“Oh.” She looked thoughtful before reaching out the hole. “Letting me. I can twisting.”
He glared at her. “This is not your ship.”
“I can helping.”
“You’ve done enough helping.”
“Let me-e-e,” she said, wiggling her fingers, like she was trying to stretch. “Wanting to.”
Stomping away from his workbench, he came to a halt in front of the trap. She brought her hand back in and smiled at him. Completely unconcerned.
“Can I getting into out now?”
“You are a pest,” he growled,
“Haven.”
“What?”
“My name is being Haven,” she laughed. “Vytln, you are being, yes?”
“Haven,” he repeated. No, that was too pretty for an annoying pest. “I will let you out. But only to fix this part. And you better stay in my sight.”
“Already catching me,” she laughed. “Why running or hiding now?”
He didn’t understand her. Why was she here? What motivation could she possibly have? But maybe if he let her out of the trap for a bit, he’d stop feeling so driven to get in there with her.
The latch that retracted the panels around the hole, opening it back up, was over his head, far outside of the reach of anyone that could possibly be in there. Not only due to distance but because the entrance was set into a concavity, so the latch was curved far up and out of sight.
Pulling on the latch – a half melted and beaten hammer – retracted all the panels. Haven lifted her hands, watching them move with an impressed ‘o’ of her mouth. Opening the hole only made it easier to see her and all her pretty features.
She was even lovelier up close, without the haze of surprise to unfocus him from her face. She smiled at him, like he hadn’t had her locked up for days in a mating trap she had, in no way, consented to be inside. Her dual colored lips were such a temptation. But not as much as her gleaming eyes, shining so prettily in the light of the shields. Her pert little nose, her long, black lashes, the small cords of her hair that were so different from the females he knew. They dangled down around her shoulders, the red and gold decadent against her dark skin.
“Thanking you,” she beamed, leaning her head out.
Her smile turned into a contemplative pursing of her lips as she considered the steps that led to the hole. She couldn’t reach them by coming out head first. But the ramp on the inside of the trap made it difficult for her to turn around and come out feet first.
It would be wrong of him to let her struggle coming out. It had nothing to do with his instincts demanding that she was his mate. No male worth the credz of his flesh would let a defenseless female struggle needlessly. That’s all it was.
The justification hadn’t even fully formed in his head when he was reaching into the trap and grabbing her. He put one hand at her waist, the other caught her under the arm. She seemed to weigh nothing at all when he lifted her out. It was almost too easy.
But, by the void, did she fit perfectly against him. The hand under her arm easily slid around to grasp her upper back,his other arm banding around her waist. He had no reason, justification, or excuse to hold her against his chest, but for the fact that it felt so good. So right.
Their bodies were nearly the same color. But she wasn’t covered in scars. Her skin was so much softer, yielding against him so sweetly. The heavy, leather jacket she wore with human symbols on it he didn’t recognize made her upper body seem bigger than it was. But it compressed under the pressure of his arms, highlighting her true size.
Her hands went to his shoulders, holding herself up, as her legs hung in the air, fully off the ground. She blinked at him, surprised to find herself in his arms, but like his trap, she didn’t actually fight against the confinement.
No. She smiled. Again. It took a second. She seemed to contemplate whether she was happy here or not, but seemed to decide that she was and relaxed against him. Her lips curled up and her eyes crinkled.
“Strong,” she said happily. “Can probably be lifting so many engines.”
“I can lift heavy engines,” he agreed, his voice soft.
Let her go, he ordered himself. Put her down. He only pulled her out to get her help fixing that one part. That was all.
All a pale lie. He knew better. He would have said anything for the chance to touch her. Even if it meant taking her out of the trap. It was okay, because she was still confined within his arms, and that was good enough for him.
She was his and as long as she couldn’t escape, that was enough. He would never need to be worried about her being stolen from him.
