But they’d have plenty of time to do that later. For now, there was a lot of the station left to enjoy, and now that he understood better what really captured her heart, he knew better where to take her and what experiences to give her.
As they left the lot sale, she attached herself to his arm, beaming like she had just been given the world. All for some unknown junk in standard crates.
“This has being so much fun,” she sighed, smiling like she had reached the height of contentment.
“I have a lot more planned,” he assured her.
She beamed up at him. “Looking forward to it.”
Chapter 34
Haven
For as grumpy and unapproachable as Vytln seemed, he was actually extremely thoughtful and great at planning. She didn’t know why she was surprised. He’d been the prospective leader of his family at one point. And yes, it was a crime family, but in that position, he’d needed to plan and be considerate of many others. Both those within the family and their business partners. He’d been crafted into a person that was proficient at time management, researching and implementing plans, and understanding what another person would enjoy.
Their days on Trek-Nine were wonderful. The food, the spa, the romantic inn with its big, concave bed that was so nest-like, she couldn’t help but love the experience – it was all incredible. It wasn’t her nest or her trap, but it was a fun vacation.
By the time everyone was returning to the ship, she was both rejuvenated from the station and sore from Vytln’s attentions every night. He was holding himself back, she could tell, so she could still enjoy Trek-Nine, but that didn’t mean she went to sleep with anything less than three orgasms racking through her body.
She had almost forgotten about the crates they’d purchased. However, she was reminded when they walked into main storage and saw all three of them lined up there, their lids off, Tanin standing on a small ladder, looking through them.
That was one of his rules. Nothing came on his ship without him laying eyes on and approving of it. Haven was the only exception, and even then, he’d needed to approve of her before she was let out of Vytln’s cage once shehadbeen caught. She wasn’t surprised to see him investigating their crates, but she let out an eager squeal as she ran from Vytln’s side to join him. She couldn’t see over the edge of the large crates, but standing on her toes, she could look into the medium sized one. She beamed at the loosely packed and disorganized stack of metal.
“Captain,” Vytln greeted Tanin with a simple nod as Haven tried to reach over the edge, but she couldn’t quite touch anything. “Are we the last?”
“No. We’re still waiting on Sway and Grace,” Tanin answered as Vytln stopped beside her. “They’re on their way back now though. We’ll take off once they’ve arrived.”
Vytln grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t even twitch when Haven reached up and put her hand on his neck, then put her foot on his thigh. She climbed him like a tree, gaining some height so she could more easily get on top of the crate. She was tempted to sit on his shoulder, but it was easier to sit on the corner of the crate so she could reach inside. She didn’t care that her feet were balanced on the machines inside. They were all non-functional anyway.
“All this looks pretty standard,” Tanin said, stepping down off the ladder that let him look into the larger crates. Ones shecouldn’t see over even on her toes. “Alred didn’t detect anything unusual on the scans.”
“It’s all clear,” the AI male agreed from above. “Though, I’m confused about everything you got. Why did you buy those things in particular?”
Vytln looked up at Haven. He hadn’t picked any of the crates. She had. He hadn’t asked any questions when she chose them. Though, she hadn’t picked these three at random. She’d actually wanted two others, but she’d lost one in the auction part, and the other one had been sold after she reached the budget Vytln gave her when they started.
Oh, well. She’d have plenty of time. She was just starting this project.
“I am needing all this,” She said, walking over the medium crate so she could reach the edge of the large crates. Standing on the shorter crate, she could look inside. And she beamed at the tangle of wires and tubes and metal parts.
Messy. Dusty. Oily. So much beauty and potential stored in a box.
“Haven,” Tanin called to her. “What did you buy these for?”
“Needing them,” she said, lifting herself up over the edge of the large crate. She swung her legs inside, sitting on the corner and beaming inside.
“For what?” Tanin asked again, looking at Vytln.
But of course he didn’t know either. She hadn’t told him. Hadn’t given him any indication that she had any sort of plan at all when she picked these crates in particular.
And she kept her mouth shut now as she started digging through the wires. They had just been dropped inside, not spooled or coiled neatly. But that was okay. There was some breakdown of the material in a few places, but they actually looked really good.
“Haven,” Tanin started again, his voice not louder but definitely firmer. Warning her that he wasn’t going to ask her a second time.
“It’s being for Alred,” she said as the small side door opened. Sway and Grace, hand and hand, came walking in. Both of them blinked at the crates but didn’t look at all surprised.
“What does Alred need with this?” Tanin asked, Vytln standing beside him, both of them looking at her as Sway and Grace came to join them.
Haven didn’t answer this time. It wasn’t her secret to tell. But she’d found a lot of stuff that could help with their project. Most of it was probably useless and would either need to be re-purposed into something else or scrapped entirely, but there might still be some diamonds buried in this rough. If nothing else, it would be the start of their plans.
