End of the Line

Citation preview

Lady Blue Crew 1

End of the Line Giovanni Gallardo is on the run. With only a knapsack in his hands, he boards a ship to get as far away from earth as he possibly can. When he arrives at End of the Line, things go south fast. Remy Vystal is the commander of the Lady Blue. Kicked out of the Elite Force for something they didn't do, Remy and his crew travel the galaxy taking on missions to survive. When a stowaway is discovered aboard, the fun has only just begun. Remy has found his mate in the little human, but Gigi is more than the crew is used to handling. When they discover Gigi’s secret, the crew must fight to keep Gigi alive. Keeping Gigi safe from a replicator that’s possessed may be easier than keeping him safe from the one man who has called a bounty on all of their heads. Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Science Fiction, Shape-shifter Length: 41,021 words

END OF THE LINE Lady Blue Crew 1

Lynn Hagen and Stormy Glenn

EROTIC ROMANCE MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

END OF THE LINE Copyright © 2011 by Lynn Hagen and Stormy Glenn E-book ISBN: 1-61034-788-9 First E-book Publication: September 2011 Cover design by Jinger Heaston All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of End of the Line by Lynn Hagen and Stormy Glenn from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Lynn Hagen and Stormy Glenn’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Hagen and Ms. Glenn’s right to earn a living from their work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

END OF THE LINE Lady Blue Crew 1 LYNN HAGEN AND STORMY GLENN Copyright © 2011

Chapter 1 The End of the Line…Giovanni Gallardo shook his head. When they said “end of the line,” they weren’t kidding, he thought as he watched out the porthole. The ship he rode on was docking at a spaceport of a backwater planet. He was at the end of the line for sure. He was practically at the end of the universe. Spaceships didn’t even fly beyond this point, not unless the pilot was totally loco. Giovanni wasn’t a pilot, but he also wasn’t so sure he wasn’t loco either. He had to be out of his mind to come to the edge of the known universe in the hopes of starting a new life away from Earth. And who in the hell named someplace The End of the Line? What kind of name was that for a city? Granted, it wasn’t a large city, and it was kind of creepy, but still. Who came up with this shit? Of all of the places he could have picked to settle in he had to choose this one? Yep, he was definitely loco. But desperate times called for desperate measures. No one back on Earth would ever think to look for him here—he hoped. Blending in with the local population was Giovanni’s best hope of not being discovered, but as he watched the inhabitants of the planet scurry around the spaceport, he was having his doubts. He’d never

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even seen some of the alien species walking around, much less heard them described. Giovanni had hoped to travel as far from Earth and his former owner as he could possibly get. He had thought coming to this planet would do the trick. But he was seriously beginning to rethink that plan. There was no one here to help him, not that there was back on Earth either. But this place went so far beyond bizarre, even he seemed to stand out. Men with blue skin and antennas drank foaming green liquid at what seemed to be an outdoor bar. Standing next to them was a person with a flat head. Giovanni blinked. The guy, at least he assumed it was a guy, literally had a flat head. He could have carried a drink on it and not spilled a drop. Giovanni’s eyes were rounded with shock as he disembarked from the spaceship. He clutched his small bag tightly to his side as he stared with wide eyes at everything he passed. This was definitely not Earth. Aliens were segregated back on Earth. They did not mix with the general population. They were only allowed inside the red zones. Giovanni had seen a few, mostly on the vid-screen and in magazines. He’d never really seen one in person. He was astonished at the variety. “Hey, watch it!” someone snapped when Giovanni walked into him. “Sorry.” Giovanni quickly backpedaled, fear spiking through him. He needed to watch where he was going. Giovanni wasn’t sure what the aliens’ customs were, never having known a single alien in his life. Could bumping into someone be considered a deadly offense? He stiffened and clutched his bag tighter to his side when the thing snorted and blue smoke blew out his…snout? Giovanni was rethinking that whole escape from Earth and you’ll be safe plan he’d come up with. He just might have stepped out of the frying pan and taken a nose dive right into the roaring fire.

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People were starting to turn and watch him. Giovanni felt like a bug under glass. He wanted to blend in. He felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. He tightened his grip on his bag and lowered his head as he made a hasty retreat and tried to find some dark hole to hide in. As much as he had hoped he’d be able to hide on this planet, if too many people saw him, word would get back to Drake. Once that happened, even hiding at the edge of the known universe wouldn’t save him. Giovanni found a small hiding place between two large crates against the back wall on the loading dock. He squeezed his small body in between them, for once thankful that Drake barely fed him. Hardly anyone would be able to get to him where he was hiding. The space was tight, but it hid him from prying eyes. If he could just stay hidden for a while then he could work out the rest of his plan. Right now, he had none. His only thought had been escaping. Beyond that, he didn’t have a clue. Giovanni knew he’d need a job or some way to support himself. Being a sex slave to the biggest boss in New Chicago wasn’t exactly something to put on a resume. Well, not unless he planned to peddle his ass on the streets, and Giovanni was really hoping to avoid that. He’d had enough of being used and abused and never being able to say no. He wanted to try something different—like free will. Giovanni clutched his bag tightly to his chest and hunkered down between the two wooden crates. For now, this seemed like the safest place to be. Besides, he’d had a long trip. Being on a spaceship filled with other people didn’t exactly make him comfortable. Giovanni couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept, and he was exhausted. Maybe, for just a few minutes, he could get a little rest. He’d decide what to do with the rest of his life once he got a little shut-eye. With that thought in mind, Giovanni closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the side of the crate. Maybe when he woke up things would look a little better because, so far, the End of the Line was looking almost as bad as Earth.

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**** Giovanni came awake with a jerk. His eyes widened as he peered around, unsure of where he was for a moment. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he remembered where he was. He just couldn’t figure out what had woken him. Giovanni crawled to the edge of the crates and peeked around the edge. The loading dock seemed deserted. The outside bar that had previously been filled with patrons was closed. Large metal cage-like doors had been pulled down over the entrance, and not a single light shined from inside. The dock was also absent of people…and other alien life-forms. The lights were dim, giving the entire dock an eerie feeling. It was also quiet. Giovanni usually liked quiet, but this was too quiet. There was a heaviness in the air, an almost expectant feeling like something was about to happen. Whatever was about to happen was so intense, Giovanni could feel it in his bones. His gut instinct was to run far and run fast. He just didn’t know which direction to run. He eyed the large doors at the far side of the loading dock and wondered if he could get to them before being spotted. Because he knew he’d be spotted. He didn’t have the kind of luck that would let him get away unseen. He just didn’t know who would be looking. It wasn’t like the loading dock was being patrolled. From what he understood, there was no law on this planet. It was one of the main points in why he had come here. He couldn’t be arrested for anything, not even escaping Drake. Back on Earth, he was Drake’s property. Anyone that caught him would return him right back to the man. Here, no one knew Drake. Giovanni grimaced. He hoped no one knew Drake.

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Giovanni had just about decided to make a run for the doors at the other side of the loading dock when he heard footsteps. He quickly scooted back between the two crates and hoped he wouldn’t be seen. Fear spiked through his body when four extremely large men walked into view. Giovanni wasn’t sure he had ever seen men so big. And he was assuming they were men. They looked like men, at least. Being where he was, Giovanni wasn’t going to assume a damn thing. Their facial features were that of humans, but there was something about them that just told Giovanni he might be mistaken. Their manner of dress was the first thing he noticed that was different. Not many people back on Earth wore all black. Earthlings tended to wear brighter colors if they wanted to be seen. These men obviously wanted to blend into their background. Giovanni instantly knew why when two of the men paired off and went to hide behind some other crates, their guns drawn. A moment later, three men walked forward from the other side of the loading dock. These men looked a little more like Earth people. Well, at least one of them did. And he dressed just like Drake—all fancy like. Giovanni hated him on sight. He didn’t know what was going on between the members of the small group, but he wanted no part of it. Giovanni started scanning his immediate area for an escape route. There was a small sliver of a passageway on the far side of one of the crates. He was small, but he wasn’t even sure he would fit through the tiny opening. When he heard shouting start, Giovanni knew he had to at least try. Whatever was going on had just hit the fan. He quickly peeked around the corner again just in time to see a small black box one of the men was holding fly through the air, hit the floor, and skid across the floor to land just inches from his position. That was when the fun really began. The two men that were in hiding stepped from their positions and started shooting. Everyone else dove for cover as phaser shots filled the air. Giovanni wasn’t stupid. It was time to go.

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One of Giovanni’s biggest downfalls was his incurable curiosity. It had gotten him in trouble more than once. It didn’t help him out a bit when his eyes fell on the small black box sitting on the floor just inches from his hiding spot. He couldn’t stand not knowing what was inside the shiny little black box. His fingers were itching to grab it and peek inside. Giovanni quickly checked to make sure no one was watching. When he was assured that they were all too caught up in shooting each other, he inched forward and grabbed the box before scurrying back between the two large crates. He shoved the box into his bag for later then headed for the small opening between the crate and the wall. Giovanni had to hold his bag away from his body and hold his breath as he shimmied between the crates, but with a little maneuvering and a lot of wishful thinking, he finally slipped through. Giovanni found himself in no better position than he had been before. He was still hiding behind a large crate. Only this time there was no other crate to shield him on the other side. It was just an open loading dock with nothing low to the ground that he could hide behind. And an open ramp leading up to a ship. Giovanni blinked at the open ramp then peered around the side of the crate. He looked at the open ramp again then around the side of the crate. The retractable ramp obviously led to a ship. Even Giovanni knew that. It probably wasn’t his best option. Getting his ass shot up didn’t seem like the way to go either, and the fighting was drawing closer. Giovanni gasped when a stray phaser blast landed just inches from his head. That decided it for him. He grabbed his bag tight to his chest and ran to the open retractable ramp, diving inside. He rolled to a stop as he hit a metal bulkhead. Giovanni quickly climbed to his feet and ran down the long corridor and up some stairs.

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He had no idea where he was going, but it was away from the shooting. That seemed like a huge plus in his book. Now he just needed to find a place to hide until the fighting stopped and he could escape. Giovanni frantically scanned each room he came to for a hiding place. Anything would do at this point. When he heard footsteps coming toward him, Giovanni ran into the first room he came to. It looked like someone’s personal quarters, sort of, maybe, kinda. Oh, who the hell cared? There weren’t any flying phaser blasts in here, so he just went with it. There wasn’t a bed that he could see, but there were clothes strewn about the floor and a chair. It looked like a bedroom minus the bed. When the footsteps drew closer, Giovanni ran for the nearest cupboard. It wasn’t big, but neither was he. He opened the last door on the row of cupboards and heaved himself up and inside the small opening, quickly closing the door behind him. There was just enough room for Giovanni to curl up and lay down. Giovanni held his breath when the footsteps paused right outside the room he was in. He breathed a sigh of relief when they started walking again, this time heading away from him. He clutched his bag to his chest and laid his head down on his arm, wondering how in the hell he was going to get himself out of the mess he was in this time. He also wondered how he kept getting into these messes. It was like he had trouble tattooed on his forehead, burned on his ass, and injected into his bloodstream. It seemed to follow him wherever he went—first with Drake and now in some damn spaceport. He couldn’t escape it. Giovanni closed his eyes as complete and utter exhaustion started making itself known. He was so tired. He felt like he hadn’t slept in ages even if he had gotten a little sleep earlier. When a soft rumbling noise started around him, Giovanni was too tired to care. The cupboard began vibrating, gently rocking Giovanni to sleep. He’d worry about escaping later.

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**** Blade walked into his quarters, pissed as hell that he had a burn mark in the sleeve of his best shirt. He may have only been grazed, but the shirt was ruined. This wasn’t turning out to be one of his better days. They had gone down to the loading dock to scout the area out for a meeting with a potential client only to find out that it had been a setup. Fucking bastards. Blade dropped his phaser on the table near the door then pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it into the maybe dirty pile before walking to his row of cupboards to grab another shirt. His footsteps faltered when he smelled something different in the air. He inhaled deeply as his eyes scanned the room. One by one, he began to open the cupboards in front of him. His coyote senses told him something was out of place. He growled low in his throat as he walked down the line, the scent growing stronger with each step. When his hand gripped the last cupboard, Blade knew whatever he smelled was inside. Blade backed away and walked back over to the door, grabbing his phaser from the table where he had dropped it when he walked into his quarters. Whoever it was hiding was about to learn that it wasn’t polite to stow away onboard someone else’s ship. Blade crept quietly back over to the last cupboard, palming the weapon in one hand as his other reached for the handle. A smile played across his face. Maybe his day was getting better. Curling his fingers around the handle, Blade jerked it open to find…a human? What the fuck? The guy was fast asleep with a bag clutched to his chest. Blade stared at him for a moment before closing the cupboard. His commander had to see this. Blade holstered the weapon as he walked out of his quarters, going on the hunt for Remy. He hadn’t a clue what to do with the human. It’s wasn’t like he had a lot of experience with them, but he

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knew they were mostly harmless and fragile. At least the guy hiding in his cupboard looked like he couldn’t kick a rock’s ass, let alone the Elite Force’s. “Hey, Remy. I need you in my quarters,” Blade called out when he spotted Remy coming up the stairs from the lower deck. The commander turned his head to look in Blade’s direction. “Not even on a good day would I be that hard up.” “Very funny,” Blade growled as he turned on his heel and headed back toward his quarters and the stowaway. “Fine, I’ll bite. What is it?” Remy asked as he joined Blade. “You have to see this,” he said as he stepped back into his quarters and pointed to the only cupboard that remained closed. “Cool, now if you’ll follow me, I can show you what a neat and clean room looks like.” Remy chuckled as he began to leave. “No, not my mess. The cupboard,” Blade whispered. He pointed toward the cupboard. “Go look.” Remy didn’t look impressed, but he walked across the room and pulled it open. Blade jumped back in shock as his commander growled and suddenly shifted into his third form. He was at least a foot taller now, resembling a werewolf walking on two legs. His nails were long and black, his snout extended. Blade stared at the strange little ears on Remy’s head. He was amazed at the way they twitched as his commander sniffed the air. What in the hell was going on here?

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Chapter 2 Remy growled as the sweetest scent imaginable filled his senses. He didn’t know what it was, but he wanted it. He wanted to roll in it, lick it up, and fill his senses with it. And then he wanted to fuck it. “What the hell, man?” Remington growled as he spun around and crouched in front of the small figure hidden away in the cupboard. He flicked his claws and bared his teeth, warning the threat away. He knew the man who stood before him with a stunned expression on his face was a friend, but right now, Blade represented a threat to Remy’s territory. “Dude, you’ve lost your fucking mind!” Blade snapped as he backed away. Remy tilted his head back and roared as loud as he could. He would warn this threat to what was his away one last time. If that didn’t work, friend or no friend, Blade would die. Every instinct in Remy’s body was telling him to protect the little man in the cupboard. Remy frowned when Blade suddenly darted out of the room and the door slid closed with a soft whoosh. Logically, Remy knew what he was doing wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be threatening his friend. But logic didn’t play a part in how Remy felt at that moment. He turned around and squatted down on the floor next to the cupboard doors. He tilted his head slightly as he tried to fathom why he felt such a need to care for and protect the man sleeping before him. Remy’s clawed hand trembled as he slowly reached out to stroke the back of his knuckles along one pale cheek. Oh, so soft. Remy’s breath caught in his throat at how silky smooth the man’s skin felt. He had an urge to rub himself all over the little man.

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Overwhelming need swamped Remy. His cock ached with the desire to sink into the man’s delicate body. The agony of denying himself bordered on painful. It almost stripped away the last of Remy’s control. But taking the man meant waking him, and that just wouldn’t do. If the man was sleeping, he must need his sleep, and caring for the man came before caring for his own needs. The little angel’s needs must come first. Remy grabbed a blanket from the pile in the corner. He sniffed it, wrinkling his nose when Blade’s scent filled his senses. Well, that wouldn’t do. Remy wasn’t going to let someone else’s scent cover the man. He tossed the blanket away. He pulled his own shirt off over his head then carefully draped it over the small human. Once he was sufficiently covered, Remy sank down to the floor and leaned against the wall. He gently stroked his hand over the man’s sandy blond hair and waited for his angel to wake. “Um, hey, Remy, is everything okay?” Remy tensed, growling low in his throat when he heard someone speak from the doorway. He turned, baring his teeth at whoever dared to intrude. Crank quickly backed away, holding his hands up in a submissive gesture. “Hey, calm down, Remy,” Crank said. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Blade is freaking out, yelling about some stowaway in his room and you losing your mind.” “Mine!” Remy growled as he placed himself between the small human in the cupboard and his crew member standing in the doorway. “That’s cool, man, whatever.” Remy knew he was acting irrational. He just couldn’t seem to stop. The only thing that made sense in his fog-filled head was protecting the man hidden behind him. At least, it made sense to him—sort of.

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Once Crank backed out of the room, Remy turned back to his angel. His features were delicate and serene as he slept. The human looked like he could use a few extra pounds and a hot bath. Something Remy would gladly take care of. The little human yawned as his eyes fluttered open. He could see curiosity and then abject fear in the most beautiful golden eyes he’d ever seen. Remy waited with bated breath as the human pulled his bag to his chest and tried to push further back into the small cupboard. Remy knew his third form must seem scary as hell to his little angel, so he made sure his moves were slow and purposeful. “My name is Remy,” he said softly, trying his best to keep the growl to a minimum. The guy gave a nod of acknowledgement but still didn’t say a word. It was eating Remy up not to know the little man’s name. Raw lust slammed into him, making his body shake with want, but Remy forced it down. “Would you like to come out of there?” he asked as he scooted back, trying to seem less intimidating. It was a tall order considering he had grown a few inches from his normal seven-foot-four height. He must seem like Goliath to this human. “I won’t hurt you. I promise,” he spoke with patience he never knew he possessed. Remy was the commander of his own ship, the leader of four very lethal and savvy creatures. There wasn’t a tender or patient bone in his body—until now. His ears twitched as the human slowly rolled over and let his legs hang from the cupboard. Remy was shocked to see how small the man truly was. At least, he hoped the little human was a man. If he wasn’t, Remy was in trouble. His angel’s eyes watched him warily as he climbed out of the cupboard and stood there with that ratty-looking bag in his hands. “Are you hungry?” Remy asked as he stood. He frowned when the man’s eyes widened. This wasn’t going well.

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“No,” the small man answered, but Remy could hear the rumbling in his stomach. He wasn’t sure why the guy was lying to him, but he knew he had to eat. Remy was going to be the one to take care of all his needs, and wants. “Tell me your name, angel.” Remy got down on one knee, trying his best to be at eye level. “G–Giovanni Gallardo,” he finally answered. “Such a big name for such a small man. How about I call you Gigi? Would you like that?” Remy asked as the endearment rumbled from his chest. Once again lust hit him like a freight train, making his cock grow in size. He hoped the human wasn’t paying attention. Remy was trying to gain his trust, not scare him back into the cupboard. The little human looked as though he was mulling over the idea before his gorgeous golden eyes sparkled. “I can live with that.” Remy chuckled, the sound vibrating in his chest. Gigi’s eyes rounded again, and he clutched his bag tighter. “You’re safe here, Gigi. I promise. No one will hurt you.” “O–okay.” “Come, angel,” Remy said as he stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go get you something to eat.” Gigi’s hand trembled as he hesitantly placed it in Remy’s. When Gigi flashed him a slight smile, Remy felt like the biggest man on the planet. He didn’t care that the smile wobbled a bit and that Gigi still seemed scared. His angel had smiled at him. Remy kept a tight, but gentle, grip on Gigi’s hand as he led him out of Blade’s room and down the hallway to the mess hall. He ached to ask questions. He wanted to know everything about his little angel. He was just afraid of scaring him. He’d have to tread carefully. “What do you like to eat, Gigi?” “Anything,” Gigi whispered. “What is your favorite thing to eat?” Remy tried again. “Anything.”

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Remy almost growled. He could see that Gigi was scared and nervous, but he needed something to work with. “Do you like steak?” Gigi blinked. “Real steak? Like, from a cow kinda steak?” Remy frowned. Was there any other kind of steak? “Yes.” Gigi’s eyes widened even more. “You have real cow steak?” “Yes.” Remy was very confused. “Do you have cows? Real cows?” “Well, not onboard the ship, but we can get you one if you want it.” Remy didn’t think Gigi’s eyes could get any bigger than they already were. He was wrong. He was also a little shocked when the fear faded from Gigi’s eyes and the man started bouncing on his feet. Pure lust streaked through Remy at the sudden knowledge that his mate was an energetic creature. Remy could only hope that Gigi’s current exuberance poured over into their sex life ’cause, damn! If Gigi got this excited over steak, Remy couldn’t wait to see how he’d react in bed. “Do you have real dogs and cats and horses and—” “Whoa, slow down.” Remy chuckled. “We don’t have any live animals onboard the ship, but I might consider getting one or two if you really want one. However, it would be your responsibility to care for it.” “Can I have a puppy?” Gigi whispered in awe. “I’ve never seen a real live puppy. They don’t have them back on Earth. Well, they do, but you have to have lots of credits to have one, and I don’t—” Gigi suddenly snapped his mouth shut and dropped his eyes. “Gigi?” Remy reached down and lifted the man’s face, trying his best to keep his long claws from scratching his angel. “You can say anything you want to me. Don’t be afraid.” “Can I go now?” “Go?” Remy frowned then waved his hand toward the porthole window. “Go where, Gigi? We’re in space.”

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The blood drained from Gigi’s face as he raced over to the window and peered out, leaving it pasty white. “We’re in space?” Gigi whispered. He looked desperate when he glanced over his shoulder. “But—I only had enough credits to get to End of the Line. I can’t pay you.” Remy smiled. Credits were the least of his concerns. “You don’t have to pay me anything, Gigi. You are more than welcome aboard my ship.” “Your ship?” Gigi’s head snapped around. “This is your ship?” “It is. I share it with my crew, but it is home to me.” Remy drew in a deep breath, wishing that he hadn’t when Gigi’s sweet scent invaded his senses. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” Gigi’s head tilted slightly, and a delicious frown drew his eyebrows together. “Why?” “Why?” Remy gulped as he frantically searched for an answer. He knew Gigi was frightened, and he didn’t want to add to that, but he didn’t want to lie to him either. “Because we need another crew member. Five is an unlucky number. What can you do?” Remy patted himself on the back for the great save. It was true about the unlucky number, but neither he nor his crew members gave a shit about superstitions. **** Gigi shrugged as he looked out of the window again. The one thing he knew how to do well was something he wasn’t willing to do anymore. He racked his brain to think of something he could offer this big…whatever he was. He heard the large man walk up behind him and sighed as he turned to face him. What could he do? “I can cook,” he said as his head fell back on his shoulders, staring up into smoky grey eyes. “Do you need a cook? If you get me that cow, I can do lots of things with it. Well, if you have the right ingredients I can do lots of things with it.”

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Gigi jumped slightly when that rumbling noise came from Remy’s chest again. It was scary and fascinating all at the same time. Gigi’s eyes stole a quick glance at the large cock between the creature’s legs. Remy may be used to walking around naked with his bits and pieces hanging out, but Gigi wasn’t used to it. He could feel his face heat up as he hurriedly glanced at his shoes. If Remy planned on using that cock on him, Gigi was in a world of trouble. “We could always use a cook.” Remy smiled at him, and Gigi’s brain short-circuited. “Let’s go to the mess hall and get you fed first.” “Okay.” Gigi followed Remy into what he had called a mess hall. The place was spotless. He wasn’t sure what was so messy about it, but it looked as though he could eat off the floor. He set his bag down on one of the tables, wincing when he noticed how dirty it looked compared to the shiny stainless steel of the table. “What would you like with your steak, Gigi?” Remy asked as he walked over to a food replicator on the far wall. As poor as Gigi had been, even he could have afforded a newlooking model. He wasn’t going to complain, though. Remy was being cool about his stowaway status and not trying to chuck him out of the nearest air lock. “Potatoes. Do you have fresh potatoes?” he asked as his stomach growled in agreement. “I’m not too sure about fresh, but I’ll see what we can do here.” Remy played with the buttons, smacking the small box a few times. Gigi was no expert, but he was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to abuse the appliances. He took a seat on the steel bench as he waited for a meal he hadn’t had in a very long time. Steak was like gold in New Chicago. He was actually surprised this ship had it by the looks of it. He had noticed a few things along the way to the mess hall that looked like they were in bad need of repair. “Here you go.” Remy brought the plate over and set it down on the table.

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Gigi gulped, wondering how offended Remy would be if he refused to eat it. The steak still had blood running from it, and the potatoes looked green around the edges. Just the sight of it made Gigi’s stomach roll. “What’s wrong?” Remy asked as his brows pulled together in a deep frown. “It’s steak.” “I like mine cooked, not still mooing.” Gigi glanced up at Remy, waiting for the open-handed smack across the face that usually accompanied his flippant mouth. To his utter shock, Remy chuckled. He chuckled? Gigi wasn’t sure how to handle that. “It does look like it’s still grazing in the field, doesn’t it?” Remy picked the plate up and tossed it in the compact trash recycler. “Let’s try this again.” “Do you have a kitchen?” Gigi asked hesitantly. So far, the big man had yet to get angry with him. Gigi wanted to keep it that way as long as he could. He wasn’t stupid. Sooner or later, Remy would smack him around. He knew that. Every big man he had ever met liked to pick on those weaker than him. Gigi had no reason to believe Remy was any different. “I guess you could call it a kitchen.” Remy pointed to a door on the far wall. “We really don’t use it much. The replicator is easier since none of us know how to cook.” Gigi decided to venture farther. “Do you have any food not produced from a replicator?” “Uh…” “All right, I’ll see what I can do.” Gigi walked to the replicator and started pushing buttons. He was really hoping things would turn out okay because he had never seen a food replicating machine this old before. He wasn’t sure what he’d end up with. After several tries and a few things that couldn’t be identified, Gigi had a collection of vegetables and two raw steaks in his hands.

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He felt Remy follow him as he walked into the unused kitchen and set everything down on the counter. The first order of business was to see what he had to work with. The cooking equipment seemed to be old but in working order. There were clean dishes in the cupboard and a shelf filled with spices. Gigi smiled over at Remy. “I can work with this, but if you want me to continue to cook, we’re going to have to stop for supplies. Getting food out of the replicator should only happen in emergencies. You need real food to keep your muscles strong and your body healthy.” Gigi chuckled when Remy nodded. The way the man’s eyebrows were drawn together in a slight frown painted an entirely different picture. Remy didn’t have a clue what Gigi was talking about. Gigi knew the man…err…creature, would figure it out when he tasted the food. Home-cooked was always better. It didn’t take Gigi long to get the steaks sprinkled with spices and cooking on the grill. He could see Remy’s nose twitching as he flipped them then went to cutting the vegetables up. Gigi decided to grill the vegetables and mash the potatoes. He wanted to impress Remy with his abilities, as slim as they were. He wanted this job. Once the cubed potatoes were boiling and the vegetables grilling, Gigi leaned against the counter and waited. His eyes wandered to the tall man leaning against the wall by the door. He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help it. The man was naked. And hot. And—sweet hell, would you look at the size of his cock? All of a sudden, Gigi felt flushed. He prayed his face wasn’t glowing with embarrassment as he turned away. He’d seen it once before in the other room but had quickly looked away. It wasn’t polite. Really. But it was just hanging there. Gigi once again found himself glancing over. Okay, it wasn’t just hanging there. It was actually starting to thicken and rise even as Gigi watched. Gigi’s eyes snapped up when he heard a slight growl. They widened considerably more when he saw Remy looking straight at

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him. Oh hell, he’d been caught. Gigi wrung his hands together as he quickly looked away again. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “That was very rude. I just—don’t you have any clothes you can put on? It’s very distracting having you standing there naked,” he said as he waved a hand behind him at Remy’s naked form. “You find me standing here naked distracting?” So much amusement was laced in Remy’s voice that Gigi couldn’t help but look over at the man. Despite every wish he had flashing before his eyes, Gigi found himself looking down at the man’s cock yet again. Gigi thought he was going to die of embarrassment when Remy flexed his thighs and his cock bounced up and down. He felt his face burn as he turned his back on the naked man. Staring would not be permitted. He wouldn’t allow it. It couldn’t happen. ’Cause it made his own cock harden and ache, and that just would not do. He needed this job. He didn’t need to come on to his boss. “Hey, Remy, what is that wonderful smell?” a voice from the other room shouted. “For a minute there, I almost thought you had real food in here.” Gigi swung around and trembled when Remy growled and turned to face whoever was in the other room. That was some scary-ass shit. Remy growled. What in the hell was that from? Gigi had no experience with growling. He didn’t know how to react. Drake shouted. He didn’t growl. Gigi couldn’t figure out why he was intrigued by Remy growling when Drake’s shouting scared the crap out of him. Gigi glanced down for a moment, a small sizzling noise reminding him that he was cooking. “The food is almost done,” he commented when the silence became awkward. ****

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Blade walked into the mess hall, following a delicious scent. Tank, Colt, and Crank were close behind him. “Holy shit. I think it is real food.” “How?” Colt asked as he inhaled deeply. “That kitchen hasn’t been used in years. Hell, I forgot it was even there.” Blade ignored the weapons specialist as he ventured closer. From what he had witnessed earlier, he wasn’t taking any chances. Remy seemed to be in some sort of protective mode with the stowaway, and he wasn’t going to have his balls handed to him—not even for real food. “To hell with this, I want some of whatever that smell is.” Tank rushed past them and into the kitchen. Colt, Crank, and Blade stood there frozen as the sound of pots and pans clanged all over. There was a yelp or two, followed by what sounded like a drawer full of utensils hitting the floor. The painful grunt that followed made them all wince. “Anyone else want to go see what’s cooking?” Blade asked the two remaining men standing behind him. “Only if you go first,” Crank dared him. “I may look crazy, but for the record, I’m not.” “Fine,” Blade huffed as he turned to Colt. “What about you?” “When pigs are seen flying outside the portal window, jackass,” Colt grumbled as the three waited to see what would happen next. They took a few quick steps back when Tank tumbled out of the double-chrome doors, a pot on his head and his clothes ripped in various places. “Steak, they’re cooking steak,” he said before falling face-first onto the floor. “Damn. I don’t think Remy is sharing,” Crank complained, sounding very unhappy about it. “Uh, Tank, who’s piloting the ship?” Blade asked as he took a step closer to the kitchen, his eyes watching for Remy as he nudged the downed man with his foot.

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“Auto,” a mumble came from the pilot. “I thought the autopilot was malfunctioning?” Colt asked as the three looked between each other. The question was forgotten when Remy burst through the double doors in his third form. Blade still couldn’t get over how fucking scary the commander looked. He’d seen Remy shift before, but the man’s attention was always aimed elsewhere. This time, it was aimed right at him and the others. “Does anyone else want some steak?” Remy growled. His large jaw opened and closed, and his teeth snapped together. “Because I’d be more than happy to feed you.” Blade was the first one to tuck tail and run. He might be a badass in every sense of the word, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to take the offered steak. Colt gulped. “No thanks.” He ran over and helped Tank to his feet, not an easy feat since the man was the biggest of them all. He wrapped an arm around Tank’s waist and hurried toward the doors. “Peace out.” Crank was hot on their heels as they fought to get out of the mess hall doors. Blade fell into the wall when the ship took a slight dip. “Get Tank back to the helm before our asses start freefalling,” Blade shouted at Colt.

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Chapter 3 “Get your ass back to the bridge.” Remy growled as he watched his crew scurry to get out of the mess hall. He didn’t wait for an answer as he walked back into the kitchen. Gigi was bent over picking the utensils up, so Remy checked out the little man’s ass. And what a fine little ass it was. His cock rose higher as thoughts of sinking deep into the man’s tight-looking ass clouded his mind. He wondered briefly at how opposed Gigi would be to kitchen sex. There was a large, flat surface right in front of them. Sure, most people called it a countertop, but Remy called it an oasis to lay the small man down on and have his wicked way with him. His eyes snapped up when Gigi straightened and set the utensils on the counter. So much for his oasis. “The food should be ready soon. I have a few vegetables to reheat,” Gigi informed him as he stepped over a pot on the floor like it was no big deal. This intrigued Remy. If witnessing one of his crew members getting his ass handed to him didn’t faze the little guy, then what else was his little angel used to seeing? Remy sighed heavily as he leaned against the counter, trying his best not to throw Gigi on top of it and fuck his brains out. This heat coursing through his body was a son of a bitch. Remy nonchalantly shook his leg out, hoping that alleviated some of the discomfort of having his cock at full-mast. It didn’t help. In fact, it made his cock smack the underside of the counter, and a groan escaped his lips. Gigi spun around and stared at him with a spatula in his hand, grease hitting the floor as his mouth

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hung open slightly. Remy wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out. “I’m going to go sit down at the table.” Remy felt ridiculous as he backpedaled and gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. He was running from a man that he could squash like a bug. But he was still running. “Is everything okay, Remy?” Gigi asked. “Don’t you want me to cock your dinner?” Remy gasped. “What did you just say?” Please let me have heard the little man correctly. “I said, don’t you want me to cook your dinner?” Remy sighed. He was losing his damn mind. “No, everything is fine, angel,” he said with a bit of disappointment. “Then why do you look so angry?” Gigi frowned. “Did I do something wrong?” “No, no, of course not. It’s just—” Remy rubbed the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb as his thoughts took over. It’s just because every time I look at you all I can think about is fucking you. Yeah, that would go over well. Gigi would probably run screaming from the room. “No, I won’t.” Remy stilled then blinked then slowly raised his head. Gigi stood there, red face and all, looking him straight in the eye. Remy blinked again. “You won’t what, angel?” “I won’t run if you want to fuck me.” Remy almost swallowed his tongue. It was a close call, too, because it felt like it was sticking to the top of his mouth as he tried to form some sort of reply. His cock, on the other hand, had no problem giving its response. It started throbbing, drops of pre-cum pooling on the head then slowly dripping down the sides. Oh gods, he was fucking horny! Now that the offer was in front of him, he wasn’t so sure he should jump at it. He was trying his best to

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take care of this little man, and fucking him should be second on the list, with eating the first. “Why don’t we get you fed first?” He said it with a straight face, which surprised him in his current state of arousal. Maybe he was losing his mind. “If that’s what you want.” Gigi gave Remy his back as he grabbed the pot from the stove. Remy had to get out of there before he changed his mind and let all of Gigi’s hard work go to waste. He backed out of the double doors, taking a steady breath once the little man was no longer in his sights. What in the hell was wrong with him? It was as if he was a prepubescent pup again with no control over his body. Remy took a seat and yelped when the cold steel met his naked flesh. This was going to be brutal. Gigi pushed through the doors with two large plates in his hand and a satisfied smile on his face. Remy knew he made the right call when pride brightened up Gigi’s face. “Now it’s hot, so be careful,” the angel of his dreams warned. “I’m going to go get us something to drink.” Remy nodded as he tilted his head to the side and watched one fine-looking ass sashay away from him. Was there an extra sway in Gigi’s hips? Remy reached under the table and grabbed the base of his cock, counting to ten. When that didn’t work, he counted to twenty. He released his erection and quickly pasted a smile on his face when Gigi walked back into the mess hall with two glasses of what looked like iced tea. He wished it was a stiff drink. He needed one right about now. “Here you go.” The small man set one of the glasses in front of Remy. “Thanks.” Remy winced when his voice cracked. He picked his fork up and noticed his hand trembling. He quickly shoved the fork full of food into his mouth, watching Gigi take a bite. He groaned

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when Gigi did. He knew the little man was groaning from the food, Remy was not. “How is it?” Gigi asked as he chewed and swallowed his food. “Fucking perfect,” Remy whimpered, “just so fucking perfect.” Gigi blinked. “Are you talking about the food?” A blush crept over Gigi’s cheeks as he stabbed at his vegetables. “That, too,” Remy admitted with a little wolfish grin. His fork fell from his hand and clanked against the table when Gigi opened his mouth wide, his tongue licking at the fork before his lips closed around the tines. His cock gave a deep throb as his mouth moved with Gigi’s, imitating the chewing Gigi was performing oh so well. “Eat up.” Gigi pointed at Remy’s plate with his fork. “You’ve hardly touched yours.” Oh, he’d touched his all right. As a matter of fact, he was touching it right now under the table. With his free hand, Remy picked his fork back up, forcing his eyes to look at his plate and not at the tempting minx across from him. “So, how did I know that you wanted to fuck me?” Gigi asked conversationally. Remy’s forked dropped again. “Uh…” “I mean, you certainly looked surprised when I brought it up, but I know I heard you clear as day.” Gigi frowned, his head tilting to the side. “But your lips didn’t move. Is that some sort of alien thing?” “I am not an alien.” “Oh really?” Gigi’s eyebrows shot up like he didn’t believe Remy. “Then explain the fur, the pointed ears, and the ten-inch cock that looks like both of my hands wouldn’t even wrap around it, ’cause we don’t have dicks like that back on Earth.” Remy knew his face was red. He could feel it. Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if his whole body hadn’t turned a dark shade of embarrassed. He swallowed hard and searched for anything to discuss except the size of his cock.

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“You’re from Earth then?” The righteous indignation in Gigi’s face slipped away as the man lowered his head to look down at his plate. Remy wished he had kept his big mouth shut. He just didn’t understand why Gigi was so frightened of anyone knowing he was from Earth. Lots of people were from Earth. It was no big thing. He’d rather talk about his embarrassing hard-on than see that frightened look on his angel’s face. “So, do you like big cocks?” Gigi’s head snapped up. He gaped for a moment before a soft flush filled his face and he nodded. “Yes,” Gigi whispered. “Good to know.” Remy mentally patted himself on the back for changing the subject and getting that horrible look of terror off of Gigi’s face. He’d find out one way or another what Gigi was afraid of, but not today. Today he had other ideas on his mind. Ideas that involved big cocks, tight holes, and a whole lot of funky, mindblowing sex. Remy smiled and reached for his fork again. He cut into his steak and took another bite, chewing carefully. He made sure he kept his eyes glued on his plate and not the luscious man sitting across from him. He knew the steak was supposed to taste good, but at the moment, it tasted like sawdust. “Are you playing with yourself under the table?” Remy froze. That’s exactly what he had been doing, and hearing Gigi talking about it was edging him ever closer to an orgasm of epic proportions. He squeezed his cock tightly to keep from shooting. “Um…” “I can see your hand moving, and I know you’re naked. I saw you in the kitchen. You were hard as a rock.” Gigi shrugged just as Remy glanced up. “It’s no matter to me. I mean, if you want to play with yourself, that’s your business. I just wondered.” “Uh…” Remy frowned. “Thank you?”

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Gigi took another bite of his food. He looked up as he chewed. When he started waving his fork around, Remy knew he was in trouble. “Of course, if you’re going to fuck me, I’d prefer that you waited. I saw how hard you were in the kitchen, and I’d rather have a hard dick in my ass than a soft one, you know?” Gigi waved his fork some more. “It just kind of adds something to it when the fucker is hard when fucking the fuckee.” Remy blinked. His head was starting to hurt—both of them. One from denying himself the bliss that was Gigi’s body and the other because Gigi was speaking and confusing the hell out of him. The only things he really understood from all of that were hard dick and fucking. Maybe the trick was to keep Gigi occupied so he couldn’t talk while getting what he wanted at the same time. “I plan to eat every last bit of this steak, so if you want me to keep my hands off my cock then I suggest you play with it, suck it, or ride it. Hell, I’m not that picky.” Remy started coughing roughly when Gigi grinned and slid under the table. A moment later, wet hot silk enveloped the head of his cock. Remy dropped his fork and gripped the edges of the metal table as Gigi began licking him. He spread his legs, and Gigi scooted closer. Oh hell, he was going to die, right here in the mess hall of his very own ship. And he couldn’t have cared less. His arm swung out, the dishes flying across the room, shattering against the wall as Remy reached under the table and grabbed Gigi by his arms. “Get your ass up here.” Gigi giggled as he climbed up Remy’s lap and then onto the tabletop. He wiggled his beautifully shaped ass in Remy’s face. Remy growled as he curled his fingers into Gigi’s waistband and yanked, the material shredding under his sharp claws. Remy shook his right hand, concentrating on making the claws retract, at least slightly. He was anxious to sink deep inside of Gigi,

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but he didn’t want to purposely scar the man for life. Remy leaned back, allowing a string of saliva to escape his mouth and fall between the crease of the little man’s ass. His saliva would act as a relaxant and prepare the human for his very large cock. Remy thanked the gods that his species had this ability because if they hadn’t, he would have had to find another way, and at the moment, patience wasn’t a virtue in his book. “Holy hell, what is that?” Gigi panted as he looked over his shoulder. “Natural lube. Just relax, Gigi.” Remy wasn’t sure how he could be telling the little man this when he was far from relaxed himself. The need to strike quickly, to claim, and to dominate were riding him hard. Remy had to take a deep breath to tamp down those urges so he wouldn’t hurt the human. His canines extended further when Remy grabbed the base of his cock and slowly sank in. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he had an urge to howl. Although Gigi seemed to be all for the sex, he wasn’t trying to scare the man. Remy laid his hands on Gigi’s sides, careful of his claws, as his hips began to rock in and out. His body quivered from the restraint he was using to be gentle. He was trying to fuck the little man, not put him through the table. His legs began to shake as his wolf instincts demanded he take Gigi harder. “Harder, Remy. Fuck me like you mean it,” Gigi begged. Remy had to shake his head. The lust was building into a blinding fog that would soon make him forget he was holding a fragile human under him. He needed to concentrate on going slow and easy, even if his angel just asked for what his wolf form wanted. Remy pushed forward slowly. He hadn’t even sunk all the way in. Fear of hurting Gigi made him hold back. Sweat began to break out all over his body as his hands shook. His race was used to fucking like madmen. Using the amount of control he was forcing his body to use was taking its toll.

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“Damn it,” Gigi growled as he slammed back onto Remy’s cock, taking all ten inches into his ass. A howl of pleasure ripped from Remy’s chest as Gigi shouted out his name. If the little human could take it, Remy wasn’t one to deny. His wolf howled in agreement, the sound echoing throughout the mess hall. He pulled his hips back and slammed into Gigi, a growl climbing up his chest and making his lips pull back in a snarled curl. Remy picked Gigi up, the little human’s arms circling back around his neck as he bounced Gigi on his cock. “Hell, yeah,” Gigi screamed. “Harder, faster.” Remy wrapped an arm around the little angel as his hips snapped, giving Gigi exactly what he was crying out for. He could feel the tingling clawing its way up his spine as Gigi pulled at his neck. “You’re mine!” Remy declared as his balls drew tight to his body. “Mine, do you understand me?” “Whatever you want, just don’t stop fucking me,” Gigi cried out. Remy leaned forward, putting Gigi back onto his hands and knees as he blanketed his back and sank his canines into soft flesh. He shocked himself with the move. To bite someone while having sex was to claim him as your mate. He really had lost his mind, but the urge was so strong that Remy couldn’t fight it. He drew Gigi’s blood into his mouth as he moaned. Had he tasted anything sweeter in his life? Remy pulled back and sealed the wound with his tongue as his cock rocketed in and out of Gigi’s tight channel. “I’m coming!” Gigi shouted as his hole began to pulse. Remy howled once again as his seed was pulled from his body, making him thrust hard and deep. He wanted to pour his seed into Gigi’s body so anyone with a lick of sense could tell the man had been claimed. Gigi fell down to the table underneath them as he drew in ragged breaths. “That was one hell of a dessert.”

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“By the way, you’re hired.” Remy licked over the teeth marks, his body buzzing from the most profound orgasm of his life. “Is it because I can cook or I’m a good piece of ass?” “You’re hired because you can cook. You’re mine because you let me claim you.” Remy chuckled as he smacked Gigi’s bare ass. “And you are a good piece of ass.” Remy sobered quickly when Gigi wiggled free. He knew his angel had no idea what had just passed between them, and he didn’t have a clue how to explain it to him other than me Tarzan, you John. “Where are you going, angel?” he asked when Gigi hopped off the table. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to get caught with my naked ass hanging out if your friends come back in here.” Remy growled and jumped to his feet. He stalked Gigi across the room as the man started gathering his clothes and pulling them on, well, what of them he could. The rest were in shreds. “No one gets to see you naked except me.” “Duh.” Gigi rolled his eyes. “That’s why I want to get dressed.” Remy’s head started to hurt again and, this time, not in a good way. “You’re going to drive me crazy, aren’t you?” “If you want to fuck this ass then you have to put up with the rest of me, too.” “I could just gag you,” Remy growled. “True.” Gigi cuddled close to Remy’s body and dropped his eyes down to his cock. “But then how would I give you blow jobs?” “Uh…” “Face it, sweetie,” Gigi said as he patted Remy’s chest. “You’re stuck with me.”

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Chapter 4 Gigi smiled as he watched Remy sleep. The man’s fierce features were slowly returning to that of someone somewhat human. He was still as big as a brick shithouse, but at least he didn’t have claws anymore. Or teeth and hair and pointed ears. Okay, the ears were cute. The sharp teeth, not so much. He was cuddled to Remy’s side, the man’s larger-than-life arms wrapped tightly around him even in sleep. Every time Gigi tried to budge, the arms tightened. Gigi figured he was going to be here for a while or at least until the man woke up. Gigi still wasn’t sure what type of alien Remy was, but he did know that man was strong and powerful and possessive as hell. If anyone could keep him safe from Drake, Remy was the man to do it. Besides, the man fucked like a wet dream come to life with a set of jumper cables and a car battery attached to his ass. Gigi had never been so passionately and thoroughly fucked in his life, but he planned to enjoy the man’s massive cock again before the next sun set. A large cock and a man who knew what to do with it was heaven in Gigi’s book. It didn’t hurt that Remy was gorgeous as well. Hell, all of the men on the ship seemed to be gorgeous. They just didn’t hold any interest for Gigi. He had his eyes set on Remy and Remy alone. Gigi gasped and looked down when Remy made a small grunting noise then pushed closer with his nose. Gigi frowned. Was Remy trying to sniff him? How…odd? Gigi couldn’t say it was gross, but it wasn’t exactly arousing either. It was just odd.

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Remy rooted around for a few minutes, pressing his nose ever closer. Gigi jumped when his cock and balls were suddenly grabbed by one very large hand. He groaned and pressed his head back into the pillow when his cock took interest in that hand and hardened right up. Damn! A few hours and his libido was already trained to the man’s touch. Pretty soon he’d be following Remy around like a lost puppy dog looking for a treat—a very nice ten-inch treat. “Hey!” Gigi yelped when he was suddenly lifted into the air and draped over Remy’s body. He landed with his hands and knees on either side of Remy’s large body. All the air rushed from Gigi’s lungs as he glanced down between his body and Remy’s and saw the man grinning up at him. “Oh hell,” Gigi groaned when Remy very carefully licked his fingers then drove them into Gigi’s ass. The burn was intense but forgotten in an instant when Remy swallowed his cock right down to the root. Gigi didn’t know whether to push back onto Remy’s fingers or go forward and drive his cock into the man’s hot mouth. “Oh yes!” Gigi screamed as intense pleasure swarmed through him. “Fuck that ass! Suck that cock!” Gigi gasped when he heard a deep rumble come from Remy’s chest. He glanced down again. For some reason he wasn’t surprised to see the pointed ears grow back. Gigi swallowed hard. “You’re going to fuck me with that huge cock again, aren’t you?” When Remy grinned around his cock, Gigi almost stopped breathing. Remy had huge teeth. Massive teeth. Humongous teeth. Sharp teeth. Pointy teeth. Remy had fucking teeth in his mouth right next to Gigi’s cock.

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Gigi narrowed his eyes. “You bite my cock, and I’ll feed you your balls for breakfast.” Gigi was suddenly jerked back and impaled on Remy’s cock in one motion. His eyes crossed as he was filled almost beyond feeling good. He panted heavily and clutched at Remy’s shoulders as he tried to bring life-giving air back into his lungs. “You–you should warn a guy before you do that.” “And you shouldn’t threaten me, little one.” Remy growled. “I’m a lot bigger than you.” Gigi tilted his head back to stare down into Remy’s smoky grey eyes. “And?” “And I can fuck you right through the wall.” Gigi’s eyes widened at that visual. He licked his lips. “Please?” Remy’s eyes darkened as he growled and rolled them to the edge of the bed. Gigi laughed and grabbed onto the hulking man as he stood up, Gigi still impaled on his cock. He leaned in, nuzzling his head under Remy’s chin and licking a line across the man’s throat. “I wonder how long you can walk around with me on your cock.” Remy’s chest rumbled as he chuckled. “Why don’t we find out?” Gigi blinked in surprise. He’d just been joking but—“Oh hell yes,” he shouted when Remy started walking around the room then jogging. Each bounce drove Remy’s cock deeper into his ass. Remy’s hands gripped Gigi’s butt cheeks, holding him tight. The faster Remy went, the more aroused Gigi became. He was pretty sure he had stopped breathing altogether by the time Remy pressed him against the bulkhead and rammed into him. Remy’s eyes turned black as his eyes roamed over Gigi, settling on the soft skin between his throat and shoulder. Gigi blinked then tilted his head back, giving Remy access. Remy roared and drove up into Gigi’s tight ass. At the same time, his teeth sank into Gigi’s shoulder. Gigi screamed and came, ropes of cum splattering between them. He felt pulse after pulse of hot liquid fill his ass until it started

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trickling between his ass cheeks. Gigi closed his eyes and dropped his head against Remy’s chest as he tried to start breathing again. It might be impossible. He felt Remy walk across the room and lower him onto the bed. He groaned in protest when Remy pulled away until he felt the man’s rather large hand caress the side of his face. “Ssshhh, angel, I’ll be right back.” True to his word, Remy was back in just a moment. Gigi opened his eyes when he felt something damp swipe between his butt cheeks. His face flushed when he realized Remy was cleaning him. “No one’s ever done that before,” Gigi whispered. “It is my duty and my right to care for you and see to all of your needs.” Gigi cocked his head. “Your duty and your right? What does that mean?” “It means, angel, that you are mine now. I claimed you. As such, I have a duty to see to your health and safety. It is also my right as your mate. No one may touch you, feed you, or care for you except me, not without my permission.” “I sound like your pet.” “No, angel.” Remy chuckled. “You are most definitely not my pet.” “Then what am I?” “My mate. What else do you need to know besides that? Just make sure none of the crew members touch you. If they leave a scent on you, I may kill them.” Remy tossed the cloth toward a small door as he turned back around. “Are you ready to meet my crew?” Hell no, but Gigi wasn’t going to voice his fears out loud. If he was going to be a part of this crew, then he better get to know them. Besides, who knew how much protection he would need if Drake ever found him? ****

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Tank rolled his eyes when Remy came onto the bridge. He was still pissed as hell about the kitchen incident. His head still ached. Tank focused his stare in front of him and ignored his commander. Well, as much as anyone could ignore the guy. He winced when a hand landed on his shoulder. So much for ignoring him. “Sorry about earlier. I wasn’t willing to share my steak,” Remy said as he stood next to Tank. Tank grunted. He knew he couldn’t stay mad long. He wasn’t one to hold a grudge. “Yeah, yeah. Now go away before your ugly ass tries to kiss me.” “What happened, Commander?” Colt asked from behind them. Tank was curious as well but wasn’t going to pry. He’d leave that to someone else in case Remy got pissed at the question. “Not sure. But I’m much better now.” He chuckled as he waved the stowaway over to his side. The little human scuttled across the bridge and practically crawled up Remy’s side. That was how close he was. “Everyone, this is Gigi. He’s our new cook,” Remy said proudly. Tank wondered if there was more to it than that but didn’t ask. One ass-handing a day was enough for him. “Welcome aboard, Gigi.” Tank smiled at the small stowaway. “Thank you,” Gigi answered meekly. “I’m Colt.” The hawk shifter extended his hand. “Glad to have you aboard.” Gigi reached out and shook Colt’s hand. “Thanks.” Colt pointed behind him. “And that coyote over there is Blade. The best hand-to-hand combat man around.” Gigi gave a shy wave to Blade. “I’m Crank.” The demo expert waved a hand with a missing pinky. “But you can call me Crank.” Tank snickered as Gigi tilted his head in confusion. The little stowaway was in for the surprise of his life if he was joining their

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crew. They all had a wicked sense of humor, as the human was going to find out. “Fuck with him and I’ll blow your balls off,” Remy warned Crank as his arm draped over Gigi’s shoulder. Tank chuckled. The poor human looked like he was going to crumble under the weight of Remy’s massive arm. “All right, ladies, get back to your duties,” Remy commanded as he took a seat, pulling Gigi onto his lap. Tank watched his commander as Remy petted Gigi’s back, a deep rumble sounding in Remy’s chest. He wasn’t even sure his commander was aware of what he was doing. Remy sat there explaining what they did on the bridge as his hand slowly moved up and down the stowaway’s back. Tank looked over his shoulder at the rest of the crew, noticing that they, too, were watching Remy. Tank shrugged when Blade glanced at him. He made a circular motion with his finger around his temple. When Remy looked his way, Tank’s hand dropped quickly as he smiled at his commander. Remy rolled his eyes as his attention went back to the small man on his lap. He could hear the others snickering behind him, and Tank had to fight to keep a straight face. **** Remy was trying his best to make his mate feel at home. And this was his home now. There was no way Gigi was ever leaving his side. He could see the crew staring at them in confusion, but Remy ignored their dumb asses. He wasn’t going to give into them like he normally did. His crew loved to play pranks to pass the time and throw barbs at one another. But Remy’s protective instincts were riding high now, and he wasn’t going to allow one single barb to come his mate’s way. “Are we close to Nebular Nine yet?” Remy asked as Gigi squirmed a little on his lap. He hadn’t meant to take his angel twice in

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one day. Remy knew his cock was too large for his human mate, but there was no way Remy could have controlled himself when he was in mating heat. He wanted to take him again on the bridge, but then he’d have to kill his crew for seeing his mate’s naked ass. As good as he was, Remy couldn’t fly this ship solo. “We should be approaching its outer atmosphere in a few hours,” Tank said with a hint of humor in his voice. Remy shot him a dry look, and Tank whipped his head around to stare straight ahead. He could see now that he was fighting a losing battle. His men were going to be who they were no matter what Remy said. “Have you made contact with Borjan yet?” Remy couldn’t seem to stop touching his mate. He forced himself to stay rooted to his seat. If he left the bridge, Gigi was going to get fucked again…and again…and again. “I tried to raise him on the com, but he hasn’t answered yet. After what just happened on End of the Line, I’m playing it cautious.” Remy nodded his approval. “We don’t dock until you reach him. If I run into one more trap today, someone is going to die.” He immediately regretted his words when his mate stiffened in his lap. Remy ran his hands over Gigi’s back, trying his best to calm his angel down. “I’ll keep trying, Commander,” Tank said as he hit the communication button on the control panel in front of him. “Are we going back to End of the Line?” Blade asked as he checked the control panels above his head. “That’s the only place that sells those explosive charges that Crank needs for that blast job on Beta Five.” Remy hated that they were kicked out of the Federation’s Elite Force. It made getting reliable equipment and supplies almost impossible. They often had to deal on the black market to get what they needed.

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It wasn’t their fault they caught a general selling weapons to their enemy. Shit hit the fan quickly, and all five of them were dishonorably discharged. Someone had to be the scapegoat, and it wasn’t the general. There had been no hope after that of joining any respectable military force. They were outlaws by the Federation of United Planets standards, but Remy and his crew tried their best to stay on the straight and narrow. Sometimes they had no choice but to engage in illegal activities to put food on the table and fuel cells in their ship. But being independent of any military regime gave them the freedom to pick and choose who they conducted business with. Remy liked the freedom to do business with who he wanted to, but if they ever got caught operating as an Elite Force, they would spend the rest of their natural born lives behind bars—if they even made it in front of a court. There were a lot of people out there just dying to see them put out of business. That’s why they had to be careful who they let hire them. A credit was a credit, but careful background checks were always done. Although they didn’t always get the right information, as the last botched job proved. Remy stroked Gigi’s back and wondered if their luck was finally changing. After all, his mate did just fall into his lap. And Remy had every intention of keeping him there. “I have Borjan on my com link, and he says everything is good to go,” Tank informed Remy after he spoke with their client. “Good. I still want to scout around a bit before we land. I’m not taking any chances.” Especially with his mate sitting in his lap. Remy knew his careless days were over. He had a mate to look after now. He’d kill anyone who he thought was a threat to his little angel. “Gotcha.” Tank nodded as he steered a course that would take them to the opposite side of the planet.

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Coming in from behind was a good way to see who was waiting. Remy didn’t trust anyone except the men on the ship with him, not even someone he had done business with before. “Slow her down to one thruster. I want to have a peek,” Remy advised his pilot. “No need to rush in.” “You got it, Commander.” The rest of the crew strapped up, shoving phasers into holsters and knives into sheaths. Remy stood, setting his mate on his feet. “I need you to take a seat over there and strap in, angel. Whatever you do, don’t unbuckle yourself. This may turn into a bumpy ride.” His fingers traced the side of his mate’s face, then he stepped back so that Gigi could do as he commanded. His mate looked terrified but didn’t give him any trouble. Remy was proud of how Gigi was trying his best to be brave. Once Gigi was strapped in, Remy took his seat again and put his game face on. “Let’s rock ‘n’ roll, boys.” “Hoorah,” his crew whooped as Tank took their ship lower. Remy usually felt the same rush his crew was experiencing. But now that his mate was aboard, all he felt was anxiousness and fear. If anything happened to Gigi, Remy wasn’t sure what he would do. It was true that he had just found the little man, but already Gigi had stolen his way into Remy’s ship and his heart. He glanced back at his mate. Gigi gave him a brave but wavering smile. Remy winked at him before looking straight ahead. He could see the mountains of the southern tip of the planet come into view on the vid-screen. The barren wastelands should be right ahead. Unfortunately, that was exactly where they were headed—the heart of the wastelands. “And here we go.” Tank growled. “Colt,” Remy called out, “keep an eye out for any tracers. If someone is on our tail, I want to know about it before they do.” “Got it, Commander.”

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Remy just had a gut instinct, and he usually trusted his instincts. They had saved his hide more than once. His were screaming that the setup back at End of the Line was just the beginning. There was more trouble waiting for them ahead. “Colt, when we land, I want you to slip out and scout the area. Hopefully, no one knows how many people we have onboard. If you can keep yourself hidden then we might have an advantage if we need one.” “Will do, Commander.” Remy nodded. “Tank, you stay onboard with Gigi. Keep him safe while we find out if we’ve been double-crossed or not.” “You have been.” Remy spun around and stared at Gigi. “What?” “That guy you’re going to meet,” Gigi said quietly. “He has a bunch of armed men hiding in the warehouse where you’re supposed to meet him.” Remy blinked. “Uh, how do you know this, angel?” He’d really like to know as they hadn’t even reached the warehouse yet. Remy’s eyes narrowed. Was Gigi a spy sent to bring them down? Even as he thought it, Remy dismissed that idea. Gigi was his mate. He had to trust in his mate. Gigi frowned. “Can’t you scan for them? I know they are there.” “Level out, Tank, and hold us in this pattern,” Remy said as he got out of his seat and walked over to Gigi. “Crank, I want you to scan for anything out of place—bio signatures, EM devices, energy weapons, fuel cells, anything.” “On it, Commander.” Remy could feel Gigi trembling as he knelt down in front of him and grabbed his hands. He tried to look unthreatening as he smiled at the little man. “Angel, we haven’t scanned yet. How do you know someone is waiting for us?” “I don’t know.” Gigi shrugged and looked away. “I just do.”

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Remy really wished he could leave it at that. He could see that Gigi was nervous. He wanted more than anything to be able to comfort his mate right now, but he really needed to know how Gigi knew someone might be waiting for them. Remy gripped Gigi’s chin between his fingers and pulled the man’s face back around. “Please, angel, I need to know.” Gigi looked hesitant for a moment then he whispered, “I can feel them.” Remy’s eyebrows shot up. “You can feel them?” Gigi nodded. “It’s cold, freezing cold. And it feels gross.” “What exactly feels gross, Gigi?” “The men waiting.” Gigi frowned. “I can’t explain it exactly. There’s just this huge feeling of evil.” “Could it be nerves?” Gigi shook his head. “No, I’m feeling a distinct difference between each man. There are about eight in all. Four are up in the rafters. Two are on the roof. And two more are standing in the middle of the warehouse. All of them feel cold except one of the men on the roof. He feels warm and not gross.” “Okay, then.” For some odd reason, Remy believed Gigi. He squeezed Gigi’s hands then dropped them as he stood to his feet. “It seems we have a party waiting to welcome us to Nebular Nine, boys. Be ready for them.” “You believe me?” Gigi whispered. Remy glanced back, surprised by the shock making Gigi’s face white. He cupped his hand around that beautiful face and smiled. “Of course I believe you, angel.” “No one’s ever believed me before.” “Well, I do.” “Me, too,” Crank said, catching Remy’s attention. “I can see them now on my scanner, and they are directly where your little angel said they’d be—all eight of them.”

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“Damn!” Remy rubbed the back of his neck. “We have surprise on our side, boys. We can go in, but you know what we’re facing. Is our cargo worth it?” “We really need those parts, Remy,” Tank said. “The engines need a tune-up worse than I do. She’s a good ship, but even she needs her hair curled every once in a while.” Remy glanced around the room at the rest of his men. “Do you all agree?” They all nodded. “Okay then, we go in. Tank, plot us a course that will bring us behind them. Landing out of sight won’t be an option once we hit the wastelands. They’ll see us coming a mile away. I want to go in hard and fast. We’re going to land, get our cargo, and get the hell out of there.” “What about me?” Gigi asked. “You’re my ace in the hole, angel.” Remy walked over to a side panel near the door and grabbed a personal communicator. He walked back over and placed it on Gigi’s ear. “This will let you speak directly to any of us. If your gut changes at all, I want you to let us know. I believe you might be able to see things that we can’t.” Gigi looked stunned, as if he had never considered that someone might believe him. His mouth hung open a little, but he nodded in quick bursts as his eyes widened, making them dominate his face. “I want you to stay here on the ship. Tank will keep you safe until I get back, and then we can go make dinner together.” Gigi wrinkled his nose. “Mooing cow?” Remy chuckled. “Or clucking chicken.” Gigi giggled, the reaction Remy was looking for. Remy patted his hand then walked back over to his chair. He sent a small wink to Gigi then turned to face the vid-screen, praying he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life by landing. “Okay, Tank, bring us in.”

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Chapter 5 When the retractable ramp lowered, Crank was the first to exit. His cougar senses were picking up the scents Gigi had claimed were there. Luckily, he had a few surprises for these assholes. He patted his vest, feeling the RK05s sitting snuggly where he had put them. Just one of those babies would blow the entire warehouse up, and Crank planned on leaving a few behind as a thank you for fucking us over gift. Colt was the next to exit, his high-powered blaster cocked on his shoulder and ready for business. Crank was pretty sure Colt was the best damn sniper this side of the galaxy. It didn’t hurt that Colt loved showing off his skills. Besides, it was customary to have a blaster aimed when engaging in black market deals, so these jerks wouldn’t think anything of it if they happened to spot him. Crank blocked Colt’s exit with his body as the hawk shifter slid to the side of the ship and climbed on top, lying flat behind one of the deflector shields. Hell, they had a few aimed at them right now. Crank could feel it in his bones. Blade exited strapped with more knives than a Ginsu factory. The man was a beast when it came to hand-to-hand combat. Throw some knives in there and the enemy didn’t have a chance. He’d saved Crank’s ass more than once. Remy walked out last, taking up the lead and walking straight into the heart of the trap, acting casual, as though he wasn’t aware of what was going on. Crank loved that about their commander. He might feel fear, but no one looking at him would ever know.

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“Borjan, glad you could make our meeting.” Remy stuck his hand out as Crank scanned the area. They all had their personal communicators on and working. Still, there were things a good pair of eyes could spot that a communicator couldn’t. “The two on the roof are moving in closer,” Colt’s voice warned over the com link. “Why do you look so surprised, Commander? A deal is a deal.” Borjan’s smile was cold, and his eyes were empty and dark. “Now, if you’ll follow me inside, we can conduct our business.” Crank and Blade followed Remy inside the warehouse. Crank’s eyes immediately looked up for the four in the rafters. And there they were, sitting snuggly and out of sight, or so they thought. “Get out of there!” Gigi’s voice sounded panicked over the com links. “They have more moving in behind the warehouse. They’ll be there in ten minutes or less.” Well then, they needed to get this meeting done and over within five minutes tops. There was no way they were leaving here emptyhanded. Crank was pretty sure their lady wouldn’t make it back to End of the Line in its present state. “Show me what you have.” Remy didn’t waste any time on pleasantries. Crank knew like everyone else that they had to buy and run. It couldn’t be considered rude since all of this was under that radar anyways. “Why the rush?” Borjan asked as he walked slowly to the back of the warehouse. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Commander. Can’t we catch up on old times?” “We don’t have any old times,” Remy bit out. “Let’s see what you have, or I’m walking.” “Very well,” Borjan sighed but still walked slower than Crank’s dead cat.

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Crank was starting to get a funny vibe, like their time was even less than Gigi predicted. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He knew they were being watched, but this was something more. Blade must have read his mind because he grabbed Borjan in under a nanosecond. “He dies if any of you assholes so much as twitch a finger,” Blade snapped as he grabbed his knife and held it to the slimy fucker’s throat. Crank blinked then pulled his phaser. Apparently he wasn’t the only one feeling the vibe. Everything after that happened in a rush. Crank rushed past Borjan and planted a couple of the RK05s. Remy shot forward and grabbed the case they needed to repair the ship. Crank joined Blade as they backed away with Borjan shielding them. Crank tossed the credits on the floor of the warehouse. They may be engaging in black market deals, but the Elite Force weren’t pricks. They paid for whatever they needed. They weren’t a bunch of thieves. “You won’t get away with this.” Borjan growled at them. “There’s a huge bounty on your heads, and sooner or later you won’t be able to use force to get away. I plan on being the one to collect. Just so you know.” Crank watched Blade yank the son of a bitch back towards the ship. He nodded when he saw Colt slide back down and aim his blaster at the warehouse. Crank could see that everyone knew they were up shit creek, and they were getting the hell out of there. “Move,” the hawk shifter shouted as they neared the retractable ramp. Once the crew was on board, Blade shoved Borjan to the ground and waved bye-bye as the ramp closed. Tank had them in the air in less than ten seconds, phasers shooting at their hull. Crank ran toward the bridge right along with everyone else. “Get us the hell out of here,” Remy shouted as he ran onto the bridge. “And fix her before we end up sitting ducks in space.” “Give me just a second, Commander.” Crank rushed over to the vid-screen and pushed the button in his hand. “Three, two, one…yes!”

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Crank shouted, dancing around as the warehouse went up in a blaze of explosions. Crank grinned as the mushroom cloud that used to be the warehouse faded from sight. He turned to take the case from Remy. “I love things that go boom.” He chuckled as he carried the case off the bridge. What a fucking rush. **** Gigi wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Everyone was working on their assigned jobs, and he was sitting on his ass, twiddling his thumbs. He loved the way the crew came together and worked like a well-oiled machine. He just wanted to be a part of that. Gigi unsnapped his buckle and slid from his seat. He approached Remy slowly as he watched the crew working on the lady, and Tank navigated them as far away from Nebular Nine as possible. “Can I help?” he asked Remy. Remy spun his seat around and patted his thighs. That wasn’t what Gigi had in mind, but he took a seat nonetheless. He’d never say no to being cuddled in Remy’s lap. He wasn’t that dumb. “I’d like to help.” “You’ve been a big help already, Gigi.” “You know what I mean. Give me something to do.” Gigi’s eyes narrowed when Remy wiggled his eyebrows. “Not that. I mean real work. Something that doesn’t involve my ass and your cock.” Remy chuckled. “You really want to pitch in?” Gigi nodded enthusiastically. “Cook the guys a good home-cooked meal, something hearty for growing boys.” “How is that helping?” “Have you seen the slop we eat? Believe me, it would help.” Gigi didn’t see how, but he was willing to do it. It wasn’t like he knew how to repair the hull or work on the diagnostics system. He

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wouldn’t even know what to look for unless there was a huge hole in front of him. Gigi braved giving Remy a quick kiss then jumped off his lap and ran through the ship until he reached the mess hall. He figured out what he would make and how much of each ingredient he would need then walked over to the dilapidated food replicator. Gigi mentally crossed his fingers as he tapped in what he needed on the punch pad. The replicator came on with a shudder. Gigi jumped back when it began to sputter and spark. White creamy liquid started pouring out of it. When the liquid hit the floor, it began to swell and bubble. It coagulated into a foam-like substance and began to grow quickly. Gigi squeaked and ran. “Remy!” he screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran right back the way he’d come not moments before. He could hear the replicator whizzing behind him as he ran down the corridor and up the stairs to the command deck. “Remy!” “What?” Remy shouted as he ran off the bridge and into the corridor. He caught Gigi in his arms and looked around for the danger. “What is it, angel?” “The replicator tried to eat me.” Gigi rolled his eyes when Remy blinked down at him. “The replicator tried to eat you?” Gigi nodded rapidly and pointed down the corridor. Remy sighed and set Gigi aside. He started down the corridor, Gigi right on his heels. Gigi stopped when they reached the doors to the mess hall. He bounced nervously from foot to foot as he bit his bottom lip. “Maybe you shouldn’t go in there,” Gigi said. “Maybe you should get Tank or something.” Tank was even bigger than Remy. He could stop a spaceship takeoff. “Gigi, the replicator is not going to hurt me.”

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Remy opened the door and stepped inside. The next thing Gigi knew, Remy slipped and went down in the white foam. His heart thundered in his chest as Remy totally disappeared from sight. “Tank!” Gigi screamed at the top of his lungs as he went running down the corridor again. Gigi grunted when he ran around a corner and right into Tank. He bounced back and fell on his butt. “What’s the hurry, Gigi?” “The food replicator ate Remy.” Tank’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?” Gigi jumped to his feet and grabbed Tank’s hand then yanked him down the corridor toward the mess hall. He stopped again when he reached the two large metal doors and pointed. “The food replicator tried to eat me. Remy went in, and now he’s gone.” Tank started to step forward, but Gigi grabbed his hand. “Wait, shouldn’t you have some sort of weapon?” “I’m sure I’ll be fine, Gigi.” Gigi bit his lip and started bouncing again as Tank opened the door and stepped inside. Gigi caught just a blink of white and Tank was gone, swallowed up by whatever was in the room. Gigi wasn’t taking any chances this time. “Colt! Crank! Blade!” He shouted as loud as he could as he backed away from the mess hall doors. “Help! Emergency! Help!” The three large men came running from every direction with their phasers drawn. Gigi just pointed. Colt frowned as he went in first, Crank and Blade hot on his heels. Dread began to fill Gigi when they disappeared the same way Remy and Tank had. Now it was just him. He was the only one left to save everyone from the food replicator. And he didn’t have a clue what to do. Gigi chewed on his thumbnail for a moment until an idea hit him. He ran back down the corridor to the small storage closet just outside the living quarters. He remembered seeing rope in there when Remy had pulled out the personal communicator for him to use. Gigi grabbed the rope and raced back to the mess hall.

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He tied one end around the bulkhead and the other end around his waist. If he got lost inside the room of white foam, at least he’d be able to find his way back. He hoped. Gigi drew in a deep breath for courage then stepped inside the mess hall. He was met by a large wall of white foam. Gigi dropped down to his knees and started searching the floor for Remy and his men. Fear filled his chest and made his heart thunder. He had to save Remy. Oh yeah, and the crew. “Remy? Are you alive?” “Gigi?” “Remy?” Gigi sat up and searched the blinding whiteness for his man. “Remy, where are you?” “Just follow the sound of my voice, angel. I’m right over here.” Gigi started crawling, moving faster and faster toward Remy’s voice. “Remy?” “I’m here, angel, just a little farther.” Gigi felt a thick muscular leg. He grabbed onto it and followed it up until he could see someone’s face. “You’re not Remy.” Tank chuckled. “No, little one, I’m not.” “Where’s Remy?” “Killing the replicator.” Gigi frowned. “I told you the replicator was trying to eat Remy.” “And next time, I’ll believe you.” Tank chuckled as he wiped foam from his forehead. “Trust me.” “Is anyone else alive?” “I’m here,” Crank called out from somewhere to Gigi’s left. “I’m lost,” Colt said from behind Gigi. “I can’t see a thing,” Blade said, “so I’m not sure where I am.” The whizzing noise suddenly stopped, and the room went silent. Gigi gripped Tank’s arm a little tighter. “That’s really creepy,” he whispered. “I think Remy killed it,” Tank whispered back. “Angel?” Remy called out.

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“I’m here.” A moment later, Gigi felt Remy’s arms wrap around him. He leaned back into the man’s strong embrace, tilting his head back to look up at Remy. “Does anyone deliver this far out in space?” **** Remy stepped out of the shower, wondering how he managed to get the white foam from out of his ears, not to mention his unmentionables. It was going to take days, maybe months, to clean the mess hall up. There had to be a better way to get things repaired around here besides duct tape and a paperclip. That little trick wasn’t working anymore. Remy shuddered as he thought about how he had to kill the mechanical beast and save everyone. That was something he didn’t want to do ever again. “Are you all clean, angel?” he called into the shower. Gigi had tried to fool around while they were in there, and Remy was all for it, until he found white foam in…he shuddered. “As clean as I’m going to get. Next time you guys will believe me when I say an appliance is trying to eat me.” Remy chuckled as he ran his towel over Gigi’s wet hair. “I have to say, some of the strangest things come out of your mouth, and the scary part is that they’re always true.” Gigi tapped his index finger against his temple. “A broken brain always knows.” Remy’s hands stilled, the towel in mid-stroke as he stared down at his mate. “Why would you think your brain is broken, angel?” Remy didn’t think he had ever heard anyone refer to their brain as being broken before. What exactly did his mate mean? Remy didn’t think Gigi’s brain was broken. It was brilliant in his opinion. “Nothing,” Gigi replied as he curled his lips in and stared down at his fidgeting hands.

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Remy set the towel down and grabbed Gigi’s hands. “Talk to me, angel. I told you before that you can talk to me about anything. What did you mean when you said your brain was broken?” Remy’s chest tightened when he saw the tears Gigi was fighting hard to hide from him. “I just think differently from everyone else, that’s all.” Somehow Remy knew that wasn’t all of it, but he wasn’t going to push his mate if Gigi wasn’t ready to tell him. Remy led his mate from the bathroom and over to his bed. He took a seat and then pulled Gigi down next to him. “I’m not going to pressure you into telling me anything you don’t want to, but I want you to remember that you are safe on this ship.” Gigi nodded as he twined his fingers together. “Okay, cool, can we change the subject?” Remy didn’t want to, but he pushed the matter aside for now. He would get to the bottom of Gigi’s angst one way or another. “What subject are we changing it to, angel?” Remy really liked the gleam in Gigi’s eyes. His mate gave him a wicked grin as he scooted back on the bed. “I’ll give you three guesses, but I’m sure you’ll only need one.” Gigi teased as he palmed his thickening cock. “Politics?” Remy did a little teasing of his own. “Remy!” Gigi pouted as his thumb rubbed over the mushroomed head, the glistening pre-cum smearing all around. Remy could feel his canines lengthening as he scented his mate’s essence flowing from his body. He growled low in his chest as he climbed onto the bed and dipped his head, his tongue swiping across his mate’s cock and fingers, lapping up the clear liquid and moaning his approval. “Y–you guessed correctly.” Gigi groaned and spread his legs open. “Now you get the prize.” “Prize,” Remy parroted then he wrapped his lips around his mate’s cock. He circled his tongue around Gigi’s cock, giving a

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prolonged lick down the side and then back up the other. Gigi groaned and slid further onto his back. The sultry groans that spilled from Gigi’s mouth had Remy’s cock growing and thickening, ready to make his angel shout to the stars. It was a symphony to Remy’s ears as his tongue elongated, wrapping around Gigi’s cock. “R–Remy, how did you do that?” Remy’s chuckle was deep as his tongue slid around Gigi’s shaft before lowering to his mate’s sac. Remy loved having three forms. He was able to make any part of his body grow at will, including his tongue. It was something he had been dying to show his little angel. “Who cares? Just don’t stop.” Gigi hooked his hands behind his knees and pulled his legs to his chest, his head thrashing from side to side as little mewling sounds escaped his lips. Remy let his saliva drip down Gigi’s balls and watched as it trailed to his puckered hole. His tongue lapped at his mate’s sac and cock as he reached under him and stroked his own hardened shaft. He was trying to go slow, he really was, but he had a feeling it was a losing battle. “If you treat me like spun glass I’m going to kick you right out of this bed, Remy,” his angel threatened. Sir, yes, sir, Remy thought with a chuckle. He reared back and then planted his knees right behind Gigi’s thighs. “Be careful what you ask for, angel,” he warned as he lined his ten-inch cock up to Gigi’s hole. “Because you just might get it.” He pushed through the barrier on his last word, bottoming out in one thrust. “Next time. I’ll remember that next time,” Gigi cried out as his fists grabbed the sheets. Remy stilled, fearing his little show of power actually hurt his angel.

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“If you don’t move, you’re going back in with the foam,” Gigi bit out between clenched teeth. There was a raw desperation in Gigi’s voice that Remy couldn’t deny. Remy let the breath he was holding out of his lungs as he took his mate with quick, deep thrusts. Each thrust was more vigorous than the last. Remy dropped to his arms as he licked a long path from one side of Gigi’s neck to the other. His mate turned his head, giving Remy what he was after. Remy sank his canines into the heady flesh, feeling the bond between them growing. Wolf shifters bit their mates during sex to show dominance, but it also strengthened their bond each time the practice was done. It would get to the point that he and Gigi would feel as one. They would know each other’s thoughts and what they were feeling. It also marked Gigi, giving him Remy’s scent. No other shifter would dare approach his mate. Not with Remy’s scent broadcasting from Gigi’s skin. Remy growled as he licked the wound, sealing it as his head fell back and a roar echoed throughout their quarters. His hand wrapped around Gigi’s cock, milking it until Gigi was crying out his name. Remy lifted his hand as he gasped for breath and licked his mate’s seed until his hand was once again clean. He couldn’t get enough of how magnificent his mate tasted. Remy pulled his softening cock free as he stretched out beside his mate. Gigi looked dazed, his eyes glazed over and a big grin on his face. “Since you came first,” Gigi murmured, “you can clean up the mess hall.” Remy groaned as his head dropped to the pillow. What good was it to be commander if he couldn’t command his men to clean the mess hall for him? Remy snickered to himself as he drifted off to sleep, his angel cuddled next to him. ****

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Colt stood on the spaceport as he looked over the inventory pad. He chuckled when he saw Gigi had added a long grocery list to his errands. The main purpose here was to obtain the explosive charges Crank needed so they could all get paid. “Everything in order?” Krull asked Crank. “Looks like it. I’ll have this chest carried onto my ship,” he said as he paid for the explosive charges. Crank nodded, and Blade and Colt lifted the chest and carried it onboard. He and Krull shook hands as Crank walked away in search of the items on Gigi’s list. He entered the food market area, stands crowding every street. The smells were delicious, but the crowd made him antsy. After what Borjan said back on Nebular Nine, Crank wasn’t too thrilled to be out in public where he was exposed to anyone’s bullshit. Any asshole out here with half a brain would jump at the chance to collect the bounty on their heads. Crank knew there was a price on their heads, but he hadn’t realized it was so high that even their clients were trying to turn them in to collect. They dealt with a cutthroat crowd, but there should be some kind of honor. At least the Elite Force used honor in their dealings. Too bad everyone else didn’t. Crank didn’t care what century, species, or planet it was, credits were the root of all evil. He touched the inventory pad to check off what he’d already bought as he purchased the things on Gigi’s list. It got to the point that he couldn’t carry the packages any longer without the pile threatening to topple over. Crank spotted a young man with blue skin standing by one of the stalls. “Hey, you, come over here.” The young man ran over to Crank, an expectant look on his thin, blue face. From the rags he was wearing, Crank knew he was an End of the Line vagrant. “I’ll give you five credits if you take these groceries back to my ship for me.”

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The young man’s face lit up at the amount Crank was offering. “Yes, sir.” Crank gave him the loading dock number and handed the packages off to the eager guy. But before the vagrant could take off, Crank snarled a warning. “If you’re thinking about stealing my food, believe me when I say I can track you to the edge of the universe.” The man shook his head. “I may be a vagrant, but I’m not a thief. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re at the End of the Line. You know…” The man waved his hand around. “The edge of the universe.” “Don’t forget about the point beyond here, brat,” Crank warned as he held up his hand with the missing pinky. He had to hold back a grin. The guy had balls, he’d give him that. The vagrant gulped as his face paled, gripping the packages tightly. “I’ll be heading to your ship now.” Crank nodded and stepped aside for the guy to do what he was paid to do. His arms felt lighter as Crank finished checking off the list. By the time he was done, his arms were full again. “Gigi better be one hell of a cook to go through all of this trouble,” Crank grumbled as he walked back toward his ship. “Excuse me. Aren’t you one of the crew members on the Lady Blue?”

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Chapter 6 Gigi smiled as he watched the blue man stack groceries on the shelves in the kitchen. The man was meticulous, which was an interesting trait in one so young. He was currently stacking stuff on the shelf in alphabetical order. Gigi couldn’t get over the fact that the man’s skin was really blue. He knew Crank had asked the man to bring the groceries to the ship, but after seeing the sad state of the man’s clothing, Gigi decided to throw in a few more credits if the man would help put the groceries away. “Is this everything?” the man asked as he turned to look at Gigi, the empty bag held in his hands. “You tell me.” Gigi chuckled as he took the bag. “You brought the stuff here.” “This is everything that man gave me.” “Then I guess that’s it then.” “Is there anything else you’d like me to do?” Gigi arched an eyebrow. “Can you cook or clean?” The young man rubbed his hands together as he looked around the kitchen. “I can clean.” “You’re hired.” The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Hired?” Gigi grinned at the astonished look on the young man’s face. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Gigi. This is my kitchen.”

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“Uh, hey.” A blue hand clasped Gigi’s pale one. “I’m Pax…er…Paxton Chambers.” The thin material of the man’s shirt moved when he shrugged. “I prefer Pax.” “Hi, Pax.” Gigi grinned. “Do you have family, Pax?” Pax’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “What does that have to do with cleaning?” Gigi quickly held up his hands. “Nothing, nothing, I was just wondering if there was any reason why you couldn’t leave End of the Line. Do you have obligations here that would prevent you from leaving?” “No.” “Are you interested in a job aboard a spaceship? I can’t offer you a lot of credits, but you will have free room and board.” “My own room?” “Yes.” Gigi could see the hesitancy in Pax. He wanted the job, and he wanted it bad, but he was also cautious. Gigi wasn’t exactly sure how to reassure the man. Something told Gigi that having Pax onboard would be a good thing. Gigi wanted to make it happen. “What would my duties be?” Pax asked. “Mostly cleaning. I cook for five very large crewmembers. That means a lot of dirty dishes. I could use the help. A few other duties might come up like helping keep the ship together and in working order.” “But I’d have my own room?” “Yes.” Gigi frowned. Pax seemed to be hanging on that one point. Realization suddenly dawned on Gigi as Pax chewed on his bottom lip, and he wanted to rip something apart. “You will be assigned your own room with a lock on it. No one will be allowed access without your permission except the commander.” “The commander?” Pax’s face paled to a translucent blue. “His name is Remy.” Gigi waved his hand around in the air. “This is his ship. He has access to every room on the ship, but he won’t

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enter your quarters unless it’s an emergency. He certainly won’t enter your room for anything else.” Gigi crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Pax’s pensive look. “And the commander belongs to me. Lay a finger on him, and I’ll push you out an airlock.” Pax’s face flushed, and a small twitter of laughter came from him. “Understood.” Gigi smiled. “So, do you want the job?” “Are you sure it’s okay?” “This is my kitchen,” Gigi said. “If I want to hire someone to help me, then I will. Besides, they aren’t about to argue with me. They like their home-cooked meals too much.” “Can’t they just use a food replicator?” “We don’t use food replicators on this ship.” Gigi growled. And they never would again if Gigi had anything to say about it. He refused to be eaten by an appliance. Pax’s eyes widened. “Okay.” Gigi flushed. He hated food replicators, but there was no reason to take it out on Pax. “I’m sorry. I had a bad experience with a food replicator recently. Damn thing tried to eat me.” Pax frowned, looking confused. “They can do that, I guess.” Gigi chuckled. “Come on, I’ll go introduce you to the commander, and then we can get you settled. Is there anything you need to go get? I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, so if there is, you need to go get it.” “No, not really.” Pax shrugged, glancing away. “Don’t have much.” “Yeah, I didn’t either when I joined up, just a bag.” “That’s more than I have,” Pax snorted. Gigi watched Pax as they walked down the corridor toward the bridge. The man wasn’t too much taller than him, maybe a couple of inches. He had wavy black hair that seemed to curl around his face, the bangs hanging down over his eyes as if to hide them from

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everyone. Gigi couldn’t imagine why. Pax’s eyes were the most vivid blue he had ever seen. They were the perfect match for his pale blue skin. Gigi saw Pax fall back when they reached the bridge. He hovered around the entrance as Gigi walked in. Gigi immediately searched the room until his eyes landed on the sex god he sought. He smiled and made his way over to his mate. “Remy.” Just seeing Remy made Gigi feel better. He wrapped his arms around the gorgeous shifter and leaned his head against Remy’s back. “Missed you.” Remy chuckled and reached back to pat Gigi’s side. “It’s only been a couple of hours, angel. You saw me at breakfast.” “Still missed you.” Gigi stood up on his tiptoes to receive the kiss he knew was coming when Remy turned around. Remy always kissed him. Personally, Gigi thought his wolf was a little addicted to kissing. Luckily, Gigi had no problem with that. He might be addicted himself. “Did you get everything packed away, angel?” Remy asked when he raised his head a few moments later. “Uh, yeah.” Gigi bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder. “And I hired someone to help me in the kitchen.” Remy’s eyebrows shot up. A low growl began to rumble in his chest when he looked up and saw Pax standing by the door. “You hired someone?” Gigi nodded. “Without talking to me first?” Gigi leaned in close. “We need him, Remy. I don’t know why. I just know we do.” Remy stared for a moment then looked down, his eyebrows drawing together as he frowned. “Are you sure, angel?” Gigi nodded again. “I’m sure.”

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“All right, if you say so, but I still want him checked out.” Remy glanced back up at Pax. “He could use a bath and a fresh set of clothes, too.” “I told him he’d have his own room, Remy.” Gigi swallowed hard. “It’s important to him.” “I’m sure we can arrange something.” Gigi’s heart thumped hard in his chest as he gazed up at Remy. “Thank you for believing me.” “I’ll always believe you, angel.” Remy smiled and tapped the end of Gigi’s nose with his finger. “Now, let’s go meet your new friend.” Gigi turned and gestured to the frightened-looking man. “Pax, this is the commander, Remy. Remy, this is Pax, my new kitchen assistant.” **** Pax could feel his lips trembling as he smiled at the biggest person he had ever seen. He felt like he was shaking all of the way down to his toes. He couldn’t remember ever being this scared. And yet, he felt safe at the same time. He couldn’t explain it, but he did. “Hi,” he said then swallowed hard when the large man’s smoky grey eyes landed on him again. Damn, the guy was big. “Welcome aboard, Pax.” The commander smiled at him but didn’t try to shake his hand. Pax wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He wanted to be a part of this crew, but he couldn’t figure out why. Pax backed up to the wall when two other men appeared on the bridge. Maybe he should have thought this through before agreeing to take the job. Large men were just plain scary. Pax stepped to the side when one of the men came too close. He watched the guy closely, making sure his hands didn’t breach his personal space. The man smiled at him and then stepped back. “I’m Tank, the pilot.”

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Pax ran his hand over his tattered shirt before shaking the proffered hand. “Pax. I’m the new kitchen assistant.” He leaned in closer and whispered. “I get my own room.” He jumped when Tank let out a booming laugh. “That’s a good thing. Welcome aboard, Pax.” Tank chuckled as he took a seat at the helm. Pax stood there waiting for Gigi to tell him something or give him something to do. He didn’t want to go wandering around the ship when he didn’t know everyone—although he was dying to explore. “Gigi will show you around,” the commander said before walking away. Pax stared at his large back for a moment before remembering Gigi’s warning. He quickly diverted his eyes. It wasn’t that he was interested in Remy. He was just amazed at how large the commander was—how large all of them were. Pax gave the crew members a wide berth as he hurried to follow Gigi. His eyes rounded as they walked down the corridors. It wasn’t a big ship, but big enough to get lost in if you didn’t know your way around. Pax would have to learn his way around. “Remy is going to get you situated with a room.” “With a lock,” Pax reminded him. “With a lock,” Gigi confirmed. Pax was wondering if he was still sleeping because this couldn’t honestly be real. He’d never been offered a job before. Not like this one. He hoped they didn’t fire him and drop him off on the closest planet. Not too many people liked being around him with his quirks, and he hoped these men had a lot of patience. He wasn’t going to get too comfortable right now. Why bother if they were going to dump him somewhere when he eventually didn’t live up to the crew’s expectations? Until then, as long as he had his locked room, he could handle anything else. For now.

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**** Remy watched Gigi and Pax leave the bridge. He wasn’t so sure about having a stranger onboard, but his mate hadn’t been wrong yet. Gigi may have said they needed him here, but Remy was still going to keep an eye on him. He glanced up and frowned when Crank stormed in, spotted him, and then walked straight toward him. Crank always had a glow on his face when visiting End of the Line—until now. Remy thought it was due to visits at the local brothel, but he was never sure. What puzzled him was the angry look on his demo expert’s face. Remy straightened when Crank approached. “What’s up?” Crank ran his hand over his jaw as he stared around the bridge. “I found out why there’s a big bounty on our heads.” This got Remy’s full attention. “Go on.” None of them knew why they had such a large bounty on them. All they knew was that they did, which was strange considering they had been moving around in this sector of space for more than a decade without any trouble—well, any major trouble anyway. “Some guy approached me in the market. He says his name is Drake and he knows Giovanni is riding with us. He had the nerve to tell me that he would call off the bounty if we returned his property.” “Did he say what his property was?” Remy had a bad feeling about this. Somehow he knew he wasn’t going to like whatever Crank was about to tell him. “Yeah,” Crank growled. “Gigi.” A snarl ripped from Remy’s throat. His protective instincts shot to an all-time high. “And why isn’t he standing here in front of me so that I can rip out his entrails?” Remy shouted at Crank. “He slipped into the crowd before I could get my hands on him. We can find out who he is, though,” Crank said hesitantly. “How?” Remy snapped. “You let him get away.” “Ask Gigi.”

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“Tank, take the helm.” Remy growled and stormed off the bridge. He wanted to know why someone was looking for his angel and why that someone wanted Gigi back bad enough to put a bounty out on their heads. “Gigi!” Remy snapped as he walked into the mess hall. Gigi’s head popped up, paling when he saw Remy. “What? What’s wrong?” “Who’s Drake?” Remy knew Gigi knew who he was talking about when the man turned white as a sheet and began to back away, shaking his head. “Gigi?” “Dra–Drake? He–he’s here?” Gigi whispered. “How did he find me?” “Who is he, Gigi?” Gigi’s eyes were huge, filled with more fear than Remy had ever seen. “He…he’s my master.” **** Gigi trembled and backed away when Remy’s eyes turned pitch black and an unnatural howl ripped from his lips as he shifted. He’d seen his mate in his shifted form, but this was something new all together. This was something scary. “Re–Remy?” Gigi whispered. He didn’t know this new creature. Remy didn’t look like Remy, not even in his shifted form. This form was enraged. His claws had grown to an excessive length, turning black. The fur that covered his body seemed spikier than soft and luxurious as it normally was. But the pointed teeth were what scared Gigi the most. Those weren’t the same fangs that had sunk into his flesh and claimed him. These sharp canines were meant to rip the flesh off someone’s body. “Oh shit!” Crank gasped. “He’s gone feral.” “Everyone get away from Gigi!” Blade shouted as he backed up to the doorway.

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“Why?” Gigi asked, looking from crew member to crew member. All of them were looking in his direction as if he had grown a second head. “What’s going on?” “Don’t make any sudden movements, Gigi,” Blade said. “Just let Remy smell you. He needs to make sure you haven’t been claimed by anyone else. And whatever you do, don’t run!” Gigi nodded and swallowed hard as Remy stalked him across the room. There was no reason in Remy’s eyes, no sign of sanity. He had given himself over completely to his animalistic side. He was nothing but pure beast. A low growl rumbled through the room as Remy advanced. Gigi held his breath as Remy came within a short distance of him. He was terrified, but he had to believe that the beast standing before him still held some spark of his mate. Remy growled again and reached for Gigi. His claws dug into Gigi’s skin with a painful intensity. Gigi whimpered when Remy pulled him close and started sniffing at his neck. Remy could rip out his throat at any moment, and he knew it. “Remy,” Gigi whispered. He grabbed the fur on the side of Remy’s face and lifted the man’s head. Gigi swallowed hard at the insane glint in Remy’s black eyes. “I love you, Remy,” he whispered then tilted his head back submissively. Remy growled again then struck. Gigi cried out as the beast’s sharp teeth sank into his neck. He could feel Remy taking deep swallows of his blood. For the first time since he’d met Remy, it hurt rather than brought him pleasure. Gigi grit his teeth and tried not to pull away as tears of pain welled in his eyes. Remy’s eyes were a little less intense when he raised his head a few minute later. Gigi sagged in Remy’s arms and tried not to let his fear show. He didn’t protest when Remy picked him up, just laid his head on Remy’s chest. Remy turned and growled at the others in the room. Gigi stroked his hand down Remy’s chest to calm the beast. He didn’t know if it

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would do any good, but Remy didn’t attack anyone, so he figured it worked. He just carried Gigi out of the mess hall and down the corridor to their quarters. Gigi didn’t know what would happen when they reached their quarters, but he was a little confused when Remy carried him into the room, ripped their clothes off, and then cuddled him on the bed. He expected to be ravished or bitten again. He didn’t expect Remy to hold him gently and caress every inch of his body. The tongue licking was extremely weird, but Gigi could handle his body being licked from one end to other better than being bitten. Little by little, Remy began to calm and return to his normal human-looking self. Gigi breathed a sigh of relief when Remy rubbed his head against him. Gigi glanced up through his eyelashes, not knowing what he’d find—insane beast or loving mate. He was almost afraid to find out. Remy’s eyebrows furrowed as he stroked his hand down the side of Gigi’s face. “Tell me about Drake.” **** “Shit!” Blade pushed his hand through his hair as relief rushed through him. “I thought he was going to kill us all.” “I’ve never seen him lose control like that before,” Crank said. “That was some scary shit.” “If Gigi hadn’t been here we all would have been dead,” Tank said. “If Gigi hadn’t been here,” Crank snapped as he stomped across the room and plopped down at a metal table, “we wouldn’t have been in this position in the first place. Remy went nuts because of Gigi.” Blade frowned. He didn’t like how Crank was blaming this all on Gigi. The man was odd, but he was still one of the crew. “Remy went nuts because he thought his territory was being threatened, nothing more.”

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“Right!” Crank snarled and waved his hand toward the double metal doors. “And Gigi is his territory.” “Uh…I thought Gigi was the commander’s mate,” Pax said. Blade swung around to look at the new crew member. The man looked scared to death. Blade couldn’t blame him. Seeing the commander go feral wasn’t something he ever wanted to experience again. He knew shifters had possessive instincts, but he’d never seen anyone go so crazy over his mate before. Blade knew he had searched for his mate just as much as Remy had, but he hoped he never went nuts over him. A mate met a need. They should never become so important that they ruled one’s actions. “Gigi is the commander’s mate, but Gigi put himself in a position where Remy’s claim on him was threatened.” Blade pointed toward the door the two men had just gone through. “What you just saw was Remy reclaiming his mate.” “He won’t hurt Gigi, will he?” Blade shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen the commander like this before.” “Well, shouldn’t someone go check?” Pax asked. “Be my guest.” Blade snickered. “I’m not going near their quarters until they come out and I know it’s safe. I’m not that stupid.” Pax’s eyebrows drew together. He chewed on his thumb for a moment as he looked toward the doors. When he looked back at Blade, he seemed worried. “Someone should—” “Mine!” Blade swung around to see Colt standing in the doorway. The man’s natural blue eyes had turned dark. Sharp talons grew from his fingertips as he gazed across the room at Pax. The corner of Colt’s lip started to curl back as he growled. Blade stiffened as Colt screeched and started across the room toward Pax. “Mine!” “Shit!” Blade rolled his eyes. “Not again.”

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Chapter 7 Remy nuzzled his face against his angel’s head as his breathing came back under control. The mere thought of Drake or anyone else touching Gigi had made Remy want to kill everyone within ten feet of his mate. “Are you back?” Gigi asked as he tensely turned over in Remy’s arms. Remy could see the fear in his angel’s eyes, and he wanted to comfort the man, but he needed to get to the bottom of things first. “How did you end up with a master, Gigi?” Remy asked as he rolled to his back and laced his fingers behind his head. Gigi having a master was disturbing. You had to have either sold yourself or your family had to have sold you before your legal age, delivering you the day you turned legal. He could feel his claws beginning to lengthen again as anger filled him. Either answer was going to set him off, and Remy knew it. When his mate didn’t answer him, Remy glanced down at his mate’s frozen form. His angel wasn’t moving so much as one tiny muscle. “Angel?” “My family,” a soft whisper floated up to him. Remy closed his eyes. His jaw was clenched so tight that he swore he was going to crack a few back teeth. How the hell could a family sell off one of its own members? Remy would never understand family ties considering he had been an only child with a single parent raising him. He wasn’t close with his dad. In fact, his father had turned his back on Remy when he was nixed from the service. His father was an ambassador in the Federation of the United Planets and

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couldn’t bear the shame his son brought upon the family name. Whatever. He didn’t have warm fuzzy feelings when he thought of family, and Gigi only cemented his belief that family sucked. His crew was different. They were a different breed that would fight by his side and die for each other. That was what family was all about. “I’m sorry that your family members were such assholes,” Remy offered. Gigi stiffened and then raised his head up and glared at Remy. “You don’t know them well enough to call them that,” he bit out with a spark of anger in his eyes. Remy was floored. “How can you stick up for them if they sold you? Put two and two together, Gigi, and I can’t even see four. Right now all I see is zero, which is how your family ranks with me.” “You don’t know what could have made them do it. So how can you lie there and judge them?” Gigi rolled from the bed and got to his feet, his hands fisting at his sides. “Try a little empathy.” “Empathy?” Remy asked as his mouth hung slightly open in utter disbelief. “I’ll show empathy to you, not your family members who made a few credits off of you.” He got up from the bed and walked over to his cupboards, yanking a pair of jeans out and then on. “You know what?” “What?” Remy rounded on Gigi and glared at his mate. “I…you…never mind.” Gigi stomped from the room, leaving Remy standing there seething. How the hell do you defend a family that sold one of their own? Remy couldn’t and wouldn’t see the logic behind it. Gigi needed to wake up and smell the bullshit his family had fed to him. Remy stormed from the room after his mate. He wanted to know why his mate could defend those monsters. He walked through the mess hall and noticed how everyone was staring at each other in disbelief.

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He ignored his crew as he pushed past the double doors and into the kitchen. His mate was slamming pots around, his little nostrils flaring. If he wasn’t so pissed off, it would have been sexy. No, not sexy, he was mad. Focus. “If you come into my kitchen spouting crap, I’m going to knock you over the head with a frying pan,” Gigi warned as he grabbed a set of tongs. Remy backed away from the tongs. Somehow he knew his angel could turn them into a lethal weapon. “Tell me the truth, angel. You don’t know why they did it, and that’s what this is all about.” Gigi slammed another pot onto the stove and then became as still as a statue, his back to Remy. He waited, giving his mate time to gather his thoughts. His heart hurt when a slight shrug lifted Gigi’s shoulders. “They had to have their reasons,” Gigi said to the stove. “It wasn’t because they didn’t love me, right?” Remy’s heart ached as he crossed the room and pressed his chest into his angel’s back. He wrapped an arm around Gigi’s shoulders as his mate relaxed back against him. A hand settled on Remy’s hip as he held his mate. “To be honest, I can’t tell you why they did it. But I love you. Remember that, angel.” Gigi sniffled for a moment then lifted his arm and used his hand to wipe at his face. “Drake is ruthless. He’s egotistical and looked at me like the possession he bought. He called me his toy and said that if I ever tried to run, he’d make me pay dearly. If he’s tracked me down, then he’ll stop at nothing to get me back. He doesn’t like to lose.” “Neither do I, angel. I’m not losing my mate, so Drake can kiss the crew’s collective ass. He’ll have to go through all of us to get to you.” Gigi bit his bottom lip as he glanced up at Remy. “Can we change the subject? For now at least. We’re away from the planet, so we have

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time to relax, right? I can cook everyone dinner, and Pax can help me.” Remy bent and kissed his angel on his temple. “I’ll go get him.” Remy patted Gigi’s ass as he turned on his heel and entered the mess hall. His crew was still standing there looking stunned. “Relax, it was just a small misunderstanding,” he explained to his men. When no one moved, Remy took a closer notice of everyone. Crank and Blade were looking between Colt and Pax. Pax was standing off to one side shaking like a leaf, and Colt had his talons unsheathed. What the hell was going on here? “Pax, Gigi needs you in the kitchen.” He watched the blueskinned man nod his head. His eyes were rounder than dinner plates as he scooted along the wall toward the kitchen. Colt snarled and took one step for every one Pax took, not letting distance come between them. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?” Remy asked as he watched Colt and Pax do a dance routine until Pax reached the kitchen door and scurried through it. “I think Colt picked up a disease on End of the Line. You see those little feathers sticking out of him.” Crank pointed out as his fingers did a little whirl in front of him. “Maybe we should put him down and save Pax the headache.” “What does Pax have to…oh shit.” Remy groaned. Just what he didn’t need. The little assistant jumped at his own shadow from what Remy could see, and Colt was his mate? Colt? The hawk shifter that had once said that mates were like a Paktillian’s disease. If you caught it, you died. That Colt? Now he got to see Pax run, Colt chase, and Gigi stand between the two of them with a spatula and a set of tongs. If this shit kept up, he was going to stop docking on planets and save them all a headache. ****

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Gigi sat buckled in his seat as the ship docked. This was a whole new planet that he’d never seen before. Excitement buzzed through him at the prospect of getting out and exploring Paktil. He knew Drake was on the hunt for him, but there was no possible way he figured out where they were right now. “Are you going?” Gigi asked Pax excitedly. “Depends. Have I done a fairly decent job for you?” Gigi wasn’t sure what Pax was getting at. The man was quirky as hell and didn’t make sense half the time. But he was going to give him his dues. “Are you kidding? You’ve done an amazing job helping me feed these Neanderthals.” “Hey!” Tank called out to him. “No offense,” Gigi called back. “None taken.” Gigi looked back at Pax. “So, are you coming? You gotta come, please,” he begged as he dragged out the last word. The blue-skinned man seemed to live in his quarters if he wasn’t helping in the kitchen, and Gigi wanted him to get out for a while. “Okay.” Pax closed one eye slightly. “But you better not leave me behind.” Yeah, the man was strange as hell, but Gigi liked him. “Promise, now come on.” He unbuckled his seat belt when the thrusters became silent. He had been looking over a Paktillian catalogue and was dying for this cool set of frying pans he had seen. They could cook a cow and a chicken at the same time! Okay, maybe not at the same time, but they were nice and Remy promised to buy the set for him. Gigi was practically running for the retractable ramp when a hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him to a stop. “Slow down, angel. The pans aren’t going anywhere, and you need to be a little more cautious.” Gigi rolled his eyes as his body slumped. “Fine,” he blew out. “I’ll be cautious and slow down,” he tacked on in exasperation. Remy was

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being a mood-killer right now. He didn’t want to slow down. Gigi wanted those pans. Remy leaned down and laid a blazing kiss on his lips, leaving Gigi dizzy as he followed behind his mate. The cloud of lust lifted as they exited the ship. Gigi shouted and danced around his mate as the music floated to his ears. It looked to be some kind of festival going on, and Gigi started doing the Cha-Cha. Pax walked next to him giggling. The man looked like he wanted to dance as well, but he didn’t. Too bad, Gigi was having the time of his life. The crew had to meet someone for a buy, so Tank was their official guard. Gigi watched Remy walk off with his crew as he and Pax ran through the crowd, Tank yelling at them to slow down or he was going to haul them back to the ship. Not in this lifetime. They came to a stand that sold Orillian skewers. He bought one for himself and one for Pax. They smelled delicious. The meat fell from the skewer as Gigi picked away at it. Gigi came to a stop when a man shot in front of him, blocking his way. “I saw you come off of that ship. You got any screws loose, I’m your man. Crossed wires? I can uncross them. Let me show you what I can do.” “Back the fuck up.” Tank growled as he positioned his body between the nut job and Gigi. Pax stood slightly behind him, looking around Gigi with big, curious eyes. “Hey, dude, I meant no harm. I just asked the guy if he had any screws loose. By the way, are any of your screws loose? I can fix them.” He wiggled his brows at Tank. “What’s your lady’s name?” “The only screws loose around here are yours. Now back the fuck up,” Tank warned the guy again. This time, Gigi heard venom in Tank’s warning.

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“They call me Livewire. If there is a live wire exposed…not really…sorta…anyway, I can fix her. If she has a kink in her back.” Livewire thrust his hips forward. “I can knock the dust off of her.” Gigi and Pax giggled as they watched the animated man. Tank, apparently, didn’t think it was funny. He wasn’t smiling. “I know how to stroke my Lady Blue,” the pilot bragged as the three walked away. Gigi looked over his shoulder. The man was racing to someone else, obviously running the same line from the way his hips were moving. He turned to Pax. “Got any screws loose?” he thrust his hips. Pax laughed at Gigi, his vivid blue eyes sparkling. He tried not to stare, but Pax looked good when he laughed. The man needed to do it more often. The scared look didn’t fit his face like this smile did. “He’s harmless.” “How do you know?” Gigi asked as he continued to giggle. “Because he was blue,” Pax stated matter-of-factly. Gigi knew the guy was strange, but he didn’t think he was colorblind. Pax was the one with blue skin. “Uh, no he wasn’t.” “Yes, he was. The mist around him was blue. That means he was nice or honorable. I still can’t figure out which,” Pax said like Gigi was supposed to know what the hell he was talking about. Gigi laid a gentle hand on Pax’s arm, stopping him from walking. “What mist?” Pax shrugged as his eyes darted around the festival. Gigi could tell Pax had become uncomfortable, but he needed to know. This man was around his guys, and he needed to make sure his crew was safe. “What mist, Pax?” he pushed further. Pax bounced from foot to foot as he wrung his hands. “Everyone has one. I’m not a freak. Don’t look at me like that. You have one as well. It’s pink. That tells me that you’re safe, if a little odd.” “Does the crew have a…mist?”

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Pax nodded. “Remy has a dark blue one that tells me he’s honorable, or nice. Tank has an orange one that tells me he’s playful. Crank is yellow, so he’s mischievous, and Blade is green, which means he’s friendly.” “What about Colt?” “Hey, balloons.” Pax took off to a stand close by, dodging Gigi’s question. “Uh, okay.” Obviously Pax didn’t want to talk about Colt right now. Gigi would let it go for now, but he was going to find out what color Colt was. From what Remy told him, Colt and Pax were mates. If the hawk shifter didn’t have a good mist, then the crew, or at least Remy, needed to know. “You ready to get your pans, angel?” Remy asked as he walked up behind Gigi. He glanced at Pax, but the man was engrossed in the balloons. “Yep.” He smiled up at his mate. “Show me the way.” Remy chuckled as he laid his hand on the small of Gigi’s back and guided him through the festival. The music was lively, and everyone looked like they were having a good time. Gigi jumped for joy when they came to the merchant stand with his pans sitting out for all to see. He wanted the dark grey set. They matched his mate’s eyes. Gigi soon forgot about mists as Remy spoiled him rotten. **** Pax watched Gigi jump and bounce around as the commander bought him a set of grey pans. Gigi was really strange. There were stands with jewelry, clothes made of the finest Trillian silk, treasure from exotic worlds, and yet a set of pans was what made Gigi deliriously happy. It had to be the pink mist surrounding Gigi. Pax had never seen one so vivid before, and he’d been seeing mists since he was a small

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child. Gigi intrigued him, just not enough to make the commander angry by standing too close. Pax would never forget the creature Remy had turned into. It still had the same misty color, only darker. He hadn’t really been afraid of the commander, just cautious. The rest of the crew seemed pretty okay, too, except for Colt. He didn’t have a color. It was Colt’s lack of color that worried Pax the most. He’d never met anyone that didn’t have a color mist. Until he knew what it meant, Pax planned to stay as far away from Colt as he could get—no matter how much he desired being close to the man. Pax paid for a balloon then started toward the stand with the pans. His steps faltered when he realized he couldn’t see Gigi or Remy. Pax swung around, dread filling him when he didn’t see them. Panic started to set in when Pax ran through the crowd to try to find his new friends. He ran and ran and ran. When he couldn’t find them in the marketplace, Pax ran toward the docking bay. Even if he lost them, he could wait for them on the ship. He ignored the angry shouts as he stumbled into person after person. He had to reach the ship. The ship represented safety, a place to hide from the world. He swore to himself he’d never leave it again. He’d lock himself in his room and only come out when he needed to work. He’d do anything if he just didn’t get left behind—again. Pax inhaled sharply and dropped to his knees when he reached the empty space in the docking bay where the Lady Blue should have been. There was no ship, just a large open area. Tears filled Pax’s eyes, the balloon escaping his hand as he realized his biggest fear had come to life, and just when he had started to believe in the dream. He had been left behind. Pax sniffled and wiped at his eyes. Fine. He’d been left before. He could deal with this, really he could. He just couldn’t explain the deep aching pain in his chest that he felt at never seeing the crew of the Lady Blue again. He’d never experienced that before. “Well, well, well, what have we here?”

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Pax jumped when someone grabbed him from behind and yanked him to his feet. His eyes widened and he shrank back when he got a good look at the angry black mist surrounding the man holding his arms. This wasn’t good. The man screamed of pure evil. “Yes,” the man said as he looked Pax up and down, “I think you’re just what I’ve been looking for. You’ll be perfect.” “Perfect?” Pax squeaked. “Perfect for what?” The man grinned. “Bait.” **** Gigi hummed to himself, and he pulled each pan out of its wrapping and carefully set them on the shelf. He was so excited to try out his new pans that he had promised Remy a special dinner. He’d even purchased the items he would need before he left the marketplace. Gigi grabbed the pans he would need and set them on the counter. Next, he went to the pantry and pulled out the food items he would need. He continued to hum a bouncy little tune as he cut vegetables and added them to a large pot. He glanced around, knowing he was forgetting something. Gigi twirled around in a circle then twirled again. What was he missing? “Pax?” Gigi called out. “Hey, Pax, could you come in here a minute?” Gigi paused, frowning when Pax didn’t come into the kitchen. He called out the man’s name again as he walked into the mess hall. When there was no answer, Gigi walked out of the mess hall and down the corridor to the room assigned to Pax. “Hey, Pax, you in there?” Gigi called out as he knocked on the door. “Pax?” Gigi’s confusion began to turn to worry when Pax didn’t answer him. Something wasn’t right. Gigi turned and hurried down the

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corridor toward the stairs that led to the bridge. He didn’t have access to Pax’s room unless the man let him in, but someone else did. “Remy, I think something happened to Pax,” he said as he ran onto the bridge. “He’s not answering his door, and I can’t find him anywhere.” Colt growled and bolted out of the room. Gigi barely jumped out of the way as the man ran past him. He turned to ask Remy what was going on, but his mate was running out the door after Colt. Gigi rolled his eyes and did the same, running after the two men. He reached Pax’s door just as Remy got it open and Colt pushed inside. Colt came right back out. Gigi pressed himself against the wall as the hawk’s rage-filled eyes settled on him for a moment then Colt was running down the corridor again. “What the hell?” Gigi whispered as he watched Colt disappear from sight. “Pax isn’t in his room,” Remy said as he walked back into the corridor. “What do you mean Pax isn’t in his room?” Gigi snapped as he stepped over and looked into the empty room. “Where the hell is he?” “I don’t know.” Remy started shaking his head. “But if we don’t find him, Colt’s going to be trouble.” “But—” “If we don’t find Pax, we could lose Colt.”

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Chapter 8 Remy rushed to the bridge. They were on a time crunch to get to Beta Five to get the blast job done that Crank had been hired for, but they weren’t going to leave a man behind. Pax had to be on the planet. He was nowhere else on the ship. “Turn us around, Tank. It seems one of our crew members forgot to join us.” Remy leaned onto the control panel, staring out into space. He was angry with himself for not doing a head check before taking off. Gigi had distracted him with his ramblings and appreciative thank-yous about his pans. “Damn it.” The back of his knuckles slammed down onto the control panels. If something happened to Pax…Remy wasn’t going to allow negative thoughts in his head right now. The little blue guy was probably still running around, oblivious to his missing crew. “Get us docked again so we can find Pax,” Remy commanded as he walked off the bridge. If he lost Pax, he lost Colt. This was unacceptable to him. He hadn’t lost a crew member yet, and he wasn’t about to start now. Remy walked to the weapons room and strapped a phaser onto his thigh before walking to the retractable ramp. He raised his hands and planted them on the wall above his head as he waited for Tank to land. Colt stepped up beside him, strapped to the nines as he waited quietly at Remy’s side. Remy wanted to say something to his sniper, but what could he say? Sorry we forgot about your mate? That would be like a slap in the face, so Remy remained quiet.

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When the ship touched down, Remy straightened, waiting for the ramp to lower. Crank and Blade joined them, all exiting and going on the hunt for one missing crew member. Remy wanted to curse when he saw the place had gained an even larger crowd. How hard could it be to find one little blue man? Apparently pretty hard since they didn’t see hide nor hair of him. “Spread out so we can cover more ground. Turn your com links on. If you find him, let everyone else know right away.” Remy felt like shit when Colt just walked off, his jaw clenched. He headed back to the balloon stand he last saw Pax at. “Excuse me, have you seen a young blue man with thick, wavy black hair and long bangs that hide his eyes? He has a scar on his left cheek and stands about five foot seven.” “Sorry, mister. I’ve gots too many customers to pay attention to one person.” The vendor apologized. “I’ll keep a lookout for ya. If I sees him, I’ll tell him he’s being looked for.” Remy nodded his thanks as he turned around and scanned the partying crowd. Most people here stood over six feet tall, so finding him was going to take foot work. “I saw you come off of that ship. You got any screws loose, I’m your man. Crossed wires? I can uncross them. Let me show you what I can do.” Remy stopped in his tracks and stared down at the nutty-ass man in front of him. “Get lost,” he growled before sidestepping the stranger and continuing his search. The man jumped back in front of Remy. “You looking for the little blue guy that came here with you?” Remy grabbed the front of the fucker’s shirt, curling his fingers around the fabric and lifting the man slightly off of his feet. “Where is he?” Remy curled his lips back and bared his fangs, letting the stranger know he wasn’t in the mood to be jerked around. The man shook his head, seeming unfazed. “Hire me, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

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“Tell me what you know, and I may not drop your entrails at my feet.” The threat rumbled from his chest and vibrated in his throat as they stared each other down. “I may be desperate for work, but I’m not really an idiot.” The guy dropped the crazy act as his voice leveled out into a deep timbre. “I’m not fucking you around. I know what I saw, and I’ll tell you as soon as you hire me as your mechanic. I’m damn good at what I do, but everyone around here acts like their shit don’t stink.” “I’ll hire you as my mechanic if your information pans out and I get Pax back.” Remy couldn’t believe he was basically being blackmailed into hiring yet another person off the streets without having him thoroughly checked out. He really must be losing his touch. He nodded as he lowered the stranger to his feet. “Show me the way.” He followed as he hit his com link and relayed the message to the rest of his crew members. Within seconds Colt was at his side, Blade and Crank catching up quickly. “I know that whack job.” Crank growled. “He approached me the first time we were here. Calls himself Livewire.” “Well, Livewire saw what happened to Pax. So we follow him and get our crew member back.” Colt growled at Remy. Remy knew Pax was more than a crew member to the hawk shifter, but now was not the time for political correctness. They’d hash everything out once Pax was back on Lady Blue. “There.” Livewire pointed to a small building. “Some guy marched him in there about an hour ago.” Before Remy could devise a plan, Colt shifted and flew towards the dilapidated building. “Fuck,” Remy bit out. “Let’s move in.” The four men, including Livewire, spread out as Remy signaled with his hands for Crank and Blade to take the south side of the

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building. Remy kept Livewire with him, because if this was a setup, he’d kill the guy where he stood. Blade signaled with two fingers that he saw two inside the building. Remy nodded his understanding as he pulled his phaser from his thigh holster. No one was taking one of his men, and he intended to teach whoever had done this a lesson. Colt flew around the building before landing and then disappearing through an old, broken window. Remy tilted his head back and inhaled deeply, scenting the two men and Pax. He could smell an abundance of fear as well, and what smelled like pure hatred. The strength of the hatred singed his nostrils. He was guessing that the fear was coming from his crew member. What he really wanted to know was who could hate Pax so much to kidnap him. That was the million-credit question. Blade and Crank slipped into a window on the first floor as Remy and Livewire slipped around back and into the building through a rusty door that was half hanging off its hinges. Remy spotted a man walking around with a blaster balanced on his shoulder, smoking a thin cigar. God, that shit smelled awful. Remy’s highly developed shifter senses were offended by the nasty habit. The man was going to die for his addiction. He watched as Colt crept up behind the man and sliced his throat in one smooth motion, the man dropping to the floor. Colt had a feral look in his eyes that made him look insane. Remy would be too if anything ever happened to his angel. The five searched the building, following Pax’s scent until they came to a door on the third floor. No one was sure what they were going to find, but thankfully Remy didn’t smell any blood. He signaled for them to go in fast and hard, taking whoever was inside by surprise. When they rushed the room, Remy was disturbed to find only Pax occupying it. Colt shot over to his mate, who was lying unconscious

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on the floor with his wrists tied behind his back. A cold dread ran down his spine as Remy realized what was going on. He hit his com, trying to raise Tank, but all he got was static. Remy rushed from the room and down the stairs as his heart caught in his throat. The Lady Blue sat in the shipping dock with only Tank to guard it. Whoever had done this wasn’t trying to get to Pax. They were trying to get to Gigi. **** Gigi sat on the bridge with Tank, worried out of his mind. Pax had feared being left behind, and what had they done? Left him behind. He wanted to kick his own ass for not making sure the man was onboard after promising not to leave him behind. His assistant was going to hate him for this. Gigi bit his thumbnail as his eyes darted continuously down at the spaceport, as if his constant vigil was going to make them appear with Pax walking beside them. “They’ll find him,” Tank tried to reassure him. “They’re good at what they do.” “But what if they don’t?” Gigi asked as he glanced one more time out of the porthole, still not seeing his crew. “You can’t think like that, Gigi. Think positive.” Gigi couldn’t take sitting here any longer. He was too wound up and needed to pace it off. He left the bridge to roam the corridors, trying his best to calm down and think positive as Tank had suggested. It wasn’t easy. Gigi walked toward the mess hall and then down two flights of steps to the cargo bay. Gigi just stepped off the last stair when he heard a noise from the back of the ship. His heart raced as he ran toward the retractable ramp. His crew was back, and hopefully Pax was with them. Gigi couldn’t seem to get back there fast enough.

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When he rounded the corner, no one was there. “What the hell?” Gigi knew for a fact that he had heard footsteps. He wasn’t imagining things. As badly as he wanted Pax back, his mind wasn’t making it up. Gigi walked toward the ramp, looking around for the source of the noise. Maybe Colt got back here first and had taken Pax to the medical bay. What if Pax was hurt? Gigi raced up the stairs and then headed in the direction of the infirmary, praying that Colt was just being cautious, and Pax wasn’t really hurt. His heart thundered as he rounded one of the corners in the corridor and came face-to-face with his worst nightmare. Gigi tried to stop, but he wasn’t fast enough. He ran full-bore right into Drake. “Got you, you little shit!” Drake shouted as he grabbed Gigi by his hair. “I spent a lot of time and money tracking your stupid ass down, and you’re going to pay for it every day for the rest of your life, Giovanni.” Gigi spit in Drake’s face. He didn’t plan to go anywhere with the psycho. Drake could kill him here before he set foot outside the ship. Drake snarled and threw Gigi against the bulkhead. Gigi grunted as he hit the unforgiving metal and slid to the floor. Fuck, he hurt. Before he could figure out exactly what hurt, Drake swung his hand out and smacked him across the face. Bright red blood flew from Gigi’s mouth as his lip split open. Gigi wiped his mouth on the back of his hand then glared up at Drake. “Fuck you, Drake. I’m not going anywhere with you.” “It looks like my little pet forgot who his master is,” Drake said as he smacked Gigi again. Gigi tried to crawl away, his head spinning, his body aching with pain. “It looks like I need to teach him his place again.” Gigi remembered when he had first come to Drake and the things that had been done to him in the name of teaching him his place. He wasn’t about to experience them again. The cruel streak that ran

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through Drake was one of the main reasons Gigi escaped. He’d force Drake to kill him before he was subjected to that again. Gigi had experienced what life was like away from the monster. He had experienced love and laughter, acceptance and freedom. He wasn’t going to go back to the dark world he had lived in before. He wasn’t. Gigi refused to give up all that he had gained since meeting Remy. He scrambled to his feet and ran. He heard Drake roar behind him as the man gave chase. Gigi’s chest started to hurt as he ran as fast as he could. He wouldn’t be able to keep up the running for long. He would run out of breath soon. “You’re going to be sorry when I catch you, Giovanni,” Drake yelled at him. “Stop running, and I might go easy on you.” Gigi held his middle finger up behind him as he ran, flipping Drake off. He heard the man howl in rage and knew he wasn’t helping his situation any. If Drake did catch him, Gigi most likely would pay dearly. He just couldn’t be weakened by the man again. He’d lived that life too long. The one he had now was much better. It gave him the courage to flip Drake off. Gigi ran to the only place he could think of off the top of his head—the mess hall. He ran through the double metal doors and over to the far wall. He hit a bunch of buttons on the food replicator and hoped he hit the right ones. As he ran toward the kitchen, the food replicator began to whirl and spark. Gigi grinned as he hit the kitchen doors and plowed right through them. He might have to rethink his opinion of that infuriating machine. “What the fuck?” Gigi snickered as he heard Drake shout from the mess hall. He grabbed a bunch of pans, some knives and utensils—basically anything he could get his hands on. Gigi crouched down behind one of the counters and watched the double doors between him and Drake.

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He held his breath as the door started to open, biting his lip to keep from laughing when he saw a wall of white foam several inches high. Yep, he was definitely changing his opinion on the food replicator. He just needed to find someone to put it back in pristine condition, and the damn thing could stay. “Giovanni, I swear, if you don’t get your fucking ass out here,” Drake said as he pushed through the double doors, “I’m going to sell you to the first man I come across.” Gigi started tossing pots and pans at the door the second Drake walked through them. Drake cursed and ducked, holding his hands up in front of his face as he dodged the dishes. Gigi just continued throwing stuff. When he ran out of dishes, he started tossing knives and utensils at Drake. “Get out!” Gigi screamed. “Get the hell out of here. I’m not going with you. You can’t make me.” “Giovanni!” Gigi grinned when he heard Drake scream as something hit him. Score one for the sex slave. Gigi renewed his attack, tossing anything that wasn’t nailed down at Drake. He even grabbed the steaks out of the pantry and threw them. Drake dove back through the doors. Gigi paused, a melon in his hand, and waited to see if the man would come back in. Several seconds went by. Gigi started to grow nervous when he didn’t hear anything. Drake wasn’t making a sound. He wasn’t even cursing. Gigi knew he had hit Drake with several different items. The man should have been threatening him at least, but he wasn’t making a peep. Gigi took a cautious step toward the doors then another and another. He pushed the doors open a crack and peeked through the small slit. The room was filled with white foam, but it was only about waisthigh. If Drake was in the room, Gigi would have seen him. Gigi leaned down and grabbed one of the knives off the floor. He dropped the melon and clutched the knife tightly in his hand as he

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slowly crept out of the kitchen. Gigi watched the growing foam as he carefully made his way over to the doors leading to the corridor. Just as he reached the large doors, they swung open. Gigi screamed and started swinging with the knife. Pure panic filled him when someone grabbed him and wrenched the knife out of his hand. Gigi screamed again and started struggling. He scratched and bit at any piece of flesh he could reach. His teeth rattled when he was grabbed and shaken. “Gigi!” Gigi stopped struggling when he realized he was being held by Remy. Standing right behind Remy were Crank, Tank, and Blade. Colt stood near the door with Pax held tightly in his arms. “Remy!” Gigi jumped into Remy’s arms and climbed up as much of the man’s large body as he could. Remy took over, lifting him up in his arms. Gigi clung to Remy as his breathing calmed. “Ssshhh, angel, I have you,” Remy whispered as his hands stroked down Gigi’s back. He leaned back and cupped the side of Gigi’s head. “What happened to your face, angel?” “Drake! Where’s Drake?” Gigi asked as his panic returned. He lifted his head and glanced quickly around. “He was here. Where did he go?” “I don’t know, angel. We didn’t see anyone when we came onboard.” “He was here, I swear.” “I believe you, angel.” Remy turned and looked at the other crew members. “I want the ship searched from top to bottom, every nook and cranny. Don’t leave anything unturned, no matter how bizarre it may seem. Search everywhere.” Blade, Tank, and Crank took off, the door swooshing closed behind them. Gigi glanced over, relief filling him when Pax smiled at him and waved.

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“Pax, I was so worried about you,” Gigi said quickly. “I thought you were right behind us. I had no idea you didn’t make it onto the ship. Can you ever forgive me?” Pax pointed to the destruction behind Gigi. “I’ll forgive you if you clean that mess up because this stretches the lines of my job description.” Gigi grinned and leaned his head against Remy’s chest. “Done.” **** Remy ran a knuckle down his angel’s face, rage filling him at the red and angry welt. He could feel the heat of the offense as he stroked his fingers gently across the mark that was sure to turn into a bruise. “I’m okay,” Gigi whispered, his voice rough with need. He glanced up, his golden eyes smoldering with clouds of arousal as they transformed into the amber color Remy had grown to love and associate with his mate’s desire. Remy needed to reassert his claim on his mate. Gigi had been touched by another man, and Remy needed to wash that scent away and replace it with his own. Remy walked out of the mess hall and straight to their quarter. Once they cleared the door, he laid his angel down on their bed. “Strip.” His eyes locked onto his angel’s fingers as Gigi pulled his shirt over his head. Remy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to hold onto his control for just a little while longer. Remy unsnapped his pants and shoved them off of his sensitive skin, removing his shirt as he watched his mate undress. He palmed his cock, waiting for his angel to finish disrobing. He didn’t have to say a word. Gigi leaned forward and took Remy’s cock into his mouth. “Slow down, angel,” Remy gasped when his mate tried to devour him. He ran his hand over soft, sandy blond hair, letting his angel know how pleased he was.

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Amber eyes glanced up at him as sex-swollen lips suckled at the head of his cock. Remy groaned when he saw how wet Gigi’s lips were. Remy hissed when his angel altered his technique and his tongue slid up and down his cock. If he planned on fucking his angel, he needed to stop him before Remy lost what little control he had. “On your hands and knees, angel.” **** Gigi could hear the slight crack in Remy’s voice. He didn’t want to let the large cock go. He focused on Remy’s pleasure. A need so deep it almost overwhelmed him had Gigi whimpering to hear cries of pleasure from Remy’s lips. Remy placed his hands on Gigi’s head, holding him back as he pulled free. “On your hands and knees,” Remy repeated. A light ripple skated over his skin as he turned over and got into position. Gigi groaned when Remy’s large hand grabbed one ass cheek and began to knead it. “You had me scared to death something bad had happened to you, angel.” Gigi shivered when he felt his mate’s saliva touch his hole. His eyes closed and his lips parted when a finger slid inside of him and grazed over his prostate. Gigi tried desperately to think of what Remy had just said, but his brain cells weren’t talking to each other right now. They were too busy taking pleasure at what his mate was doing behind him. His forehead hit the mattress when Remy pulled his finger out and replaced it with a very large cock. He wanted to come, god he wanted to come, but Gigi was determined to make this last as long as possible. He grabbed onto the small amount of control that was slipping away and held onto it with an iron fist.

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Remy was buried so deep inside of him that Gigi would swear they were one person, no beginning and no ending. His fingers curled into the sheets as Remy kicked his legs further apart with his knees. “This is mine, angel.” His fingers bit into Gigi’s hips, as if backing up his declaration with his touch. “Yours,” Gigi readily agreed as he rocked back to meet Remy’s forward thrust. Skin clapping together echoed through the room as Gigi smashed his eyes together, fighting off his orgasm. It was extremely difficult when Remy’s cock slid over his sweet spot on every damn stroke. Gigi knew his control was gone when Remy leaned forward and sank his canines into his mating mark. He didn’t even have to touch his cock. The act of his mate claiming him had Gigi shouting to the gods as his seed spurted out in one throbbing burst after another. “Remy!” he shouted as he rocked back on his hands and knees, pounding his ass as hard as he possibly could onto Remy’s cock. Remy licked the wound closed as he howled, yanking Gigi back onto his shaft while manically snapping his hips. Waves of ecstasy crashed through Gigi as he felt Remy’s cock throbbing in his ass, spilling his seed inside of Gigi’s channel. Remy held still for a moment as his hands glided over Gigi’s back. When his mate pulled free, Gigi groaned and collapsed onto the bed. Remy followed him down to the bed and pulled him close to his side. “Never again, angel,” he whispered. “No more bruises. No more threats. No more getting attacked. My heart just can’t take it.” Gigi smiled as he patted Remy’s massive chest. “I’ll try my best, love.”

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Chapter 9 Remy leaned against the mess hall wall as he watched Livewire tap out a rhythm on his thigh with his thumb. He wasn’t sure if the guy had actually helped them or if he was a part of the whole operation to kidnap Gigi. His crew had already grown by two, and taking on one more as a crew member wouldn’t hurt them financially. Remy just wasn’t sure if the man could be trusted. Two mates were now onboard, and as commander and half of a mated pair, Remy had to be very careful and one-hundred-percent sure before agreeing to hiring the mechanic or killing him. At this point, he was pretty okay with either choice. “Are you going to interrogate me, hire me, or kill me?” Livewire asked as his thumb stilled. “This waiting to find out is havoc on the nerves.” Remy ignored him as he tried to put the puzzle pieces together. He had to figure out Livewire’s angle before he’d agree to anything. “He’s blue,” Pax stated as he stood by the kitchen door. “Blue is good.” Remy was told about Pax and his mist thing, but he hadn’t had the luxury of time yet to figure out what the hell the man was talking about. Gigi trusted Pax, and Remy trusted Gigi. So by extension, could Remy trust Livewire? Remy pushed away from the wall, rubbing his hand over a twoday beard growth. “I’m going to hire you, but one pinky out of place and you end up in the airlock and dumped into deep space,” Remy said, the warning clear in his voice. “Understood?”

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Livewire nodded and started toward the mess hall doors. “And on that note, let me look under Lady Blue’s skirt.” “Oh, no.” Remy chuckled evilly. “Your first assignment is in this room.” Livewire turned and frowned at Remy. “It’s a mess hall. What could be wrong in here?” Remy pointed to the food replicator. “Meet Mr. Attitude.” He had to bite back a grin when his angel giggled behind him. Remy crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow in challenge. “Show me how good you are, Livewire.” The mechanic rolled his eyes at Remy as he walked over to the replicator. “Piece of cake.” He pronounced each word with confidence. “Get ready to be amazed.” Remy would be amazed if Livewire was able to get the replicator to stop foaming at the mouth. He wasn’t really looking forward to using it again since Gigi started cooking fresh food. He was addicted to his mate’s cooking now. This was more of a test to see how good the guy really was. The thing was outdated and needed to be tossed out, but he would measure Livewire’s skills by the end results. The entire crew, except Tank who was flying the ship, sat down to watch the mechanic work his magic. “I’d work a lot better if I didn’t have six sets of eyes burning a hole in my back,” Livewire complained as he removed the front paneling. “We’re a team. Get used to it,” Remy stated as he took a few steps back toward the kitchen doors. If the foam started spurting, he was out of there. He could feel his angel’s fingers curl into the back of his shirt as everyone watched the possibly new mechanic stare in confusion at the jumble of exposed wires. “What was that you spouted off?” Crank teased. “If you fix it they will come?”

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Livewire’s eyes narrowed in on Remy’s demo expert. “If I fix this shit, I will come.” “Gross,” Gigi said from behind Remy. Remy smirked as he watched Livewire untangle the wires one by one. Livewire cursed and shook his hand when one of wires shocked him. Remy chuckled quietly. He’d bet his last credit that Livewire activated the damn machine and ended up covered in white goo. “Just how old is this thing?” Livewire asked. “It came with the ship,” Remy replied. “I think it’s original equipment.” “What happened to it?” “Beats me.” “No, seriously.” Livewire glanced over his shoulder. “This thing has been rewired. I’m surprised you didn’t blow up the entire ship when you tried to use it. Nothing is where it’s supposed to be.” “Like I said,” Remy replied, “it came that way.” “Dude, this machine is so seriously botched.” Livewire snorted and turned back to the food replicator. He started yanking wires out by the handful and unscrewing stuff. Part after part fell to the floor until all that was left of the replicator was the shell. Remy didn’t know what to think when Livewire suddenly sat down on the floor, grabbed his little bag, and pulled it closer. He opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of purple liquid and a cloth. “You got a bowl?” “A bowl?” Remy asked. “Yeah, I need to clean these parts. They have so much crud on them I’m surprised the replicator was working at all.” Remy turned when he felt Gigi nudge him. He smiled when his mate held a small metal bowl out to him. “Thanks, angel.” Remy carried the bowl across the room and set it on the floor next to Livewire then crossed back and resumed his position in front of Gigi. Livewire poured a large amount of the purple liquid into the bowl then began setting the parts into the metal bowl one at a time. He’d

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put one in, let it soak for a moment, then pull it out, replacing it with another part. Each piece that he pulled out of the bowl, he wiped down with the cloth in his hand until they gleamed. He even cleaned the wires. Finally, Livewire stood up and started putting everything back into the replicator. Remy didn’t understand half of what the man was doing, but he wasn’t a mechanic. There was a reason he didn’t work on the ship’s engines or computer parts. He was lousy at it. He made a much better commander. “There, all done,” Livewire said as he snapped the panel back into place. He spun around and looked at everyone. “Who’s hungry?” “Not me.” Remy shook his head. He wasn’t going first. No way, no how. He’d seen what that machine could do, and he didn’t trust it, even if Livewire did. Besides, he’d much rather eat Gigi’s cooking. Colt, Crank, and Blade all shook their heads. Colt growled. Pax and Gigi made a quick path back into the kitchen. Livewire rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll test it out.” Livewire turned back to the machine and tapped in what he wanted. Remy braced himself, ready to grab his mate and run when he heard the machine start up. He blinked when all he heard was a small whizzing sound, and a moment later a large glass of milk and a plate of cookies materialized on the tray under the machine. Livewire grabbed the glass and plate and carried it over to the table. He sat down and proceeded to dip his cookies into the milk and eat each one. By the time he was done, the rest of the guys were leaning close, their eyes watching Livewire raise the last cookie to his mouth as they licked their lips. Livewire picked up the glass of milk and drank it all down then set the glass on the table. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve then folded his hands together as he looked at everyone. “Anything else you want me to look at?” He wore a smug smile on his face with a gleam of pride shining in his eyes.

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Remy chuckled as he pushed away from the kitchen doors and started toward the corridor. “You’re hired for now, Livewire. Tank will see that you’re assigned a room and give you a list of assignments.” “Hey!” Gigi snapped as he barreled out of the kitchen and planted his hands on his hips. “Does this mean I’m not the cook anymore?” “No, angel.” Remy pointed toward the newly repaired replicator. “This means that you can use the food replicator to assist you in cooking. I still expect home-cooked meals from my cook.” “Oh.” Gigi’s face flushed. “I prefer as much fresh food as I can get, but there will be times when we can’t buy any or barter for any. That’s when you’ll need the replicator. Until then think of the replicator like a tool, just like the stove and the spice shelf.” “Okay, that makes sense.” Remy chuckled as Gigi bounced back into the kitchen. A moment later he could hear pans clanking around. He knew his angel was satisfied his place was secure on the ship. He could hear him humming. “Tank, plot a course to Beta Five,” Remy said into the com link in his ear when he reached the doors leading out of the mess hall. “We still have a job to do there.” “Remy, I still need those detonators,” Crank said. “I never got them, and I can’t do the job without them.” “Damn it.” Remy rubbed his jaw as he tried to think of any other place they could pick up some detonators. With a price on their heads, the number of people they could go to had significantly lowered. “What’s a detonator?” Remy glanced up to see Gigi standing in the doorway. “It’s something Crank uses to detonate explosives. Make them go boom.” Crank laughed at the confused look on Gigi’s face. “It’s a small, thin, silver tube-looking thing about the size of my pinky.” Crank snickered as he held up his hand. “Well, if I had a pinky.”

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Gigi frowned. “A thin silver tube?” Crank nodded. “That wasn’t by any chance what you were trying to buy at End of the Line when we met, is it?” Gigi grimaced and held his hands in front of him, about a foot apart. “Little black box with twelve little silver tubes in it?” “Yeah, how’d you know?” Crank asked. Remy frowned when Gigi’s face flushed. “Gigi?” “I might have picked it up and put it in my bag when I was trying to escape the firefight you all were having with those men on the dock.” Remy’s eyebrows shot up. “You have the detonators?” Gigi’s lips quivered as the corners lifted up. “Maybe?” **** Tank watched Remy take the command chair as Livewire got to his hands and knees and crawled under the helm with only his lower half visible. Tank bit back a smile when Livewire’s ass began to wiggle around. “I take it we’re keeping him?” Tank asked Remy, but his eyes stayed glued on Livewire’s wiggling form. He sure as hell hoped the mechanic knew what he was doing. One wrong snip and they would either take a freefalling nose dive or Lady Blue would shut down and be dead in the water…er…space. Tank’s hands jerked away from the console when Autopilot Engaged flashed on the screen a few times in front of him and then stayed constant. Hot damn. They were back in business. Tank didn’t have to stay chained at the hip to the helm anymore. Livewire’s hand appeared behind him as he tossed a few wires onto the floor at his feet. Tank stared down at the macramé of wires and wondered if that was a good thing.

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“How long before we get to Beta Five?” Remy asked, pulling Tank’s attention away from the mechanic under the helm. “One hour, Commander,” Tank replied as he heard a sizzle and then a curse below his legs. Tank scooted his legs a little to the left. Fear of getting zapped made him scoot just one more inch over. “Good work, Livewire,” Remy stated as the communication vidscreen flickered and then went through the process of rebooting, data scrolling down the monitor screen. “We haven’t had that baby working in eons.” “How the hell did she even make it out of the spaceport?” Livewire complained from under the helm. “Very carefully.” Tank chuckled. His right leg jerked when he felt something stab his ankle. “Watch it down there.” “Get that damn tree trunk out of my way then,” Livewire shouted up to Tank. “It’s tight enough under here as it is without interference from body parts.” “Autopilot is on. Why don’t you go get something to eat from the replicator?” Remy snickered from behind him. “Until he,” Tank said, pointing to the wiggling backside, “comes out from under there, I’m not chancing anything.” “Holy shit,” Blade said slowly as he leaned forward, his eyes glued to the window in front of them. His finger shot out. “Look.” Tank and Remy turned their heads to see a ship the size of theirs shoot in front of them and then make a one-eighty turn. The two ships sat face-to-face. The communication vid-screen flickered, and then a man with red eyes and closely cropped black hair sneered at them. “Hello, gentlemen.” Remy sat up straight, matching the man’s sneer. “I am Commander Remington Vystal. You are in my way, and I’m making the offer just once to stand down and let us by.” The man’s laughter was cold and void of humor. “I’m quite aware of who you are, Commander. I’m also aware that you have something that belongs to me aboard your ship. If you return it, all will be

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forgotten. I’m making this offer just once, as you so eloquently put it.” Tank nudged his toe against Livewire as his eyes stayed glued to the vid-screen. He wanted to laugh and pump his arm when a few seconds later Phasers online flashed across his control panel. He loved when crew members could read each other’s minds. Livewire’s hand came from under the helm, giving Tank a thumbs-up. “You’re Drake?” Remy growled as his canines dropped. “I’ll give you Gigi when hell freezes over.” Remy gave Tank a slight nod. That was all Tank needed. He slid his hand up and hit the touch screen on the control panel. The phasers whirled as they charged to full power. Sliding his finger to the right, Tank pressed the next button on the control panel. The pulse cannon fired blasts from Lady Blue, hitting Drake’s shields. It didn’t do any real damage, but it bought Tank enough time to drop below Drake’s ship and engage thrusters, shooting past them and trying his best to get them the hell out of there. **** Gigi desperately grabbed for the counter as the ship suddenly dipped. His pots and pans slid off the counter, crashing to the floor. Gigi quickly grabbed the pan of roast before it took a nosedive off of the counter as well. Pax scrambled to save the large bowl of mashed potatoes but ended up lying on the floor with them. “What the hell,” Gigi shouted when he flew backwards and hit the wall. The ship was obviously using thrusters to gain speed, but Gigi couldn’t figure out why. Since Gigi had the detonators, they were headed to Beta Five for a job. Why would they need such great speed? He pushed himself to his feet and saw the roast lying on the floor next to Pax. So much for a freshly cooked meal. They might be using the replicator after all.

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“Are you okay?” he asked as he crossed the room and helped his assistant to his feet. The poor guy had garlic mashed potatoes all over his clothes and in his hair. “Go take a shower while I go see what’s going on.” “What about the mess?” Pax pointed to the ruined dinner. “We’ll clean it up after I find out why our crew is acting like they’ve lost their minds.” Gigi left Pax in the kitchen as he stomped out of the mess hall and made his way to the bridge. Total chaos was what he walked into. The crew was shouting instructions back and forth while Remy paced the small area. “What’s going on, Remy?” Gigi asked as he crossed over to his mate. He gasped when he saw the vid-screen and recognized the ship hot on their tail. His finger trembled as he pointed toward the screen. “That’s Drake’s ship!” “We figured that out, angel, when he blocked our ship and threatened us,” Remy said as he ran a hand over Gigi’s hair. “Don’t worry. We’ve been in tighter situations than this.” Gigi glanced at the vid-screen again, worried that they may not get out of this tight situation. Drake was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get him back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered down at his hands. “For what, angel?” “For bringing my problems aboard your ship.” Involving these men was the last thing Gigi had wanted to do. They’d been nothing but kind, and he hated that Drake was now their problem as well. He would leave, take his problems with him, but that was pretty hard to do out in space. His head was lifted when a knuckle was tucked under his chin. Remy was staring at him intently, a touch of anger in his eyes. “Our ship. You are a part of this crew now. When one of us has a problem, we all have a problem. Start thinking of us as a unit, Gigi.” Gigi noticed Remy didn’t use the endearment his mate had given him. Remy must be really pissed. He nodded his acknowledgement

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that he had heard Remy, but his eyes flicked back over to the vidscreen. The ship following them was gaining. “What are we going to do?” he asked as his eyes darted back up at his mate. “He won’t stop.” “Leave that to us, angel.” Remy winked and then released Gigi’s chin. “This is what we do. And we’re really good at it.” Gigi breathed out a sigh of relief that Remy wasn’t angry with him any longer. But they still had the problem of Drake chasing after them. The words were on the tip of Gigi’s tongue to tell the crew he would go quietly so they wouldn’t have to be involved, but he knew that would only piss Remy off again. Besides, he liked being a part of this crew and would rather die than go back to the empty and lonely existence he had with Drake. Being a sex slave was horrendous enough. Being Drake’s sex slave was a nightmare Gigi didn’t want to return to. Gigi squared his shoulders, finally accepting the fact that they were a team and he needed to start acting like he was a part of the crew instead of a stowaway. It was high-time they took this asshole down! “What do you want me to do, Commander?” Gigi asked with steel in his voice. Remy’s lips pulled back in a smile. “I need you to go make a big celebration dinner with all the trimmings.” “Celebration dinner?” Gigi asked as some of the steam deflated out of him. He stared at Remy in confusion. What on Lady Blue could they be celebrating? “Yes, a celebration dinner.” Remy grinned. “We’ll need a celebration dinner when we defeat Drake.” “Oh.” Gigi giggled and clapped his hands together before pressing the tips of his fingers against his lips. “I can do that. One celebration dinner coming right up.” Gigi ran off of the bridge to clean up the mess in the kitchen and prepare the biggest celebration dinner he’d ever created. He knew

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being the cook wasn’t much in way of being part of the team fighting for their very survival, but everyone had to eat, right?

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Chapter 10 “Commander, we’re coming up on Kulak,” Tank said. “Do you want me to go around?” Remy frowned as he considered their options. They usually steered clear of Kulak. Besides the fact that it was a pretty unfriendly planet, it was also Crank’s home world. He refused to step foot back on the planet since the day he’d left years ago. But they were running out of options. No matter how fast they flew or what crazy maneuvers they used, they had been unable to shake Drake’s ship. They were stretching the ship to her limits. If they didn’t slow down soon and let the thrusters recharge, they would burn up fuel cells and then everyone would be sitting ducks. “Crank?” Remy asked. He didn’t want to demand that Crank land on his home planet, but Remy had to ask. It seemed like their only option. “How do you feel about this?” “They won’t like it,” Crank said after a minute of silence. “They might even hand us over to Drake just for the fun of it, especially if they learn I’m onboard.” “What are our chances if we don’t land, Tank?” Remy really didn’t like the grimace that crossed Tank’s face. Even Livewire was getting in on the act. He sat on the floor next to Tank’s feet shaking his head. Remy sighed and plopped down in his chair. “Options? Anyone?” “If we land on Kulak,” Crank said, “we’ll be able to let the thrusters recharge, but if we’re caught breaking their territorial

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boundaries, the Kulakians will either turn us over to Drake or string us up themselves. They are not known as a peaceful people.” “Tank?” Remy asked. “If we keep going at this rate, the thrusters will burn up in another thirty minutes. I’ve pushed the Lady Blue about as far as I dare. Any more fancy maneuvering and she just might shake apart.” Tank shook his head. “She really needs a rest, Commander.” Remy nodded. He knew they were in deep shit. They seemed to only have two options, and both of them were dangerous. Sometimes it really sucked being commander. “All right, I want the ship locked down. Tank, find us a nice hole somewhere to hide. Crank, any suggestions?” Crank hit a series of buttons on his console until a map of the planet below came up on his screen. He pushed another button, and a light shot up creating a holographic imagine of the planet. Crank flicked the image with his finger and it spun around. “Here,” he said as he pointed to a spot on the holographic world. “This valley is pretty far from any populated areas. Or at least it was the last time I was here. The valley is hidden enough that we might be able to avoid detection even from space.” “Okay, Tank, plot a course for that valley,” Remy said. “Crank, I want you and Blade to check our weapons and ammo in case we get any visitors while we’re on the ground. I want everything else strapped down. No unnecessary use of power.” Remy jumped from his chair and started for the door. “Commander, where are you going?” “To let Gigi and Pax know what’s happening. As much as I want to keep them occupied making that dinner, the kitchen needs to be shut down until the thrusters recharge. The less power we use, the less chance we’ll be detected.” ****

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“Gigi!” Gigi rolled his eyes when he heard Remy shout. He glanced at Pax, shaking his head. “You would think he’d just come in here and tell me what he wants instead of yelling through half the ship.” Pax giggled. Gigi smiled as he dried his hands off, tossed the towel on the counter, then walked out of the kitchen. Remy was just walking into the mess hall when he came out. “You bellowed?” “Shut down the kitchen, angel.” Gigi’s mouth dropped. “What?” “I need you to shut down all electronic devices, anything that needs power.” Gigi waved his hand back toward the kitchen. “But you just told me to cook a celebration dinner.” Remy arched an eyebrow. “And now I’m telling you to shut everything down.” “Why?” “Gigi.” “Fine,” Gigi said when he heard the warning in Remy’s voice. His shoulders dropped as he turned and walked back into the kitchen. He started putting away all of the food he had pulled out for the celebration dinner. “What are you doing?” Pax asked. “Remy wants us to shut everything down.” “But, I thought—” “So did I, but apparently I was wrong.” Gigi grumbled to himself as he put the last of the food away and started on the dishes. He didn’t like doing this. Luckily, they had gotten them all cleaned up from the last fiasco, so there wasn’t a huge mess to put away. Gigi put the last dish away just as Pax turned off the last of the machines. “Now what?” Pax asked.

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Gigi shrugged. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. He really didn’t have a clue what they should do now. “Your guess is as good as mine.” Pax grimaced. “Want to go up on the bridge and find out what’s going on?” “I think the bridge is the last place we need to be. We’d just get in the way.” Pax frowned. “Want to go back to your room and play cards?” “I don’t play cards.” Gigi laughed. “I wouldn’t know how to even if I did. Drake didn’t let us play games.” “Us?” Pax asked. “There was more than one of you?” Gigi sobered instantly. “Yes, Drake likes keeping pretty things around him. He has an entire stable of sex slaves.” “He sounds like a real jerk.” “Drake is…Drake is hard to understand. He can be kind one moment and a cruel monster the next, depending on his mood. He used kindness like a boon and torture for entertainment.” “Damn,” Pax whispered. “If he’s so horrible, why did you stay?” “I was his property. I wasn’t allowed to leave. I tried a few times, but I was always caught and returned. Hell, even the law returned me to him. On Earth, when you are considered property, you have no say in what happens to you. Drake could do anything he wanted with me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.” “How did you end up with him anyway?” Gigi sighed. Remy had asked this very same question, and Gigi had gone ballistic. He knew now he probably should have talked things out with Remy. There just hadn’t been time. If they weren’t being chased by a madman, they were running off to complete their next job. There never seemed to be enough time to just sit and talk. If there had been, Gigi might have been able to tell Remy that he had realized that his family had sold him into slavery. It was something Gigi hadn’t wanted to face before, but after experiencing

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all that Remy gave him, Gigi knew what true love was. And it wasn’t selling those you loved for credits. “I was sold to Drake by my father. I was with Drake for almost five years before I escaped the last time.” “Is that why Drake is trying so hard to get you back?” Pax asked. “Because you belonged to him?” “To be honest, I’m not sure. I always knew Drake was somewhat egotistical, but I never thought he’d come after me this far out in space. I gave him quite a bit of trouble. I’d think he’d be happy to get rid of me.” Gigi shrugged. “It wasn’t like he paid that many credits for me in the first place.” “He really bought you?” Gigi nodded. “Paid three hundred cold hard credits for my ass.” Pax’s finger glided over the shiny countertop as he stared at the far wall. “At least you knew why,” he whispered. Gigi cocked his head to the side as he stared at the fragile-looking man. He wasn’t sure what Pax meant, but something told Gigi that Pax may have had it worse. How? He couldn’t put a finger on it, but his gut was screaming to pay attention. “What do you mean, knew why, Pax?” Gigi probed a little, hoping that Pax would finally open up. He knew Pax liked locked doors and the feeling of safety. Most people liked feeling safe, but Pax went beyond normality. Gigi plunged a hand through his hair when Pax didn’t answer him. Pax started to leave, but Gigi caught his arm on the way by. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Drawing in a deep breath, Pax reluctantly turned back around and locked eyes with Gigi. “I lived from hand to mouth with no one to take care of me. I wasn’t looking for anyone to take care of me, but it would have been better than—” Damn, Gigi’s mind went numb when the ramifications of Pax’s words finally registered. “You sold yourself, didn’t you?” Pax tried to

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yank his arm away, but Gigi kept a tight grip. “I’m not judging you, I swear.” Gigi released Pax’s arm when he tugged again. The blue-skinned man walked over to the porthole, staring out into the black sky. Okay, he was being brushed off. Gigi wasn’t going to push. “I’d love to play cards if you’re willing to teach me,” Gigi said with a big smile. “Maybe I’ll get so good that I can play against the crew and take their credits.” This got a smile from Pax. “We could double-team them and then go on a shopping spree.” Gigi giggled, glad to see Pax’s somber mood gone. He still had questions, but they could wait. **** Crank didn’t like this one bit. He was back on his home world, and old feelings began to surface, feelings he’d rather have kept buried. He wondered briefly if Blay was still here. Crank’s anger skyrocketed and his back teeth ground together thinking of the man that had betrayed him. “You with us?” Remy asked with a touch of concern in his eyes. Crank nodded. He narrowed his eyes against the glaring suns that shone brightly around his home planet and then focused on his hands. He wasn’t going to allow his thoughts to go down that pothole-filled road. It would be dangerous for everyone onboard if he continued to stew about it. “I have life readings. Two to be exact, and they’re getting close,” Colt said from across the bridge. “The bio readings are about two klicks away.” “I want everything shut down and everyone to remain quiet,” Remy ordered from the commander’s chair.

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“Everything?” Livewire asked from the floor. Crank almost smiled when Tank shot his foot out and nudged Livewire, tightening his face at the mechanic. Livewire flipped him off as he laid back. “Everything,” Remy confirmed. “I’ll go tell Gigi and Pax.” Livewire got up and walked off of the bridge. Crank watched the monitor closely as the two bio signatures quickly closed the gap between them and the ship. This wasn’t good. Sweat began to trickle down his temples as the two signatures got close as hell and then veered off, going the other way. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he would wait to do that once they cleared the planet. Remy glanced over at him, and Crank raised two fingers and pointed in the direction the two had gone off in. Remy nodded. Crank knew the waiting was the hardest part. Having to sit on his ass and do absolutely nothing was starting to unravel his nerves. He was a fighter, loved to blow shit up. This sitting still and waiting to be discovered was going against everything he’d been taught. “Bio signatures are gone,” Crank finally said when the monitor appeared empty. “Good,” Remy commented. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more visitors while our thrusters cool off.” A grin broke out across Tank’s face as he began to chuckle. Crank knew the man was nuts, but now was not the time to finally confirm it. “I just thought of something.” Tank snickered. “Do we even want to know?” Remy asked with a smile. “I’m raising my hand and saying hell no,” Blade said as both his hands went into the air. Crank rolled his eyes. He could see everyone was going to get in on this. He had to admit, these guys knew how to lighten a dark mood. “Go ahead,” Colt encouraged the pilot.

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“We need to get away, right? We need to get Drake off of our asses, right?” “Get to the point,” Remy growled. The entire bridge watched as Tank got up and walked out. “I told you.” Blade threw his hands up. “I told you we didn’t want to know.” Tank walked back in with Livewire hot on his heels. They watched as Livewire crawled between Remy’s legs and scooted under the helm. Remy cocked a brow at Tank. “Watch and learn, ladies.” Tank winked. “Got it,” Livewire yelled from under the helm. “Just give me a few more seconds.” Crank sat forward, wondering what in the blazes these two were up to. He gasped when a computerized voice flooded the bridge. “Cloaking engaged.” “You’re a fucking genius!” Remy shouted and whooped. “We’ve been without it for so long that I forgot we had that little charm.” “Fuck yeah!” Crank pumped his arm and bit his bottom lip. “Get us the hell out of here, Tank, pronto.” “Mr. Genius is on it.” He chuckled. “Oh god, now he’s going to have a bigger head than he already has.” Blade groaned. “Gentlemen, we have lift-off,” Tank announced as the ship lifted and they got the hell off of that rock. “We can rest on Beta Five. It’s the next planet over.” “Sounds good.” Remy patted Tank on his shoulder and then looked down at Livewire, who was backing out from under the helm. “Go check the fuel cells and make sure they’re steady.” “On it, Commander,” Livewire said with a spring in his step. ****

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Remy sat in his commander’s chair in the middle of the bridge and smiled to himself. Lady Blue was finally getting the repairs she needed after so much unintentional neglect. He still couldn’t believe he won his baby in a card game against a bunch of Vykillians. They laughed when they handed him the pink slip. Now Remy was the one with the last laugh. Lady Blue was sturdy and reliable, and she had yet to fail getting them out of a tight situation. Now that Livewire was a part of the crew, she was going to shine like a highly polished diamond. Remy’s communicator chimed in his ear. He was still wearing a grin when he pressed the oval-shaped device to talk. “Remy.” They didn’t stand on ceremony to the point everything was formal. A little leeway in the use of names reminded his crew that they were family. “It’s Livewire. I need you down in engineering.” “On my way.” Remy looked over at his pilot. “You have the helm.” “Gotcha.” Tank nodded. Remy walked down the corridor and then took the stairs down to the lowest deck where engineering was located. It had been a while since he’d been down here. He grimaced at the tattered way his lady looked. “Over here,” Livewire shouted from somewhere in the front. Remy followed the voice of his crew member until he spotted Livewire standing by the propulsion system. “What’s up?” Livewire had one hand leaning against the wall and was shaking his head. “We may not make it to Beta Five, Commander.” He pointed to the console on the wall that said they had fifteen-percent power left in the core. Remy cursed as he laid his hands on his hips. Now what?

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Chapter 11 “I can fix it, I swear I can,” Livewire quickly reassured the commander. He wanted to make Remy aware of the problem, not make himself look inept at his job. “What do we need to do?” “Shut down anything we don’t need right now. We’re going to need the remaining power to get us to Beta Five. It’ll be a snail’s crawl, but we’ll make it. Landing is going to be a little trickier.” Fuck if that wasn’t the understatement of the year. They’d be lucky not to break apart in Beta Five’s atmosphere. “Do what you have to, Livewire. We can barter for new fuel cells once we get there,” Remy said as he began to walk away. Livewire had yet to voice his concern about actually getting there, but that bridge could wait until they needed to cross it. Hopefully the son of a bitch didn’t crumble under their feet. “Will do.” He smiled at the commander and then turned his back on Remy, blowing a long breath out. Livewire began to shut down parts of the ship that were either unoccupied or didn’t need power right now. Quick thinking was what he needed, and a fucking miracle. He knew they had a blast job on Beta Five that would keep them in credits for a while. The only problem was getting there. Leaving the engineering room, Livewire jogged up the steps two flights to the upper level. He had an idea, but it was going to take some fancy talking on his part. Pressing the keypad to let Gigi and Pax know he was outside Pax’s quarters, Livewire whistled while he waited. He looked around,

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making sure no one was watching. He plastered a big smile on his face when the door slid open and Gigi stared up at him. “Is everything okay?” Gigi asked suspiciously. He could see Pax leaning to the side and staring past Gigi’s form at him. Livewire wasn’t sure why the blue-skinned man looked terrified, so he stayed out in the corridor. “Peachy. I just needed to ask a favor.” Livewire placed his hands behind his back and crossed his fingers. “Okay, ask.” Livewire pulled his hands from behind his back and crossed them over his chest, shifting his weight to his left leg. He wasn’t sure how to ask without sounding insane. “Uh, I need you to crawl into the food replicator.” Gigi’s right eye closed a fraction and twitched for a moment as he stared at Livewire, and then a bark of laughter escaped his lips. “Good one, Livewire. You had me going for a moment there.” When Livewire didn’t laugh along with Gigi, the man’s mouth hit his chest. “You’re serious?” Livewire gave one short nod and watched the commander’s mate’s hands wave in front of his body. “Hell no. Whatever screws your brain lost, go find them.” “Let me explain before you go all oh no, Livewire, I can’t do it on me.” Livewire pitched his voice higher when mimicking Gigi. “I don’t sound like that.” Gigi growled “Whatever. Will you listen, or are you going to keep whining your protest?” Livewire argued. “We don’t have eternity to debate this.” Gigi heaved a sigh. “Fine, tell me why you want to shove my ass in the food replicator.” “How opposed would Remy be to me disassembling your molecules?” “Dude, get off of the Paktillian dust. It’s eating your brain cells,” Gigi said as he took a step back. “If you come near me, I’ll kick your

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sorry ass.” There was a clear warning in the commander’s mate’s voice. “Okay.” Livewire held a hand up. “Maybe I’m not saying this right. We have little power left for the ship to make a safe landing. What I’m proposing is that when we get close to Beta Five, I use the replicator like a transporter. They’re based on the same technology. They disassemble and reassemble matter. Yours to be precise.” Gigi stopped backing away and cocked his head. “Go on, I’m listening.” Okay, Livewire had him so far. Hopefully he didn’t lose the little guy. “If I rewired the food replicator, I could use it for a transporter. You’d go down to Beta Five, purchase some new cells, call me, and then I could beam you back up. Simple enough.” “And how do you change the food replicator into a transporter?” Livewire smiled at his genius brain. Once in a while a brilliant idea fell out of his ear. “Easy, I just re-align the energy-conversion matrix.” Brilliant, fucking brilliant. He should get a gold star for this. Or in the very least another plate of cookies and milk. “And what happens to me if this brilliant plan of yours doesn’t work?” Gigi asked as he and Pax followed Livewire to the mess hall. “Details, details, details. Stop worrying so much.” Livewire couldn’t think of failing. “Let’s get you down there and back before anyone knows you’ve gone.” “I don’t like this.” Pax bounced from foot to foot in front of the replicator Gigi was climbing into. “Why can’t one of the other crew members go?” “Because they won’t fit into the food replicator,” Livewire stated the obvious. “Now stand back while I work my magic.” Gigi climbed in and held the door in his hand. “I told you this damn thing was going to eat me,” he huffed before slamming the door closed.

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Livewire glanced over at Pax and smiled tightly. “He was just kidding, really.” He turned back around and lifted his eyebrows to his hairline. He fucking prayed Gigi was kidding. **** Remy walked into the mess hall looking for his mate. He thought Gigi was in Pax’s room, but the room had been empty. He saw Livewire standing by the food replicator, rocking back on his heels and whistling, his eyes darting everywhere. Something wasn’t right. “Have either of you seen Gigi?” he asked, looking from the mechanic to Pax. Pax stood there with sweat glistening on his brows, his eyes looking down at his shoes. Remy stepped closer to Pax, noticing his body slightly shaking. “Pax?” “I said he shouldn’t do it. It was Livewire’s idea,” Pax wailed. He pointed to the mechanic. “I swear, I was against it from the beginning.” “Against what?” Remy growled as he turned his attention back to Livewire. “Against what!” he shouted this time. “Livewire shoved Gigi into the food replicator,” Pax bawled. “You did what!” Surely he didn’t hear that right. There was no way his mate was inside the food replicator. He stormed across the room and yanked the door open, almost making it fly off the hinges. The box was empty. “Where the hell is he?” He rounded on Livewire. “On Beta Five,” Livewire said with uncertainty in his voice. “And why would he be on Beta Five? Why wouldn’t he be on the ship?” “Grocery shopping for parts?” Livewire answered as he backed away. Remy howled, his third form emerging as he stalked Livewire across the room. “Bring him back!” Remy shouted as he grabbed the

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dangling wires hanging by the food replicator and pulled them from the wall. He was enraged. “I–I can’t. He has to call me so I can lock onto him.” Livewire yelped when Remy picked him up by the front of his shirt, lifting him off of his feet and placing his snout against Livewire’s nose. “And since you just ripped the wires that would bring him back, we’re going to have to do an emergency landing. “If anything has happened to my mate, you’re a deadwire.” Remy shoved the mechanic away. He stormed out of the mess hall and headed for the bridge, Pax running behind him. “Holy fuck!” Blade shouted as Remy walked on the bridge, snarling at everyone. “Beta Five, now!” “But—” Tank began to protest, but Remy cut him off. “My mate is on Beta Five. Get me there now!” His fisted hand slammed down onto the back of his commander’s chair, making it groan under his assault. The entire crew stared at him in utter disbelief before the bridge came alive, everyone scrambling to do as commanded. Remy ran his clawed-tip fingers over his head as his gut tightened into a knot. “Where on Beta Five are we landing?” Tank gulped when he asked, staring at Remy from the corner of his eyes. Fuck, Remy’s head began to ache. “I don’t know,” he said helplessly. “I don’t fucking know.” **** Gigi’s molecules reassembled in some sort of back alleyway. He glanced around, wondering where the hell he had landed. It was eerily quiet back here, giving him gooseflesh. Gigi clutched the hem of his shirt as he walked from the alleyway and onto the main street. He could do this. All he had to do was buy a part and then call Livewire. How hard could it be? Gigi sidestepped a man with

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tentacles protruding from his head. The sight was very…strange. Now he really stuck out like a sore thumb. Why in the hell did he always let someone talk him into stupid shit? When would he learn? It had sounded logical when Livewire explained it to him. But he doubted the plan as he looked around the storefronts, confused about where to go. He approached a semi-normal-looking man wearing a blue toga-like outfit. “Excuse me. Do you know where I can buy fuel cells?” The man smiled kindly at him and then started speaking a language Gigi didn’t understand. “Thanks anyway.” He walked away feeling frustrated. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. “Psst.” Gigi looked over at a man leaning his shoulder against a brick building. His hands were shoved in his front pockets as his eyes roamed over Gigi’s body. Familiar feelings made him feel disgusting and dirty all over again as Gigi turned the other way and started walking away. A cold, light rain began to fall, making Gigi feel all alone. He missed Remy and wanted to go back to the ship. All he had on was a thin shirt, pants, and an old worn-out pair of shoes. He wasn’t dressed for this climate. “You should get out of the rain,” a man called from the doorway of what looked to be a tavern. “Come on in and get something warm to drink.” His clothes were beginning to get wet, and his hair was dripping with rain. Against his better judgment, Gigi went inside. The stranger smiled at him as he walked back behind the bar and began to mix something that had smoke curling up from the cup. Gigi took the offered mug, his hands warming instantly as he took a small sip. His body began to warm with just that small amount. “Thank you.” Gigi gave a wavering smile as he looked around.

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“New around these parts, are ya?” the stranger asked as he cleaned a mug with a bar rag. Gigi studied him for a moment. The man was no beauty prize, but he had kind eyes. “That obvious?” A genuine smile tugged at one side of his mouth before he took another sip. “Kinda.” The stranger chuckled. He set the mug on the shelf behind him and grabbed another, polishing it as he eyed Gigi. “You know, these parts aren’t hospitable for a neophyte like yourself. You should go back the way you came. Just some friendly advice.” Agreeing with the stranger, Gigi glanced down at his steaming cup. He wanted his mate so badly that he could feel the separation bone-deep. “I just need some fuel cells. Can you tell me where I might find some?” The stranger tossed the bar rag over his shoulder as he leaned onto the counter. “What do ya need them for?” Duh. What else would one need them for? Gigi didn’t say this out loud even though he thought it. “My ship.” The man nodded, giving Gigi a grin. “I have a few in the backroom. I’d be willing to part with them for a price.” “Of course.” Wasn’t there always a price? Gigi just hoped the guy meant credits. He’d been kind so far, but he wasn’t one to trust a guy, even if he had kind eyes. Gigi squirmed a little in his seat, becoming uncomfortable with the conversation. “Calm down, human. I’ll be asking for credits, nothing more.” The stranger’s voice became soothing, making Gigi relax. “How much?” Gigi asked as he set his mug down. He had one hundred credits in his front pocket and prayed that was enough. Livewire had been so amped up with his genius plan that they had forgotten about the credits Gigi would need to pay for the fuel cells. “Hundred credits each. I’ll even throw in a bag to carry them in.” The stranger straightened and picked up the forgotten mug, beginning his ritualistic rub.

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“Then I’ll need just one.” Gigi smiled and lifted his mug, tipping it toward the man. “Deal. Follow me.” The stranger put the mug up onto the shelf with the others as he set the bar rag down, walking away from Gigi. Gigi hopped down and trailed behind the strangers into a backroom that resembled a storage area. He couldn’t believe his luck. Within the hour he’d be back in his mate’s arms, and all would be right with the world. Gigi felt giddy at the prospect of being in his strong mate’s arms, Remy loving all over him. “Here you go.” The stranger hefted the cylinder-shaped fuel cell up and set it on some crates. Holy hell. Thank goodness he could only afford one. The thing was humongous! What the hell had Livewire been thinking sending his small ass down here to lug these ten-ton containers around? Gigi handed the credits over as he picked the bag up, the stranger sliding the fuel cell inside. Gigi tried to swing it around to his back to strap the bag over his shoulders and damn near fell down when the weight of the cylinder smashed into his back. The stranger chuckled. “Let me help ya.” He grabbed the straps and held them out for Gigi to slide his arms into. Gigi knew the moment the stranger let the bag go. The weight on his back nearly brought him to his knees. “Careful now.” The stranger chuckled as he patted Gigi on his shoulder, almost making him kiss the floor. Gigi grunted as he readjusted the straps to a more comfortable position. “Thanks for your help.” Gigi extended his hand, the stranger’s large, beefy one swallowing his as he shook it. “Anytime. Name’s Ryan. Come back and see me again if you need anything else, young man.” “Thanks.” Gigi walked from the backroom and out of the tavern. He pulled the communicator from his front pocket and clipped it onto his ear. Pressing the com link, Gigi waited for Livewire to pick up.

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“Mission accomplished,” he stated proudly when the other end beeped, indicating that Livewire was on the line. “Don’t move a fucking muscle while I lock onto your coordinates.” Gigi gulped when he heard Remy’s steel-hard voice. As badly as he missed his mate, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to see him right now. “Okay,” he whispered. “Are you hurt?” “No.” And he prayed that status wouldn’t change when Remy got ahold of him. His mate never showed a cruel side, but then again, Gigi had never done something this irresponsible and stupid either. He just kept screwing up with the guy. Was he ever going to get it right? “We’ll be entering the atmosphere in ten minutes, and I expect you to be exactly where your coordinates are reading.” “Yes, sir.” The old honorific term slipped from his mouth as his body began to shake. He hated the feeling churning inside of him right now. It was the same way he felt when he flipped off Drake and knew he was going to be punished for it. Bile rose to the back of his throat as he walked back over to the tavern and waited against the brick wall. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way. Gigi knew in his heart that Remy would never hurt him. But it didn’t stop him from dreading the sight of his mate. He pulled the com piece off his ear and shoved it back into his pocket as he stood there in the cool, rainy mist. “I see he left you out here to sell some ass. That won’t be necessary,” a cruel and familiar voice snarled darkly from beside Gigi. “Your ass belongs to me.”

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Chapter 12 Remy strapped the buckle across his lap as his hands gripped the armrest on his commander’s chair. He had gone to his quarters to get dressed after returning to human form and felt the emptiness inside as he looked at the deserted room. The ship didn’t seem the same without his mate aboard. “Hold onto your tits. This is going to get rough,” Tank warned as they entered Beta Five’s atmosphere. Remy felt like so much shit was coming down on him at once that he wasn’t able to breathe. He looked to his right to see Crank holding onto the small console in front of him with a knuckle-white grip. Lady Blue began to shake uncontrollably as they cleared the outer atmosphere. Warning sounds blared and red lights began to flash on various consoles as the ship descended. Remy prayed they made it down there in one piece. Gigi needed him, and he couldn’t let his mate down. “We lost our shield,” Tank hollered through the chaotic noise filling the bridge. Remy clenched his jaw as the ship plummeted toward the planet. All they needed was their thrusters to land. That was all they needed. “We’re overloading,” Tank warned as the console lights flickered, some going out. Remy gulped when half the console panel went dark. They might not make it out alive this time around. The reality hit him hard. He thought of Gigi’s smiling face, those vivid amber eyes, and that gorgeous sandy blond hair. Remy thought of how good his mate had felt in his arms, just holding the little guy to his chest.

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Remy’s brows dropped into a frown as he thought of his mate out there on his own, possibly forever. The bridge lights flickered as the ship shook so hard his teeth rattled. Remy thought of the look on his angel’s face when he first discovered him in the cupboard. The proud smile he wore when he cooked his first meal on the Lady Blue. They had to survive this. Remy wasn’t about to leave his mate in the cold and dark universe alone. “Hang on!” Tank shouted as the ship hit the surface hard, bounced, and then slid two miles along the sandy planes. When they came to a full stop, Remy almost cried in relief. He wasted no time unbuckling his belt and getting to his feet. “Colt, you’re with me. Crank, you and Blade go take care of that blasting job. I want Tank and Livewire to get as many repairs done as possible. The sooner we take care of everything, the sooner we can get the hell out of here.” Remy stalked from the bridge and headed down to the weapons room on the lower deck. He strapped himself with two phasers, three squares of RK05s, and a few blades shoved into various sheaths. Colt did the same before they jogged to the retractable ramp and walked off of Lady Blue in search of his mate. **** Gigi shot his hands out in front of him to stop his face from hitting the cement floor as he toppled over. The weight of the fuel cell on his back propelled him forward after Drake had given him a hard shove. The palms of Gigi’s hands scraped across the unfinished concrete as he bit back a cry. He cradled his burning and bleeding hands against his chest. They were in some sort of private hangar. Drake’s ship was there, and it looked like it was undergoing some repairs. He hoped the repairs needed were major. That would buy him some time. “If you move one damn muscle, I’ll shoot you and save myself the hassle of chasing you down. You’ve cost me enough already.”

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“Why?” Gigi summoned the courage to ask. “Why did you come across the galaxy to find me? I’ve caused more trouble than I’m worth. I would think you’d be glad to get rid of me.” Drake’s face remained stoic, but Gigi caught a glimpse of surprise in the bastard’s eyes. His chuckle was low and menacing as he squatted down in front of Gigi. “You really don’t know, do you? Oh, this is rich.” Gigi’s temper flared as the bastard laughed at him. “Care to enlighten me?” Being mated to Remy and being part of a real family must have done more good than Gigi realized. Sure, he was scared out of his mind, but his backbone seemed to be ramrod-straight. He had lived alongside real men who fought with honor, and Gigi liked to think that some of that had rubbed off on him. Either that or he had totally cracked. “Boy, do you have any idea who you are? Any fucking clue whatsoever?” “As much as I like to tongue-spar, I’d rather do it with someone who has an ounce of intelligence.” Gigi looked into Drake’s soulsucking eyes as the man crossed the distance and dispensed an openhanded slap across Gigi’s face. “I’m getting really tired of you slapping me around, Drake.” Gigi wiped his hand across his mouth and then spit a small amount of blood onto the ground. He ran his tongue along his teeth as he smirked at the bastard. “Is that all you got?” “Why you little…” Drake raised his hand again. Gigi lifted his chin in defiance, waiting for the next strike. He wasn’t into pain, but he wasn’t going to let Drake know how frightened he was either. “You’re a fucking Magi, you little shit. You’re one of the rarest breeds of your kind. Your blood can be traced back to fourth century BC. You can read the stars and manipulate the fate that the stars foretell. Your dumbass father wasn’t even aware of this. Your mother

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was the Magi that gave you your bloodline. Too bad she died giving birth to you and took the secret with her.” Drake stood and curled his lip up at Gigi. “Your father sold you for a mere three hundred credits. Tell me, Giovanni. How does it feel knowing your family didn’t even want you?” “Drake, I need you over here,” someone shouted from the direction of Drake’s ship. Drake narrowed his eyes on Gigi, pointing a cruel finger at him. “I see what the hell you’re doing, boy. It won’t work. I need you in tiptop shape for what I have planned for your runaway ass. I won’t mar your face, so stop with the flippant tongue.” Gigi growled at Drake before the bastard turned on his heels and walked away, heading over to his ship. Gigi was stunned to learn who he was. He wasn’t so sure, though. Trusting what came out of Drake’s mouth was a toss of the credit. It could be true, or it could be a load of shit. He pushed it out of his head for the time being. Gigi had more pressing matters to think about. Gigi leaned sideways and made sure no one was watching him as he pulled the com link from his front pocket and pressed the button for a connection. He slid it back into his pocket and then sat up straight. All he had to do was wait for one of the crew members to lock onto his coordinates. In the meantime, Gigi lay back against the wall of the hangar and prayed that his mate got to him in time before Drake’s ship was repaired and he was taken off of this planet. **** Remy hit his com link. “Remy.” “Commander, I just got a call from Gigi’s com link, but he hasn’t said anything,” Livewire reported in his ear.

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“Lock onto his coordinates, and give them to me.” Remy signaled Colt to stop. They both waited in the streets of Beta Five as Livewire locked onto to Gigi. “Got him,” Livewire said then he rattled off Gigi’s coordinates. “I’ve entered his location into the computer, and it’s telling me that Gigi is in an old hangar approximately ten minutes from your location.” Remy tossed a few credits to a waiting shuttle driver as he and Colt hopped on. He gave the driver the directions to where they were headed. “That’s a bad part of town,” the driver’s scratchy voice warned them. “I’ll take you close, but then you’re on your own.” “Just take me as close as you can. I’ll walk from there.” Remy grunted as he sat back. “Your neck,” the driver said as he pulled away from the shuttle stand. “You think it’s Drake?” Colt asked as he looked out the side window. Remy knew the hawk shifter was dealing with a lot of things right now. Pax was Colt’s mate, and the little blue guy was afraid to go anywhere near him. Remy couldn’t imagine being near Gigi and unable to reach out and touch him. Remy fisted his hands as he waited for the shuttle to get him close to his mate. Whoever had him, and he had a feeling he knew, was going to be breathing out of multiple holes in his body when he was through with him. Remy was still ticked at Livewire for the stunt he pulled, but he sort of understood the reasoning behind it. Sort of. Maybe. Not really. He wanted to strangle the guy. “Here you go. Sorry, guys, but I’m not going any further than this. The place you want is right over that ridge.” The driver pointed to a

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low-rising ridge to the right of them. “Good luck,” he said as if they weren’t coming back. Remy and Colt climbed out of the small shuttle and headed toward his mate. It took them about eight minutes to trek through the hot sand and climb up the rocky ridge. Remy had lost his footing a couple of times, but they finally made it to the top. They lay low as Remy spotted the old hangar. It was rusty as hell and had a few shingles missing. What was new was the spacecraft sitting inside of it. Remy recognized it from his run-in the day before. Drake. Remy growled low as he watched the mechanics working on the ship. He couldn’t assess how many people there were down there, but at this point, he didn’t really give a shit. His only objective was to get his mate safely out and kill the bastard for taking Gigi from him. “Ready?” Colt asked in a low voice. Remy nodded as the two of them climbed over the top of the ridge and began the slow descent down the other side. They had to be careful no one spotted them. The element of surprise was on their side so far, and Remy planned on keeping it that way. Once they cleared the ridge, Remy and Colt hauled ass to the side of the hangar, placing their backs against the rusty shingles and listening for a moment. The sounds of pneumatic tools whizzed throughout the hangar and a few voices shouted, but Remy didn’t hear anything to indicate anyone was close by. He knelt down and peered through a missing shingle to see his mate with his back against the hangar wall. Remy wanted to shout for his angel but bit back the words. He had to get Gigi out before anyone knew that they were there. “Fuck,” Colt growled seconds before a hard object was pressed into Remy’s nape. “So glad you could join us, Commander.” “My pleasure, Drake.”

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**** Pax bit his thumbnail as he watched Livewire in the engineering room. He really didn’t want to be alone right now, so he shadowed the mechanic. “Could you hand me a half-inch?” “A half-inch of what?” Pax asked as he looked around the engineering room. He wasn’t sure what the guy was talking about, but he was willing to help out if it took his mind off of Gigi and Colt. Livewire chuckled as he pointed to the floor. “A half-inch wrench.” Pax knelt down as he picked up the silver-colored tools. He read each one until he found the one Livewire needed. “Is this it?” Livewire took it from his hand as he turned back to his work. “That would be the one.” Pax sat on the floor and played with the tools that surrounded him. He lined them up in the order of their size, and then lined them up again until they spelled out Colt’s name. “Livewire?” “Yeah, buddy?” the mechanic grunted as he pushed his arm into a sliver of space between two parallel walls. It looked like a very tight fit, and Livewire’s face was pinched in concentration. Pax wasn’t sure if he should distract the mechanic. “I’m listening.” Pax flicked the tools with the tip of his finger as he thought about what he wanted to say. He wasn’t really sure, but he was tired of being confused. “What does it mean to be mates?” “I need a little more clarification of what you’re after, Pax,” Livewire said as he gritted his teeth, his arm shooting out from the space as he cursed, the half-inch hitting the floor. Pax crawled over and picked it up, handing it back to Livewire. “Thanks.” The mechanic grabbed it and then stuck his arm back in. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

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Pax sat back down on his behind as he crossed his legs. He’d never really had anyone to confide in before, and he wasn’t sure he knew how. The words were getting jumbled in his head, making it difficult for him to form anything that would make sense. “Colt confuses me.” Livewire’s hand stilled as he looked at Pax. “That can happen. But as hard as this sounds, you have to trust that fate knew what she was doing when pairing you two. Now I’m not saying you should let your guard down and go running into his arms, although I’m sure Colt wouldn’t mind, but give him a chance. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy.” “I guess.” Pax flicked the tools around some more as he tried to make sense of it all. How could someone like Colt want him? The hawk shifter was strong, fierce, and brave. He deserved an honorable mate. Not someone like Pax. He was terrified he wouldn’t measure up. Pax thought of Colt’s beautiful blond hair that seemed to have a mind of its own and those gorgeous blue eyes that seemed to see right through him. Pax ran every time he saw Colt. If the hawk shifter could see through him, then he would know Pax’s shame. Pax couldn’t handle that. He wanted Colt to see him in a different light, the light that should have shone down on him if he’d had a better life. “Things will work out, buddy.” Pax nodded numbly, wondering if Livewire’s words would really come true or if Colt would discover his disgrace and run as far away as possible. **** Gigi gasped when he saw Remy and Colt come into the hangar. Drake was walking behind his mate with a phaser shoved into his neck. Fear and anger knotted inside of Gigi as his eyes followed his mate.

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“We have company, boy.” Drake pronounced the last word with disdain. “What should I do with them?” Gigi knew it was a trick question. He was afraid to open his mouth. Anything he said would get twisted around and used against him. Drake was twisted that way. The man made a fortune finding loopholes and manipulating others. Why should Gigi be any different? “I see you’re getting smart, boy.” Drake chuckled, but humor wasn’t a part of that laugh. “I have a little game we can play to pass the time until my ship is ready.” Sheer, black fright swept through Gigi at Drake’s words. His pulse began to beat erratically at the look on Drake’s face. The man had never had a full deck of cards, but there was a gleam of madness in his eyes now. Something that Gigi had never seen before now. “W–What kind of game?” “Get up,” Drake commanded. Gigi locked eyes with Remy as he got to his feet. His mate’s jaw was clenched as he watched every move Gigi made. He could see love shining in his mate’s eyes, but it was mingled with fear. The need to run to his mate was strong, but Gigi held back. Gigi instinctively threw his arms out when Drake tossed something at him. Why on earth would Drake give him a phaser? He turned it over in his hands as he tried to figure out what the bastard was up to. “It has enough charge for one blast,” Drake said as he steadied his hand on Remy’s shoulder, the phaser still glued to Remy’s neck. “You can use that one shot to shoot this guy standing here,” he said, nodding to Colt, “or I kill the commander.” “Why?” Gigi cried out. Drake’s lip curled back into a sneer. “To show everyone, including you, that I have complete control over you. You’ll do what I say, when I say, without question from here on out.”

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Gigi stared down at the phaser in his hand and then up at Colt, pleading with his eyes for someone to tell him what to do. He wasn’t crafty enough to figure out a plan on the spot. Gigi needed someone to give him a signal, something. “Make your mind up,” Drake said in warning. “I’ve made my mind up.” Gigi could think of only one possible solution to all of this. “I knew you would come around to my way of thinking,” Drake cackled with glee. “Go ahead, shoot him.” Gigi stared at Colt. The hawk shifter squared his shoulders and gave Gigi a nod. There wasn’t one ounce of fear in the man’s eyes. He stood there bravely, facing his death like a warrior. Gigi’s respect for the man grew in leaps and bounds. He looked over to his mate, trying his best to convey his feeling with his eyes. “No,” Remy whispered as his eyes widened with terror. “No, angel.” “I have to,” Gigi said as he placed the phaser to his temple. “No!” Remy shouted, tense lines mapping out a pattern on his face. Gigi choked back a cry as his finger applied the slightest pressure to the trigger. His breath seemed to solidify in his throat. “Are you fucking nuts?” Drake shouted at Gigi. “Get that damn thing away from your head.” Remy’s eyes locked onto Gigi’s, and then they lowered to the ground. Gigi’s eyelashes lowered and then rose, telling Remy he understood. Quicker than Gigi had been prepared for, Remy jerked to the right and Gigi flipped the phaser around in his hand, firing it directly at Drake. Remy yanked from Drake’s grip and leapt at Gigi, both hitting the ground. Drake hit the cement floor, his lifeless body unmoving. Colt grabbed the phaser from Drake’s hand and kicked the bastard, but Drake didn’t move.

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“I thought you would never get the charade!” Gigi cried hysterically at Remy. “You took long enough.” “Ssshhh.” Remy breathed the shushing little sound against Gigi’s ear as he cradled him in those strong arms. “It’s over.” “I thought—” Gigi sniffled. “Colt, go get those fuel cells from Drake’s ship and anything else you can grab. If anyone gives you any problems, deal with them.” “Yes, Commander.” Colt nodded and walked away to get the cells. Remy picked Gigi up and carried him in his arms, walking out of the hangar with Gigi held tightly to his chest. Remy took him to the side of the hangar and then set Gigi on his feet. “I need, angel.” “Reclaim me,” Gigi begged. “I need you, too.” Remy nodded and picked Gigi up. Gigi wrapped his legs around Remy’s waist as he clung to the man that had stolen his heart. Remy’s mouth covered Gigi’s hungrily as he tried to devour him. Gigi’s hands pulled at Remy’s clothes, wanting to feel his mate’s skin under his fingertips. Remy yanked his shirt off, never breaking the connection. “Love you,” Gigi breathed against Remy’s lips. “Fill me, claim me.” Remy growled as Gigi felt the back of his pants being ripped. Cool air kissed his ass as Remy flipped him around, letting a string of saliva drip down the crease of Gigi’s ass. Remy pulled him back around and quickly freed his cock. His mate’s moves were desperate, hurried, as Remy lined his cock up and sank deeply into Gigi’s ass. “Remy,” Gigi cried out as he wrapped his arms around Remy’s neck, clawing at his back. “Fuck me hard, Remy. Remind me who I belong to.” Gigi’s head fell back, hitting the hangar as he panted and mewled. Remy’s strokes became almost savage, going deeper with every thrust. Gigi met his thrusts, almost in frenzy as Remy reclaimed him, branded him. Gigi tilted his head, Remy not waiting a second as he sank his canines deep into Gigi’s neck.

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Gigi cried out as his cock exploded. His head swam with the realization that he was back in his mate’s arms, safe, where he planned to stay for a very long time. Remy licked the wound closed and then threw his head back, howling loudly as his cock pulsed in Gigi’s ass, hot seed filling him. Gigi rested his head on Remy’s shoulder, inhaling the scent that was uniquely Remy’s. “Now how am I supposed to get back to the ship with my ass hanging out of my pants?” Gigi teased. “Very carefully.” Remy chuckled. “Very, very carefully, angel.” “Drake said I was Magi. He said I come from a long line of them.” Remy nuzzled Gigi’s neck, his tongue tracing a path from jaw to ear. “We’ll figure things out as we go along. There’s no need to worry about it now.” Gigi kissed the side of Remy’s neck, thankful for such a strong and loving mate. Remy accepted everything Gigi threw at him and kept coming back for more. Gigi cupped Remy’s face in his hands. “I love you, Remy.” Remy grinned. “Love you, too, angel.” Was there anything else to say? **** Colt stood in the corridor, staring out of the porthole at the stars. Crank and Blade had completed the blast job on Beta Five. It had felt like light-years since the stowaway was found and their lives had changed forever. Livewire and Tank had gotten Lady Blue off of her belly and back into space. With the five fuel cells they had confiscated from Drake’s ship, they were good to go for a long time. They had even appropriated some other supplies that would keep them from having to land for quite some time.

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Colt’s eyes stayed forward as he felt, more than saw, Pax heading his way. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about his mate. The first thing on his list was getting to know the little blue-skinned man a little better. Their road was going to be a bumpy one, but Colt knew they would eventually work things out. Until then, all he could do was slowly chip away at his mate’s defenses and hope one day Pax gave him enough trust to let him in. Pax stopped walking when he passed Colt. He hesitated for what felt like forever. The hawk shifter held his breath and kept his eyes front and center. His mate walked to him cautiously and then stood next to him, staring out of the same porthole. A smile tugged at Colt’s lips when Pax slid two fingers into the palm of Colt’s hand. He curled his fingers around his mate’s as he stared at the stars, knowing in his heart that they were going to be fine.

THE END WWW.STORMYGLENN.COM WWW.LYNNHAGEN.COM HTTP://FACEBOOK.COM/LYNNHAGEN.MANLOVE HTTP://LYNNHAGEN.BLOGSPOT.COM HTTP://GROUPS.YAHOO.COM/GROUP/LYNNHAGEN

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart. You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story. Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first sight, soul Mates, true love, and happy endings. Stormy lives in the great Northwest region of the USA, with her gorgeous husband and soul Mate, six very active teenagers, two boxer/collie puppies, one old biddy cat, and one fish. You can usually find her cuddled in bed with a book in her hand and a puppy in her lap, or on her laptop, creating the next sexy man for one of her stories. Stormy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website at www.stormyglenn.com.

Also by Lynn Hagen Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 1: Maverick’s Mate Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 2: Hawk’s Pretty Baby Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 3: Sunshine’s Savior Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 4: Remi’s Pup Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 5: Stormy Eyes Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 6: Oliver’s Heart Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 7: Keata’s Promise Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 8: George’s Turn Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 9: Loco’s Love Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 10: Lewis’s Dream Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 11: Mark’s Not Gay Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 12: Nutter Nero Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 13: Heaven’s Hell Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 14: Nicholas’s Wolf Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 15: Murphy’s Madness Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 16: Montana’s Vamp Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 17: Carter’s Tryck Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 18: Joshua’s Law Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 19: Dagon’s Ride Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 20: Steven’s Journey Ménage Everlasting ManLove: Zeus’s Pack 1: Jasper Ménage Everlasting ManLove: Zeus’s Pack 2: Avanti Ménage Everlasting ManLove: Zeus’s Pack 3: Knox Ménage Everlasting ManLove: Zeus’s Pack 4: Torem Ménage Everlasting ManLove: Zeus’s Pack 5: Hunter Everlasting Classic ManLove: Demon Warriors 1: Hondo Everlasting Classic ManLove: Demon Warriors 2: Snooke Everlasting Classic ManLove: Demon Warriors 3: Rainerio

Also by Stormy Glenn Siren Classic ManLove: Blaecleah Brothers 1: Cowboy Easy Siren Classic ManLove: Blaecleah Brothers 2: Cowboy Keeper Siren Classic ManLove: Blaecleah Brothers 3: Cowboy Way Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 1: Full Moon Mating Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 2: Just a Taste of Me Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 3: Tasty Treats, Volume 3: Man to Man Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 4: Blood Prince Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 5: Love, Always, Promise Ménage Amour ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 6: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Siren Classic ManLove: Wolf Creek Pack 7: Pretty Baby Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 1: Secret Desires Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 2: Forbidden Desires Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 3: Hidden Desires Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 4: Stolen Desires Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 5: Unspoken Desires Ménage Amour ManLove: Tri-Omega Mates 6: A Hunter’s Desires Ménage Amour: Lovers of Alpha Squad 1: Mari’s Men Siren Classic ManLove: Lovers of Alpha Squad 2: The Doctor’s Patience Siren Classic: Lovers of Alpha Squad 3: Julia’s Knight Ménage Amour ManLove: Lovers of Alpha Squad 4: Three of a Kind Siren Classic ManLove: Sweet Perfection 1: Sweet Treats Siren Classic ManLove: Sweet Perfection 2: Mr. Wonderful Siren Classic ManLove: True Blood Mate 1: Heart Song Ménage Amour ManLove: True Blood Mate 2: Alpha Born Siren Classic ManLove: True Blood Mate 3: Love Sexy Siren Classic ManLove: True Blood Mate 4: Redemption Siren Classic ManLove: Katzman 1: The Katzman’s Mate Siren Classic ManLove: Katzman 2: Dream Mate Siren Classic ManLove: Katzman 3: Pride Mate Ménage Amour: Love’s Legacy 1: Cowboy Legacy Siren Classic ManLove: Viking Lore 1: Honor Bound

Siren Classic ManLove: Midnight Matings: Scales and a Tail Siren Classic ManLove: Midnight Matings: Fang and Fur Siren Classic ManLove: Midnight Matings: White Paws and a Dream Ménage Amour ManLove: Tasty Treats 5: Cowboy Dreams Siren Classic ManLove: Elemental Demons 1: Fire Demon Siren Classic ManLove: Elemental Demons 2: Air Demon Siren Classic ManLove: My Lupine Lover Siren Classic ManLove: The Master’s Pet Siren Classic: Wolf Queen Siren Classic ManLove: His Gentle Touch Ménage Amour: Mating Heat Siren Classic ManLove: Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Also by Stormy Glenn and Joyee Flynn Ménage Amour ManLove: Delta Wolf 1: Chameleon Wolf Ménage Amour ManLove: Delta Wolf 2: Mating Games Ménage Amour ManLove: Delta Wolf 3: Blood Lust

Available at BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com