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24
Phase 6
Aidan hadn’t had another moment alone with the little witch, and they were well into the next phase. She seemed to be on her best behavior. No more teasing him. No more flirting, but she hadn’t even come onto the bridge when they’d fended off an attack. He’d expected her to at least rush in to see if everything was all right.
A part of him wondered if she and Caryn were up to something nefarious while the rest of them were busy.
He’d checked the surveillance over and over, and it didn’t appear as if either left their room much at all, but for meals. He knew this not because the rooms had cameras—they didn’t—but the rest of the ship did, and currently the girls were nowhere else to be found. So he started to wonder instead if Onnika was finally confronting the trauma of her ordeal. She might act tough, but fighting for her life like that must have taken a toll. Not to mention the number she did on him afterward.
Blistering, punishing need still agitated his veins, even now.
“Which way?” Aidan snapped. He’d been short with his crew all evening—longer, if he was being honest with himself. As of yet, no one had mentioned it. Rather, they seemed to be making concessions for him. Like when he yelled at Zeek for bringing up the wrong section of the map. Normally Zeek would give it right back to him. Today he simply corrected his mistake.
Not even Lear wanted to tango with Aidan’s temper right now, and that bastardlivedto push his buttons.
Deep in the back of his mind, he knew he was angling for a fight, an argument, anything to take his mind off how badly he wanted Onnika. But no one would give him the satisfaction.
“Uh, let me check the coordinates,” Zeek coolly replied.
“Sometime soon.”
The map popped up, and Zeek swiftly highlighted their course. They were headed toward a strange object marked on the map. No one could guess what it was. It wasn’t their next stop; that was still a long way off. This stint through space would prove to be their longest yet. There would be multiple shift changes, and Aidan was even considering engaging the autopilot, since none of them had managed to get a lot of sleep lately. If another ship came close, they’d be alerted well beforehand.
The racers seemed to be more spread out now, with fewer encounters reported. This was the point where obstacles and pitfalls started providing the entertainment rather than the fighting.
Aidan had been surprised to learn they were now in seventh place, a long way from last. All those vouchers they’d procured had helped immensely…not that he’d admit that to Onnika. All in all, she’d acquired three. Two from that insanity and one from a VR race. He’d make her take it easy next time. No more quotas hanging over her. She was too reckless.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, she came strolling onto the bridge and plopped down on the seat next to him. She was still wearing the dress with the knot at the neck that he couldn’t help but imagine slowly undoing.
When no one acknowledged her entrance, she said, “Ooh, everyone is so serious.”
Indeed, everyone suddenly began concentrating intently on their consoles, pretending to look busy. They knew something was going on between the two of them and seemed to have collectively decided to mind their business. Still, they couldn’t know he was contemplating leaving Asher in charge so he could take her back to his room and finish whatshe’dstarted.
“How’s the race coming? Are we in first place yet?”
Aidan huffed. “Hardly.”
She rubbed her hands together. “Give it time. We’ll get even more vouchers next time.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort!”
Dead silence descended on the room.
“Pardon?” Onnika replied.
Fresh anger over her reckless stunt flooded him. “From now on, you’ll come to me and ask permission before you enter any tournaments.”
She laughed as though he were joking. “Yeah, right. I don’t think so.”
“You’ll do as I say, or I’ll lock you in your cabin for the duration.”
She appeared thunderstruck for a moment, then found her voice. “Screw you!”
Zeek tried to mediate. “She’ll be good. Right, Onnika? You won’t compete in any of the dangerous competitions.”
Aidan could tell Zeek was trying to convey a message to Onnika with his gaze, but she didn’t seem to get it. Or didn’t care.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get vouchers. I gave my word. And, besides, I want you all to win.”
