Page 68 of Through Uncharted Space

He pressed a kiss to her ear. “You confuse me, Dakota. You fight me at every turn and then turn so very soft under my hands. You tempt me, entice me.”

“We both know I’m not what you’re looking for. You want yourself a little sweet thing who’ll be at your beck and call. Who you can coddle and pamper, and who won’t question you. Who won’t be difficult.”

He frowned. Maybe once that was what he’d imagined for himself a long way down the track, but now…

“Let’s just ride this out,” she said. “Until it fades, and then you can go find that dream woman of yours.”

“No.” He pulled her up to face him.

Her brows drew together. “Sorry?”

“No. That woman you just described, she isn’t what I want.”

“Okay,” she said warily.

She didn’t believe him. He knew he’d have to prove it to her. He slid his hands in her hair. “I am sorry I hurt you.”

She smiled. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t apologize very often?”

“Because I never have anything to apologize for.”

She snorted. “Maybe because you never let anyone close enough for it to really matter.”

He pressed against her, so she could feel his still-hard cock. “You feel pretty close right now.”

As he pushed her back onto his desk and spread her thighs, he watched that shocked pleasure cross her face.

Yes, she was close now, and Dare was going to have to find a way to convince his skittish lover to stay there.

Dakota stood beside Dare on the bridge and tried not to tap her foot on the floor.

They were approaching Maro, and the large blue sphere filled the viewscreen, looking like a giant version of the orb hanging around her neck.

Dare had left the rest of the convoy nearby on an uninhabited jungle planet. Under the eagle eye of Rynan’s security team in the Pathfinder, they were taking on supplies and enjoying the planet’s warm lakes. She’d listened to Dare talk with the other captains. Most were fine with the detour, understanding that this was the way of deep-space convoys. One captain had voiced a protest and Dakota watched Dare wield both his charm and his unyielding strength to win the woman over.

“Commencing scans now,” Nissa said from the captain’s chair.

Ralu hadn’t lied. The planet was completely covered in water, with no patches of land visible. So where did everyone live? Rynan had said Maronians were aquatic, but not capable of living in the water. The medical scans they’d done of Ralu showed that although the man could hold his breath underwater far longer than humans, he couldn’t survive in it.

“Preliminary results coming through.” Nissa tapped on the console attached to her chair. She swiveled and looked at them. “The planet has a higher proportion of mass made up of water than a standard planet. The oceans are hundreds of kilometers deep in places. There are some locations where the land is closer to the surface, but there’s nothing above the water level. But…” She leaned in close, staring at her screen. “There are congregated life signs beneath the water.”

“Schools of fish?” Dakota asked.

Nissa shook her head. “Looks like they have underwater cities.”

Underwater cities? Wow. Dakota felt a frisson of excitement.

“Okay,” Dare said. “Where’s the location of the Atocha Treasure?”

“It’s in a deep area of water in the southern hemisphere.”

“Locate the underwater city closest to the location, and let’s open all comm lines and see if we can make contact.”

“Got it,” Nissa said.

Now Dakota did tap her foot. She wanted to get down there. She wanted to find her treasure.

“Someone’s responding,” Nissa said.