Page 12 of Rescued

8

HEROD

Korvak was looming closer, but we still had time before landing. I cut power and set our approach, hoping I could glide in silently to avoid any unwanted attention. The heaviness of the silence made the tension between Caimbrie and I unbearable. I could practically feel her eyes boring into my back as we coasted along in the darkness. At the moment, I couldn’t decide if this was better or worse than her sarcastic remarks.

I rubbed my eyes and groaned. See if I ever helped Adreax with anything ever again.

“We’ll be there soon. If you don’t mind, stay out of sight, and I’ll get us out of here as soon as I can.”

I lowered my voice and tried to make my request sound reasonable, although I doubted I could predict what Caimbrie would see as reasonable at this point. When I first brought her aboard my ship, I had thought of her as meek, but I was quickly learning that this was not the case. She was a lot of things, most of them tiresome and irritating, but she was not meek. I hazarded a glance her way, surprised to find her looking around the cockpit curiously rather than sulking. This was new.

From this angle, I could see how soft her features really were. She wasn’t glaring, and her arms weren’t crossed defensively in front of her. At the moment, she was wide-eyed and curious, and I could faintly see a woman who was used to being in charge. Another whiff of guilt passed over me. This must be hard for her.

She turned back toward me and our eyes met. I had been staring. I started, cleared my throat loudly, and reached past her to twist a knob on the control panel at random. She gave me a look and placed a hand on top of mine, stopping me from turning the knob any further.

“Don’t do that,” she cautioned. “You’ll throw your fuel mixture all out of whack, and then you’ll have a real problem. Here, let me.”

I didn’t know what to be more shocked by. Was it the way her fingers lingered on the back of my hand, sending all kinds of mixed signals to my brain and my groin at once? Or was it the way she expertly adjusted the knob and scanned the monitors until she had it just right? Both. Definitely both.

I cleared my throat again, retracting my hand and trying to shut down the sudden thirst for her. What was happening to me?

“Do you always run your ship this rich?” she asked idly, completely oblivious to my suffering.

“Hm? No. Not always. I- It must have been an oversight.”

I was stumbling over my words, fighting to get myself under control. Alarm bells inside my head were ringing loudly, warning me that this was all a trap, but I was helpless as my cock roused itself in response to her movements. She was so sure of herself.

“Well, it wasn’t doing you any favors. If you’re worried about keeping your costs down, you’ll want to run lean. Fuel’s expensive. You don’t want to waste it.”

“Of course,” I managed. “Like I said, must have been an oversight. Maybe I bumped it when I was strapping you in. Who knows?”

My excuses sounded weak, and I knew it, but I was not going to let her get the better of me in my own cockpit. Not going to happen.

She turned around and looked straight at me. Her eyes flashed and she was smirking, an audacious look that made me want her even more, and she knew it. I could see it in the way her eyes trailed down toward my waist and then hopped back up to my face mischievously. Was she doing this on purpose? Was she taunting me?

“You know, I don’t think I properly thanked you for saving me,” she commented, her voice a murmur that made me lean forward to make sure I was hearing her properly.

“It’s okay,” I stammered. “I think we just got off on the wrong foot. I wasn’t on my best behavior either.”

She blinked and her expression changed. She gave me an innocent smile, and in an instant, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined the heat between us or not. It felt so real a moment ago.

“Anyway,” I blurted, “we’ll be there soon. Get yourself comfortable in the back.”

I swore I could hear her snickering to herself as she brushed past me on her way out.

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