“Accept,” she ordered as she raised her arm parallel to her face.
“Hey there, sexy,” Ben purred as he grinned at her through the comm.
Charlie choked back a laugh. The man was an incurable flirt. And the shit worked, a little too well. Women of the lower decks—and more than a handful from other decks—fell all over the twins. They certainly weren’t hard to look at. He and Jace had been blessed with classical good looks, with a squared jaw angling down to a strong chin and a Greek nose. The flop of dark curls over Ben’s brow and the shadow of stubble on his jaw added to the appeal. He was pure sex, missing only Jace’s scar bisecting his eye to make him candy to every woman with a bad boy fetish. She wasn’t entirely immune, but it felt strange contemplating fucking men were almost like brothers to her.
And like brothers, they wouldn’t hesitate to give her shit if she started jumping at shadows, especially within the protection of the colony.
Sighing, she scrubbed her hand over her eyes. “Hey, Ben. What’s up?”
“Are you okay? You look like shit,” he said, cocking his head to the side. His lips suddenly quirked up. “I mean, still entirely fuckable, but…”
“I’m fine,” she cut him off with a wan smile. “Just tired, I guess.”
Jace’s face popped into view as he shoved his twin to the side. He squinted at her and frowned. “Yeah, acclimating is playing hell with everyone, I think. We were going to check out the tavern. Apparently, it’s completely staffed by droids. Guess they didn’t want to trust any of us with the liquor,” he snorted.
“I don’t know…” she hesitated.
Jace raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think that it might just be a bit prejudiced against us?”
“Not that.” She snorted. “Of course they wouldn’t trust any of us. I mean, seriously, we’re given a ration card for how much we can purchase in a twenty-four hour period. Not that it isn’t enough to get a little drunk on, but they aren’t going to allow any of us to have a key to the alcohol storage. We weren’t even allowed that on Earth. What I meant was I’m not sure if I feel like going out tonight.”
Jace tsked with disapproval. “Trust me—you need it. We all do after three years sober. We’re finally planetside with free time on our hands. Might as well get ripped.”
A chuckle snuck out of her. “All right. Is Doug coming?”
Ben shoved Jace back with a glare. Facing her once more, he grinned. “Doug is already there, throwing them back with Mia.”
Charlie sat up. “Who’s Mia?”
“Hell if I know,” Ben replied cheerfully. “That’s all the information he volunteered when we commed him. Anyway, get cleaned up. We’ll swing by for you in about an hour.”
The comm blinked out, and Charlie groaned. Better get my ass up and ready to “hit the town” with the boys. As much as one could in the colony. She debated going down to the communal showers on her floor, but nixed the idea. Instead, she washed herself with a soft cloth at the small cleaning station. It wasn’t a shower, but the sponge bath wiped away the worst of the dirt so that she felt refreshed when she pulled on her clean tunic and leggings.
Without anything better to do, she picked up the remote and spent the rest of her time skimming the galactic streaming frequencies. Charlie intentionally stayed clear of the Earth frequencies, knowing they were all censored. Having access to alien frequencies was like a forbidden treat dangling in front of her—one she couldn’t resist.
She skimmed through the first few frequencies in disappointment. It wasn’t because she was having trouble understanding the characters. Her standard-issue translator came equipped with several languages on it. Those she didn’t know, if she cared to watch days and days of material, the programming would eventually piece together. What disappointed her was that it seemed like the same stuff as on Earth. Current events, dramatic soaps, athletic competitions. Pass, pass, no. So far, nothing caught her attention.
She clicked again and came to a stop, her jaw dropping. “Holy shit…”
The cam unit was behind an Aturian male’s haunches, his tail upraised to reveal his dark plum-colored testicles and thick cock as it plowed into a squealing human woman. His weight shifted as his legs braced on the bed, and Charlie could hear the fabric of the bedding tear from his claws