Page 23 of Synnr's Ride

If they could keep this up, the job might be done in a matter of days, rather than the weeks or months they had to be prepared for.

"So I was in the lead," Hanna started, regaling the group with a story from her childhood. "This bike was a piece ofbraz, I had to borrow it since my parents wouldn't get me one until I proved I really wanted to race. I was maybe a kilometer or two from the finish line, and the damn thing stalls out."

There was an uproar at the table and Hanna nodded, encouraging it.

How was she nodding with her whole body?

And how could his be on fire with lust in the middle of a mission?

"Did you get it fixed?" Zilly asked. She was perched on Kark's knee, rather than completely pressed against him.

"I didn't know how!" Hanna's voice had taken on a tone Jori didn't recognize. She was bright and animated and completely open, telling her life story to her brand new friends.

Was it even her life story?

He pushed the thought aside. Doubting her now would put the mission in danger. He had to believe every word she spoke like she was a priestess in the temple on a holy day.

Though if he were going to worship her, it would be far more sensual than a normal prayer.

"The first bike passed me while I was trying to get it restarted. Then the next. I tried to flag down help, but we were in the middle of the race and no one was going to stop to help me. Once I figured out I couldn't fix it, I grabbed onto the front wheel and started dragging it. Unsurprisingly, I finished last. But my parents bought me my first bike after that. It was this used SynStar that was battered all tobrazbut ran like a dream."

"Your first bike was a SynStar?" Kark asked. He'd been laughing along with the rest of them as Hanna told her story, but this was the first thing he'd asked her.

She nodded. "My dad knew a guy who knew a guy, and so on. When I was older I got to tour the factory once. It's amazing."

"This is why we need to visit the homeland." Kark pulled Zilly back and kissed her neck. "Nothing like that up here. There's real history down on Kilrym. If it weren't for this useless war..." Kark stared at Jori, silently daring him to say something.

Jori sipped his drink. He had to be careful about that. Even with the watered drinks Hanna had been slipping him, he could feel the buzz in the back of his head. And now he was drinking from the same bottle as the rest of the gang. He couldn't let himself go overboard.

"Ugh!" Zilly groaned. "Enough about the home country, love. I'm sure Hanna doesn't want to talk about it."

"I don't mind, really," Hanna said. She reached for Jori's drink and took her own sip. "It's nice. Jori's been great, letting me tell him all my boring old stories. But with the war, a lot of people don't want to hear it. As if I'm going to... I don't even know. Like I'm some sort of Apsyn spy or something."

He was going to kill her.

But Kark laughed, and after a moment Zilly giggled. The rest of the crew joined in.

"As if we're not all really Apsyns," Kark finally said. "No such—mmph!"

Zilly kissed him hard and Kark clamped a hand on her head, holding him close. When he let her go, they were both a bit breathless. "Dance with me," she commanded.

He yelled a command to the speaker system and the music changed, then he turned to his men. "See if those girls on the corner are still out there and invite them in. You all need dance partners. And they could use some coin."

Jori tightened his hold on Hanna, as if one of the men might dare to reach for her or she couldn't defend herself.

"Time to make our exit?" he whispered against her neck.

She leaned into him with a soft smile. "I think we have to dance. It's going well. Play it up."

Kark and Zilly were grinding together to the sensual music, and a few minutes later, Jursor led three women inside who were surrounded by the other members of the gang.

They wouldn't just be dancing for long.

"We slip out when it gets wild," Hanna told him as she slid off his lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of his chair. "Once someone is sucking Kark, he'll forget all about us."

Already it seemed like the gang had forgotten they were there. But Zilly did smile over at Hanna when she and Jori started dancing next to her and Kark.

Jori's spine was stiff. Every sway of his movement was wooden, and he probably looked like a schoolboy dancing with a girl for the first time. Hanna was liquid around him, her body clinging to his and guiding him as if it was her only task in life.

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