Page 64 of Rogue Starfighter

Vesh

We found a barren planet to hide behind halfway home. The ship drifted down and settled in a deep crater on the surface. No power. No transponder. No sign anyone had ever been there. Perfect. I guided the Wraith under a large rock outcropping and set her down. The engine stopped with a shudder. Priya watched the core temperature fall. “Nine percent power. One engine. No weapons. I assume this is the luxury resort portion of the trip.”

“We need to cool the core before the final run.”

“You could’ve just said yes, Priya, this is the luxurious part of the trip.”

“No one would describe this as luxurious.”

“No one is shooting at us. My standards aren't that high these days.”

Neither were mine. We were freezing. Frost coated the cargo racks and cracked beneath our boots when I opened the ship's emergency supplies. I salvaged a heat cell and activated it, not sure how long the battery would last. The coils turned orange. Priya held her hands over them. “I take back everything I said about this place. Five stars.”

“You are easy to please.”

She looked at me and her voice did that thing that made my heart jump and my cock get hard. “You have no idea.” The bond heated. But she was wrong. I knew exactly how responsive her body was. I remembered the wet heat of her on my fingers all too well. The sound she made when I made her fall apart.

I should have taken her to bed and buried myself inside her. Held her all night. Should have been with her every opportunity I had since the moment we met. What an idiot. I was a fucking idiot.

Deciding it was safer not to respond, I found two intact ration packs in storage and handed one to her. Priya examined it. “This is the same thing we ate on the moon.”

“Yes.”

“I survived Queen Raya’s Scythe fighters for this?”

“You need calories.”

“I need tacos.”

“We do not have tacos.” I had no idea what a taco was but filed it away for later. If we survived, I would make sure my female had all the tacos she could ever eat.

“Then I’m officially filing a complaint.” She opened the ration and ate it anyway. We sat on the deck beside the heat cell. The Wraith's power core ticked as she cooled behind us. Outside, a sea of strange stars drifted slowly across our monitors.

We were eight hours from the Gate. Eight hours from safety, assuming the engine held and no one found us.

Priya finished the ration and caught me staring at her. “What?”

“You are hurt.” She winced when she moved. Favored one side.

“Just my ribs. They're bruised. That's all. I'm fine.”

“Let me see.”

“That sounded suspiciously like an excuse to get me naked.”

Fuck, this woman knew how to tempt me. “I do not require an excuse.”

Her eyes widened. “That wasn't the song you were singing last night.”

“I do not sing. Remove your flight suit.”

She laughed. The sound filled the empty hold and made it feel less dead. Priya opened her flight suit just enough for me to inspect her left side. A dark bruise crossed three ribs, but the bones were solid. I ran my fingers over each one while the bond carried every small pulse of pain back to me.

“Nothing broken,” I said.

“I told you.”

“You are not a physician.”