Page 50 of The Commanders' Mate

14

Ronan

* * *

The countdown in the corner of my visor fed adrenaline to every muscle in my body as I jumped and clawed my way up out of the crater of the Hive ship. Twenty-seven seconds until I was incinerated.

At least it would be quick.

Flying in, the depth had not seemed too great. Crawling out, and in a space suit? Every foot felt like fifty as I worked my way up the wall.

The toe picks in my suit kept me from falling, but there was almost nothing to hold onto, and I did not want to use my rocket pack, not with the Hive ship patrolling directly over my head. Being shot with an ion blast from a Hive fighter was not preferable to being incinerated by a bomb blast. Dead was dead. At least with the bomb, I’d take the Hive ship, or most of it, with me. If they saw me, they might figure out a way to get my fighter clear of their ship before the bombs went off.

Small chance with only twenty-seven… no, twenty-four seconds to go, but not impossible. I’d hide. And wait. And burn, if I had to.

The curve of the walls surrounding the weapon’s basin were concave, so the ship couldn’t see me if they looked straight down. At least not for about three more seconds.

The next jump would take me to the ledge… if I could hold on.

“Damn it, Ronan. What the fuck are you doing down there? Picking daisies?” I had no idea what a daisy was, nor why I would be picking it, but I appreciated the concern behind Chloe’s question more than the words.

I leaped, caught the ledge, but my left hand lost its grip. Feet dangling, I scrambled for purchase on the ship’s surface. There was none.

“You know me, picking daisies is my thing.” Hanging on by my fingertips, I rotated slowly until my left hand was back on the edge. My sigh of relief was not an act. Fuck, that was close. Four fingertips away from slamming back down into the middle of that crater. I’d never make it back up here in time.

“Not funny, Ronan. Get your ass out of there.”

“Working on it.”

“Work faster.” Her command made me chuckle. Earth females. I would just imagine her with Seth and Dorian, ordering them around when they were all naked.

I actually laughed at the thought as I pulled myself up, over the rim of the crater one agonizing inch at a time. Dorian? Maybe. He was a fierce warrior, but his softness for his family was the stuff of legend on the Karter.

But Seth Mills? The human.

No. I imagined that if Commander Chloe Phan tried to order that warrior around, she’d be bent naked over their bed, her bottom bright pink as he fucked her into submission.

The image faded instantly, replaced by a visual of me and Kaed with Erica. Our mate would be leaning over our bed, ass raised. Kaed would take her pussy and get her in the perfect position for me. She would scream and milk Kaed’s cock with her pussy as I filled her ass, made her come over and over again, her tight heat surrounding me until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Commander Wothar, this is the Karter. Are you well? Your suit’s biofeed is going off the charts.”

“I’m fine.” Leave it to me. Near death, about to be blown to bits? I feel nothing. The thought of filling Erica’s virgin ass with my cock? My body races, setting off medical alarms in the suit.

That just meant Erica was more powerful than death. At least for me.

Rising to my hands and knees, I waited for the Hive fighter to fly over one more time. The second it was past me, I pushed off with my legs, running across the outer hull of the Hive ship, trying to get away from the mouth of the cavern before the bomb went off. The stealth suit I wore would help me blend in with the ship’s surface, the exterior changing color to match the ship’s material, but it did nothing to block shadows, or heat sensors.

The countdown sensor was at six. Five. Four.

I pushed off, launching myself into deep space as I activated the suit’s propulsion pack.

Two.

One.

The explosion roared over me and it was like being hit by a battleship made of fire. The blast knocked me into a spin, thrusting me into space so fast my body was pressed hard into the suit. Too hard.

I felt two ribs crack and prayed they wouldn’t puncture my lungs. Or my heart. I just had to hang on. Survive.

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