Page 12 of The Interstellar Rake's Irresistible Kiss
Chapter 5
When the charge on their weapons beeped with low-power warnings, they took a break. Nor had to admit, even with the moving targets, she was capable enough. Not as good as he was, of course, but he’d needed the skills to survive.
“Set the blaster for ambient recharge,” he reminded her. “And come with me.”
At the back end of the hovercar, he pulled back a cover to reveal the smallrepast he’d asked Cook to pack.
Trixie looked at the offerings, her brow furrowed. “You brought a picnic to the firing range?”
“The weapon needs to recharge and so do you.” He eyed her critically. “You are too small.”
She eyed him back. “You’re too big.”
“All over.” He leered at her.
With a snort, she settled herself on the hovercar’s back stabilizer fin and pulled her slippered feet up,tucking in the hem of her gown. He got only a glimpse of her trim ankles, her skin creamy against the shiny brown of her skirts. She plucked a triangular-cut pastry from the bin. “Why do you do that?”
He poured two cups of pixberry sparkler and handed her one before lounging back against the other fin. “Do what?”
“Act like a perv.”
He consulted his universal translator and found…nothing. “Aperv?”
She looked down into her cup, a blush staining her cheek almost as dark as the berries. “Uh, never mind.”
“Oh, now I’m intrigued.” He sat back with a smirk.
“That.” She waved one hand at him, scowling ferociously. “That smile is being pervy. Looming over me when I asked you to move away. All that.”
He dropped his gaze to the angry curl of her lips. For all her inconsequentially smallsize, her mouth was…rather perfect, the curve of her lips softly wide enough for a somewhat careless landing. Maybe he’d been a little wayward with ghost-mead when he’d stolen that kiss. “And the kiss last night? Was that pervy?”
She stilled, going so frozen that all his senses went on high alert as if at some threat. But when he looked up sharply, her eyes were fixed on him, the hazel hue ashard as stone. “That was wrong,” she said flatly. “You took that kiss when I didn’t want to give it.”
The accusation stung, and he stiffened at the unfamiliar pang of shame. “I take whatever I want. I’m a pirate.”
“Ex-pirate,” she reminded him. “You represent the Duke of Azthronos now.”
It was his turn to scowl as the charge slammed into him with the burning sensation of a blaster hit. Andhe’d thought she wasn’t a menace… He leaned toward her aggressively—with no smile, so not pervy, by her definition.
“You never take the privateer out of a starship captain,” he growled. “And I took theGrandiloquencebecause no other commissioned son of a Thorkon noble wanted the deadweight of a repossessed dreadnaught hanging around his neck. Arrogance and indulgence:thatis what the Duke ofAzthronos represents.”
She stared at him. “Captain—”
“Captain because I won it by right,” he said. “First my own ship in a firefight, then theGrandyin what amounted to a fire sale. You think the duke is so kind and generous, but Raz’s father promised this solar system everything and left ruin in his wake. At least I’m clear about what I take…and what you’ll get in return.”
She nibbled ather bottom lip pensively. “Rayna told us that the duchy had financial issues. That’s why Raz is helping us with the space station.”
Nor grunted, half irritation, half surprise that Raz had been truthful about the situation. The current duke hadn’t been quite so upfront when he’d first been courting Rayna as the de facto leader of the Black Hole Brides. Raz must have decided that transparencywas the better option with his Earther girl.
Disgruntled, Nor shifted his backside on the hard sculpted fin and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t listen to everything Raz tells you,” he warned. “The Dukes of Azthronos put their own cares above all else.”
“Rather like pirates,” she murmured.
He glowered at her. “Nothing like,” he snapped. “We claim what is ours even if the blood is impure,even if the circumstances are inconvenient.”
“Who didn’t claim you?”
He sat back further, not quite recoiling, his arms closing tighter around himself. “What?”
