Free Solar Storm by Mina Carter

considering her dismissive assessment of their night together. Anger warred with disappointment over her words. He wanted to be more than just a casual lay, easily forgotten. So sue him.  
    “No…” She rallied quickly and gave him a defiant look. “No one that I know of.”
    Kel gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. She was lying.   So either she knew someone was looking for her, or she’d given someone somewhere cause to.  
    “Think carefully,” he said, managing not to make it a snarl. “A business deal gone bad, a supplier you’ve fallen out with. Hell, a guy you spilled a drink on in a bar somewhere…anything?”
    She gave him a blank look again and shook her head. He clenched his fists at his sides, wanting nothing more than to wrap them around her neck and throttle her for being stupid—for around half a second before he kissed the life out of her. She had the worst fake-innocent look of anyone he’d ever seen, her pink cheeks awash with color that pronounced her guilt. He’d only ever seen that color on one other woman before, years ago. Putting the memory aside, he focused on the woman in front of him.  
    “They’re looking for you particularly…or a woman on a solar ship. There are two of them left. One below in the crew quarters and the one on the bridge. Very small team, so they’re only expecting you.”
    He grinned, blood lust and adrenalin singing in his veins. It was a seductive melody. If his glands had been active rather than switched off at the cellular level, he’d have been awash in so much Euphoria he’d have thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
    “Yeah, yeah. No way are they expecting you, Mr. Lean-Mean-Fighting-Machine. Put it back in your pants, big boy, and let’s figure out a way to get my ship back, shall we?”
    Her snippy comment cut through the machismo and rage swirling through his veins. Blinking in surprise, he looked at her. There was no way he was letting her near any of the pirates. Just seeing her giving that guy the come-on, even though she’d been armed, had almost frozen him with fear there and then.  
    “No. There is no ‘we’ here.” He glared at her. “I’m being serious, Rhys. These men are not pissing about. Their client apparently doesn’t care what state you’re in when you get to him. So you can expect a little fun time if they catch you.”
    There, that should do it. He’d learned through his extensive military career that even the threat of rape was enough to force compliance in all but the most battle-hardened women.  
    He hadn’t counted on Rhys.  
    She shrugged and picked up an energy rifle she must have stashed earlier.  
    “They have to get close enough.” She grinned up at him through her hair, teeth white against the tanned skin of her face. “And that’s just about close enough for me to cut their balls off.”
    He stilled, his rage fading back as he looked at her.
    He was in love.  
    The ground didn’t shift, the universe didn’t quake, a hole didn’t open up under his feet, but the focus of Kelwin’s life changed. He loved her. Loved Rhys. She was the perfect match of fire and determination for him, with a vulnerable inner core he’d only just glimpsed but one that resonated within his soul. The need to protect her warred with the desire to see her in battle—in her full glory. She’d have made a wonderful soldier.  
    “You…” He slid a hard hand onto the nape of her neck and pulled her to him for a brief, hard kiss. “…are perfect. Don’t ever change. Now, let’s go perform a little vermin control, shall we?”
     
     
    It didn’t take them long to drop down a level and make their way through the lower decks to the crew quarters. All senses on alert, Kel took the lead, viewing the world through the scope of his rifle. It was a familiar sight, one that would have brought comfort before. But now, with Rhys following silently behind him, he was reminded he had everything to lose.  
    His expression