Page 32 of Into Orbit
‘Is it working?’ I kissed across the line of his jaw and down his neck.
‘It always works,’ he said crossly. ‘Ash. Tell me.’
I rested my forehead against his, taking a handful of his waving hair and letting it trail through my fingers. I loved his hair; it was strong and smooth and it caught the sun like the pale petals of seaside daffodils.
‘Ashton,’ he said warningly.
‘You didn’t miss that much,’ I admitted. ‘You know those ships shouldn’t be here. Sowhy? Why havetwoof them appeared? It can’t be a coincidence.’
‘One called the other here?’ Willow said slowly, his hands tightening on my hips.
‘Perhaps. If that’s the case, what are they after?’
Willow was the smartest soul on the ship; he caught on within a heartbeat. ‘The cephalopod ship – orus?’
‘Exactly. And either way, we need to work out whether they could be a danger to the Peace Summit and Natare, too.’
‘What can we do?’
This was the hard part. I dipped my lips to his and kissed him slowly, thoroughly. ‘I love you.’
‘I love you too, but you’re avoiding the question.’
I slid a hand between his legs and squeezed his half-hard cock. ‘Can’t I just distract you instead?’
He went still. ‘It’s bad, then.’
‘Representatives from every known Sector will be at that summit. We can’t let the Roth get close, Will.’
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Our ship will be the first line of defence.’
‘The edge of the Forest protects the heart.’
He bit his lip. ‘Then we need to get Maeve and the Hamadryad off the ship.’
‘Yes.’
‘How?’
I ran my fingers up the length of him and cupped his swelling head through his pants. ‘I haven’t figured it out yet.’
‘But you will,’ he said, with enough certainty that I swallowed. Willow had faith in me that I didn’t feel myself.
‘I’ll try,’ I said, my voice hoarse.How do I get Elswyth off board without her heartree?
Willow reached behind me and locked the door, then dropped to his knees.
‘Will?’ I said thickly.
His fingers went to the waistband of my leathers. ‘You were right, Ash. Distract me.’
Ithadtakenafew weeks of wandering for me to get a handle on the massive ship. Its corridors were labyrinthine, but it was almost impossible to get lost; in one way or another, every path led to the Forest. That didn’t mean I always knew where I was; I’d accidentally stumbled into places I clearly shouldn’t have been numerous times. It was easy to tell when I’d crossed some kind of silent line; when I was heading for somewhere I didn’t have clearance for, Ashton or Willow – whichever one drew the short straw of keeping an eye on me that day – would silently put their hand under my arm and gently escort me elsewhere.
I wasn’t usually into that kind of touch; it was the sort of gesture I’d usually answer with a raised eyebrow and a less politekindly fuck right off. As it turned out, though, there were a lot of things I didn’t mind when it came to those two males, including the way Ashton scowled at any being who got within arm’s length. He’d drawn the short straw that morning, and had beenparticularlygrumpy; in answer, I went out of my way to get under his skin, smiling flirtatiously whenever someone gave me the look over. When a pretty male favoured me with a wide smile, I answered it, then followed up with a wink.
Ashton growled deep in his throat – like a fuckinglion– and his hand closed over my wrist. A moment later, I was being dragged bodily away.
I laughed with absolutely zero restraint, which made the pretty male frown in confusion and Ashton growl even louder. I kept it up – until Ashton dragged me into a training room.
