disembark was through the hatch in the cockpit.
Two points of entry and exit. Every ship had them.
The only issue with the stealth ships was that the crew who flew them had to be very comfortable with each other, as the ships were tiny. Barely big enough for the usual two-person crew, T’arq often flew solo. He really needed a flight engineer, as sometimes even his own skill with the ship was no match for the situations he found himself in. And, if he really wanted to admit his reasoning, one close call was one too many.
The engineer and the pilot sat side by side in the ship, so close that they would brush arms. Currently, T’arq had the ship set for solo flight, with only one chair in the cockpit. That had to be rectified before Krystal could join him on the test flight.
T’arq found a technician, and the two worked quickly to make the changes.. He hoped Krystal liked what he had done. He wanted her to feel comfortable and safe on this test flight. To feel safe and comfortable with him.
An hour later they had finished, T’arq dismissing the tech before doing a last check. He was lying on the floor, his head under the main command console, when a feminine voice squeaked a surprised “Oh!”
T’arq lifted his head, banging it on the underside of the console in his haste. “Fuck!” He rubbed his forehead.
“Oh, no! Are you all right?” Small hands reached to push his hair back from his face. T’arq blinked to clear his vision and focus.
“What are you doing?”
T’arq was lying on his back, legs bent to fit into the small space in front of the seats. Krystal had climbed over the seat to lie across the armrests, her ass in the air. T’arq groaned as he watched her wriggle to get closer to him.
“Hold still. That was some bang to the head.”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, though he lay still while she ran her hands over his face, pressing his skull tightly to test for sore spots. “If it makes you feel better, grab the medi-scanner from that hatch.” He pointed to a hatch on the wall with a red cross painted on it.
“Huh. Just like on Earth.” Krystal reached across his prone form, straining to reach the hatch. “Why… is… everything… so…” she forced out. Just as her fingers hit the hatch, and it opened with a hiss, she tumbled forward to land on T’arq.
He had been watching her with amusement. Her now clean uniform pulled tightly against her ample breasts as she reached a hand as far as she could, fingers waggling to make her arm long enough to reach the hatch. Somehow, as she had fallen, she had ended up turned away from him, his front pressed to her back and her legs cradled between his own. Her backside—her generous backside—pressed tightly against his groin.
She wriggled to look at him. “I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Every slight movement she made sent shooting pleasure through him. If she didn’t stop moving, she would soon realize the effect she was having on him.
“Stop. Moving.” T’arq closed his eyes and willed himself to think of anything else except the curvy woman nestled in his arms. His hands moved of their own accord to frame her waist. He had intended to lift her from him, but instead he groaned and buried his face in her mass of hair, the sweet-smelling curls brushing his face like tender caresses.
So soft. So sweet. So… wriggly?
She stiffened in his arms. “Your… your…” she waved a hand around.
“My what?”
She turned slightly in his arms so she could look up at him. “Your… you know.” His lips twitched. “Oh, stop!” She swatted at him, and he captured her wrist with his hand before placing it behind his neck.
