Page 6

I went out feet first, off balance, three hundred pounds of Kelvane with nowhere good to put any of it.

A strong hand caught me, but I was too heavy and fast-moving, and whoever grabbed me crashed down too. I grunted as a forearm came up hard and fast against my throat.

Coffee, coolant, and sharp citrus flooded my nose. Intense blue eyes looked up at me, no fear in them as she lay pinned beneath me, her other palm against my chest. A hipbone dug in exactly wrong and exactly right at once, and under it the rest of her body fit against me like she was built to be there.

This was the most interesting thing to happen in longer than I wanted to think about. My hands wanted more of what was under those clothes, but I kept them exactly where they were.

The human female was cute. Dark-haired, pale-skinned, and when she half-smiled, flashing a dimple, her face went from striking to stunning, despite the small smear of grease on her forehead.

She didn’t scream or panic, despite me squashing the air out of her lungs. She got her boots under me and shoved, like she was clearing wreckage off a worksite. The kick would have worked if I’d let it, but pressed against this human female wasn’t a terrible way to exit my ship.

I inhaled and got another hit of whatever citrus she wore.

“Hey. Get off before you break something, or I do it for you,” she said. Not unkind, but I didn’t miss the warning in her tone that I’d overstayed my welcome.

I stood fast and caught my shoulder against the hull, then took her in properly once I was on my feet. Her hair was tied off her face, curling at the ends. She was lean and hard-muscled, suggesting those muscles worked for a living, although her curves were to be admired.

At least I admired them. I looked long enough that if she’d caught me, I’d have deserved a slap. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the hull, head tipped, already reading my ship. I was merely standing in her way of something much more interesting.

I huffed out a breath. This wasn’t the usual reaction when a human woman got her first look at a Kelvane male up close. We’re much taller than their males. Broad. Naturally muscular. Naturally better at everything. But this female found me low on her list of priorities.

“You’re bleeding,” she said, still looking at my ship, not at me.

“Am I?” I couldn’t stop staring at her.

“Your knuckles.” She nodded at my hand without turning her head. “You a fighter?”

“Only when provoked.”

That earned half a look, sharp and assessing.

Three more women stood behind her, expressions of amusement on their faces as they watched my graceless entrance. One was tall with silver hair, Tambi. We’d spoken via comms. Another short, curvy, with red hair, and the other had messy blonde curls and was clearly trying not to laugh. She failed.

“Don’t mind Cass’s greeting. We don’t always get so up close and personal with our meet and greets,” Tambi said with a wry smile.

That got the brunette, Cass’s, attention for a second, and her gaze cut away from my ship. She shrugged before locking in on the Hollow Chorus again. Her hand was on it, proprietary and hungry. It stirred a sensation in me. Maybe it was indigestion.

“She’s called the Hollow Chorus,” I said.

“I know.” Cass’s tone was pleasantly low.

“I’m Rennick. I own her.”

“Know that, too. Cass Myers.” She was tracing a weld that had her full attention. “Own her, or does she own you?”

I didn’t have a good answer for that, and Cass didn’t wait around for one as she kept exploring. Our ships worked with us, bonded to our DNA, but the Hollow Chorus had rejected every bond I’d attempted.

The rest of the crew strode over.

“Nice ship.” Tambi held out her hand.

I shook it as she introduced the blonde female as Monica and the short-haired redhead as Doc.

“Unusual name.” I also shook Doc’s hand in the typical human greeting.

“I’m actually called Laney, but I do the patching up and bio-med scans. That kind of thing.”

Monica slung an arm around Doc’s shoulders. “She has two PhDs, did a residency at the best hospital on this planet, and has three patents that helped to fix the Etrovian virus outbreak five years ago. This damn queen saved an entire planet with her mega brain of weirdness.”