“I’m not a thief,” Jill protested. “But I do trade with them.”
Sky chuckled. “My apologies. There’s an honor code amongst criminals.”
She couldn’t deny that. Technically she would be considered one for knowingly buying illegal goods and it could be debatable if she fit the thief category after she’d stolen Coal. “Apology accepted.”
“Fine.” Flint took a deep breath. “Your shuttle is too slow but we don’t want to alarm them with you meeting them in an unfamiliar one. We’ll dock your shuttle inside one of the cargo bays aboard the Star and transport it closer to Earth. At that point we’ll fly it to meet up with your contacts.”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
“You’ll remain on your shuttle and Onyx will remain with you to make certain you don’t change your mind about helping us.”
Damn! She tried to hide her disappointment. An idea struck though. “Coal promised to help me do some repairs that need to be done. I’d feel better if he’s here since I don’t know your guy.” She shot Onyx a glower and then looked back at Flint. “I’m fine with Onyx staying but I’d rather not be alone with him. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to allow Coal to stay with me, considering I’m risking my ass to help you. I don’t even want to be paid for my time.”
Flint studied her for long seconds. “Fine. Coal may stay aboard. Onyx,” he looked away from her, “park this in cargo bay two. You have control of her shuttle while Coal helps her with whatever repairs are needed.” He met Coal’s gaze. “Is that agreeable to you?”
Coal didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Fine. We’ll meet again to discuss the exact plan before we reach the edge of the solar system containing Earth.” He strode to the docking sleeve. “Let’s go,” he ordered.
Onyx frowned when the cyborgs exited her shuttle. He sealed the cargo door closed, his attention shifting from Jill to Coal. “What kind of outdated system am I dealing with? It’s fine with me if you want to pilot the shuttle while I remain with her.”
Coal glared at the other man. “You heard Flint. Do your job and I’ll do mine.”
“You’ve already piloted this piece of junk. You’re familiar with it and I’m sure you wish to be helpful. Go dock us inside the cargo bay.”
Coal didn’t say a word but shook his head, not moving an inch toward the door. They watched each other. Jill had no idea what the problem between the two men happened to be, not knowing their history, but the tension became obvious. She cleared her throat.
“Coal?”
He tore his glare away from the other man. His features softened when he looked down at her. “Yes, Jill?”
“Why don’t you help me? I’m sure your friend can find his way to the pilot seat.”
“I’ve already linked to your computer.” Onyx grimaced. “It’s barbaric.”
The engines roared to life, startling Jill enough that she nearly tripped when she jumped. Coal’s steadied her with his lightning-quick reflexes.
“Don’t be alarmed. He doesn’t actually have to walk there to steer the shuttle.” He kept his tone low. “He has active, working implants and is able to do things I can’t.”
“Should we warn him about the stabilizers?” she whispered.
Coal grinned, shaking his head. “It will be a surprise for him,” he whispered back. He moved her closer to a bulkhead, leaning against it but still holding her arms. “I’m guessing they will make for a rough landing.”
Jill nodded. “Expect a hard drop. The sensors are about four feet over what they read. He’ll be told by the computer it’s four inches.”
“What are you discussing?” Onyx irritated tone couldn’t be mistaken.
“We’re talking about things that don’t work right on the shuttle,” Jill answered honestly, talking louder, and kept her back to him for fear of laughing. “There are a lot of things that need to be repaired.”
“I’m sure of that fact.” Onyx sounded closer. “This shuttle should have been decommissioned a good decade ago. It’s amazing it’s still functioning. We’d be kind if we blew it up for you and left you on Earth. They have opened the cargo bay doors.” He paused. “We’re setting down now.”
Coal suddenly wrapped his arms around her hips and jerked her off the floor. Her chest smashed against his as the Jenny’s engines cut out. Coal’s body tensed, his knees bending slightly to brace their combined weight, and then the sick sensation of falling made Jill’s stomach feel like it rose into her throat. The belly of the shuttle slammed into something solid. The entire ship groaned.
Coal straightened his legs to return to his full height, chuckled, and eased Jill down the front of his body until her feet returned to the floor. She grinned back at him. He’d been so sweet to use his own body to cushion hers from the impact. From behind her she heard a string of curses and turned her head. Onyx lay sprawled on his side, struggling to sit up in the middle of the cargo hold.
“I assume your piloting skills need finer tuning.” Coal laughed.
“The sensors are incorrect,” Onyx hissed, sitting on his ass on the deck. He glared at both of them. “You knew and didn’t tell me. You had no right to do that. I’m ordering you to return to the Star.”
Coal’s humor died. “You had no right to stare at Jill’s body the way I caught you doing. If you believe you are going to get an opportunity to be alone with her, you are wrong. You also have no authority to give me orders.”
Onyx stood. “I heard you were damaged but you’re insane as well.”
Coal took a step closer to the other cyborg. “I saw the way you stared at her breasts and I didn’t misread your offer for me to pilot the shuttle as an excuse to give you the ability to be alone with Jill.”
Shock had kept Jill frozen at Coal’s sudden outburst until he moved again, his intent to attack clear. She lunged, grabbed hold of his waist to block him from going after the other cyborg, and clung to him.
“Calm down,” she ordered him.
Coal continued to glare at the other cyborg but he didn’t attempt to remove her from his path to the other cyborg. Jill turned her head, glaring at Onyx.
“You’ve got permission to stay on my shuttle but get out of my cargo hold now. You can stay somewhere else.”
Onyx glared at Jill. “You don’t give me orders, female.”
She clenched her teeth and focused on Coal. “Hey.”
He looked down at her, still enraged, and said, “He wants to touch you. He’s attracted to you.”
He’s jealous, she realized. It stunned her but then warmth flooded her in all the good ways. “You need to calm down. Let’s take a walk together since he won’t leave.”
Coal took a deep breath. “Fine.” His body relaxed but only slightly. He glared at Onyx again. “You stay away from Jill. She isn’t interested in intercourse with you.”
“How would you know?” Onyx’s tone turned cold. “I’ve cataloged all entries stored in the ship’s logs and she has few communications with males, none of them of a personal nature, and logic states she has no male in her life to tend to her basic needs.”
“I’m the only male she’ll allow to touch her.”
Okay, Jill thought, understanding that Coal obviously didn’t have a problem letting the other guy know they were getting it on. She tugged at him. “Let’s go to my quarters.”
Coal nodded and drew his heated gaze from the now-mute cyborg. Coal took her hand and headed for the door of the cargo hold. Jill had to jog to keep up.
They didn’t talk until the doors to her room securely closed behind them. Coal stopped by the bed, released her hand, and spun to face her. He still looked pretty angry.
“He wants to put his hands on you. Cyborgs have basic needs, there are no unattached females traveling with them, and you are not to be alone with him, Jill. He will attempt to seduce you into agreeing to allow him to take you to bed.”
“You’re jealous,” she informed him softly.
Some of his anger s
eeped out. “I believe I am. I feel rage over him wanting to touch you and possessive of you at the same time.” He took a deep breath, his broad chest expanding. “I have felt possessive of you before but this is stronger.”
Jill bit her lower lip and then stepped forward. “What else do you feel?”
“I didn’t wish to leave you. I’m…relieved we are together still. My chest began to ache painfully when I believed I wouldn’t see you again.”
Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back but more surfaced.
“I don’t mean to upset you. Have I made you feel sadness? I know I’m damaged and unable to control the ability to suppress emotions.”
“Not all tears are from negative emotions.”
“Which ones would cause tears that are positive?”
Jill hesitated. “Relief, happiness, just to name a few.”
“Why would you feel those things when I say I don’t want to leave you?”
“I don’t want to say goodbye to you either.” She reached out for him, cupping his face, and drew it closer to hers. “I’m going to miss you desperately when you leave me.”
Surprise flickered on his handsome face and then his lips were on hers. His tongue delved inside, sweeping across hers. Two hands gripped her and her feet left the floor slowly while Coal lifted her higher up his body to align their faces better, to deepen the kiss.
Longing and passion swamped Jill. Her hands slid from his cheeks to his throat and then her arms wrapped around him tightly, clinging. Coal turned them and then her back gently bumped the wall. He adjusted his hold on her until he held her weight with one arm around her waist. His free hand tore at the fastening of her pants, opened them, and then shoved them down her dangling legs.
It wasn’t easy—she was concentrating on his kisses—but she wiggled her hips and kicked enough to help him get them down her legs. Her boots slipped off her feet when he stepped on the material and then jerked her higher to free her of everything. Jill automatically locked her thighs around his hips. The arm around her back moved under her ass, pushing her higher until she knew she dampened his belly from the proof of how turned on he made her. A moan tore from her throat as she rubbed her spread pussy against his skin, eager to feel him touching her there, not caring what part of him did. The sound of material tearing barely registered.
The arm shelving her ass adjusted her lower body and then she moaned loudly against his driving tongue when Coal’s thick, hard cock nudged the lips of her sex, sliding a little on the soaked need there, before he drove home. The feel of him entering her pussy, stretching her, and filling her had her crying out. Their lips parted, both of them panting, and their gazes locked.
“I want you more than anything I’ve ever desired,” Coal growled. “You are what I imagine pure joy is when I am with you.”
“I feel the same,” she admitted, not caring at that moment if he realized she loved him.
She used her arms, braced on his shoulders, to lift a little and then drop, taking more of his cock until she felt completely impaled by him. They both softly groaned at the feeling of him that deep inside her, her vaginal muscles gripping him tightly. Coal took over then, pinned her tighter to the wall, and started to drive up inside her. His powerful body held her still while his hips thrust hard and deep, creating intense ecstasy as they clung to each other, their gazes fused. It built into pure frenzy.
“Come for me,” Coal snarled. “I can’t hold off.”
He pounded harder, faster, wilder, and the rapture of the rapid friction their bodies shared became too much. Jill’s eyes closed, unable to keep them open anymore, her mouth parted, and she threw her face against the curve of his chest where it met his shoulder. Her teeth sank into his skin. His entire body started to violently shake and that did it for Jill. She screamed out when raw pleasure tore through her body, her mind shutting down from overload. She heard Coal shout her name, his body nearly crushing her against the wall, and they both trembled together until everything stilled but their pounding hearts and heavy breathing.
He eased Jill away from the wall, still holding her tightly, their bodies still linked, and backed up. He reached behind him where her legs wrapped around his hips and lifted them a little higher then he slowly sat on the bed with her on his lap.
“Jill?”
She licked her lips, opened her eyes, and saw a red mark on his skin where she’d left teeth impressions. “I’m so sorry.” She jerked back to stare at him in shock. “I didn’t mean to bite you.”
A wide grin spread across his striking face. “I enjoyed it.”
Truth shone in his incredibly sexy gaze. She smiled. “That was amazing.”
“Jill?” He took a deep breath. “Come with me.”
“I just did.” She grinned.
Amusement sparked in his gaze and his arms tightened around her, hugging her. “I mean when this is over I want you to remain with me. I enjoyed my time in space with my fellow cyborgs but I miss being on a planet. I wish to return to the one where my people have made a new home and I want you to go with me.”
Her breath caught as understanding hit. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.
“Did you hear me? Will you at least consider it? There’s room on the Star to keep your Jenny to transport it to my planet, Garden. You don’t have to give up your shuttle or your droids. If you don’t wish to live in space anymore we, my people, have settled on a planet comparable to Earth. If you wish to remain in space I would agree to do that as well. As long as we remain together it doesn’t matter where we are.”
So many thoughts and emotions crowded her mind that it left her speechless. Most of all she had to fight the urge to burst into tears. He wanted to stay with her! Pure joy filled her and she opened her mouth to tell him yes.
“Think about it, Jill.” He gave her a tense smile. “Do not answer me right now. We both need time to carefully weigh all our options and make certain this is what we both want. In a few days we’ll discuss this again when the idea of staying together isn’t so new.”
She hoped he wasn’t reconsidering asking her. She forced air into her lungs, silently praying he hadn’t just asked her to share a life with him in the heat of the moment after awesome sex. If he changed his mind it would tear her apart inside. A few days to think on it for both of them probably would be the smart thing to do and Coal’s cyborg mind probably needed that time to be certain of his decision.
“Okay.”
The speaker in her room made a crackling noise and then Onyx’s voice sounded. “Jill? Flint wishes you to come send a communication to your contact on Earth. He spoke to the council and they feel it’s important to set this plan in motion before we reach the edge of Earth’s solar system. They ran the odds and believe it’s better to avoid extra days that Councilman Zorus might be tortured.”
She smiled at Coal, wiggling on his lap. “Okay. I’ll meet you in the piloting station in about five minutes. I take it you want to monitor everything I say?”
“Affirmative,” Onyx replied. “Money isn’t an issue and you are cleared to offer as much of it as you believe will get the job done.”
“Awesome. Cut the coms and I’ll see you in five.”
The speaker clicked again. Coal’s features hardened. “How dangerous is this?”
She hesitated. “I’ve dealt with David, my supplier, half a dozen times. I wouldn’t turn my back on him but he’s never tried to screw me.”
Anger flashed on his handsome face. “He better not attempt to share intercourse with you.”
Laughing, Jill wiggled again, separating their bodies, and got to her feet. “Not that kind of screwing. He’s never tried to kill me or not give me a shipment of goods I paid for. That’s what I meant. Let’s get cleaned up and make this communication call.”
Coal nodded. “I need to send a communication of my own.” He fingered the torn material on his pants. He’d obviously ripped them open rather than taking the time to unfasten them when he’d been ea
ger to fuck her. “This was the last pair of pants I could fit into. I need to request clothing be sent to me.”
Jill laughed. “I have some stretchy sweatpants you could wear.” Her gaze paused on his chest. “But none of my shirts would fit you. I’m kind of glad about that.”
“You don’t wish me to stretch out your shirts? My upper body is quite larger than yours.”
“No. I just enjoy seeing your sexy chest.” She winked, moving toward the corner cleansing foam unit. “Our minutes are ticking by. Come on. It will be a tight fit but we can share. It will be faster.”
Coal didn’t move to join her. “If I go into that small space with you naked I will take you again.”
Jill’s body responded instantly. “I don’t care if Onyx has to wait a little longer for us to show up to make that call.”
“Flint would mind. I don’t want him believing me being with you is interfering with his mission. He could order us apart until it is over.”
That killed the lust that had sparked in Jill. “The pants are in the lowest drawer in the corner. I’ll hurry.” She spun away, vowing to take the fastest cleansing of her life. No way did she want Flint ordering Coal to return to the Star.
Chapter Ten
“Coal, I’ve come to a decision,” she said softly, meeting his gaze over the air cleaner module he worked on.
His gaze lifted, met hers. “I want you to be certain. We had this discussion two days ago when you said you had an answer for me. You have many things to consider. It’s an emotional risk as well and I demand you take more time before you make such a life-altering decision.”
Frustration rose. “Damn it, Coal. I keep trying to tell you―”
“Give it more time. I don’t want to rush you.”
“But―”
“Jill,” he cut her off again. “I demand you take this time to consider it very carefully to avoid rushing into a decision you may later regret.”
“Have you changed your mind about wanting me in your life long term?”