Page 3

Oh, yeah, right. He’d introduced himself when he’d first arrived. He nodded as he ducked under the bulkhead at the top of the ramp, and then the ship closed around them. He didn’t think he’d ever been on a smaller ship.

The corridors were close and narrow, with low-level strip lighting and a few lamps dotted at strategic intervals along the corridor walls. It was definitely built for humans, he sighed, ducking as he stepped through a bulkhead door to avoid knocking himself out.

“Yeah, you might need to watch your head there.”

She led him through the warren of corridors that was the interior of the ship. Several doors they passed were open, and he looked inside curiously. They all appeared to be empty storage cupboards, which he assumed would be filled with cargo for wherever this colony expedition was headed. But that didn’t make sense if this was supposed to be the last crate they had to unload… or, he reasoned, it could be the last crate to be unloaded today.

Trall, he didn’t know when they were leaving. Given he was the charter pilot, he should have known, so he couldn’t ask. Draanth it, he would have to find some other way to find out.

“So where have you worked before?” Layla asked as they reached a large cargo hold.

“Oh, you know, here and there.” Which, to be fair, was the truth, but in his case, here and there was all over the Latharian Empire and beyond. Which Layla definitely did not need to know.

She stowed her boxes in the corner of the room next to some of the large crates. He blinked as he looked around. It didn’t look like any engineering bay he’d been in before, but he really wasn’t up to speed with human ship classes or what their engines looked like. For all he knew, the big boxes at the end of the room could be engines.

“Ah-ah-ah, not there.” Layla stopped him before he could drop the cabling down next to the crates. “B will have my head if you put her supplies in the wrong place. Come on over here toward the back.”

He followed her as she led the way toward the back of the room, and then the mystery of the engines was solved. There was a small door toward the back of the room, hidden behind one of the crates.

“Just here will do. I know B has some re-wiring to do and she’ll want the gear as close as possible.”

He nodded as he leaned down, casting a sideways glance through the door. Okay, definitely looked like there were engines through there.

“So a bit of a traveler then?” she asked with a smile as she motioned for him to follow her back out and into the corridors. “Where do you hail from? Got to be a heavy-world with that build.”

She eyed him over her shoulder as she walked ahead of him, casting an appreciative glance down his chest and further. Then she waggled her eyebrows, and it was so unexpected he actually snorted a laugh. He had never met a female quite so bold.

“Yeah, I’m from a heavy-world colony out in the back of beyond. You wouldn’t know it.” He shrugged. “Left the place as soon as I could, to be honest. Otherwise, I’d have ended up married to my cousin or something.”

She laughed, the sound high and melodious, and nodded. “God, yeah, I know, right? Came from a place like that myself. So you’re not married then? To your cousin or otherwise?”

Before he could answer that, another voice growled from somewhere up above them. “Layla, stop eye-fucking the help before we’ve even left dock.”

He blinked, looking up to the ceiling in surprise. A panel was missing, and a pair of boots was just visible in the darkness beyond. As he watched, the boots wriggled, and a pair of legs appeared in the gap. After a series of complicated movements, another female unfolded herself from the gap, supporting herself on toned arms before dropping lightly to the corridor behind them.

Rann opened his mouth, but absolutely no words came out. He’d thought Layla was beautiful, but this female was absolutely stunning. Taller than Layla, she was small, lithe, and toned, with dark hair and dark eyes that flashed fire, not at him, but at Layla standing behind him.

She shot him a look. “You might want to be careful, handsome. Layla’s relationship pattern is a bit like that of a mayfly. She fucks a guy, and he’s gone before the next day.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, B.“ Layla huffed behind him. “Talk about trying to ruin my chances here.”

So this was the infamous B she’d spoken about in the engineering bay. The one who would have had Layla’s head if they’d put the supplies in the wrong place.

B shook her head. “Don’t shit where you eat, lovely. We need handsome here to pilot us to the colony, and I can do without you two bitching at each other because you already fucked and fell out.”

2

Blythe stood in the middle of the corridor, her hands filthy from the junction panel she’d been rewiring, and looked the new pilot over.

Well. Fuck.

He was tall enough that the low ceiling forced him into a slight hunch, and broad enough that the narrow corridor looked like it had been built around him. The cheap coveralls he wore had clearly belonged to a smaller man... too tight across his shoulders and thighs, the sleeves ending above his wrists and cuffs way above his boots.

And his face.

She sighed. He was handsome. Of course he was handsome. What else would he be?

But not handsome in the rugged, lived-in way. No, he had the kind of face that made women forget their own names. Long blond hair pulled back combined with killer cheekbones and dark stubble, blue eyes that held an irritating little glint in them, like he was already halfway through some private joke.