Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,32
she do it?
He stood there, slanting her his lop-sided grin, and the muscles in her belly tightened. His clothes were soaked, clinging to the strong lines of his body, his hair damp, his skin gleaming with a fine sheen of moisture.
She holstered her pistol. “I just wanted to know what’s going on.”
“I’m fixing the cooling system—you want to help?”
She gritted her teeth. “I meant up there, with the space cruiser.”
“Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about.”
His eyes gleamed with amusement, and she forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. He was trying to wind her up, and she wasn’t going to let him see he was succeeding. She curved her lips into the semblance of a smile. “That’s sweet of you, but it’s my brother’s life at stake here. I can’t help but worry.”
“Hmm, for a moment, I’d actually forgotten about your brother. How remiss of me.” He stepped to the side and gestured into the room behind him. “Why don’t you come inside, and I can set your mind at rest while I work.”
Skylar peered past him into the steam-filled room.
“I can’t stop right now,” Rico said as she hesitated. “The Trog’s threatening to jump ship if I don’t fix this fast.”
The thick, wet heat enveloped her as soon as she stepped into the room. The door slid shut behind her, and immediately sweat oozed from her pores. Breathing in the hot heavy air, she felt as though she was drowning, and she took quick, shallow breaths until she was sure she could get enough oxygen into her lungs.
The room was small, a large cylinder in the center, steam hissing from the seals around the base. Rico stood with his back to her, tapping into a console, and the muscles shifted beneath his skin-tight clothing. Even from behind, he was quite the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, with broad shoulders, lean hips, and long, muscular legs.
After working for a minute, he swore under his breath and banged his fist down hard. “There, that should do it. Give it a few minutes to reset, and we can get out of here.”
He swung round to face her, leaning against the counter, his arms folded across his chest. His skin was slick with steam or sweat, his thick lashes spiky with moisture. Her gaze dropped to where the shirt clung to the hard muscles of his chest. She could see the outline of his nipples beneath the damp silk.
She swallowed and looked away before her gaze could drop lower. Instead, she focused on a large red button on the wall beside him. “What does that do?” she asked.
“Sets off the emergency cooling system.”
“Isn’t this an emergency?”
“Not yet.”
She wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Can’t you press it anyway?”
He shuddered. “I’d really rather not. Now, what did you want to know?”
She licked the moisture from her lips and saw his eyes follow the movement. She hadn’t thought it could get any hotter in here, but the temperature shot up. She forced herself to concentrate. She needed answers. Though if Rico suspected her of something, he was hiding it well.
“Do we need to call off the rescue?”
Surprise flashed across his face. “Why would you think that?”
She frowned. “That space cruiser—”
“—was nothing to do with you or the rescue,” he interrupted. “Just someone who reckons I owe them. That’s how I knew they wouldn’t shoot. This guy doesn’t want me dead. Well not yet. He wants me to pay him back—then he wants me dead.”
“Wasn’t it a Collective ship?”
“Yeah, but this guy has friends in high places.”
“So why didn’t they board us?”
He shrugged. “I guess he’s letting me know he’s found us, but don’t worry, this baby—” he patted the ship’s wall “—has some fancy maneuvers in her. We’ll shake them off.”
There was something not quite right here, but Skylar couldn’t work out what. Maybe the heat was getting to her, or the fact that Rico suddenly seemed much closer. She took a step back and looked around her—the thick haze of steam appeared to have dispersed a little.
“Is it done yet? Can we get out of here,” she said.
“Not yet.” He moved closer again and stroked her cheek. “Are you feeling okay?” Curling his hand around her throat, he cupped the back of her skull, massaging her scalp with his fingers. “Did you bang your head when you fell?”
“No. I bruised my hip, that’s all.” At the memory, her anger surged. “What in the name of Meridian were