Free Exile by Julia Barrett Page A

neck, holding on tight now, in a way she hadn’t needed to hold on during the wild ride through the Pikes.
    Kyr kissed the woman like a man who had been starved for weeks on end. One calloused hand traveled her body. He wanted her lost in his touch, in his merciless kiss, in the demands of his body.
    “I’m as hard as one of those fucking rocks out there,” Kyr’s said. He removed her clothes, tossing them aside without a second thought.
    “Kyr,” Aja cried. “Gods, Kyr...”
    “I’m right here, my love.” He took her mouth as he took her body, with deep, hard thrusts.
    Aja trembled in his arms. Gods, he did feel like a rock, solid and heavy, a force she could always count on. He growled against her lips as he joined with her.
    In the midst of their heated embrace Kyr experienced a sudden flash of vision, and he froze. Behind his closed eye lids, a young child with his golden hair and violet eyes stood in a patch of sunlight. As quickly as it had appeared, the vision disappeared.
    What the hells was that?
    Enveloped in Aja’s sweet warmth, he forgot all about it.
    Kyr released her mouth. Panting, he pressed her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and he felt her body relax in his arms. She seemed at peace.
    In that moment, Kyr realized how much he treasured her.
    “If flying through an asteroid field makes you this excited, I’ll be happy to oblige on a daily basis,” Aja whispered.
    Kyr laughed, his body shaking hers and the counter upon which she sat.
    “Oh, Gods, I declare you are a wonder.”
    “Seven hells!” It was Davi Fedd. “Not in the galley! You have a cabin, Captain, and if you’ll pardon me, use it.”
    Kyr picked up Aja’s trousers, tossing them to her as he fastened his own. He glanced over his shoulder. Davi had turned his back, but Kyr screened Aja with his body nevertheless. One glance at her red face told him how embarrassed she felt to be caught, literally, with her pants down.
    “So sorry,” Aja called to Davi.
    “I don’t blame you,” he said, tossing an accusing look over his shoulder at Kyr. “You manage to get that leg cleaned up yet? Before you were interrupted?”
    She shook her head. “I’ll take care of it now.”
    “Let me see it,” ordered Kyr.
    “No, it’s already healing.”
    Kyr grabbed her wrist as she tried to get by him. “I’m the captain and I said, let me see it.”
    He knelt down on the floor and lifted the leg of her trousers. He studied the wound for a moment. “Forgive me,” he said. “I did this to you.”
    “There’s nothing to forgive. You did as I asked. You did what was necessary. And it worked, didn’t it? He can’t track us, at least for now.” Aja walked to a storage unit. She removed some cleaning supplies and headed back to the cockpit.
    Kyr stopped her.
    “I’ll clean up,” he said, taking the rags and the bucket from her hands. “Let Mr. Fedd see to that ankle. He’s had some experience patching up the wounded.”
    Kyr watched while Davi retrieved the first aid supplies. “Aja.” She turned at the sound of her name. “When I’m finished, we need to fill our stomachs. After we eat, the three of us will talk. Do you agree?”
    She nodded.

    “So it’s true, then,” said Davi. “Females of the Blood make stunner pilots.”
    “Yes,” Aja replied, as she crumbled her dryebread into the soup Kyr had made for them.
    “It’s no wonder the Coalition barred women from flying. Their male pilots couldn’t hope to compete,” Kyr said. “My own grandmother was a pilot and my father did a little piloting for a time, but from what he says he couldn’t hold a candle to her.” He glanced at Aja, “And neither can I. That was some impressive flying.”
    Spoon halfway to her mouth, Aja stopped eating. “Your grandmother was a pilot?”
    “A damn good pilot. She traversed the route between Calen and the Galactic Core for thirty years.”
    “That means you’re of the Blood,” Aja said, her voice soft, her eyes staring