5. Molly
5
MOLLY
T he strange weight of Glitch’s new home sat uncomfortably on my left arm. Looking up at Karnac, I chewed on my lip, suddenly afraid. What happened if I switched Glitch on and got only static? Or, perhaps worse, a crippled version of him, enough of him left to recognize but not enough to function?
The temptation to leave things alone, to leave the box shut, was very real. He’d be Schrodinger’s Glitch, perpetually half alive and half dead.
Only one way to find out which is true, I told myself. The activation button clicked under my thumb and a hiss of static surrounded me for a moment. My heart fell when it failed to resolve into Glitch.
Karnac barked a laugh, and before I could wheel on him for being so insensitive, I felt a strange weight on my head. A pressure, rather — the forcefield generator giving a hologram the illusion of touch.
“Glitch?” I breathed the question, not yet ready to believe. “Glitch get down from there, let me see you.”
He leaped towards the workbench, vanished halfway there, and reappeared a moment later, sitting neat as you please beside my soldering station.
“Glitch, you’re okay.” I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders. He looked up, staticky eyes seeming to say, ‘why wouldn’t I be?’
“I thought I’d lost you.” My paralysis broke and I rushed to the workstation, giving Glitch ear-skritches and whispered endearments. He sat straight, dignified, allowing me to make a fool of myself over him. As a cat, he was supremely unbothered by the attention. Obviously. How could anyone accuse him of loving it?
Karnac’s hand landed on my shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin. I’d all but forgotten that I wasn’t alone with Glitch until the Prytheen pirate reminded me he was there.
“Thank you,” I said, turning to face him. Golden eyes stared back at me with an intensity that made me tremble. I ought to thank him with more than just words, some part of me thought.
The horny part, of course.
Admittedly, standing this close to Karnac, ‘the horny part’ was most of me.
“I am glad he is well,” Karnac said, tactfully ignoring my state if he noticed it at all. “He is my friend too, isn’t that right, Glitch?”
Reaching past me, arm brushing mine, he stroked Glitch who nodded and rolled over to have his tummy scratched.
The slight touch, arm against arm, sent a blazing flash of need through me, reinforcing my need for his touch and more. I really ought to thank him properly.
No , I told myself. No way. Sure, I’m grateful, but we don’t fuck for a debt. I am not that kind of woman.
But for Karnac, I just might be.
The choice was taken out of my hands by Glitch meowing an urgent message alert. I frowned and cursed my indecision, wishing I’d made up my mind before the moment passed.
“Okay Glitch, give it to me.”
“Priority message. For Molly King. Do you accept?” The automated voice sounded bored, and above Glitch’s head, the same message scrolled past in English, Galtrade, Russian, and Chinese.
“Yes, that’s me,” I answered, curious and worried. I’d never seen this feature before, and it sounded ominous.
Allison’s face appeared, eyes narrow and lips tight, glaring into the camera. The contrast with her bright pink lipstick was almost funny, but only almost. “Molly. Since you’re not answering your comm, I’m using the priority alert system to make sure you get this. I’ve left several messages already.”
“Whatever urgent message she’s got, it sounds like she’s more annoyed by me ignoring her,” I muttered. “And thanks, you know, for being worried about me when you couldn’t reach me for hours.”
“I’ve received a complaint. An official complaint. Harmon says that you attacked him, and he has the injuries as proof.” The view widened out, and there he stood. Harmon’s face was bandaged, and his little eyes stared hatefully out of the hologram. I winced. Yeah, that doesn’t look good. “You must provide your own statement at once so that I can complete my investigation of this incident.”
The worst thing was that Allison had no reason to listen to my explanation, and every right to send me back to the Joint Colony. Which would leave her free to pursue Karnac.
From the angry rumble beside me, I didn’t think she had much chance there, but knowing Allison, she’d see the chance to get rid of a rival as a definite gain.
“So,” the hologram continued, focusing back on Allison. “When you get this, contact me immediately. I’ve included a location request; once you open this message, remain where you are. I will come to you.”
“That’s not good,” I muttered as the hologram started over from the beginning. A gesture from me and Glitch shut it off. “She’s probably on her way here already. What are we going to do?”
“Tell the truth,” Karnac answered. “You were not at fault here, and you didn’t give Harmon his injuries. We tell her what really happened and if she is even slightly honest, any punishment will land on me.”
“But you didn’t do anything wrong either.”
“True.” His lip quirked into a smile that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter. “It doesn’t matter, though. I stepped in to protect you from Harmon, and I kept you safe from him. Now I can stand between you and a different sort of harm.”
“You don’t have to. I can take my lumps.” The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt for me. He’d already done so much for me. But he shook his head.
“If she convicts you of this, you will be sent away. Neither of us want that. If she blames me, though, she won’t be able to send me away, not when Auric sent me up here. I’ll get shouted at, probably. What more can she do to me?”
I chuckled unwillingly. “She’ll be so pissed.”
Before we could say more, the door slid open and Allison strode into the maintenance bay, followed by Harmon. He hung back, glowering suspiciously at Karnac and rubbing his bandaged face.
“Allison,” I started, but she didn’t give me time to speak.
“What the fuck, Molly? I don’t know what you were thinking, I really don’t.” Hands on her hips, she projected her voice to fill the room. Not shouting exactly, but as close as I’d ever seen her get. In person it wasn’t funny at all, the little pink whirlwind of rage glaring at me from a pace away. “Why did you attack Harmon, you idiot? We need him, you know how few people we have with any on-camera experience.”
I’m not sure that appearing as a second-string archer in Robin Hood is that much preparation for hosting news shows.
“He attacked me,” I said, answering the more important issue. “I left the party, I was on my way back to my room, when he caught up to me and started threatening me. He laid hands on me first, and if it hadn’t been for Karnac finding us, I don’t know how far Harmon would have gone.”
“Lies,” Harmon said. “Damned lies. You can’t believe this self-serving bullshit, Allison.”
“Accuse her of lying again, sthec, and I will tear out your deceitful tongue,” Karnac growled. “Molly tells the truth.”
Sweet, bless his alien heart, but not smart. Threatening our accuser didn’t exactly look innocent. Still, I had to admit watching Harmon’s face blanch was probably worth the cost.
Allison massaged the bridge of her nose and looked at the three of us. “Okay. Fine. This is what we’re going to do. There’s no evidence for either story, but with Karnac and Molly agreeing, I have to lean their way.”
“Preposterous,” Harmon shouted loud enough to shake the room, or at least that’s what it felt like. “Allison, you know I would never?—”
“Harmon, shut up,” Allison glared at him and he fell silent. “I’m not saying they’re right, just that they’re more likely to be. If I was anywhere near certain, I’d ship you back to the Colony for Captain Joyce to deal with.”
This was a side of her I’d not seen before, and I had to suppress a grin. Apparently, there was a limit to what she’d accept from her boyfriends.
On her shoulder, Tulla the pink tarantula hissed at Harmon too before whispering something in his human’s ear. Allison calmed with a visible effort, taking a deep breath, holding it, and letting it out. She turned back to face me.
“Here is what we’ll do. All of you submit statements about what happened to me. I’ll send them down to the Captain’s office and we’ll see what she thinks. In the meantime, you three keep things professional between you.”
“You want me to work with him?” My voice wasn’t as calm and collected as I’d expected, more of an outraged squawk. At the same moment, Karnac growled his defiance of the idea.
“You won’t need to be alone with Harmon. In fact, we’ll make that official. The two of you are not to be in the same place if you can avoid it, and absolutely not anywhere alone.” Allison shook her head, pushed her hands through her hair, and shot Harmon a poisonous glare. “I’d send you back right now, but you’d break your fool neck on the way down. You’ve got until the next resupply flight to convince us to let you stay.”
“Ridiculous,” Harmon boomed back. “You need me, you need my shows. Who else is going to fill that space?”
“Old films?” Allison said. “People have donated plenty of them, it would be a shame not to use that resource.”
“Basic lessons in Prytheen,” Karnac put in. If he was denied the ability to kill Harmon, he could still embarrass him.
Harmon looked ready to hit someone. I almost wanted him to, just to see Karnac destroy him, this time with a witness. Perhaps realizing he couldn’t hope to win if he tried to fight, he turned and stalked away.
“You will regret this,” he boomed as the doors slid shut behind him.
“Now that’s the best joke he’s come up with in a while,” Allison said, turning back to us. Mostly to Karnac, really, and I officially did not like the way her eyes devoured him. Punching her would be easy, satisfying, and very stupid, so I restrained the urge.
“Thank you for listening to our side of the story,” I said, trying to keep the conversation where it belonged. Allison waved it off.
“I know some of you don’t like me, but I’m not a monster. Just because I’m,” she paused, trying out words for size, then continued, “friendly with Harmon doesn’t mean I’m blind to his flaws.”
You could have fooled me was the wrong response. I settled for a smile and a nod, hoping that would pass muster. I needn’t have worried — her attention was back on Karnac, only a little left for me, and that seemed focused on fashion.
“What are you wearing, Molly? That… bronze armband thing?”
“It’s a replacement housing for Glitch’s processor. He needed it after Harmon smashed the last one.”
Hearing his name, Glitch jumped down from the table. Twice, once after the other, as his image stuttered. Allison laughed and shook her head. “I really should insist that you junk that thing and get a new companion. Glitch is, well, it’s obviously not okay.”
After all the work we’d put into keeping Glitch with me, she wanted to recycle him? My jaw dropped and words failed me for an endless ten seconds.
“He’s my friend, not just an ‘it,’” I said, careful of my tone. It wasn’t easy, and anyone looking at me would see the rage in my tensed muscles and wide eyes. “I’m not going to get rid of a friend just because you say so.”
Allison looked ready to argue, her AI tarantula rearing up on her shoulder. Before she got a word in, though, Karnac stepped forward.
“As long as the being functions, it doesn’t matter, does it? Why waste time and expense when you have so many more important things to do?”
She blinked and nodded, caught off guard by his support. “I suppose you’re right. It’ll fail soon enough and then we can replace it. We’d have to wait for the supply run to bring up a spare, anyway.”
“True,” Karnac said, smiling at her. “You can afford to give it a few days.”
I fumed but tried to keep it quiet. Karnac had just saved Glitch again: Allison wouldn’t have listened to me, but the way she gazed at Karnac, of course he could wrap her round his little finger. Still, it hurt… just minutes ago we’d been locked in a passionate embrace, and now he was making eyes at Allison? Men!
I did my best to push it aside. It’s not like I had a claim on him, after all. What he did with anyone else was none of my business. Let the pirate fuck around, I didn’t care, I lied to myself.
He had the decency not to do anything right in front of me. Bidding Allison goodnight, he saw her to the door and slid it shut behind her.
After the fight, anger spread through the station fast. Too small a place for any rumor to stay contained for long, by morning everyone knew at least a version of the story and had picked sides.
I expect it was an uncomfortable situation to be in for everyone. For me, it was near-unbearable. The only thing that let me get through it was Harmon retreating to his studio and working away there. At first, he even ate in the studio, but after a day Allison tired of that and forbade anyone to take him food. “It’s not anyone’s job to fetch and carry for him. He can eat in there if he wants, but he’ll fetch his own food.
Karnac and I were back to an uneasy peace as we worked together in Maintenance. I’d tried to set a professional tone, but that proved tricky now that I knew what a good kisser he was.
I still sneaked peeks at him, admiring his muscles and the precision of his movements, remembering how swiftly he’d leaped to my defense. He sneaked peeks at me in return, hungry glances that tracked my curves, almost physical in their intensity. And every once in a while, worst of all, we sneaked looks at each other at the same time.
Then our eyes would meet, and the sheer power of his need, his desire, his lust struck like a hammer, knocking the breath out of me.
My own feelings had nothing to do with it. Nu-huh. Nope. I refuse to admit to the pent-up cauldron of lust I’d become since our kiss.
So when this happened, I’d quietly disengage. By which I mean, I’d get out as fast as possible, looking for something — anything — that needed work outside the maintenance bay. And that’s how I came to be outside, checking the transmitter grounding cables, when I noticed that something was wrong.
Squinting, I looked up at the antenna. “Glitch, is that cable dangling loose?”
The hologram cat appeared two feet from the ground and dropped. His glitching was worse after the repair, but I was glad nothing worse seemed to have happened to him.
He focused, projecting a hologram of what he saw. Yep, that was a dangling cable. Half of one, in fact, the other half caught in the antenna’s frame. I traced the line, swore, placed a call to Allison, swore again.
A small hologram appeared above my vambrace, Allison smiling her fake smile at me. “Well?”
What the fuck’s your problem? I wanted to ask, but I stuck with the much safer topic of a near disaster.
“Something’s chewed through the transceiver cabling,” I said, wincing at the look of incomprehension on her face. Whatever brief alliance we’d had, it faded faster each time we talked. “It’s… Okay, it sends power and messages up to the transceivers, and the setup is a bit unorthodox. We had to bodge it together to get it to work at all. If you power up to talk to the Joint Colony, probably the circuit will fry.”
“No messages from the Joint Colony?” Allison frowned. “That’s not good. How long will it take to replace the cable?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed deep. “You remember when I said our number five cabling had disappeared and we needed to ask for more? And you said it would keep, we had more urgent supplies to order?”
“Oh. Oh no.”
“Yep. This is what we need number five cabling for.”
She didn’t curse. Just barely, she didn’t curse. I saw it in the tension around her eyes, the way her fake smile froze. The pause where she stayed silent before speaking.
“Well. That’s inconvenient. We can still call down, though? Ask for some as soon as possible.”
I didn’t roll my eyes. No one would ever know the heroic effort I spent not to. Number five cabling carried both signal and power to the transceivers, and I’d told Allison that more than once.
“You’d have to do it through the main antenna, broadcast the message for everyone to see. Our contact with the Wandering Star runs through the transceivers.”
“… there’s no other way?” Allison hadn’t interrupted scheduled programming once since she arrived, it was like an obsession. Using a broadcast slot to ask for more resources would horrify her, so I took pity.
“I’ll see if Karnac has any ideas to add. Maybe there’s some Prytheen technology he can use to replace the damaged cabling.”
The tension in Allison’s expression relaxed, just a fraction, and she let out a long sigh. “Yes. That’s an excellent idea, Molly, I’m sure he’ll be able to sort something out.”
Great. Talked myself into it. I’ll have to work with the Prytheen again. No running away this time. The worst part was how much I wanted to, no matter how much my conscious mind protested. It was an excuse to spend time with him, one that no one could fault. Not even me.
Cutting the connection to Allison, Glitch called up the maintenance bay instead. A voice only channel opened up almost instantly.
“Karnac,” he said, voice gruff, his name bitten off as though he resented every wasted microsecond.
“I need some help,” I said, about to explain. Over the comm I heard the clatter of a chair knocked over.
“On my way,” Karnac said, voice already faint with distance. Before I could object, I saw him racing out into the snow and running my way.
How did he know where I was? The fixed comm in the maintenance bay didn’t give any location data, but he’d found me in seconds. An oddly comforting feeling, knowing he could find me quickly if I needed him.
Don’t. You don’t need him, this is just work. Any colleague would do. Even as I thought that, I knew I was lying to myself. If I imagined Amy turning up to help instead… no. Not the same, not even slightly.
While I struggled with my feelings, Karnac leaped up to join me in a single swift motion. A jump, then a grab at the edge of the roof, and he swung up to land before me.
I tried not to stare, but wow. Pulling myself together, I did my best to focus on why I’d called him.
To get close to that gorgeous body. No. Stupid brain. Important maintenance work came first.
“Look up there, see the severed cable?” I said at last, face flushing. How long had I stood in silence, looking at him? At least he didn’t tease me about it, just looked up where I pointed and nodded.
“We don’t have a spare,” I continued. “And, um, I wondered if you had any Prytheen tricks that would work?”
Scowling and shielding his eyes from the sun, he considered the problem, then shook his head. “I don’t know. The cable might be patchable, but it’s a mess and I don’t know the specifications. I’ll take a closer look.”
I swear I was about to stop him. The words were there, on the tip of my tongue, and then he shrugged off his leather coat and I had a view of those muscles again. Every thought went out of the window, all I wanted was to run my hands over his back, feeling scars and muscle and strength.
Biting my lip, I resisted that temptation and watched him leap up, catch a handhold, and pull his way up the aerial mast. Metal creaked and groaned under his weight, but he had a good feel for what would bear his weight.
Watching from below, I marveled at the view. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I tried not to stare, but who could resist Karnac’s muscular legs and ass? Not me. Not when he wore nearly skin-tight pants.
As he reached the severed cable, he looked down at me and grinned. My cheeks burned as he caught me staring and I tore my gaze away.
Above, Karnac laughed. Not mocking me, just amused, but it still stung.
“Hey, asshole, what’s so funny? It’s not like I don’t catch you staring at me.” I snapped, but he only laughed harder.
“Of course I stare at you, beautiful,” he called down. “I have never seen anyone more worth staring at than you. It’s simply nice to know you feel the same about me.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered, but Prytheen hearing was better than I thought. The comment set him off laughing again, and I couldn’t help smiling a little, too. Which didn’t stop me from making a rude gesture up at him.
“So what do you see up there? Can you do anything?”
He turned back to the cable and examined it. Sighed. “Something did a rough job on this. None of the edges are neat, so even if I have Prytheen equivalents, matching them up might not be possible. It would certainly not be fast. Do you not have spares?”
I sighed, shook my head. “We should have a spare reel of the stuff, but it’s missing. Along with a bunch of other stuff. It’s frustrating, and we can’t work out what’s happening.”
Karnac carefully tucked the ragged ends of the cable away, wrapping them around the aerial to keep them from causing any trouble. He used that as an excuse not to talk for a few seconds, before he turned back to me and frowned.
“That is concerning,” he said. “Things going missing without a sign, in an isolated place like this? Someone must be taking them.”
“Or some thing,” I added. “There’s a story going round that a ghost haunts the station.”
“Humans are ridiculously superstitious. There’s a more reasonable explanation — one of the crew here is a thief.”
With that, he leaped from the antenna tower, landing in front of me. Right in front of me. Like, less than a foot away. Surprise made me squeak and jump back, my foot coming down on a patch of ice.
Three moments that followed are etched into my memory. The awful feeling as my foot skidded out from under me, sending me falling backward. The shock as muscular arms caught me, held me, slowed my fall. And last, most powerful, the joy and need Karnac’s touch filled me with.
Somehow, he twisted as we fell. Landed first with a loud thump, pulling me to him and cushioning my impact with his body.
His gorgeous, wonderful, sexy body.
I lay there, head resting on his torso, hearing the thumpTHUMP of his heartbeat. I wanted to be angry that he’d scared me like that, made me fall, but he’d also saved me.
And if a little fright was what it took to end up in Karnac’s arms, my body at least was happy to make that trade.
“Are you all right?” he asked, voice like a rumble of distant thunder. I swallowed, looked up along his body and met his golden gaze.
A mistake. A terrible mistake, at least if I wanted to keep a professional distance from Karnac. Looking into his eyes was like pouring gasoline on the flame of my lust. Whatever sound I made, it didn’t contain any coherent words.
Karnac frowned, blinked, looked away. I regained enough control to try words. “I’m fine. You saved me.”
“It was my fault you fell,” he admitted, looking down at me again. “I should not have?—”
I put a finger across his lips and he fell silent. “Shush. You saved me. Let’s focus on that bit.”
Maybe touching his lips was my mistake. Maybe it reminded me of how they felt when he kissed me. I bit my lip, frozen in place and unable to move from the spot, the memory slamming into me like a wrecking ball.
Karnac growled, low, hungry, and irresistible. Swinging me around, he pinned me to the snow-covered roof and kissed me hard.
The memory had been enough to dent the walls I’d raised around my heart. The actual kiss, though? It was as though he’d set off explosives, shattered the walls and sent the bits flying. I didn’t care anymore, what did it matter that he was Prytheen? What mattered was that he was here, now, the hero of the hour.
I arched my back, pressing my body against him, cursing the thick jacket between me and his chest. His tongue pressed to my lips, pushing past them pushing into my mouth as his rough hands explored my body.
Fuck. Okay. Just… disengage and stay professional… The thoughts drifted through the haze of need and desire my brain sank into. They made no difference, just noise in the background as I grabbed at him, alien skin strange to my fingers. I ran my hands down his flanks, to his tight leather pants, fumbling as I tried to work the alien fastenings.
“Not here,” he growled. “You will freeze.”
“Don’t care,” I said, or rather panted. Short of breath, I kept pulling. “Worth it.”
Ah! A catch came undone, his belt slid apart. As I opened his pants, I slipped a hand inside, exploring.
And oh my god. My fingers closed on a monster; a dick bigger than any I’d ever imagined. Ribbed, even, and hard as iron. I gasped and looked up at Karnac in wonder.
He groaned, his own self-control bleeding away as I caressed him. “Do not do that if you do not mean it.”
I meant it all right. Wholeheartedly, intensely, my urges overwhelming my brain’s weak objections. An empty ache inside me cried out for Karnac to fill it, to fill me. And none of me cared about the temperature.
Karnac’s breath caught as I stroked him slowly, and with a groan he grabbed my jacket, unzipped and spread it, kissing my neck, my shoulders, his sharp carnivore’s teeth scraping my skin deliciously. Cold air chilled me but didn’t discourage me — the warmth radiating from my Prytheen lover was more than enough to offset the chill of the breeze, made it into a delightful contrast.
Struggling to get my arms free of the jacket, panting, our breath forming a cloud around the two of us, we fought with our clothing. My shirt? Ripped open by alien claws, baring my body for him to kiss and bite and lick. His pants? I pushed them down, freed his cock, and it was even bigger than I’d thought. Huge. Intimidatingly huge, but also mouthwateringly huge.
With quick, sure motions he undid my pants and pulled them off. In his embrace I barely noticed the cold, and when he kissed his way down my neck, each kiss burned with a heat that spread through my body.
“Fuck,” I whispered as his teeth closed on my shoulder. I arched under him, reaching down and finding his cock again, stroking. Teasing him.
“Yes,” my alien lover said, voice rough with need. “Yes, my heart. FUCK.”
With those words he bit harder and I cried out, eyes rolling back as I shuddered under him. My grip on his cock tightened and he let out a gasp.
Panting, desperate to have him inside me, I guided him to my wet pussy. He let out a noise no human throat could match, somewhere between a growl and a purr, and thrust.
It was like being hit with a piledriver, if that piledriver were made of pure pleasure. His first thrust slammed into me, stretched me, drove me back into the roof. I shuddered, grasping at him, squeezing him inside me as he filled me so perfectly.
SLAM. He thrust again, pushing me back off my jacket, my shoulders hitting the snow. An intense contrast to the fire of Karnac’s passion above me, making me cry out again. Karnac slid a hand behind my head, the other under my ass, and lifted.
Standing up, he held me to him still impaled on his hard cock. The casual strength with which he supported me was just one more thing in his long list of amazingly hot attributes.
I held on tight, arms and legs wrapped around him, panting as our bodies pressed together and he lifted me higher. Higher. Until he’d almost lifted me off his cock. He held me there, suspended in his powerful arms, and then pulled me down again.
It’s possible that I saw the face of god. I’m certain I cried out for him.
Karnac didn’t let up, thrusting deep into me, holding me up with one hand as the other teased me, explored me. Claws grazed my back, and my heart raced. I clawed at his back too, scratching hard and driving him further into his wild frenzy of lust.
We panted together, our hearts racing at the same speed, and I felt my orgasm approaching like an oncoming tidal wave. I tried to say something to Karnac, but no words came, just little mewls of pleasure.
I’m sure he knew what I meant. Thrusting harder, more insistently, his growls louder and more urgent, he urged me on. And I felt him swell inside me, making me arch again, screaming into the icy mountain air.
As if that was a signal, his cock vibrated. And that was more than I needed to send me over the edge. I convulsed, pressing myself to him, the world dissolving into a pure bright light of ecstasy. For a moment that felt like it lasted forever, nothing existed apart from Karnac and me, and telling where one of us began and the other ended was impossible.
His howl of joy joined my scream, and he came powerfully inside me. His legs giving way, he lowered me down to the roof, cushioning my fall with his body as he landed in the snow.
Steam rose from our bodies as I collapsed onto his chest, kissing him and shaking as I came back to myself. So much tension gone, I felt relaxed for the first time since the Crash. So relaxed that my eyes drifted shut, head resting on his chest, lulled by his heartbeat. As I drifted into the dark of sleep, the last thing I felt was Karnac pulling his coat over me as a blanket, stroking my hair, and whispering something in Prytheen.