Page 51

“This is Rover Four. Message for Avel. The rescue team is on their way. We have your location and will be with you in thirty minutes.”

Holly sat up and grinned. “We’re getting out of here.”

Avel’s gaze remained on her exposed skin. “It’s a shame they can’t give us more time. I’m interested to know where this is going.”

Holly laughed and kissed his mouth. “It’s not the most romantic of settings, but it was fun.”

“Do you want more fun when we get out of here?” Although Avel’s tone was light, his expression suggested he was serious.

Holly swallowed, feeling nervous. “When I get out of here, I plan to have a long soak in the tub, eat a decent meal, and get some sleep.”

“Sounds good. Mind if I join you?”

She felt the urge to giggle again. “I don’t think I’ll get much sleep if you’re around.”

“That’s the plan.” Avel smacked her butt and winked at her. “And I know we’ll enjoy ourselves in the tub. I plan to get you real clean before making you dirty again.”

Stars! He made her weak at the knees. She’d never imagined she’d find a guy who made her feel like this, but there he was, his hand gently massaging her back, and his arousal clear from the erection beneath her. How had she landed herself with such a hot guy?

Holly had to stop lusting and start moving. “We should collect our gear.”

Avel sighed and nodded. “That damn rescue team, ruining the mood. We’ll salvage what we can. I also need to gather the transport logs and the record of the crash. My old girl isn’t salvageable from this.”

Holly reluctantly peeled herself off Avel and zipped up her jumpsuit. This time, she didn’t pull the zipper up to her neck. She grinned at Avel as she clambered off him.

He winked at her again.

Holly made her way back to the seats by the control panel. “I almost forgot I need to make my first repayment to you today.”

“That you do,” Avel said as he climbed up behind her, only wincing slightly when he put weight on his injured ankle.

Holly tried to access her wrist comm, but the screen was cracked, and it was unresponsive. “Hmmm, there’s a small problem.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t got the money to repay me.” Avel chuckled as he settled in his own seat and started downloading data onto his wrist comm.

“I can’t access my details.” She held up her damaged wrist comm. “I’ll pay you as soon as we get back to Prodigy.”

Avel shrugged before leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. “No worries. I trust you. You won’t let me down. Besides, I know where you live.”

“Scary guy.” Holly swatted his hand away as he tried to grab her. “Download your data. I’ll gather anything that’s worth keeping.”

“There won’t be much,” Avel said. “I hope your equipment survived.”

Holly’s heart clenched. She hadn’t brought much equipment with her but needed all of it to continue her business. She slid back down the ship and into the cargo hold.

Everything had been tossed around, but after a few minutes of searching, she let out a sigh. Both boxes of her equipment were intact. They might have been shaken around, but everything looked whole.

She heaved the boxes toward the open hatch.

Avel’s head appeared. He reached down and lifted the boxes out then pulled Holly out and lifted her off her feet for a second, stealing a quick kiss as he set her down.

“Is there anything you need down there?” Another stupidly big grin spread across her face as he kept hold of her, balancing them against the wall.

“Nothing important. It’s mainly spare or second-hand parts stored in there. I can get new parts once I get the money to buy a new ship.”

“Avel. This is Rover Four. We’ve got eyes on your ship.” The message crackled through the ship’s comm system. “We’ll secure a tunnel from your ship to ours and let you know when it’s safe to open the external door.”

Avel climbed back to the console. “Copy that.”