Swallowing once more, he took another step back. The space between them a chasm, yet nothing at all. He could do this—in the end they’d both be thankful.
“We better get back to work.” He turned back to the ship and began work once more.
55
Amy wanted to scream. Her body raged with unfulfilled desire and her mind buzzed from the fact Sean had wanted her and yet still managed to turn away. She’d
never
met a man who’d been able to do that, the simple act of walking away when arousals were high. She didn’t know what to make of it, know how to respond. So instead of hitting something like she wanted to, Amy dove into her work and did her best to ignore the man standing a few feet away.
The positive side to all this was the
Drake
now looked better than she ever had.
Sean’s friend Ryan had arrived an hour ago and immediately set to work with Gaz on the navigation systems. Tyrell’s men had taken out most of the panel, which had in turn fried the systems inside. But Ryan was competent with a calibrator and good at following Gaz’s lead, despite his very obvious confusion over what to make of her friend. It was obvious Gaz was in complete lust with the younger man after spending five minutes in his company. She didn’t think Ryan had picked up on it though, even when Gaz accidentally brushed his groin against his hip. Either that or he was intentionally ignoring Gaz’s blatant flirting. If that was it, then the next few days would prove interesting.
Shifting to pick up her spanner from her tool belt on the ground, Amy gasped when a muscle in her back cramped and the tool fell to the floor with a clang. Before she had time to react, Sean was at her side, a frown etched on his face and his warm hand lightly pressed to the small of her back. The gentle pressure from his fingers had her gasping softly and sent a shiver of want rolling through her. Her body seemed determined to rebel against her desire to fight this…
thing
between them.
“You okay?” His voice was a soft purr near her ear.
Memories of how his voice sounded moaning into her skin, the husky tone it took as he came hard in her mouth, flashed through her head. Amy swallowed and lowered her gaze from his. “Yeah, just a twinge. Turned funny. I’m fine.”
“Here, let me help.”
Firm fingers dug into the muscle, moving in soft circles in an attempt to loosen the cramp. Amy sighed and let her head fall forward, enjoying the sensation of his hands on her body. Sean shifted closer, the front of his thigh brushing against her leg. Gods, she wanted to push him to the floor as she ripped the clothing from his body, straddle his hips and ride him hard. She needed to feel the thickness of his cock fill her, the pressure of his thumb on her clit, forcing her over the edge into blissful orgasm. Shit, this
arrangement
wasn’t going to work.
“You need to take it easy,” he said, sounding far more casual and relaxed than she’d like. Gods, wasn’t he as affected as she? “You’re pushing yourself too hard so you 56
won’t have anything left to run this race.”
Shifting away, she needed the space to regain her equilibrium. “I’m fine. Time to rest later once I’ve won the race.”
Sean chuckled. “That’s my girl.”
A chorus of voices sounded at the far end of the hangar. Sean looked up and Amy heard him gasp softly before he stepped away from her.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Sean muttered, running a hand through his hair.
“Who?”
The only person Amy could see coming was a tall dark-haired woman. She looked vaguely familiar, but Amy couldn’t place her. Sean obviously knew who she was and didn’t seem very pleased by her arrival. He started looking around, shaking his head as he stepped close to the new arrival.
“Are you insane?” he said, his voice coming out in a growl. “Kamran will kill me if he finds out you’re here.”
The woman laughed and crossed her arms across her chest. “What makes you think he doesn’t know?” She tapped the side of her head and lifted an eyebrow. “The bugger keeps tabs on me all the time.”
“You don’t have any idea what’s going on down here, Haylie. And your presence really isn’t going to help matters.”
Amy’s brain finally kicked in—Haylie and Kamran. The administrator of the colony and his wife. Fuck, she had no idea Sean was this connected.
“Oh please.” Haylie rolled her eyes. “I heard you’re copiloting a ship in the race and I had to come down to see her. My God, she’s a beauty.”
Amy grinned despite herself. “Thank you. The
Drake
may not be the best-looking ship out there, but I love her. Amy Bryson, her captain.”
She took Amy’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “Haylie Bond. My dad was a cargo pilot hauling shipments between Luna and Earth. I spent more time on ships like this than on solid rock when I was a kid.”
Haylie walked over to the side of the ship and passed her hand down the metal of the hull, smiling wide. “I’ve forgotten how much fun I had on these.”
“I can take you up if you’d like. Well, once we get her patched up and run the race.
The
Drake
is a lot faster than you’d think.”
Sean cleared his throat and stepped up to Amy. “I’m going to go check on the plasma seals for the conversion unit. See if Sly got them in yet. Bye, Haylie.”
Amy watched as he walked out of the hangar, his back stiff and his stride long. She hadn’t heard Haylie move beside her until the other woman sighed.
“I hate to see him like this,” Haylie said, shaking her head.
“I haven’t known him very long, but I don’t get how much he changes when people he knows come around.”
57
Haylie turned, a single eyebrow lifted in question. Looking around, she saw there were a few people from the other crews milling about. Some were starting to cast looks their way and she really didn’t want to be having this conversation in public. Too many questions could arise if people recognized Haylie.
“How about I show you the inside of the
Drake
. Just forgive the mess.”
Haylie chuckled. “I told you I practically grew up on one of these, right? Mess is part of the package. I won’t even notice.”
Amy did make the effort to show Haylie around a bit and had to laugh when the other woman pretended to have flashbacks at the sight of the food processor unit.
“My dad had a cooking unit installed when I turned seven. I refused to eat anything he hadn’t made himself. What he didn’t tell me was that all the food components came from the processor. I teased him it was cheating.”
“Kid logic is fun.” Amy chuckled.
Haylie nodded and sat down at the closest mess hall chair. “I’m starting to see that with my daughter. She loves to push our buttons already.”
“How old?”
“Just over two years. She has her father wrapped around her finger, so it falls on me to be the heavy in the relationship.” She paused for a moment before she suddenly burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. My husband just got a surprise of juice poured down his shirt.”
Amy blinked. “Pardon? How do you know that?”
Haylie looked up, the smile still fixed on her face. “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you’re not from here. Kamran is a Briel and we’re bonded. We have the ability to share thoughts and feelings.”
“Wow. It must be amazing to always know what he’s thinking. Know where you stand.”
For once in her life, Amy wanted to have that type of relationship. Experience openness with another person, one who wasn’t clouded with not knowing if it was you they wanted or if they were simply addicted to the scent of you.
Haylie shrugged. “It wasn’t always like that. Sometimes even knowing what your partner is thinking doesn’t mean you know what to do to help them. Kamran and I have had our fair share of fights. It helps to have friends who won’t let us act stupid though. Speaking of stupid,” she said, shifting closer. “How is my buddy Sean doing?”
Amy found another seat and dropped down into it. She’d just been asked the million-credit question. “I don’t know. Like I said, I haven’t known him very long, so sometimes I think it’s just me.”
“What do you mean?”
Not wanting to go into too many details, but needing to get a handle on the situation, Amy took a deep breath and jumped in. “I first met him in med bay and then later he helped me out of a tricky situation. I’m Shay and I couldn’t stop my…attraction 58
to him. We ended up being…intimate.”
Haylie held her hand up for a moment and closed her eyes. After a minute, she smiled and nodded. “Pheromones. Sorry, continue.”
Okay, that was a bit freaky.
“Well, he is able to restrain himself more than any other man I’ve ever been with. Somehow, he’s even managed to walk away from me when things got a bit…heated. In one breath he’s telling me how much he wants me and in the next he’s pushing me away. I’ve seen him relaxed and laughing, but the second he sees someone he knows well here on the station, he shuts down. There is just so much about him I don’t understand.”
It must have been Haylie’s turn to be freaked out, because she looked positively confused. She shook her head and leaned forward on her knees.
“Sorry, you said Sean was laughing? As in enjoying himself?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?” If it was, no wonder he changed around his friends.
“Oh hell no! It’s just…” Haylie sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. “Sean has gone though a lot of shit over the past five years. He holds himself responsible for an Ecada attack on the colony a few years ago. A lot of people died.”
“Oh my Gods.” Her father had told her about the Ecada in great detail. The warning was to stay as far away from any planet under their control as possible. They were a race of killers who would use her as little more than a food source. “What happened?”
Haylie opened her mouth to say something, but gave her head a shake instead. “I’d really like to give you all the details, but it’s more his place to tell you. All you need to know is that he still won’t forgive himself even though no one else on the entire planet holds him accountable. Sean can be a stubborn ass sometimes.”
It explained a lot in a way. How he never let his guard down in front of the others.
How he could relax around her and Gaz, because they didn’t have knowledge of his past. Another thought flew to mind.
“Someone did something to him, didn’t they? Controlled him in some way?”
“Did he tell you that?” Haylie looked more than a little surprised.
“No, but it explains why he panicked at first when he found out about my pheromones. And why he needs to walk away from me sometimes.”
Haylie nodded. “Talk to him. You’re only the second person in years he’s let himself get close to. Sean isn’t speaking to Davin right now…sorry, a mutual friend. He needs this contact.”
She stood and Amy found herself rising to her feet as well. “Want to see more of the ship?”
“I’d love to, but I need to get back. Kamran has a council meeting soon and I need to get Oira cleaned up. It’s been nice talking with you though. I hope we’ll get to see more of you on around the station.”
Amy shook her hand and led Haylie back out to the hangar. “I’m sure I’ll be here a 59
lot. My dad just moved to the colony not too long ago. In fact, I should go see him soon before I get disowned.”
“Yeah, dads are like that.”
They chatted a bit more as Amy walked Haylie out, waving as she left her. The visit had been interesting, but left Amy with more questions than she’d had answered. One thing was certain though. Sean needed help. If working on her ship and running this race was going to do it, then so be it.
* * * * *
“Okay, everyone ready?” Amy spoke clearly into her head com as she flicked several of the ship’s system control buttons and punched in a fire-up command into the computer.
“Ready as we’re going to be,” Gaz’s voice came crackling through the earpiece.
“Just take it easy on the initial throttle up in case we have a blowout.”
Amy cast a quick glance at Sean who was examining the readings from the nav system. “We okay over there?”
He nodded hesitantly at first, then with more confidence after tapping in a few commands. “We’re good. Steady flow into the converter for once. Keep the burst to under ten seconds though.”
“Got it. Okay, here we go, boys.”
She typed in the final commands and slowly leaned into the throttle, easing the engines back into life. The
Drake
rumbled and shook with the pressure, but no warning sirens came on and nothing exploded.
“Six, seven, eight,” she muttered. “And taking it down.”
The rumble and vibration that shook the cockpit came to a halt, quickly followed by a whoop of delight through the coms.
“That was fucking awesome!” Gaz laughed. “Didn’t even break a seal down here.”
Amy let her body slump back against her seat and started to giggle. “Thank the Gods. Okay, let’s get some security drones put on the
Drake
and go get ourselves a drink. And maybe some food.”
Letting her head fall to the side, Amy let her gaze roam over Sean. “You can stop checking the readings, you know. Everything went well.”
He let out a soft snort. “I’m not sure if I like this little spike in the power flow near the plasma controller. Might cause some trouble once we take her up.”