Chapter 2
If I thought the Radiant herself was beautiful, and she was, her engines were an absolute work of art.
Nestled at the back of the ship’s lower deck, the engineering bay was both cavernous and confined at the same time. The low hum of the auxiliary power would only increase in volume once we departed. I immediately felt at home.
“Rion’s working on your system permissions, so you may not have access to everything yet,” Natalie relayed as she ushered me into a small office, only a bit larger than Rion’s inside the engineering bay. “I’ll be back in a bit and we can continue your tour.”
I gave her a brief wave and set to wandering around the space…my space. The desk in the office had a large bank of monitors to review multiple operating systems at once. Similar to Rion’s office, the wall behind the desk had multiple doors and compartments that I’d explore later.
I wanted to see the engine itself.
Trailing my fingertips across the smooth pieces of equipment as I made my way around the space, I felt myself calming. I could do this. Not just the engineering job, but the mission.
He hadn’t explained exactly why, but Darren was convinced the Phoenix themself, or someone very high in Meridian, was aboard this ship. I didn’t need Vaughn’s help. I could do this on my own. I’d been on my own for three years. This was a mission I couldn’t fail.
My eyes snagged on a panel that was slightly ajar. Opening it revealed an eroded wire. “Not good,” I said to myself, eyes already sweeping the space, looking for gloves and tools. It only took me a moment to find them in a drawer embedded in the wall.
These new ships have all sorts of hidden compartments, I thought to myself.
The Radiant couldn’t have been more than a couple years old.
Inside and out, she was all sleek, rounded lines, unblemished paneling, surprisingly large windows on the upper decks, though none that I had seen below, but I didn’t mind.
I’d had a chance to study the registered schematics on the shuttle ride. She was top-of-the-line for freightliners, boasting ample room for a crew up to twelve members, a hydroponics lab, mini shuttle, roomy officers’ quarters, and multiple crew lounge areas, including a gym.
Distracted thinking about the ship’s layout while I worked to repair the damaged wiring, and clearly out of practice from years of defensive training, I missed the footsteps sneaking up behind me, and was startled as a large hand clamped down on my shoulder, pulling me back from the panel a second before a strong forearm pinned me against the wall at my neck.
“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing to my ship!?”
Captain Damian Vaughn was impossibly handsome, a very annoying fact, given the circumstances.
Tall, broad, and muscled, his rolled sleeves revealed a solid tapestry of tattoos.
His hair was cut short on the sides but left longer on top, which only served to accentuate the hard lines of his stubbled jaw, and dark eyes, staring daggers as he closed off my ability to breathe.
My hands instinctively clawed against his hold. “Chief engineer…” I tried to wheeze, but it came out a garbled mess, as his arm was pressed too strongly against my windpipe. I began pounding against his arm as the edges of my vision blackened.
Realizing what he was doing and that he was making it impossible for me to respond verbally, he pulled back just enough that I was able to gasp in a breath. “Darren sent me,” I choked out.
Vaughn’s face visibly paled a moment before he released me, resulting in me crumpling to the floor as I sputtered, trying to regain my breath.
“Geez, buy a girl a drink before you start getting rough,” I snarled.
“I told him I had it handled.” He scowled, glaring down at me. “I don’t need help. You need to leave before we depart.”
Gritting my teeth, I stared up at him. “Starlane won’t let you leave without your chief engineer.”
I retained eye contact with him as I staggered to my feet, watching as the realization of his predicament—our predicament, hit him with full force.
If he had only met me for our scheduled debrief, none of this would have happened. I was about to tell him about the exception when I heard a light, feminine humming coming from down the corridor…Natalie. An idea struck me—one that would make it impossible for him to force me off the ship.
“Forgive me,” I whispered, before grabbing the lapels of Vaughn’s uniform and pulling him down to me as I stood on my tiptoes, meeting his lips with my own in a crushing kiss, only to be utterly gobsmacked when he opened his mouth to me and returned the gesture with the same fervor, his hands sliding down to my ass and squeezing me against him, as if lost in a trance.
Holy fuck.
I had expected him to shove me away the moment the shock wore off, but instead he only pulled me closer, his mouth claiming mine harshly, as if the desire to possess me was out of his control and instead he was forced to give into his baser desires, grinding his hips against me obscenely, his hands still firmly planted on my ass.
It had been a long time since I had been so thoroughly ravished…
maybe never so dominantly, as most of my previous lovers had been softer in nature, more intellectual than intense.
I felt immediately overwhelmed by Vaughn, his stubble scratching the smooth skin of my face, his scent rugged and musky, and his touch bold and relentless.
It was easy to get lost in the kiss. So easy that I forgot why I had initiated the exchange in the first place, because any reasoning ceased to matter.
But the moment Natalie cleared her throat behind us, Vaughn’s body went rigid, the spell broken in an instant.
“I can come back,” she half giggled.
Vaughn pulled away from me almost violently, his gaze full of confusion and perhaps a hint of betrayal as he stared down at me before turning to regard Natalie. I tried to pull myself from the haze of the kiss as I came back to reality piece by piece.
“Captain, you should have told us you got an exception.” Her eyes were alight with amusement. “The crew’s gonna be so excited.”
Vaughn visibly flinched at her words, and before he could ask Natalie what she was talking about, blowing our cover before it had even started, I slipped my hand into his, squeezing it, falling into the character of Vaughn’s long-distance lover and now wife.
“We didn’t want to jinx it—it was a long shot.
” I could feel his gaze boring a hole into me, while my focus remained solely on Natalie—a challenge, as it was nearly impossible not to notice the warmth emanating from his big mitt of a hand, worn with calluses, contrasted against the softness of my own.
“They’ll want to throw you a party.” Natalie grinned, folding her arms over her chest.
“No parties,” Vaughn barked, his voice rough and ragged. At least I wasn’t the only one completely unraveled by our kiss.
Natalie’s grin grew wider. “Aquarius and an Aries—air and fire—indeed a great match. She’ll give you a run for your money, Captain.”
Without having to look up, I could feel Vaughn rolling his eyes beside me, his annoyance with her astral diagnosis palpable.
“I haven’t had a chance to give her the full tour yet,” Natalie diverted the conversation. “Would you like to show her around? I asked Rion to put her things in your quarters.”
I could feel Vaughn bristling, so before he could ruin everything, I chimed in, “He’d love to,” squeezing his hand again for good measure.
Vaughn’s gaze drifted down to meet mine, raging with pure malice.
Natalie seemed to completely misinterpret his hate for passion and chirped, “I’ll leave you lovebirds to it then.”
To Vaughn’s credit, he waited until Natalie’s footsteps had faded down the hallway before turning on me, ripping his hand from mine in the process. “What the fuck was she talking about!? An exception!? Are you out of your goddamn mind!?” he hissed.
“Blame Darren,” I growled. “I thought I was working this alone, same as you, until he tells me five minutes before I leave that I have a mission partner and an exception for cover. If you’d bothered to meet me for our scheduled debrief this morning, we could have discussed this without you assaulting me. ”
“I told Darren I’d be going radio silent.” He shook his head. “I don’t—” Vaughn’s dark gaze caught mine. “I’m not working this mission with you. I don’t need your help.”
“But you need an engineer,” I countered petulantly. “You’re stuck with me.”
Vaughn’s jaw ticked. I wondered what panicked thoughts were running through his head as I watched the gears turning.
But suddenly, without another word, he spun on his heel and stormed out.
“You’re supposed to give me a tour!” I called after him, but by the time I made it to the door, there was no sign of him. “Nice to meet you, too, asshole,” I muttered.