She couldn’t fail.
She strode onto the bridge. “Get the interstellar drives up. We have a priceless artifact to recover.”
CHAPTER TWO
As soon as theMercurydocked at Galaxy’s Edge, Justyn headed for the door. “Gus, make sure you get that tobacco unloaded and over to Jesrit’s ship.” The merchant had already transferred payment. A nice little mountain of e-creds.
“You got it, boss.” The older man, an Edge resident who sometimes worked with Justyn, got to work.
Justyn hit the control for the door and strode down the enclosed ramp.
His brothers were waiting.
“Surprised you aren’t in the brig aboard theFreedom.” Dare, taller and meaner-looking than either of his brothers, leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. His shifting silver eyes were always hard to read and filled with a dangerous intensity.
Justyn grinned. “I’m slippery.”
Rynan snorted. He was the same height as Justyn, with the same muscular build, but Rynan rarely smiled. He was always too busy checking and rechecking their convoy ship’s weapons, flight paths, and security to have fun. Or cleaning and polishinghis guns and knives. He had a huge blade strapped to his thigh and twin ion pistols holstered at his hips.
For a second, a murky childhood memory flashed in Justyn’s head. The three of them, just boys, trapped in the darkness, hearing the thud of heavy boots on the basement steps. Rynan clutching a sharpened piece of wood he’d fashioned into a shiv. Dare’s unwavering gaze never leaving the steps, his hands clenched into fists. Justyn’s heart was pounding so hard, he thought he’d be sick.
Rynan shifted, shattering the memory. “Funny that you work so hard to get loose when we all know just how much you want to be caught by a certain Patrol captain.”
Justyn shook off the past and gave himself a brief second to imagine being completely at Nissa’s command. She was the most stunning thing he’d ever seen. He remembered the first time she’d boarded his ship, almost three years ago. He’d stared at her like some love-struck kid.
She had a reptilian ancestor not far back in her family tree that had gifted her a long, sinuous body with toned curves that made his cock hard. Her head was completely hairless, covered in smooth, golden skin, and it suited her long, elegant neck.
She had patches of bronze, diamond-scale patterns on her forehead and cheekbones. It drove him crazy wondering if she had that pattern anywhere else on her body. He knew—from the few times he’d gotten close enough to touch her—the pattern was just as smooth as the rest of her skin. Her eyes were yellow with an elongated black pupil. And her mouth…well, that had featured in his dreams all too often. And her smooth, smoky voice. There wasn’t much he didn’t find tantalizing about her.
Fucking gorgeous and out of his league. He sighed. “We all know that isn’t gonna happen.”
He pushed past them and into Galaxy’s Edge.
The space station was a ramshackle, wild, floating hunk-of-junk far from the law-and-order of the central systems. It was a stopping-off point for explorers, smugglers, and anyone else looking to make their fortune out in uncharted space. Only the very courageous, the very desperate, or the very crazy, filled its halls.
As he strode down the corridor, his brothers fell into step with him. Justyn noted the docks were busy today—filled with the bustle of ships’ crews, a group of robed missionaries, a young bunch of rowdy explorers, and a lone cleaning droid fighting a losing battle against the rust and grit on the metal floor.
A young woman escorted by a security team—no doubt some wealthy merchant’s daughter off to an arranged marriage—glanced Justyn’s way. He shot her a wide smile and winked. A charming blush swept over her cheeks and she coyly dipped her head.
“You know, if you tried a bit of your charm on Nissa, you might actually get somewhere,” Rynan said.
Justyn swallowed a snort. “Nissa Sander is a Patrol captain, career GSS. She’d never lower herself to consort with a smuggler.” And dammit, he wanted more than an illicit roll in the hay that would be regretted the next morning. “Besides, what makes you think I’d take advice on my love life from you? You never share your bed with the same woman twice.”
Rynan shrugged. “At least I have women in my bed. The action in yours has been sadly lacking of late.”
Justyn shot him the finger—an ancient custom that had never lost its popularity.
“Justyn.” Dare’s tone was deep and commanding. It never failed to make people listen. Perfect for a convoy master. Out in uncharted space, he held the lives of those on his convoy in his hands. He expected swift obedience and knew how to get it. “Areyou ever going to act on the fact that you’re in love with Nissa Sander?”
Justyn’s hands curled into tight fists. He hadn’t admitted his feelings to anyone, but he should have known his brothers would read him like an open holo-doc. They’d grown up together in hell, knew each other better than anyone could. “I’d ruin her life. Her career. Everything she wants. She doesn’t need a smuggler with his name on every anti-smuggling list from here to the Frontier quadrant.”
“You’re selling yourself short.”
No. He was in love with Nissa and that meant he wanted the best for her. And he wasn’t the best. He scraped a hand through his hair. Damn, he needed a haircut, but right now, he needed something else more. “I need a drink. First round is on me at Moonrakers.” Maybe if he got nice and drunk he’d forget about caramel-colored skin that he wanted to lick. And a wide, generous mouth he wanted to see wrapped around?—
“Actually, we have a possible job…if you’re interested,” Dare said.
Justyn glanced at his older brother out of the corner of his eye, interest piqued. He knew their next convoy out of the quadrant wasn’t for another week, so it had to be something else. A job would be a good distraction…and it would feel better than suffering a hangover and having to visit a medbooth to get rid of it. “Something need smuggling?”
