Page 41 of The Interstellar Rake's Irresistible Kiss
“All?” she repeated faintly.
His lingering frown twisted into that careless grin she knew. “Captaining a flagship in a civilized, settled star system doesn’t leave many scars, but my life and near-deaths before that weren’t so kind.” He touched his temple, one fingertiptracing the crescent thoughtfully. “This one was nothing.”
She grimaced at his version of nothing. “A bit farther forward and it would’ve been your eye. A little farther back and it would’ve been the fragile part of your skull.”
“That reminder is why I keep it, I suppose.” He lowered his hand. “The blood champions of Thorkon have a saying: That which does not kill me—”
“Makes me stronger,”she interrupted. “We have that saying on Earth.”
“The Thorkon version is—Gives me the chance to try again.”
She blinked. “The chance to be killed again?”
His laugh was a little forced. “I think they meant the chance to fight again. Blood champions are renowned for their arrogance. But as a half-blood, I could never be a champion even if…” His smile flattened completely. “Even if the duke hadclaimed me as his son. The scar reminds me of that too.”
If she hadn’t been so freaked out about the concept of having her brain wiped, she could’ve gone back to Earth with no memories of what Blackworm had done or her time in space. But maybe Nor was right. Better to be reminded of what had happened—whatcouldhappen—and find a way to make the most of it. He’d taken his rejection and the scars,visible and not, and turned them eventually into a dreadnaught.
“You kind of amaze me,” she said.
The deep rise and fall of his chest underneath her froze, then he said glibly, “Of course. I amaze myself sometimes too.”
But she suspected his first response had been more true. The scar might remind him that he had survived, but he still longed to be part of the world that had turned him away.
As they rose, dressed, and pulled themselves together, she held the satchel of dust and debris to her chest for a moment and closed her eyes.
This might be all that remained of women she’d never know, and they’d be only an invisible mark on her soul, not a scar on her face for the universe to see, but from now on, she’d try to live her life in a way that showed how much she valued every breathand heartbeat.
She opened her eyes when a heavy warmth settled around her.
Nor angled the sleeves of the jacket as she shoved her arms through. “Fortunately the fatigue fabric is engineered and treated to shed flower and spice stains.” He smirked. “And body fluids.”
She spun away from him, flaring his jacket like a cape, and gave him an arch glance over her shoulder. “So you’re saying I couldshoot you and nobody’d notice the blood?”
He laughed, blue eyes widening appreciatively. “I’dnotice.” He grabbed her by the satchel strap slung across her body and tugged her close. “I probably wouldn’t even mind since it wasyoudoing the shooting this time.”
She squelched the surge of happiness inside her. It was one thing to revel in the sexual pleasure of his body, or to take comfort inthe slouchy shelter of his bad boy castoffs. But it would be silly of her to think he was offering more than some casual target practice.
And she was okay with that, of course. Because she’djustsaid she was going to challenge herself to a fuller, bolder life.
And her captain was definitely fuller and bolder.
She peered up at him through her lashes. “I wouldn’t aim for the good parts.” Whenhe snorted, she rolled up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Then she sidled away before she could want more.
Much more.
Before he could reach for her—if he even would have—his dat-pad blared discordantly, an urgent sound that made her jump.
“That’s not going to be a map update.” Nor frowned as he slapped his hand over the screen. “Lieutenant Linn, report.”
“Captain,” came a slightly clipped voice.“Got a short break in the solar storm and received a narrow-band message from Azthronos. TheGrandiloquence—” The pilot’s words fuzzed out.
“Say again, Lieutenant,” Nor snapped. “I lost you.”
“The flagship, sir. It’s been stolen.”
