Aftermath - Ann Aguirre [89]
“Indeed.” For such a big creature, the Rodeisian had a surprisingly light, sweet voice. This one might be female, which explained a lot. Hon always had a way with the ladies. “You want a ride to Gehenna. So let’s go.”
I had to smile. “As easy as that?”
“I make it a policy never to argue with armed, desperate men.”
The Rodeisian led the way to the cockpit. She took her seat in the nav chair while I contacted ground control and relayed our plan to depart. Without her full cooperation, it wouldn’t have worked. She showed me where Hon kept the registration numbers so I could file the flight plan officially. In fact, she guided me through the process, as if she knew I’d never done this for real before.
She confirmed that with a glance from dark, long-lashed eyes. “I can tell this is your first time. I’ll be gentle.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to hit her or touch her fur to see if it was as soft as it looked. A confusing knot of unfamiliar emotions stirred. It had been a long time since anybody but Svet was nice to me—most people feared me back then—and this Rodeisian had more reason than most. I’d all but taken her hostage, for Mary’s sake.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Waiting seemed interminable. If Hon regained consciousness before we got out, it would ruin everything. Maybe I should have just killed him. The bastard was talking about turning me in, after all.
“You have clearance,” came the response from the tower, and the hangar above began to open.
I fingered the shunt in my wrist, knowing I’d have to jack in once we were clear of the planet’s gravitational pull. That was how a jump worked, but damn, I was nervous. My hands trembled as I set them on the control panels. The ship twitched in response.
Taking a few deep breaths, I centered myself and tried to remember my lessons. Like that. Yeah. An unsteady thrust got us out of the hangar, then I felt like I’d been doing this all my life. What a fucking rush.
“You’re doing great,” she told me softly.
We pushed upward through the atmosphere, safe at last. My smile felt strange and tremulous as I glanced away from the sensors briefly. The night sky bloomed, stars sparking all around us with a cold, fierce light that made me feel clean in ways I’d almost forgotten—or never known.
“I could die up here,” I breathed, hardly remembering she was there.
I could, too. Happily, even. That’s something we have in common, Jax.
“People have,” she murmured. “People do.”
The silent accord between us felt perfect; I ached with the beauty of flying. And I thought the Rodeisian female felt it, too— that quiet shiver of light refracted from the sensor screens, interpreted by my nervous system as pure pleasure. I’d never known anything like it. The ship felt natural in my hands, an appendage I should have been born with.
“Ready for jump?” I asked eventually.
Her reply sounded suggestive, somehow. “Since the moment you came aboard.”
[Narration pauses, time lapse of six hours and twelve minutes]
When we jacked in, the wetware amplified my power, laying the navigator open. I could sift through her memories as if they were jewels in a treasure box. She knew—and she didn’t seem to mind. More startling, the female wanted me. She liked my anger and brutality, the scent of blood that lingered about me.
Well, if she wanted rage and savagery, she came to the right man. That much, I could offer. It was, in fact, all I had left. That was the first time I became part of a woman, Jax. There in the cockpit, and I think it prepared me for you.
The ship shivered as the phase drive hummed. I knew how it worked, opening a small wormhole through which we would access grimspace. I’d seen the charts and numbers. And even so, I wasn’t remotely prepared for that first jump.
I flew with her, became part of her. But our link exposed me, too, showing more than I ever wanted anyone to see. I sensed no judgment