Page 5 of Bartender Mate

SAM: You will soon. Trust me. One horde of hotties coming right up. See you tonight ;-)

Feeling some of the tension shedding from my shoulders, I snorted and shook my head. I’d been holding out on Sam when really I should’ve just headed into town for some girl time with my bestie. Friends–the good ones, at least–always made a shit show like mine feel that wee bit more tolerable.

ME: Actually, tonight would be good. I could use some man-candy to ease my woes.

SAM: You know it! I’m warning you, though, these particular specimens are out of this world.

I huffed a laugh and let out a jaw-cracking yawn. It was time to hit the sack. Who knew what trouble Samantha’s ‘horde of hotties’ would bring? One thing was for damned sure. Berty and I were gonna wipe those smug grins off the Drakon Hunter’s faces when they came knocking. We had a lot of history together, he and I, and we never went down without a fight.

2

Radon

Holding on to my anticipation had been eating at me for weeks. So much so that I had chewed my thumb claw practically raw. Though I was sure that only Asteroid had noticed, I kept it tucked in my fist as I stood at attention while we went through the final checks as we came ever closer to our new home.

“Entering atmosphere in ten…” Flare called out, fingers flying over his navigation station.

“This is my favorite part,” Quasar whispered, bumping my shoulder, his excitement nearly infectious. “Look at all those lights.” His face was nearly smooshed against the viewport.

I didn’t bother scolding him. All of my admonishments fell on deaf ears, and he was well aware that the ports were simply screens, not that it mattered to him. He took joy in every aspect of our lives. Even training. Even battle. He knew when to turn it off, though, and be the consummate professional when push came to shove. This many days in deep space with a Weyr that had been formed out of necessity, however, had us all hitting the end of our stores of professionalism.

My dragon held form, keeping my spine ridged and my hands clasped, but I was ready to taste free air and let him take my skin. My body itched to change, to take to wing and let go of Officer Radon, and let my mind go free to the wild beast I contained inside me.

“You’re going to smash your nose when we land,” I growled under my breath, only half-listening to Flare continue his countdown, and preparing to steady myself as the turbulence hit. “Wouldn’t do to greet our new home with blood dripping down your face.”

“Aw, Rad.” My mate stood and threw an arm over my shoulder, placing a smacking kiss on my cheek. I tried not to think of the pink of my cheeks deepening like it always did when he went all mushy on me. “You love me.”

“Of course I do.” I sniffed, straightening the cut and then smoothing the animal hide down my chest. Not the most professional uniform I had ever been issued, but the shirt was soft, and the leather had a warm and calming scent. “I also don’t want you to show up looking like an untried savage.”

“Of course you do. What’s not to love? I’m a catch.” He teased and ruffled my hair. I pushed down my irritation and reminded myself that this male loved and cherished me. And he sucked cock like he was fucking made for it. That didn’t hurt, either. “I will try not to embarass you by smashing my nose against any viewports.”

Just then the ship lurched, nearly toppling both of us. I grinned as he let out a harsh expletive. “Might be harder than you think, Quasar.”

“No kidding.”

I grabbed for the seat closest, and plopped my ass directly into it as the vessel jerked and groaned on entry. I clipped the buckle in time for the entire bridge to tilt dangerously to the left. Quasar grabbed at my arm as he was swept off his feet, in danger of sliding all the way to the open hallway doors on the other side of the room, and I jerked him on instinct straight into my lap. Quasar wriggled in place with a happy sigh.

Fucker had obviously planned that. Now I was the one in danger of looking unprofessional. I didn’t plan on meeting my new Wyer-mates with a fucking hard-on care of my mischievous mate.

“Fucking cobbled together hunk of junk,” Asteroid snapped. He was clutching his station next to where Zinc was sitting in the captain’s chair, his own death grip on the arm rests. “Just get us to the damned ground in one piece, officer!”

“That was my plan.” Flare’s hands danced over the controls, back straight, but I could nearly smell the sweat dripping down his throat as we dipped and swerved. The rattling of floor plates, and jumping view screens gave me exactly zero confidence, but I dumped my mate into the chair next to me ignoring his pout as I buckled him in. Then I tucked my hands together, and held them in my lap as we descended. A bit faster than I would have liked. However, as I wasn’t the helm officer on this voyage, it wasn’t my place to criticize another soldier's work.

“That the fucking best you can do?”

I would leave the admonishments to Asteroid, whose neck vein was bulging. I would not want to be Flare. That vein meant my mate, and second in charge of this lump of junk, was barely keeping the inferno in his belly contained.

“I’m going to dismantle this bucket of bolts myself the second we make it to the ground.” Asteroid leaned his head back against his seat, eyes closed tightly. His claws had sunk into the arms of this chair, throat bobbing as we made a few more harrowing shudders. “Fucking council, couldn’t have sent a normal fucking ship.”

“He’s a bit tense,” Quasar commented, a naughty grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. “What do you say we slip back to our quarters and…”

“Perhaps we can get settled in our new rooms–planet-side–before you make our mate explode and chase you around the valley. As pleasurable as it might end for all of us, I would like for him not to shift in mid-air, inside a ship stuffed full of cargo.”

“Spoil sport.” My mate pouted, going as far as to cross his arms over his chest. It took all I had in me not to snort. He really was just the most dramatic and beautiful beast.

“Yes, wanting to make it to the ground–alive–without potentially killing thousands of humans is surely spoiling all of your fun.”

After what felt like an eternity, the ship settled. The views out the screens went from a hazy black to endless lines of lights puddled and dripping over the landscape. The planet's moon was nearly full and wide enough to shine over the land. Even I had to admit that my stomach tightened at the sight of what was to be our new home.

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