Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The sound of Malin’s multi-tool striking metal echoed in the cargo hold.
Thank the stars Zayn had salvaged parts for the Infinitas in here that needed stripping down or she’d be going crazy.
They’d been on the bridge for twenty-four hours. For the first few hours, the hushed transit had seemed…relaxing.
Now it was excruciating.
The only thing saving her sanity was the familiar weight of her coveralls, the grease staining her fingers, and her work. Reaching over a section of engine, she grabbed a fuel filter and worked it back and forth until it came loose. She blew on it to dislodge some dust, then set it aside.
She wasn’t the only one feeling the strain. Niklas was brooding. Dathan was driving everyone nuts because he couldn’t sit still for longer than thirty seconds. Zayn was inundating BEll with diagnostics requests on the ship—which left BEll unhappy.
And Xander. Well, the others thought Xander was just fine.
Mal begged to differ.
She’d once been salvaging a crash site on an un-named jungle world in the Rico system. A monsoon storm had built up in just a few hours. The blue sky had gone from clear to churning with dark, boiling clouds in moments. Then the storm had hit with a ferocity that had shocked everyone.
She could sense the same with Xander. Something was brewing in him and if it broke...
She knew he was worried. About his friends, his brother, his planet. About this mission.
“Hey, BEll?”
“Hey, chickie,” the computer responded instantly. “How’re those parts coming along?”
“Fine. They’re keeping me…occupied.”
“Well, at least you picked something less likely to result in bloodshed.”
Mal stilled. “Care to explain that?”
“Dathan and Niklas decided to spar in the gym.”
The gym was a corner of the other cargo bay where Zayn had tossed some mats down. “Doesn’t sound too bad. Nik’s in a bad mood and I think everyone underestimates exactly what lies beneath the mild-mannered astro-archeologist. But Dathan’s sneaky.”
“Oh, they aren’t sparring each other.” BEll’s voice was dry. “They’re sparring with Xander.”
Mal’s hand froze. That was…not a great idea. Her thoughts spun before she drew in a breath. “They’re all big boys.” And secretly, she thought it might be good for Xander to blow off some steam.
As long as he didn’t kill one of her cousins.
She tensed again. Okay, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
She forced herself back to work on the parts.
She hit her thumb three times and scraped the side of her hand.
With a curse, she went to stick the throbbing digit in her mouth, but remembered the grease.
She grimaced and shook it instead. Not going to think about the men. Not going to worry about them.
“Mal!”
She jerked and her hand hit the side of her face. BEll sounded…panicked.
“What is it?”
“You need to get to the gym. Now!”
Mal was running before she realized it. Her tools clattered to the floor, and she hit the corridor at a sprint.
She slammed through the doors to the cargo bay housing the gym and skidded to a stop.
Xander had Dathan pinned to the wall with a forearm pressed against her cousin’s neck. Dathan was fighting hard, twisting and thrashing. His face was turning an alarming shade of red.
Niklas sat on a mat nearby, shaking his dazed head and cradling an arm.
After taking in a shaky breath, she moved forward slowly. “Xander?”
He didn’t respond.
Gathering her courage, she slipped between Xander and Dathan, pressing her hands to Xander’s chest. “Hey, let him go.”
Xander’s eyes were glowing bright green, the human side of him lost in his cyborg functions.
Rising up on her toes, she cupped his cheek, pressing her body in close to him. Even now, with a current of fear inside her, she loved the hard heat of him, the scent of healthy male sweat.
“Xander. Let him go.”
Xander released his hold. Dathan dropped to the ground, sucking in air.
“Go,” Mal said without looking away from Xander.
“Mal—” Dathan started coughing.
She waved at him and Nik with one hand. “Go. Now. I’ve got this.”
She felt their disagreement vibrating off them, but she continued to stare into Xander’s eyes. He stared back, head tipped to the side, studying her. The neon glow hadn’t faded yet.
Dathan whispered a curse, but she felt him move away.
“You’d better be right about this, Mal,” Nik said darkly.
Their footsteps echoed across the bay, then the door whooshed shut behind them.
“Xander.” She ran her fingertips over his eyebrow, then traced his cheekbone. “What happened?”
She thought—hoped—the neon faded just a little.
“Lost…control.” His voice was strained.
She smiled a little. “Yeah, I got that bit. Why?” Even if Dathan was taunting him, Mal knew it wasn’t Xander’s style to lose it.
The neon died away. He let out a shuddering breath. “My emotional filters…they’re in tatters. Burned out.”
She blinked, her hand clenching in his T-shirt. “What does that mean?”
“I’m completely inundated by feelings, emotions, everything.” He clamped one hand hard around her waist. The other he ran over his hair. “I’m feeling everything and it’s magnified. I’m not used to dealing with all the sensation. I usually feel nothing, or just the barest taste of it.”
She patted his cheek. “Is it so bad to feel?”
His hand whipped up and circled her wrist. “This is dangerous, Malin. I could hurt someone. I almost hurt Dathan.”
“But you didn’t.”
He lowered his head, nuzzled her neck. “I could hurt you. I’m stronger, can kill in a hundred different ways.”
“You won’t,” she breathed. Every nerve was on fire, wanting him.
He rubbed a thumb over her lips. “I can’t fight you anymore, fight what I feel.”
She moved against him, her hips rubbing against the hard length she felt swelling at his crotch. “Good. I don’t want you to.”
He smashed his lips against hers, his tongue thrusting inside. She gripped him, kissing him back. Sweet scrap, he tasted so good.
Then he was lifting her up and lowering her to the mats. His big body followed her down, pinning her to floor. His hips fell into the cradle of hers, and she circled her legs around his waist.
He groaned. “You feel so good. Soft. Curvy in the right places.” He plucked at the top of her coveralls. “I love how you look in these. Competent, hard-working. Makes me crazy trying to guess what you have underneath.”
Mal laughed, pleasure flooding through her. “Coveralls are not sexy, Xander.”
“They are to me. But only if you’re in them.”
He kissed her again, and she went wild. Her hands ran over him, her nails scoring what skin she could find. He reared back, and she helped him yank his shirt over his head.
Instantly, her fingers went to those intriguing silver implants.
“You don’t find them repulsive.”
It wasn’t a question, just a statement said in a voice holding the faintest edge of bemusement.
“I find them just as interesting as the rest of you.” She stroked the solid muscle of his chest, flicked a nail over his nipple. Smiled when it hardened and he groaned.
“Malin, I have to warn you.” He lifted his head. His green-gold eyes were intense. “Since I met you, I’ve spent considerable time accessing records on lovemaking.”
Of course he had. She smiled. “Really?”
“And sex. And fucking.” His lips took on a slightly feral edge. “I intend to do all three to you.”
Her smile disappeared. Oh, stars. “Well…well…”
“I have a list. It has a lot of things on it.”
A list? He was going to kill her. “Xander—”
“No more talking,” he growled. He gripped the neckline of her coveralls and tore them right down the middle.
“Xander!” She wanted to laugh but her stomach got tight just looking at his face.
As his gaze roamed over her chest, his eyes darkened.
He tore her tank top and black sports bra away as well, and this time she felt a spasm between her legs.
He leaned down and took one nipple in his mouth, treating it like a sweet candy.
Sucking, licking, tugging. Her hands tangled in his hair, her back arching beneath him.
The sensations were shocking. So, so good.
He moved to the other breast, and she felt one hand sliding down her side. Then his weight was gone.
“What? No—”
“Need you naked.” He reared back far enough to strip the ruined coveralls off her, along with her underwear.
Then she was completely naked, and from the look in his eyes, he thought she looked damn fine. Better than fine.
He spread her legs, nudging her thighs wide. “I am a very fast learner. I think I can do this even better than last time.” His mouth pressed against her pubic bone.
Better? “By the stars.” Mal’s head fell backward.
He gripped her ass, yanking her toward him. He threw her legs over his shoulders. Then he devoured her.
This time he wasn’t hesitant, wasn’t taking his time.
The feel of his mouth and tongue, working her hard, tasting every part of her was so good she wondered why she didn’t just shatter apart right there.
He lapped at her like a starving man, and she dug her heels into his back, pressed up to his mouth for more.
“So good,” she panted and looked at him. She loved the shocking sight of him holding her, eating her, and enjoying every second of it.
The orgasm was building inside, harder and faster than ever before. Her hands scrabbled across the mats, searching for something to hold onto.
“Xander.” The last conscious thought was his name. Her release hit like a starship at full speed. She screamed.
When she’d recovered enough to focus, he was crouched over her, a purely masculine look on his face.
“Yes, you did great,” she murmured. “Beyond great. I loved it.”
“I got that.”
She snorted. “Well, round one was good. What’s next on your list?”
Heat flickered in his eyes. “I want you to suck my cock.”
Mal felt another spasm at the juncture of her thighs. She looked down his body. He was still wearing his trousers but the large bulge at the front told her everything she needed to know. She licked her lips. “I’ll—”
“No. I changed my mind.” He pushed off her and stood. “We’ll save that for next time.”
She raised up on her elbows and watched him strip off his trousers and boxers with quick efficiency. His stomach was all rock-hard muscle, and his cock was large and heavy, curving upward toward his belly.
And right then, she wanted it in her mouth. To taste him and drive him crazy.
He read her intent. “No.” He was back on top of her, nudging her legs open again with his hard thighs. “I want to be inside you. I need it.”
All the loose muscles from her orgasm tightened. “I’m up for that.”
Xander couldn’t think.
All he could do was feel.
He was acting on instinct, breathing through the heavy need he had to claim Malin, and the desperate need he had to ease the burn inside him.
He slipped a hand between her legs and spread her sweet, plump lips.
He remembered he had to check she was ready for him.
She was so wet from his mouth. He tried to remember everything he’d read, but most of it was a jumble, and he didn’t want to access the records.
Not here, not now. Right now, he was just a man, loving his woman.
He eased a finger inside her, and she let out a cry.
“Okay?”
Her hips pumped against his hand. “Don’t stop.”
She was perfect. He pressed another finger in, stretching her. He had no idea how he’d fit inside her. His cock was a lot larger than his fingers, but he knew it would. His jaw clenched. It would.
Suddenly, he couldn’t go slow anymore.
He withdrew his hand and dropped his full weight on her. Her arms and legs wrapped around him. He gripped her thigh, tugging it high on his hip. The head of his erection touched her soft entrance.
He swallowed a groan and watched her face. He wanted to watch her as he entered her.
He meant to take his time, but driving need overtook him. He thrust into her, hard, in one big slide.
She arched, her mouth opening. But her eyes, they were glittering and locked on him. “Yes.”
Xander felt sweat on his brow. She was warm and hot and so tight.
He wanted to say her name. Something. But he had no words.
“Move,” she whispered. “Take what you want.”
He pulled out and slammed back inside. That driving need coiled inside him tighter, demanding everything.
He stopped thinking completely and for the first time in his life, his body took over. He drove into her, hard and so fast. He heard grunts, realized they were from him.
She writhed beneath him, her hips slamming up to meet his urgent thrusts. “So…good.”
He thrust harder, something electric building at the base of his spine. He grabbed her legs and pushed them out, trying to get deeper inside her. To embed himself there.
He raised up, looking down to see where he was joined with her, where his thick cock was splitting her, connecting the two of them.
More power flooded into him, and he thrust faster, losing his rhythm, but it didn’t stop him.
She moaned and came again. He felt the hard clench of her internal muscles, and with another wild thrust, his own orgasm tore through him.
Xander took her mouth, kissing her with wild abandon. He felt his release flood inside her.
He thrust into her one last time, holding himself there, planted as deep as he could. He moved some of his weight off her but stayed connected.
Her mouth pressed to the side of his neck, a slow, lazy slide. She let out a relaxed sigh and hugged him with her arms and legs.
He felt a warm glow inside him. Some unnamed emotion he couldn’t place. He held her tighter. It felt good.
“How’s that list you mentioned coming along?” she murmured.
“Very well. It is quite…long.”
Her chest shook with silent laughter. “Not very exact for a cyborg.”
“There are eighty-five items. Well, eighty-four now.”
Shock made her mouth slack. “Eighty-four. We might not survive!”
“I don’t care.” He turned his head and buried his face in her hair. “I’ll be the first CenSec to die of too many orgasms.”
She laughed out loud now, her hands sliding through his hair. “It’ll be a good way to go.”