Chapter 19 #3
Ah, three of his security team were with Aurina.
Two men and a woman. The men had muscled builds that screamed “ex-military” and the woman was tiny, with a mass of dark curls.
She danced along with one of the men, laughing hard as she did, then she spun away.
The other man grabbed her hand and spun her around in some intricate dance steps.
Then she and Aurina bumped hips, the woman’s rich, full-bodied laughter reaching all the way to the shadows.
“Some of your team?” Nissa asked.
Rynan made a murmur of assent. “They like to blow off steam when they can.” Then a smile tugged on his lips. “Here we go. Justyn’s about to liven up the dance floor. No idea where the guy got his moves.”
She spun…and saw the woman in the blue skirts was now dragging a feigning-reluctance Justyn onto the impromptu dance floor.
The two of them danced, not particularly closely, but they were smiling as they did. Their bodies brushed here and there as the jaunty music filled the air.
There it was again. That closeness, that intimacy.
An intimacy that was hers, dammit.
She looked at Rynan. “Sure you don’t want to join your team for a dance?”
“I’m sure. Think I’ll check in with our convoy members.”
And possibly the curvy blonde from one of the convoy ships who’d been watching him the entire time. Nissa saw Dare reclined on a blanket with two women beside him and the colonist from the ship shooting him hot glances every time she whirled past.
The Phoenix men were like black holes for women, drawing them in.
Well, Nissa damn well wasn’t going to flit around waiting for someone to notice.
She was taking what was hers.
She strode through the throng of revelers and onto the dance area. She tapped the Hydraen woman on the shoulder and smiled. “I’m cutting in.”
The woman grinned back. “You must be Nissa.”
Nissa blinked. “Ah…yes.”
“He’s been talking about you for nearly three years now. I feel like I know you. I’m Arlessa.”
“Hi.” Nissa raised her gaze to Justyn. He grinned and swiped a hand through his hair. Goddess, was that color in his cheeks?
“The kids are always retelling the stories Justyn’s told them about you.” Arlessa waved her hands around. “Captain Sander this, Captain Sander that.”
Now Nissa frowned. “Kids?”
Arlessa spun to face Justyn. “You haven’t told her?”
He shrugged. “We haven’t really had a chance?—”
Arlessa grabbed Nissa’s hand. “The man is a saint.”
A laugh burst out of Nissa. That was one word she’d never attached to Justyn Phoenix.
“Hey,” he grumbled.
The Hydraen rolled her eyes and smiled. “Okay, maybe not a saint. I run a small orphanage for abandoned and abused children. Justyn funds it.”
“Arlessa—”
“Shush.” She waved him off. “When I started the orphanage, I could only take in a few kids.” The woman’s smile dimmed for a second, but then it returned full force.
“Then Justyn here heard what I was doing, and he started giving me money. I’ve expanded, got more staff, taken in more kids.
Not just from Hydrae but from the surrounding planets.
And Justyn has a real soft spot for the teenaged boys, and helps me with them whenever he’s on-planet.
Without this man, there’d be a lot of kids without anyone to look out for them.
” Her gaze shifted between Justyn and Nissa.
“Well, I’m going to find my husband. Bye, Nissa. Have a wonderful evening.”
Justyn stood there, grinning at Nissa. “Hey.”
“Hi.” She flowed into his arms. “An orphanage, huh?”
“I do what I can to help.”
“You give all the money you make from smuggling to Arlessa and her kids.”
He leaned down and nipped her ear lobe. “Of course not.”
“Right, just most of it.” Would she ever discover all the facets of Justyn Phoenix?
“Like you said, I’m not a saint—” he nipped at her again “—and I’ve never been arrested for smuggling.”
The music changed, the cheerful beat giving way to something slower, with a heavy drum beat. Like a primal heartbeat.
Nissa looked over his shoulder and saw Arlessa sitting with a tall Hydraen man, her head resting on his shoulder. “I like Arlessa.”
“She’s a good friend.” He nuzzled Nissa’s neck, mouth hot against her skin. “But I don’t want to talk about anyone else now.”
She arched into those clever lips. “Okay.”
“Just you and me now, Nissa.”
Finally. As they moved to the beat, their bodies plastered against each other, she felt something click inside her. Like some missing piece had finally been found.
The music, that addictive beat, drummed deeper inside her. It fired her blood, pounding alongside the need she already felt for the man pressed against her.
“This is a Hydraen mating song.” Justyn wedged a thigh between hers and she barely swallowed a moan. His hands stroked over her bare back. “I love this top.” His hands dipped lower, cupping her buttocks.
Goddess, they must be putting on quite a show for the crowd, but she didn’t care. All that filled her mind was Justyn and the desire making her damp and needy.
His mouth traveled up her neck, nipped at her ear. “I have to be inside you. Now. We’ve waited long enough.” He dragged her off the dance floor and into the darkness.