Page 4 of Ghost Ship Numenon

I wasn’t prepared for her to be reasonable. It’s not, in my experience, a common human trait. From Madeline Triden, it was both completely unknown and extremely frustrating. She grinned up at me, her pretty green eyes sparkling, and Iknewshe was enjoying my discomfort despite the danger we were in.

Two can play this game,I told myself, preparing to fight reason with reason. I refused to let her get the upper hand.

“We need to get our bearings,” I said, as close to admitting I’d gotten lost as I’d ever get. “I looked them up in the shipyard plans, but the reality is very different.”

“It always is. They probably got altered during construction, too, when they added or updated the systems. A ship this big takes years to build, and it would be a surprise if things didn’t change.” There it was again. Reasonable, kind, and understanding. Mocking me. “You’re right, we need to stop running away and work out where we’re running to. Also, we’re exhausted, and I can’t see us getting any rest in here. So either we make it to your ship, or we find somewhere safe to take a breather.”

Looking around, I reluctantly agreed. Adrenaline carried us this far, but now came the crash. We needed to rest, but where? The corridors were too narrow to rest in, especially while we had to worry about dead men creeping up on us. I sighed.

“Fine. We check the access hatches as we go and look for somewhere safe. Hopefully, we find one before we find a hungry undead horde.”

For once, luck was with us. The first two hatches we found opened into a wrecked hangar bay and a corridor littered with corpses. We closed them quietly, and apparently undetected. At least the corpses didn’t rise to attack us.

Our third try yielded better results. The hatch opened into a cabin, someone’s personal quarters. Spacious enough that it had to be a senior officer’s, neat, clean, and deserted. That left aneerie, empty feeling—as though its owner had left just minutes ago, rather than centuries.

Poor man, having a maintenance access hatch in your room must have been a nightmare.Too late for him, we would fix that problem. Behind me, Maddie welded the hatch shut. Anyone trying to break in would make enough noise to wake the dead. As places to rest went, we could have done much worse.

Except for one detail.

There was only one bunk.

5

MADDIE

“No fucking chance,” I said, staring at the lone bunk, far too small for us to share without being intimate. Even then, we’d have to get him out of his hardsuit.

I felt the heat on my cheeks, a prickling that intensified as, unbidden, images flashed through my mind. His skin against mine, our bodies intertwined, for some reason we were both naked,what the fuck am I thinking?

At least Kahdrex hadn’t noticed my distraction. He was too busy staring at the bunk with an indecipherable expression of his own, a deep blue blush on his own cheeks. Were his thoughts going the same direction as mine? His tail flicked from side to side, quick jerky motions, and he rumbled something under his breath before speaking.

“You take the bunk,” he said. “I’ll sleep on the…um.”

We both looked around the cabin. None of the furniture was large enough for me to sleep on, let alone him. The decking looked hard and uninviting. Two chairs, neither built with comfort in mind. A breakfast bar, narrow and short. A bathroom in which I could curl up if cold tiles appealed. I caught myself biting my lip.

Is this fate? Are we meant to sleep together?A ridiculous idea, of course, but that didn’t make it any less tempting as an excuse. Flustered, I took a step back, looking anywhere other than at the towering alien hunk. We were rivals, enemies, temporary allies at best.

And yet, I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me. To pull off my spacesuit, to step out of his hardsuit, to ravish me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It’s the adrenaline, that’s all. No need to do anything rash. We both survived a fight, of course we’re both horny. Tomorrow we’ll be back to hating each other.

“I don’t think so,” I said to myself. Unfortunately, Kahdrex’s hearing was too good, and he turned his head to look at me, eyes sparkling.

“It would be more comfortable to share,” he said. “If you trust me.”

I swallowed.Fuck no, I don’t,I wanted to answer.I wouldn’t trust you with a single Credit Imperial. Something held me back, leaving me silent as I tried to work out what.

Did I trust him now that we’d shared a deadly peril? Or did I want him badly enough to risk it?

“Why do you think you can trust me?” I answered finally, grinning as though the question was a joke.

He started to reply, then fell silent and lurched toward me with an unsteady step. Shocked by his uncharacteristic gracelessness, I stared at him, seeing concern in his eyes, then alarm. Before I could ask what was wrong, he swung his arm at me in an arc, fast enough to crush bones if it connected.

6

KAHDREX

My arm jerked forward, and Maddie scrambled away, eyes flashing. “Now?Of all the times you could choose, Kahdrex, you want to have a fight now?”

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