He pulled his hand away from where it had been covering Krystal’s and felt an immediate sense of loss. Krystal seemed surprised that her hand was still touching the ship, but exclaimed in pleasure when she saw the panel had lit up. T’arq smiled indulgently, amused that Krystal had forgotten him as she examined the panel’s display. He took a step back to see Zac approaching them.
“I’m needed on Taurus with,” he began as he approached, pulling a tablet from his pocket and flicking through the screens, scowling.
“What? Again?” Krystal muttered over her shoulder, still looking at the display panel.
“Yes, it’s our job,” Zac said, offhandedly as he typed something out on the tablet.
“I thought she was an advisor.” Krystal turned away from the ship and crossed her arms across her chest. “It seems like an awful lot of traveling.”
Zac’s hands paused in typing the message, and leveled a narrow gaze at her. When he offered no reply, she raised her eyebrows and made a face at him. Zac snorted and shook his head and turned to T’arq, dismissing Krystal, who huffed in displeasure at being ignored.
“I need you to keep an eye on Krystal.”
“I’m right here, you know! And I can look after myself,” Krystal protested.
“Why?” T’arq asked, nodding toward the woman in question. “She seems able to take care of herself.”
“Again. I am right here!”
T’arq’s lips twitched as he avoided looking at her.
“That’s debatable,” Zac said, lips twisting in amusement. “She will work and work and forget to eat and then fall asleep at her station in engineering.”
“Argh! Once! I did that once!”
“The Xakul threat is increasing. They’re becoming increasingly more unpredictable.” He rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion apparent as his smile dropped. “Look. I just have a bad feeling, and I don’t want Laila to worry. You’d be doing us both a favor if you could make sure Krystal looks after herself and doesn’t get into any trouble.”
T’arq managed, with difficulty, to suppress a smirk as the woman in question stomped her foot. Zac’s request was obviously made from a place of familial concern, but she was an adult after all, and perfectly capable of making her own decisions. But he found her frustration amusing and couldn’t help teasing her.
“All right,” he said, clasping Zac’s arm in farewell, “I’ll do my best to keep her out of harm’s way.”
Zac thanked him and left; his departure ignored by Krystal who turned on T’arq with fury radiating from every pore. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! I’m done!”
T’arq’s laughter burst from him like a dam. One second he was laughing and trying to breathe and the next he had a furious Krystal waggling a finger in his face.
“Think this is funny, do you?” Her dark brown eyes were furious, and her hair was wild around her shoulders, matching her mood. The curls looked so soft, and he wondered what they felt like. Without realizing what he was doing, he reached to touch one.
“Oof!” She smacked his hand away. “Stop treating me like a child!”
“Stop acting like one and I will.” T’arq walked away, still chuckling, heading to the far side of the shuttle. Krystal followed him.
“I do not act like a child!”
“And stomping your foot in anger is an adult behavior where you are from?”
She spluttered and straightened to her full height. Which wasn’t very tall, he noted. Not compared to him. He stopped walking, out of sight of the rest of the team, hidden as they were by the small ship, and turned to face her. She pulled up too late, almost running into him. She was close enough to touch, and his hands moved as if they had a will of their own.
“Lost for words?” He winked, his large hands settling on either side of her waist. He breathed hard as his fingers sunk into the soft curves of her hips, his thumbs almost touching at the front as they pressed gently into her stomach. She was deliciously curvy, all thick thighs and generous hips that were hidden by the monstrous uniform she wore.
His cock thickened uncomfortably in his tight flight suit as he contemplated what she would feel like without her clothes on. What she would look like…
She took a step toward him, her head not even reaching his shoulder, her mass of wayward curls brushing his chest. He breathed in, surrounded by an unfamiliar, but delicious, scent.
“Mmm. You smell good,” he murmured softly, his pants becoming impossibly tight.
She shivered and lifted her head. “It’s coconut.”
“What?” His brain struggled to make sense of her words, his thumbs brushing up and down her stomach as he gently pulled her closer.
