The Bond That Saves Us (10 page)

He ignored the part of his mind taunting him, scoffing at him, practically screaming at him to face up to the fact it had nothing to do with chivalry and everything to do with wanting to get Amy back into his bed. Sean wanted to rut against her until she begged him to take her—wanted to lose himself in the bliss of sweat and moans and cum. It wouldn’t be perfect or proper, which held more appeal than he’d normally admit to. The idea of any type of relationship with Amy went against everything he’d ever been reared to aspire to—and it was fucking brilliant.

It didn’t take him as long as he initially thought to pull together the parts. A few well-timed vid calls, one or two bribes, several called-in favors and the parts arrived at the
Drake
a few hours after his departure.

Getting hold of Ryan proved to be far more challenging than he initially thought.

50

The crazy asshole had taken on deep mine duty earlier in the week and was sitting in decontamination. He wouldn’t be able to get out and to the colony proper for at least ten hours. It put a slight kink in his plans, but still enough time to get Ryan up to speed on the ship and have his help with the final preparations. They were running out of time and it would take all four of them working around the clock if they were going to pull this off.

Sean tucked the second thermos of coffee under his arm, trying desperately to keep the large bag of food from falling while keeping his hold on the other items. As he figured, Amy and Gaz were already working on the ship, both of them with their heads buried deep into the belly of the hull. Though the words were muffled, he could still hear the tone of friendship and familiarity. Amy kicked Gaz’s boot with hers seconds before he bumped the back of her knee with his, sending her leg buckling.

“Asshole,” she said with a laugh.

“Don’t piss off your engineer. I’m likely to cross your flux drive wires with the coolant monitors. Have things get really hot up front in a hurry.”

“Ha, ha, smartass. If you’re not careful I’ll be forced to take my shirt off and show you all my girly bits. Wouldn’t want to gross you out.”

“Hon, your girly bits wouldn’t gross anyone out.”

“I certainly didn’t mind them,” Sean said once he was standing behind them.

Amy squeaked as she dropped her spanner, while Gaz let out a loud bark of laughter. When she pulled her head around the panel, Sean saw several light liquid streaks down her neck and arms. Her smile widened when her eyes landed on the two thermoses.

“Oh Gods, is that coffee?”

He held out the largest of the two for Amy to take and had to laugh when Gaz got to it first.

“Thank fuck. I’ll get mugs.” Before Amy could protest, Gaz was gone.

With his load now lighter, Sean easily shifted and placed the second container into Amy’s hands. “I figured we’d need more than one. I see the parts started to arrive.”

She gave a soft moan of pleasure as she undid the cap and took a deep sniff of the coffee. “Yes, thank you so much. I don’t know how you managed to pull it off, but we’ve already gotten a good start. Still not sure if we’ll be able to pull it off with just the two of us—”

“Four of us. I called in a favor and got my friend out of his mining contract early.

You’re up another engineer. He’s stuck in the mines for another half day, but will be here late morning.”

Amy straightened, turning her attention fully on him. “And the fourth?”

Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a sandwich and took a bite. “I’m assuming you’re not reneging on our deal. As copilot I expected you would also need my help with the repairs.”

51

For a moment, he thought she was going to say something, turn him away. Instead, she reached up and tucked one of her large black curls behind her ear, wrapping the tip of the strands around her finger before she released it. Sean wanted nothing more than to run his hand through the now-neat hair, pull the mass of curls out so they framed her face. He wanted to get her back in bed, spread the strands out over the pillow and bury his face in them as he fucked her into the mattress. She would buck up into him, meeting his thrusts as she clenched her cunt around him, milking every ounce of pleasure from his body.

Sean shook his head hard and, before she noticed his raging erection, found an edge of a crate to sit down on. This really wasn’t going to work if she thought he was going to jump her at a moment’s notice.
Get some bloody control over your body.
Amy’s gaze didn’t leave him and she finally had to shrug.

“It’s a bit insane to turn you away at this stage. Besides, if you want the privilege of seeing what she can do in space, you’re going to have to work for it. I hope you know your way around an engine.”

Sean cast his gaze over Amy’s shoulder at the ship. It really didn’t look like much, but he really didn’t know the first thing about cargo ships. Now personal flyers, those were different. It may have been years since he’d been in the cockpit, but knowing how to fly, push an engine to its limit and coaxing a little bit more out of her for the last nudge of speed, was something you didn’t forget. He’d won his fair share of shuttle hops when he was younger, years before he became administrator of Eurus. He was the best there was at the time. His parents wouldn’t have allowed anything less, even if they felt racing was beneath a boy of their station.

“I can’t wait to take her up.” He smiled and took another bite of his sandwich.

When her gaze slipped to his mouth, he held out the bag. “I brought enough for everyone.”

She didn’t look up right away, lingering on his lips. Wanting to tease, he licked them and enjoyed the way she shivered before moving to take some food for herself.

“Thanks. I better take something before Gaz gets back or there will be nothing left.”

“Yeah, he’s a big guy. Where did you pick him up?”

Amy giggled, shoved half the sandwich into her mouth and gave a contented sigh as she chewed. She tried to speak around the food until Sean rolled his eyes and waved her off until she finished.

“You’ll kill yourself. Didn’t your father teach you manners?”

“He tried. And to answer your question, I’ve known Gaz since I was a kid. Dad practically reared him, let us both join the crew when we were old enough.”

“So he’s basically like your brother and will take my head off if he thinks I’ve hurt you?” He tried to keep his tone light, but knew he didn’t want to get on the other man’s bad side.

Amy snorted. “If you hurt me, Gaz will be the least of your concerns. I’ll kill you myself.”

52

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I have no doubt. You’re a very resourceful woman.”

The silence which always seemed to creep between them did just then and Sean felt his body relax into it. They ate together and he caught her looking at him every now and again, usually when he was trying to sneak a peek. They did this once or twice before Amy began to chuckle.
What the hell had gotten into him?

“Enough of the giggly-girl shit,” Gaz barked at them as he stomped back toward them. “And I found mugs.”

Sean caught the one thrown at him with one hand, smiling at the look of annoyance on Gaz’s face.

“So are we going to sit and eat all night or fix the ship?” Gaz snatched a sandwich and kicked the toe of Sean’s boot.

“Think you can stand to work with a
slag slinger
?” He kept his gaze on Gaz, the question asked in humor but with serious intent.

The larger man regarded him carefully before shrugging. “As long as you can handle working with a
piston pumper
.”

Sean nearly spit out his coffee. “Fuck, warn a guy before you go getting all smartassed on him.”

“Okay, boys, time to work. Unless you both want some more bonding time, in which case I’ll see you later.”

Sean enjoyed the view of Amy’s ass when she walked away from them. The curve and sway of her hips as she moved, taut muscles all the way down to the fullness of her thighs, only to disappear beneath her knee-high boots. He knew the strength in those legs, remembered how they felt as they clenched in pleasure around his head as he lapped at her pussy and made her come. A loud clearing of a throat brought Sean’s attention back to Gaz. The younger man made a point of looking back at Amy before lifting a long finger and driving it hard into Sean’s shoulder.

“If you do anything—”

“I’ll hold still while you pound me into the ground.”

“As long as we have an understanding.”

Standing, Sean held out his hand and waited for Gaz to take it. The bone-crunching squeeze wasn’t wholly unexpected and Sean managed to keep his face free of emotion.

“Let’s help her out before she kicks both our asses,” Gaz whispered.

Sean lost himself in the steady stream of repairs. He wasn’t a mechanic, but knew the basics and could repair the simple systems. Everyone on a colony needed to have a grasp of rudimentary engineering, though years of being administrator-cum-miner didn’t allow for much practice. Still, he was impressed not only with Amy and Gaz’s understanding of the ship’s systems, but also with the ease with which they moved.

Amy tried to keep her distance at first and Sean wasn’t about to force her into spending any more time with him than he already had, but it seemed Gaz was working against them both.

53

“I need to go check the readings inside. Make sure the coolant balances are back to normal.” He pointed a finger at Sean. “Behave while I’m gone.”

Sean saluted. “Yes, boss.”

Amy snorted softly, but didn’t say anything else. She clearly didn’t think much for her friend’s protective streak. They continued to work together, yet apart, until one of the capacitor lines popped off, sending a hiss of gas flying toward them. Sean jumped forward, clamping his hand over the leak, the freezing vapor cracking the protective rubber of his gloves.

“Shit! Hang on, Sean.”

“Hurry up. It’s starting to eat through.”

Crammed into the small space of the panel, Amy’s body pressed hard against him as she worked to clamp down the line, slowing the hiss until it finally self-sealed. The gas had Sean coughing and Amy pulled him out of the way.

“Are you okay?” She ran her hand over his arms, down to his hands so she could yank his gloves off. “Did it eat through?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“Let me see.”

“Amy, I’m fine.”

They both froze—her holding his hands, him with his knee pressed against the outside of her thigh. The contact was innocent, hardly worth a thought. But he watched as Amy trembled softly, her dark skin prickled with goose bumps. The potent scent of citrus washed over him, dragging a moan from deep within. His cock stiffened and he swayed toward her, needing to get closer.

“Sean, I’m…”

The muscles of her throat rippled as she swallowed. He didn’t think, and leaned in to press his nose against her neck. He didn’t kiss her, simply inhaled her sweetness, memorizing every nuance. He recognized the pheromones now, knew what they would do to him. While he couldn’t stop his reactions, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to despite the consequences. Knowing he could walk away meant something, gave him a tight grasp on the situation.

He had control.

“You smell fucking amazing.” He spoke the words softly, letting his lips caress her skin. “You make me forget everything else. All my pain.”

“Are you in pain?”

Somehow he knew she didn’t mean his hands. “Yes.”

It was the simple truth, one he hadn’t been able to admit, even to himself, until this moment. Amy carded her fingers though his hair, the tips digging pleasantly into his scalp, while her other hand pulled him closer. Their bodies pressed together—chests, hips and thighs. The contact had Sean’s cock impossibly stiffening more, wanting to get closer to Amy. Under normal circumstances he’d either step away before she noticed or 54

press on for a quick seduction.

Not with her. Despite the fear of rejection, that she’d push him away, he didn’t want to hide his desires. Prayed he didn’t need to. Nor did he feel the urge to pursue them, move them beyond where they were right now. Reaching up, he felt for the stiffened nipple of her left breast and captured it in his fingers. Amy moaned soft and low as he rolled it, squeezing in short, sharp bursts as he thrust his cock against her hip.

It wasn’t enough. Dropping his hand, he shifted until he could press his fingers against her cloth-covered clit. Amy bucked into his touch until he could feel the heat and moisture of her pussy through the material.

Nipping gently at her neck, he moved his hand away and pulled back so he could see the lust-filled look in her eyes. The loss of touch would have made him scream with frustration normally, but there was something about Amy that made him want to tease things out longer.

“I want you,” he whispered. “But not now. Later, when I can take my time. Lick every inch of you. When I know you’ll let me push into your cunt and make you come hard. Screaming. Until I know you want me to do that, take you to the place where neither one of us has to be alone. I want you to help me stop hurting. Until then, I’m doing nothing else.”

With a strength he didn’t realize he had, Sean stepped back. Amy’s eyes were wide, her mouth open and her breath coming out in short pants. She looked rumpled and horny and Gods it was the hottest thing he’d seen in his life. It would have taken nothing for them to pull their clothes off and fuck right there. Her nipples were hard and the scent of her pheromone-laden arousal surrounded them completely.