Page 72 of Stealing Mercury
“I’m sorry, Mercury. I know Carn won’t be happy about the delay.”
He pulled away his hand and she immediately wanted his touch back. Had she become addicted?
“He’ll see the logic of it,” he said, for once unaware of the reason for the tumult inside her.
Logic had little to do with the jumble of her emotions. “I hope so.”
Chapter Twenty-One
HaverleePort,Krena
GollerraSector
2210.170
Samantha yawned as Haverlee’s controller confirmed her account, finalized the portage and wished her well. Handling all the ship’s systems herself had made it a short but punishing journey. Before Samantha closed the communication channel, she checked one more time for any response to the encrypted relay she’d sent out for Sevti, but there was nothing.
She stood and stretched, pushing her worry away. She could only hope Sevti was okay and being cautious. No use in assuming he’d been caught when she was too far away to help him. Besides, after a year away, she was back in Haverlee. Surely that earned her a few hours of peace before she had to start worrying again.
Turning to leave the pilot’s station she found Mercury watching her with intent eyes. She brushed her fingertips across his cheek and enjoyed the warm rush of affection that heated her skin when he pressed a kiss to her palm. His tongue traced a circle across the kiss dampened skin. Her pulse skipped and pleasure zinged outward to all her more feminine places.
She pulled her hand free. The last thing she needed was to face the Chief with her brain floating on a cloud of lust.
“I need to go speak with the Port Chief. He’s the local authority. He controls everything in Haverlee. I need to explain about the ship in case it comes up on a port bulletin.”
“I’ll go with you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, presenting an appealing show of strength and determination.
“You should all wait here. Haverlee is a multi-species port, so I don’t think you’ll stand out so much, but—”
“There could also be a bulletin on us—stolen property.”
She cringed and patted his biceps. “I’ll talk to the Chief about that, too.”
He didn’t budge to move aside or let her through the hatchway. “I’ll go with you. Carn and Lo will stay here.”
Over his shoulder, she could see the two men standing in the corridor.
“You should all stay here. I grew up in Haverlee, I’ll be fine.”
A rumbling growl reverberated in Lo’s chest.
Carn looked somber. “We listened to the ship’s data entry on this port. There’s a traveler warning posted.”
She couldn’t help the eye roll. Why had she taken the time to teach them how to use the ship’s com interface? “There have been warnings about Haverlee since I was no taller than your hip, but nothing truly bad happens here. I promise.”
Red fire sparked in Lo’s eyes and a muscle in his jaw twitched.
Mercury wrapped his hands around her arms, stroking with his thumbs. “If you don’t let me go with you, I won’t be able to keep Lo from following you. He doesn’t seem in a very agreeable mood. It’d be better if you let me stay at your side.”
Samantha humphed. “You think I’m falling for that?”
He nodded, face carefully neutral. “It’s true.”
Damn them. She knew she was being maneuvered, but she also knew Lo would do exactly as Mercury warned.
“Okay. You win this one.” She strode over to Lo and put her hand against the sleek expanse of his muscled chest. “You stay here. Mercury will go with me.”
The rumble quieted beneath her palm. His lips tilted in a half smile that pressed his prominent canine teeth against his lip. The man didn’t know how to look anything but deadly. She turned in a slow circle. What was she thinking? None of them could look anything but lethal.
