Free Freeker by Ella Drake Page B

“Such language.”
    “You love it. I can scent it on you.”
    She slapped at the same spot and the stinging made his leg warm enough to go to his dick. Already, he could get hard again. But he wondered at how a woman could come from a family of killers and cheaters and be prudish about language. Nobody out here bothered with worrying over what was polite versus being themselves. The small little doubt was enough to keep him from developing a raging boner. At least, for the moment.
    That, and the sudden realization, now that he was relaxed and the immediate danger gone, that they were floating out here and he had no idea where they were, if they could be found, and if they’d ever find a way off this ship. Before he could let that impinge on his sated, pleased feeling, a beeping sound filled the cabin.
    With a sigh, he extricated himself from a pleasingly warm and sultry Chara who acted as lazy as he did when well-fed and ready to stretch in the sun. She grunted her dissatisfaction at being disturbed and he helped her to one of the seats before going to stop the incessant alert.
    “What?” he snarled as soon as he saw it was a comm ping from the Night .
    “You’d think you’d be happier for us to be rescuing you,” Tee snarled right back.
    “You took care of the boarders?” Warrant didn’t need rescuing—even if he did. He glared at the screen as if he could see Tee there but it was only a red squiggly line.
    “This is a question?”
    Warrant grunted. Of course they’d taken care of the boarders.
    “The shuttle and the Night have drifted apart. We’ve indicated to the station that we’ll rescue and drag it back to dock. We estimate re-attachment before dinner time. Hold tight.”
    “Tell Nick to make something good.”
    Tee ended transmit and Warrant felt the pang of his brothers’ absence when the red line on the comm went dark. Chara climbed back into her seat, causing a creaking sound loud in the cabin, and the uncomfortable feeling of being alone eased a bit. His reaction made him immediately wary. He spoke to her over his shoulder. “We have time. Let’s see what the records say about you.”
    Her shrug didn’t fool him but he didn’t hesitate to ignore her as she pretended she didn’t care. The feel of her languor turning to tension changed the air he breathed, made the flush of his skin fade, and sent discomfort through him. But he had to know what was going on and if it’d be too dangerous to continue helping a woman from a known crime family.
    The internal comps on the shuttle weren’t secured. They probably didn’t think the expense worth it on the inside of the craft. Once aboard, access to systems were easily hacked unless expensive physical locks were tied to biorhythms or other security.
    “They have your file right here. Open and ready to read. Not really a surprise since they were coming to get you.”
    “Of course,” she replied from right behind him. She leaned over his shoulder and looked down at the screen.
    “You were married. Twice. And agreements were signed for the third marriage—to Jebe Laurent.” A little curl of anger simmered in his belly but he controlled it. She wasn’t married now.
    “They’re dead,” she said flatly.
    “Looks like you killed all three of them.” He ran a finger over the line that showed she was sentenced to the rehabilitation program for the murders of five men.
    “I remember killing one,” she murmured. “It needed doing.”
    A small shiver went over his skin at the hunger in her voice and his lip curled enough to bare his fangs. They tingled, exposed to air and unable to sink into anything. Opening his mouth on a pant, he focused on the screen instead of the vicious woman behind him who seemed as if she could’ve been born Scoriah.
    “I don’t recognize the other one,” she said.
    Warrant dragged himself out of a fantasy of bringing Chara to the nest and curling around her like family. Clamping his mouth closed, he stared at the