bag, catching Pigeon’s gaze. “No. I think I’m going to see if he’s looking for us outside. I’ll be back.”
He seemed to know what she was saying. “Be careful. Let him down gently. I don’t want to have to carry him back to the ship in the morning. He’s a fat fuck.”
Alexa laughed.
“I’ll try,” she said, slipping off the stool with a smile. She left Pigeon with his beer and made her way out. She hadn’t seen Raul inside. If she could catch him alone, it would be easier, and she wanted to do it while they weren’t on the ship.
There wasn’t enough space on the ship for a breakup.
The crowd thinned once she left the bar. Looking down into the port below, she saw that fewer people were gathered, and most of the shops were closed or were in the process of closing. As she glimpsed the lingerie shop, the shopfront lights blinked off.
Damn. She wasn’t getting her money back.
Still, she didn’t see Raul. Maybe he went back to the ship? Alexa sighed, wondering if she should return to Pigeon and wait with him inside. Spying a trash receptacle below, she yanked the lingerie out of her bag, heading for it.
A large wall of chest slid into her path.
“Where the hell have you been? Do you know how fucking late it is?”
Her gaze shot to Hysterian’s face. Her lips parted.
A brief flash of teal sparked within his eyes.
“Captain,” Alexa gasped.
“Where have you been?” He grabbed her arm and turned for the docking bay, dragging her with him. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
Her feet fell over each other as she caught up. He tugged her into his side.
Alexa stilled as cloying heat closed in around her. Hard, heavy, metal heat. The scent of it eclipsed everything, and it was mixed with a spicy, leathery musk.
“I asked you a question,” he snapped.
She jerked out from his side and tugged her arm from his grip. He grabbed it again without missing a step.
She gritted her teeth. “None of your business. Let go of me!”
Hysterian swiveled on her, his eyes fully teal. Alexa stopped, the intensity of the color stunned her.
“I’m your captain. Your business is my business when we’re on the job. I found the gun in the ship’s recycling, Dear. The Questor alerted me of the find. Did you think that was smart? Being given a weapon, by your captain no less, only to toss it out on his own ship? You’re lucky I don’t fucking fire you. Wandering a scummy port like Libra alone, without a weapon? I thought you were smarter than that.” Long fingers threaded through his hair.
Her cheeks burned. “I didn’t want you to track me.”
Hysterian’s eyes flicked over her face, the fury evident. “With the gun? It didn’t have one on it. But it fucking should’ve.” His eyes shot away to look around them before returning to her. “Do you know how easy it is to be hurt in a place like this? Even with security around? One wrong turn, one opportunistic shop clerk, and you’re dead, with a body being broken down for fertilizer in the pits below.”
He ran his hand down his face, briefly dislodging his mask. He tugged it back up but not before she glimpsed his face.
It wasn’t fair. How handsome he was.
“I know all about wrong turns and opportunistic shop clerks. I grew up in the Elyrian slums,” she said tightly. “I don’t need a gun from you to protect myself. I don’t need this either!” She waved between them and his hold on her and the few people hanging around, watching them. “Everyone’s watching us.” In the corner of her eye, Alexa saw the beautiful android shopkeeper.
“Then we’d better get out of sight.” He started dragging her toward his ship again.
“Let me go!”
“No.”
“I’m not some fucking child! I’m your coworker.” They passed through Libra’s security and started down the ramp toward the Questor. “You’re being an asshole!”
She didn’t want to be alone with him. She didn’t want to be on his ship, alone with him. He could lock her inside, and she’d have no way to escape. He could keep everyone else out. She knew what a Cyborg was capable of. How powerful they were. How they could manipulate technology and so much more.
But above all, she didn’t trust herself to be alone with him.
They passed through the Questor’s hatch, and she heard the thud of it shutting behind her, followed by the pressurized blast. She tore out of