Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,46
of the small closet and pulled it on. Boots followed. Finally, she fastened her weapons belt around her waist. And all the time she waited for Rico to denounce her. Instead, he stayed silent.
Her gaze shifted to where he still lay on the floor. He’d rolled onto his side, his head resting on one hand as he watched her. Skylar could read nothing from his expression. Flinging herself down into the pilot’s chair, she reset the coordinates to head back to El Cazador. She stared at the screen for a long while, but her gaze was drawn back to Rico. He still hadn’t moved. She allowed her eyes to wander over the length of him. She’d never met anyone so comfortable in his own skin. Finally, she reached his face. He raised an eyebrow.
“What?” she asked.
He sighed and pushed himself up. “You think too much.”
“Yeah, I know. Can’t seem to stop.”
Rising to his feet, he grabbed his pants and shirt from the floor and pulled them on. He leaned on the console beside her chair. “What do you plan to do now? Take little Jonny and go back to the rebels?”
Why wasn’t he confronting her? After tasting her blood, he had to know she’d lied about everything.
Her gaze narrowed on him. “I told you, I can’t go back. I stole their money.”
“Hmm, so you did. So, what will you do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You could stick around for a while.”
She glanced at him in surprise. Why would he say that? She considered the idea of staying on, and then berated herself for even allowing the thought to cross her mind. It was never going to happen. She was an idiot to even think about it. Besides, if she didn’t get out of there before Jonny woke from his cryo, she doubted Rico would be offering her a place on his ship. More likely, she’d be straight out the emergency exit without a spacesuit.
“I can’t. We’re fugitives. We’ll bring the Collective down on you.”
“Darling, we’re all fugitives after that little escapade.”
“They might not have identified you.”
He tossed her a look of disbelief. “You reckon?”
“No,” she replied honestly.
“Well the offer’s there, if you want to stay. At least until you decide on your next move.”
Pain shifted deep inside her. Why had he made the offer? It just made everything so much harder. “I can’t.”
Anger flared in his face. “You know, we are what we are. There’s no way around that truth. But that doesn’t mean we have to behave in a way prescribed for us by others. There’s always a choice.”
“Not always.”
He shifted irritably. “Of course there is. It might sometimes seem a choice between bad and worse, but it’s still a choice.”
“Bad and worse,” she mused, and shrugged. “We’re approaching El Cazador. Get ready for docking.”
Chapter Fourteen
Skylar landed the shuttle, and wordlessly, they made their way to the bridge. As they arrived at the door, Rico put his hand on her arm. He had a feeling the whole world was about to go to shit. He was expecting it, but even so, he wished he could put off the moment for a while. What he really wanted to do was turn around, drag Skylar back into that tiny shuttle, and disappear into deep space for the next hundred years. Maybe longer.
But he wasn’t going to do that.
All his life, he had taken what he wanted. Skylar was different; he needed her to come to him freely. Right now, he was sure she was planning to bolt, and he wouldn’t stop her. But he wasn’t leaving everything to chance, either. He’d left her a little something in the shuttle, for when she ran again. Something he hoped would tip the balance in his favor.
“What?” she asked.
“Just this.” He took her in his arms and backed her against the wall. Thrusting his hands into her short hair, he curled his fingers around her head to hold her still while he bent down and kissed her. She didn’t resist, her tongue thrusting fiercely into his mouth, her hands gripping his shoulders as though she would never let him go. He pressed into her, feeling the whole length of her against him. His cock nudged her belly, and she squirmed against him.
Behind him, the door slid open. Tannis coughed. “We have a little problem here, Rico.”
Skylar went still in his arms. Her tongue slid from his mouth. Reluctantly, Rico raised his head.
“What’s that?”
“Well, it seems that little Jonny has just woken up, and while he’s