Salvation (8 page)

“I’m going to call my contact about my sale. Se, you want to show
Zan
to the showers? I’ll clean up when I’m finished then we can figure out who blew that ship up.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He couldn’t afford to get distracted again. Too much counted on his ability to get to the bottom of this situation, and they’d wasted enough time.

An hour later he’d found out that his contact had died. He was being set up with someone else from Vega Delta. It didn’t escape his notice that
Zan
had been bound for the same planet. It could be a coincidence and probably was. The ship
Zan
was on had been carrying cargo, most of it bound for Delta.

Zander was the first to find him. His footsteps gave him away. His tread was heavier than
Se’s
. Rock turned in his chair so he could watch the man walk towards him.
Zan
still wore the same clothes, but his hair was wet from the shower.

“Shit, I should have given you some clothes to change into. Let me get you something else to put on.” Rock got out of his chair and walked towards Zander.

“That would be great. The only thing I grabbed on the way to the pod was my research. And, well, we were naked most of the time on the
Salvation
.” Zander gave an
embarrassed
chuckle.

Rock reached the door where Zander stood, but the other man didn’t budge. Rock walked right into Zander’s space. He smelt of Rock’s soap. He buried his face in Zander’s neck, liking that Zander was taller. Rock licked the supple flesh before backing away.

“We don’t have time for this. Fuck. Just looking at you makes my dick hard, but we have to figure out what is going on.”

Rock watched as Zander brought
himself
under control. It didn’t make either of their erections go away, but nothing short of sex would do that.

“
Se’s
right,”
Zan
whispered.

“I’m right about what?”

They both turned at
Se’s
entrance. Rock wanted to know what Se was right about too.

“I can’t keep my hands off either of you. I’ve never felt desire this strong before. No one has been able to make me forget about work. Hel—heck,”
Zan
stumbled over his words with a quick look at Se.

Rock loved how flustered the good doctor got when talking around Se.

“Hell,
Zan
. Say it with me.
Hell
. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. And you talk dirtier than that when we’re having sex.” Se laughed.

 
“Hell it is then.” Zander’s cheeks
pinkened
up at the word. “I almost left the ship without my data. I don’t do that. Research is my life.” Zander tucked his hands into his cargo pants and rocked back on his heels.

“Could that be it?” Rock wondered out loud as he wandered off towards his bedroom. “It couldn’t be that easy, could it?”

Se and Zander followed him.

“What are you going on about?” Se wanted to know.

Rock took a shirt and some pants out of a drawer and threw them at Zander. He was almost distracted when
Zan
stripped right there, but shook himself and focussed. He could look and talk.

“Could
Zan
have slighted someone while doing research? There are lots of nuts who would take that the wrong way. I mean, look at that guy who fucked with
Kain
and Rave. The galaxy is full of psychos.”

Se sat down on his bed.
“Maybe.”
She watched
Zan
get dressed too. “
Zan
, do you remember rejecting anyone who came on to you?”

Rock joined Se on the bed for the show.
Zan
was taking his time putting his clothes back on. He wasn’t doing it to tease them, either. Rock could tell he was thinking.
Zan
had this look he would get when he was in concentration mode. It was as sexy as hell. Especially if it was him or Se he was focussed on. That look alone could have a crazy man or woman after the good doctor.

“I don’t know.” Zander shrugged. “When I focus, nothing penetrates my zone. That’s why I don’t date much. Or have sex, for that matter. I can’t take a hint unless they are in my face about it or I want it. There have been a couple of people over the years, but that seems to be pretty farfetched to me.”

“Damn it,
Zan
. Stop saying that. You’re fucking hot, okay? And smart, funny. Even if you don’t always mean to be,” Se ranted.

“Se is right. I wanted to fuck you the minute I saw you. I want to fuck you right now. You’re adorable when your face goes all red and you start to stutter. So stop downplaying yourself. You’re very desirable. Let’s focus on the guys you remember who came on strong. Anyone in particular that comes to mind?”Rock pressed for an answer.

“That’s just it. If they didn’t have my focus I wouldn’t recall them.” Zander joined them on the bed.

“You can’t think of one single person?” Se asked in disbelief.

“Let me think. Actually, there was one guy, but he was very polite. I don’t think he would be interested in killing me. He always had his servant do the talking. I thought that was odd and very outdated. I mean—who has someone else do the talking like that.” Zander shrugged. “That’s the only reason I really remember the guy.
Or at least the servant.
What was his name? Robert? No. I know it was an R name.
Um…Ronald.
No. Reginald. That was it.” Zander snapped his fingers and grinned.

Se took Zander’s hand in hers and caressed it. Zander pulled Se to his side and kissed her forehead. It was such a sweet and intimate gesture. It warmed Rock’s heart to see. He needed to get back on track.

“No last name?” Rock needed more information if he was going to track the son of a bitch down.

“No. He was only ever introduced as Reginald. The man interested was
Lar
something or other. He told me to call him that the one time we spoke. He was always very proper. I think that is what I remember the most. Give me a bit and I’ll try to remember the guy’s last name. I don’t think this is it.” Zander was absently stroking
Se’s
shoulder while he spoke. Not wanting to feel left out, he moved closer to the couple and entangled their fingers.

“Then what about your research? Anything you’ve worked on that would make someone want you dead?” Se inquired.

Rock’s gut said it was this
Lar
guy.
Zan
might not believe that he was worth killing for, but Rock knew it was true. He’d rip apart anyone who tried, though. Zander was his and
Se’s
.

“I recently started working on a vaccine for the pox on Vega Delta. I try to use all of my research to explore a way to cure the Grey Death. But it wiped out two planets, so I think every scientist does that. Most because it would bring prestige to their name, but I just want to help people. That’s what matters. The spread of the disease is slow, but once someone has it they start to go crazy. People around them might not notice until it’s too late. It’s a tricky disease because it’s transmitted through blood and hard to detect. I was actually hoping the pox research held the key. It has a couple of components that are—”

“
Zan
,” Rock interrupted, putting a finger to Zander’s mouth. “You’re making my head hurt here.
Not that it isn’t sexy to see how passionate you are about your work,
but I don’t think that’s the reason someone is after you.”

Rock slid them so Zander was in the middle and Se and Rock could surround him to give him silent support.

“I know you just put these clothes on, but I think they need to come back off.” Se winked at Rock.

That sounded like a good plan to Rock. What could it hurt? No one knew where they were and the doctor was as sexy as hell. Now Se was kissing the other man’s neck and Rock’s dick went from a semi-hard-on to a full-fledged erection. He could watch the two of them all day and never tire.

“I agree—” Rock’s com beeped before he could finish his sentence.

Rock reluctantly untangled himself from his lovers and got off the bed to get to his desk unit.

“Rock here,” he stated before turning on the vid.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting Se on your personal link.” Laughter flowed over the com.

“Rave.
You sound pretty happy there. What are you doing calling me? I thought you were on vacation?” Rock grinned.

“
Kain
wanted to check on Se. Make sure the two of you haven’t killed each other yet. But I see that isn’t a problem. And who is that?” Rave nodded towards the bed. “And hell, move over so I can’t see that shit.
Se!
Stop molesting that boy!”

Rock couldn’t stop laughing. It was great to see Rave this way.
Kain
was good for him, much as he hated to admit it.

“Ignore them. I was going to call you here in a bit anyway. Need a little help running some names. I think—”

An explosion halted his words.

“What was that? What’s going on there, Rock?
Kain
! Get to the ship. We aren’t that far from you. We can—”

The coms went down.

“What the fuck?
Get dressed, you two.
We need to get to my guns. Se, I thought you took care of the trackers?” Rock ran from the room.

“I did.”
Se’s
voice floated behind him. “Everything was clear before the last jump.”

“Then how the hell did they find us?” Rock threw over his shoulder.

“You two seriously need to stop fighting. It isn’t helping anything,”
Zan’s
calm voice came right in his ear. The other man must have sprinted to get beside him.

“He’s right, Rock. Arm us. Can we get to the
Salvation
from here?”

Rock shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.
Kain
and Rave are on their way. We need to hunker down here. If we ran for the ship we might not make it. I have a safe room. We have to hope they call in reinforcements. I don’t think this is a military strike. If it was, they would have snuck up on us, not given us a warning, allowing us to escape. I have emergency coms on a backup server in the safe room. We’ll contact the Alliance and get back in touch with the guys.”

He hoped, and he’d survived on less before.
Time to move.

* * * *

Was this really about him? It kept coming back to that, and Zander was at a loss. He followed Rock down a hallway until they reached a room with a heavy steel door.

“Get in here.” Rock gestured for him and Se to enter the metal box.

Zander wouldn’t argue. Safe sounded good to him. Safe with his new lovers was even better. He’d just met them and wanted to know more about them. They were good for him in a way no one had ever been before. They seemed to get him, and he liked that more than he could even say.

 
He jumped when the metal door clanged against its hinges and the lock was thrown into place. Helplessness seeped through him. He had no idea what to do. He might have some training in self-defence, but these guys were using weapons. He was a scientist, not a warrior.

“Here, take this.” Se thrust something into his hands. He almost dropped it when he recognised the gun.

“I don’t know how to use this.” Zander tried to hand it back, to no avail.

Rock wrapped his arms around him and locked both their hands around the weapon.

“Flip this, which is the safety, point and squeeze the trigger. That’s all there is to it. Keep behind me and Se and only use it if you need to. We should be fairly safe in here. This door is reinforced and can withstand most blasts.” Rock gave him a pat on the back before turning back to whatever it was he was doing.

They were both so calm in the face of death. His panic began to rise and he couldn’t breathe. This was different than in the pod. There he’d had a little control. It had been only
his own
life on the line in that craft. Not the lives of two people he cared a great deal for.

Zander stumbled back into the corner. His back hit a wall and he slid down. This wasn’t happening.
None of it.
The ship, the explosion, sex with these two gorgeous people.
It must be some bizarre nightmare, or he was stuck in some hospital and this was a coma dream. People had those, didn’t they?
Anything to explain this other than reality.
Zander slammed his head back and saw stars when he hit the bump on the back of his head. Not the brightest idea he’d ever had, but his brain was out on a lunch break.

No, this was happening. They could all die and he might never know why. That didn’t sit well with him. Not one little bit. He was starting to get angry. Not a sensation he was used to. His world dealt with calm, control and rational thought. There was nothing sane or rational about his life right now.

“What are you doing?” Se whispered beside him. She looked between him and Rock.

“Panicking.
Not very manly, I know. This—” he waved his hand around the room

“—this doesn’t happen to guys like me. You two are so comfortable and I’m the weak link. What if you get hurt because of me?” That was his true fear. He didn’t want them hurt because of some klutz thing he did.