Page 8 of There's an Elf in My Cockpit

Testament to how tired she was, she didn’t protest when I had fully expected one. I worked quickly, building up a snow shelter to keep the wind off the tent once I put it up. It would partially cover the fabric shelter, but this wasn’t just some Earth tent, this was much more advanced technology and I was eager to test it out during real subzero conditions at last.

It was actually a much more Christmas-like setting than the resort had been, maybe I should just consider this absurd adventure a precursor to the festivities soon to come. Maybe once I’d pinged the Vagabond for pick up I could get the boys to do some proper snowball fighting down in the crater. Considering our walking pace, even Belal would probably be back on his feet by the time we got back there.

I was putting the final touches to our tent, anchoring it down into the ice layer beneath the snow, as I considered the Hoxiam kid. His species meant he was shunned and cast out nearly everywhere he went, though he’d made me learn that only a small fraction of his kind were man-eaters. Many, like him, just ate the flesh of the beasts they hunted down on their snow planet.

Being what he was out in the Zeta-Quadrant was tough because of all that prejudice, but I’d seen Vi discard all of that when she realized he was hurt. She’d just acted with kindness and compassion, which told me all I needed to know about her character. She was a good person and she deserved our help. Whatever had caused her to end up dating someone as notorious as the right-hand man of a Crimelord, she knew she’d made a mistake and she was trying to do the right thing now at great personal risk and cost.

“Ready. Get inside, sweetheart,” I said once I was certain the tent wasn’t going to move an inch and was fully protected from the harsh winds racing across the ice plain we were on. Dark had almost fully fallen but she hadn’t taken out a light, and neither had I. We didn’t want to risk our small light being picked up by a set of unwanted eyes but once we’d both crawled into our shelter and shucked our outer, snow-covered layers, I lit a single lantern.

The tent had heating lines powered by some kind of technology I didn’t understand. Da’vi, the ship’s mechanic had mentioned some kind of bio-luminescent algae but that was where my understanding had ended. Regardless, it was if not pleasantly warm, at least not freezing inside the tent. With our added body heat, the place would start to warm up enough for us to safely go to sleep.

“Call the teens? I want to make sure they haven’t run into any trouble,” Vi said once we were sitting crosslegged across from one another with a self-heating food ration in our laps. I still had my mouth stuffed full of mystery meat but obeyed anyway, thumbing Darth’s contact on my wrist com and holding my hand out in front of her face so that she could speak.

The Tarkan youngster answered the com after a long, static-filled minute, his voice crackling from the bad signal. “What is it, Olly? Is everything okay or should I fly out to assist?” So eager that one, and so serious, although I had my suspicions that he’d been trying to kickstart my possessive urges concerning Vi on purpose.

“It’s Vi, and everything is fine!” the woman across from me said, “I just wanted to check on you guys, make sure all is quiet at the shuttle. No sign of Elpherian?” Ah, so that was the name of the bastard that was chasing her, was it? What an elfish name, it didn’t make him sound like a dangerous formidable foe. But I knew just as well as any of my gladiator friends that the evil bastards that were in charge were often the clever ones, not the big guys.

“Thank you, Miss. All is quiet,” Darth responded, and then a bit more eagerly, “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” I bristled even as I felt amusement bubble up alongside the possessive urge. Was Darth trying to rile me in case I was listening in, or was he just that eager to see some action? I imagined the boys were bored out of their minds by now inside the shuttle. I doubted they’d manage to stay inside it the entire time I was away like I’d ordered. They would be too tempted to explore the crater, even just a little.

“We’re sure,” I barked out, “How’s Belal? Leg healing?” That redirected the younger male and he assured me, he’d checked the youngest of them several times with the scanner, and the break was mending properly. I was still going to make sure that the Vagabond’s Doctor checked the kid when we got back, but at least he wasn’t in pain. I hated that none of us had thought to secure that one errant bag during our flight, if we had, Belal wouldn’t have broken his leg. That was definitely my fault, I was the one who’d just dropped it on the floor.

Once the call disconnected, I set out our sleeping bags and considered them while glancing at my companion from the corner of my eye. This tent was small, the space already so cramped that our knees had been touching while we ate. How good was she at maintaining her temperature once she went to sleep? If she was anything like any of my ex-girlfriends, she’d have freezing feet as soon as she crawled into bed. Was I seriously considering if the prospect of heating cold feet was worth it if I could convince her to share the sleeping bags? Yeah, I really was.

When I started to zip them together without asking her, she caught on immediately, her fair skin going pink. “What are you doing?” she demanded, while she grabbed the end of the sleeping bag nearest to her, her fists going so tight that the knuckles went white.

“What does it look like?” I shot back, fighting to contain my grin at seeing her riled. Ah, man I was bad for enjoying that but that blush was just the cutest. She was thinking all kinds of things, not because she was scared, but because she was as attracted to me as I was to her. That wasn’t vanity talking, I’d seen the appreciation in her eyes, felt it in the way she’d touched me so far.

“Making sure we don’t freeze to death while we sleep,” I added, just to see how she’d respond to that. Her blush deepened and she dropped the sleeping bag to look away. I was pleased by that, certain that she was confused and a little disappointed. Too bad it was much too cold out here to really enjoy a steamy interlude beneath the blankets, we’d need to keep most of our clothing on, layering up to preserve heat. I couldn’t resist teasing her a little more though, she responded so well to it.

Chapter 5

Vi

The prospect of crawling into a combined sleeping bag with the big human was… It was daunting, to be frank. I found his body far too sexy to be impartial to it and crawling in there would mean I’d be way up close with it, again. My body was positively glowing from the anticipation; if it kept that up, I wouldn’t need any sleeping bag at all.

If not for the fact that the Elrohirian were far too clinical and pragmatic to really believe in true matings like many other species. I was starting to think that my body was responding to his presence with just such a primal drive. How else could I explain how attracted I was to him, to his smell, his shape, and his big size compared to mine?

While the Elrohirians were often tall but slender and fine-boned, there was nothing fragile or slender about Oliver. He was simply big, but that didn’t make him clumsy or oafish, the opposite was true, he was extremely competent. And he had that balance between bossy and friendly like he hid the dominant side of him in favor of putting people at ease first. A habit maybe because he was so big, especially for his own kind.

I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me, or if he seriously just wanted to share the sleeping bags for heat. I knew he desired me, I’d felt it beneath my ass when I sat in his lap. I’d seen the heat and appreciation when he looked at me. Was I going to be the one to cave to this attraction first? Was he going to be a gentleman? I was pretty sure that was why I always fell for the bad boys; I hated gentlemen. So I sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to keep his hands to himself when I crawled in there with him.

Then he yanked his shirt over his head, exposing his chest which rippled with muscle. A patch of curly, crinkly hair grew on his pectoral muscles. It was something I’d never seen before and I found it extremely intriguing, it was so masculine, so primitive. The deep chuckle that rumbled from that big chest was just as sexy and I tried hard to pretend I wasn’t staring when he slipped his body beneath the downy coverings.

My turn, but I wasn’t brave enough to take off the borrowed sweater and leggings that I’d worn beneath the thick outer snowwear. Nerves and arousal made me clumsy as I rushed to follow him in. That he’d taken his shirt off, made me almost positive that he was going to make a move at any moment now. I couldn’t wait to find out what he’d do, how far he’d take it and I wasn’t about to listen to the many alarm bells blaring in the back of my mind, telling me this was a bad idea.

His body had already heated the inside of the sleeping bag, but he took up so much space that I didn’t have anywhere to go but right up against him. Which was, of course, exactly where I wanted to be. I’d have to be crazy or a nun not to want that, and while I’d often been accused of being a little insane, a nun I definitely wasn’t.

He curled his arms around me to zip up the sleeping bag, and then he simply kept them there, pulling me firmly against his body. My face was on his chest, the crinkly hair proving to be soft and warm, like a winter pelt, beneath my cheek. The steady thud of his heart beating much slower than my own rapid pulse. My body was soaking up his warmth, letting me know that despite my heated thoughts, I’d still gotten chilled.

“There. Comfortable, sweetheart?” he said against the crown of my hair. The lantern turned off above our heads with a flick of his finger. I nodded against his chest, struggling with the urge to throw my leg over his hips and with the naughty desire to lick the valley between his pectorals, see if he’d taste a little salty from sweat. He certainly didn’t stink despite the hard workout throughout the day, or maybe that was just because I found his scent so damn appealing. Was that a thing? I wasn’t sure.

“Sure, is Oliver a common name for your people? Do you have a last name and a clan name like the Elrohirians? You look so similar that I imagine we’re extremely similar genetically speaking…” The words kept tumbling from my mouth in a nervous prattle that I hoped would distract me from my anticipation. It was possibly also going to prevent him from making a move which would be sad but I couldn’t seem to stop it anyway.

“Sure, I guess,” Oliver said when I had to pause for a breath. I couldn’t see his face in the dark, but I could still hear the laughter in his voice. “My last name is MacGowan which is technically also my clan name? Not that we really have clans anymore, considering my family immigrated and lost ties.” I tried to imagine saying that so casually like it didn’t matter if you had a clan or not and just couldn’t. Clans were everything to my kind and to be banished or break ties was a huge thing, with ceremonies and everything.

That was why it was such a big deal that I was on tenuous grounds with mine. This mistake with Elpherian and his ties to Jalima was very damaging to my clan’s status in society and so they had distanced themselves. If it had been up to my grandfather who was head of the clan, I’d be out on my ass completely, stripped of my clan sigil, but my mom had interfered just enough for me to keep the medallion.

Not that it meant anything, I was basically persona non grata, not allowed to show my face anywhere or have contact. I shuddered to think what would happen if word got back to them that I’d made some other bad mistake.

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