Free Under His Command by Annabel Wolfe Page A

did need to act
    and there was little time for long meetings to decide what to do. He
    nodded.

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    59
    “I don’t think they should try to take the ship,” Janssen said in an
    unemotional voice. “Boarding it would be suicide.”
    “Are you suggesting we destroy it?” The idea was hard to accept.
    Ran argued, “We don’t know the crew is dead. Minoa doesn’t kill its
    own soldiers, Jerald. Maybe we’re just having a communication
    glitch.”
    “No communication at all and their signal off? Come on, Ran.
    We’ve been friends a long time. Tell me the truth, do you really think
    this is a communications error?”
    He didn’t. He sensed there was something dark out there…the
    feeling had plagued him all day. Sometimes his psychic abilities
    allowed him to see the problem clearly, and sometimes he just got a
    vague sense of foreboding. In this case, he just thought it was what
    happened to Epsilon lingering. Ran let out a breath. “I’ll contact
    Gallico and brief him on this latest development.”
    Hollow-eyed, Governor Janssen gazed him. “Tell the commander
    to not risk direct contact with these rogue males in any way if it is at
    all possible.” After a moment he added quietly, “I care about every
    life, but please understand, my son is on Gallico’s ship. I almost lost
    Will once already.”

    60
    Annabel Wolfe

    Chapter 6
    Peyton resisted—barely—the urge to move faster. Her hands
    braced on the chest of the male below her, she closed her eyes at the
    sheer pleasure as she lifted up and slid down with deliberate tight
    control. The muscles of her inner thighs quivered and a suppressed
    moan stuck in her throat made it hard to breathe.
    It was a battle of wills and she was determined to win.
    Well, maybe.
    This position did interesting things to her entire body. She could
    feel her breasts shift with each upward and downward glide on the
    hard cock impaling her, the slick sensation of penetration evoking
    tingles of pleasure, and being able to look into Kel’s smoky eyes was
    almost as mesmerizing as the dual motion of their bodies as they
    fitted together. Dark glossy hair spilled across the linens of the bed
    and his skin looked bronzed in the artificial light, a film of sweat
    glistening across his muscular shoulders.
    Then he made the winning move. His hands, spanning her hips
    and helping her rhythm, slid inward and one of his thumbs rotated
    over her clit, pressing in just the right way…
    All choice vanished. Rapture rolled over her in waves, making her
    body quake and she collapsed downward in a sprawl across his hard
    chest as Kel groaned and lifted his pelvis so she was filled with every
    inch of his erection as he pumped his release into her contracting
    passage.
    Shared ecstasy hung them in the shattering moment, suspended,
    aloft, together.

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    It was spectacular, but not the best part, she’d discovered. In the
    past days she’d found the commander had an interesting trait she
    doubted anyone would believe existed under his unapproachable
    exterior.
    He liked to cuddle. Well, perhaps cuddle was an incongruous
    word when applied to someone formidable like Kel Gallico, but he
    seemed to enjoy holding her close, kissing her softly in the aftermath
    of sexual interaction, running his fingers through her hair, and quite
    often he held her hand as he slept. He was an impetuous sexual
    partner but a tender lover. What’s more, she was beginning to get him
    to open up a little and talk, not an easy task. Jake loved to laugh, to
    tease, making sex a game—albeit a pleasurable one. Kel was the
    opposite. Intense, involved, passionate and generous in bed, but
    guarded when it came to his personal life.
    She liked Jake Naiad very much. What she felt for the male
    currently cradling her sated body in his arms was something quite
    different. Her attraction to Kel had been there from the moment she
    was assigned to the ship and was first introduced to its