Chapter 21 #2
Xavier and I move away from the bar and settle against the wall, the bass line thumping beneath our feet.
I watch the crowd, spotting Mako, Saint, and Neema chuckling over something Mako is saying.
Nearby, Henley is dancing with a brunette, her body melting into his.
Gray and Karra are wrapped up together, too, lips locked as they move together to the music.
Xavier pokes me in the arm. “I feel like I should ask you to dance, but I don’t want to.”
I burst out in laughter. “Then don’t.”
“But I should.” He gives me a sour look before taking a swig of glenshade. “I’m not the loser at the party, Darlington. I refuse to be banished to the sidelines like a ’fe—” He cuts himself off.
“ ’Fect?” I supply, smiling innocently at him.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” he grumbles, but his face is sheepish. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I’ll just add it to my bad-habit list, under sex addiction and bloodlust.”
“Darlington,” someone calls.
I turn to see Adrienne weaving through the crowd. Her bright-red hair is hard to miss, even in the darkness. The man behind her, on the other hand, almost slips past my notice. Wearing all black, he blends right into the shadows.
Tension thickens the air when they reach us. Jasper eyes me with intrigue, a dark smirk playing at the corners of his lips. I eye him right back, because I’m curious about him. The infamous smuggler the Command hasn’t been able to nail down.
“Jasper Reed, Wren Darlington,” Adrienne introduces. “Wren’s new to the Dagger. She was undercover with Silver Elite before she came here.”
Jasper looks impressed as he continues to examine me. “You made it into Elite? Those fuckers are tough.”
“Damn right,” rumbles Xavier, drawing the smuggler’s attention.
“And this,” Adrienne says irritably, “is Second Lieutenant Ford. Silver Elite.”
“I’m the prisoner,” Xavier supplies, then slugs back some glenshade.
Jasper’s smirk deepens. “Brother, if your prison consists of good booze and hot women, you should probably count your blessings.”
I’m eager to know more about Reed. For example, how the hell does this man wield so much power that he’s granted air transport and direct access to the Uprising’s top-secret base?
But he and Adrienne don’t linger. Disappointment lodges in my chest as I watch them stride off.
Xavier is watching, too, pursing his lips before turning to frown at me. “I’d fuck them both.”
I snort. “Why do you look so upset by that?”
“Because she’s a quat and he’s a cocky asshole.”
“So? I feel like that would only make the sex better.”
“Good point.”
He drinks some more glenshade, then passes me the bottle. I take a long swig and pass it back, and we do that for a while, slowly draining the bottle until we’re both thoroughly buzzed. We’re not the only ones, I notice, as people around us begin shedding more and more inhibitions.
I catch a shadowy glimpse of Adrienne and Jasper in the far corner, his hands on her ass, his lips exploring her neck.
When Gray returns, I poke him in the side. “Are they together?” I say in his ear.
He follows my gaze, his white teeth gleaming in the darkness. “Nah. Jas isn’t the monogamous type. Neither is Ade. I think they just enjoy each other whenever he’s here.”
They’re enjoying each other, all right. Jasper has her against the wall now. One of her legs is hiked up on his hip as he kisses the curve of her neck.
My eyes track the motion of Jasper’s hand. He traces the line of Adrienne’s jaw. His other hand tightens in her red hair. He brings her head to his, his lips finding hers.
I quickly look away, feeling like I’m intruding on something private.
Before I can stop myself, I nudge Cross’s mind, suddenly desperate to hear his voice. But when he links, it’s with a distracted voice.
“Hey. I can’t really talk, Dove.”
“Everything all right?”
“I’m trying to convince my brother that teaming up with the Continent’s capitalists is a shit idea. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.”
“You’ll fill me in, huh?”
I can feel him laughing at me. “If you’re trying to flirt, you can do better than that.”
“I miss your dick. Better?”
There’s a choked sound. “You’re going to pay for that.”
He’s gone before I can respond, and I’m back to people-watching and deciding whether to leave.
If Tana were here with me, we wouldn’t be against a wall, watching others enjoy themselves. She’d pull me into the crowd, into the sweat and heat and buzzing electricity.
Instead I’m standing witness to it all. All these raw, unguarded moments at the Dagger.
My gaze slides back to the corner of the cave, and my breath catches in my throat.
Jasper is pulling Adrienne deeper into the shadows, their bodies flush with each other.
His fingers are back in her hair. Guiding her down but not forcing her.
She sinks to her knees, and I gulp hard and wrestle my gaze away.
Xavier and I are drunk as we stumble back to our quarters. He’s bare-chested for some reason, but neither of us can agree on what happened to his shirt. He claims Gray stole it, but that seems wrong.
When we reach the door, he grabs my arm, his eyes full of misery. “No, don’t make me go in there yet. I spend all my time in there. Let’s finish that somewhere else.”
I look at the half-empty bottle of glenshade I’m holding. “You’re right. We need to finish this before we turn in.”
“This is why we’re best friends.”
“We’re not best friends.” I plow forward. “Come on, I want to show you something cool.”
I grab his hand and drag him down the hallway toward the air lock that leads out to the Ledge.
“Nice,” Xavier says, admiring the view.
The stars are so bright tonight, providing ample light for us to walk along the wide ledge and find a spot for us to sit. When he stumbles slightly, I grip his arm to steady him and force him to sit before he topples over the edge.
We’ve just made ourselves comfortable when the air lock hisses open and none other than Jasper Reed steps outside, a rolled cigarette dangling from his mouth. He’s shirtless and disheveled, and I don’t miss the way Xavier’s eyes rest briefly on his unbuttoned pants.
Jasper startles at the sight of us. “Party’s still going, you know.”
“We moved it out here.” Xavier tips the bottle and guzzles down some more glenshade.
A lighter hisses, and the orange flame reflects in Jasper’s eyes. A moment later, the minty scent of euca travels toward us. It smells stronger than usual.
Xavier notices, too. “Is that synthetic?”
“Pure.” Jasper takes a deep pull, then steps closer, holding out the joint.
After a beat, Xavier accepts it and brings it to his lips. He coughs as he exhales.
Jasper chuckles. “Has a kick, doesn’t it?”
When Xavier offers me the joint, I shake my head. I’ve never been into drugs, neither herbal nor chemical.
“How did you get the pure shit?” Xavier asks the other man.
“I’m Jasper Reed.”
“Well aware. We compiled an entire dossier on you.”
“ ‘Well aware,’ ” Jasper mimics. “In fact, I just spent the whole night asking Adrienne why I shouldn’t slit your throat. You and your Command have been messing with my enterprise for years.”
Xavier cocks his head, smirking. “Didn’t seem like you and Adrienne were doing much talking.”
“Well, first we did other things—many times—and then we talked about why I shouldn’t slit your throat. She thinks you might be useful, but the Tribunal’s still out on that one.” Jasper’s curious gaze slides toward me. “What’s your story, Wren?”
Something about the way he says my name makes me uneasy. “I don’t have one.”
“Oh, I highly doubt that. Everyone has a story. And I have a feeling yours is quite eventful.” He sucks on the joint, then passes it back to Xavier. “How are you liking the Dagger?”
“It’s great,” I say at the same time Xavier moans, “Fucking boring.”
I grin at Jasper. “The lieutenant is used to excitement. He misses the action.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Jasper drawls. “Action gets your blood pumping. That, and sex.”
“He misses that, too,” I quip.
Xavier jabs me in the side. “I already told you, it only takes one. One person’s gonna warm up to me. I guarantee it.”
“You’re Command. No one here is going to touch your dick.”
Jasper snorts loudly.
I can feel the minty eucalyptus scent starting to fog my brain, so I force my wobbly legs to stand up. “All right,” I tell Xavier. “Now the party’s over.”
To my surprise, he stays put. Propped back on his elbows, long legs dangling over the edge. “I’ll be in soon.”
“I don’t know if the air lock will work with your print,” I remind him.
Jasper gives a careless shrug. “It’s fine. I’ll get him back to you.”
My eyes narrow.
“What?” he says.
“Please don’t kill him.”
That gets me another snort.
“I mean it,” I say. “You just spoke about slitting his throat. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and find out he went over the edge.”
“I promise you, Wren Darlington. The lieutenant will be alive when you wake up tomorrow.”
Xavier glances up at me with a grin. “Hey, if this fucker tries to push me off this Ledge, I’m taking him down with me.”
Whatever. I’m too tired to argue. Besides, it doesn’t seem like Jasper wants to mess with Xavier, so I leave them to their own devices and go back inside.
I’m turning the corner when I hear giggling.
Karra.
She and Gray are at his door, and she’s all over him, her lips exploring his neck while her fingers attempt to undo his pants.
“No,” I hear him mumbling. “Too drunk…No way I’m getting it up tonight.”
She keeps kissing him, but even in his drunken haze, he manages to move her hand.
“Good night, KC.”
“Fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” She stands on her tiptoes and gives him one last kiss before flouncing off to her own quarters.
I stand at the end of the hall, watching Gray spend a full minute trying to scan his thumb so he can unlock his door.
“You okay there?” I finally call out.
“Cowgirl,” he moans when he spots me. “I’m locked out.”
“You’re not locked out.”
Grinning, I walk over to him. When I take his hand, he tries to lace our fingers together.
“Stop that,” I chide.
I isolate his thumb from his fist and press it firmly against the keypad. The door buzzes open, and his green eyes brighten.
“Oh, I love you. Thank you.” He stumbles into his room, jolting when he realizes I’ve followed him inside. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you find your bed. How much glenshade did you drink?”
“I feel like it might have been a lot.”
He takes a step toward the bedroom and trips over his own feet.
“You’re a disaster,” I say, quickly wrapping my arm around his waist to support him. I urge him forward.
“You’re a disaster,” he shoots back.
“Well, sure, but at least I can stay upright.”
The smile he flashes me is a little lopsided. “Uprighted is overrated. Uprighted, I mean. Upright. Up-right.”
Drunk Grayson is fun.
I guide him into his room, my body lilting to the left as he sags against me. “You’re a lot heavier than you look,” I inform him.
“Are you saying I’m fat?”
“No, I’m saying you’re heavy. Pilots shouldn’t have this many muscles.”
“Pilots should have all the muscles.”
Laughing, I half carry him to his bed. He sways on his feet again, and I give him a gentle shove until he falls back onto the mattress.
He blinks up at me, eyes a little glassy. His gaze lingers, as if he’s trying to memorize something in my face.
“You’re fucking beautiful.”
My breath catches in my throat.
“Oh. Thanks,” I say lightly. “You should get some sleep.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and unlace his boots, then pull them off. I don’t dare reach for his pants. Instead, I make him lift his ass so I can drag the blanket out from under him. I drape it over him and lean forward, pushing hair away from his forehead.
“Get some sleep. You’re gonna feel like shit in the morning.”
I’m straightening up when his hand shoots out, curling around my cheek. His eyes lock with mine, in perfect focus even as he operates through a drunken haze.
“Beautiful,” he mutters. “But that’s not why.”
“Not why what?” Damn it, why am I even entertaining this? He’s too drunk, and he’s going to regret every word in the morning.
He leans in as if he’s about to impart some kernel of deep wisdom. “Not why I want you…” He’s slurring his words again. “…want you because you’re you…”
The drunken confession lingers in the air. I try to ignore the fluttering in my chest. It’s accompanied by a pang of discomfort and a racing heart, because I know I should put an end to this.
“You have a girlfriend, ace. And I can promise you, she won’t like what you’re saying right now. So…” I tuck the blanket around him. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear it.”
His hand drops from my face as he settles back against the pillows.
“Okay,” he mumbles. “I can pretend, too.”