Forged (Star Breed #10) - Elin Wyn Page 0,38

the deck.

“Ta da!” she exclaimed, eyes sparkling. “Hold my ankles, will you?”

Before I could argue, she’d lowered her torso into the undercarriage, hanging upside down, leaving only her legs and ass visible as she continued her report. “Surprisingly, everything looks like it’s in good shape. Maybe a few switches were blown during the descent, and everything will need to be recalibrated, but it looks workable.”

Holding her slim ankles to keep her secured, the words flowed over me as I admired the view.

Even hidden in coveralls that were uglier than lumpy fish, the curve of her hips was mesmerizing, completely—

“Did you hear anything I said?” Yasmin popped out of the compartment, the corners of her lips curved into a bewitching smile.

“Actually, something else was on my mind,” I admitted.

“I could tell,” she said, one eyebrow cocked. “I think I’ve restored power to the majority of the ship systems. Let’s see if we can get that hatch closed and secured.”

Now that I’d regained a little focus, I could hear the soft, high-pitched whine as the ship came back online and proceeded to run through its internal checks.

Then the faintest hiss began.

“The internal atmosphere generator is still functional?”

Yasmin nodded. “I mentioned it. You were distracted.”

I took a deep breath, not thrilled by the musty air that rushed through my lungs, but happy to know that the ship’s air scrubbers would clean it shortly. Best of all, it would pump in the correct balance of oxygen and give us one safe space for the simple act of breathing.

“How long can this run?” Even if the ship was structurally sound, even if the engines only needed calibration, it would be at least a day or two before we could trust it for space flight.

If we could even get it off the ground.

Halfway back to the entry hatch, Yasmin stopped, tapping at one of the clawed closures until it opened, revealing a fully stocked supply cabinet.

“That’s the strange thing,” she said. “The engines have enough life to go for a month or two until they need to be recharged. The inventory logs show the ship as fully stocked.” She ran a hand down the stack of rations. “I thought maybe it was an error, but apparently not.”

Curious, we checked the rest of the cabinets as we went. More rations, and not just emergency packets. Replicator stock. Water cubes.

It was all still here.

With the power restored and the track cleaned of debris, the hatch slid easily back into place, sealing us in.

“What if the crew is still out there?” I hadn’t seen any human tracks leading away from the ship, but it was possible. “They’d know the code to get in.”

Yasmin grinned. “Not anymore. If they want in, they’ll have to knock.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed her, unable to resist having just a taste of her sweetness. “Clever lady.” After a bit, I reluctantly pulled away. “Al-right, I suppose we need to get to work.”

She shook her head. “I have a better plan.” She stroked the outer curve of my ear, and my knees might have gone just a little weak.

Maybe.

“You’re going to get some rest, and I’m going to see what the problem is with these engines,” she continued.

“Not happening,” I said flatly, knees firmly back under control.

“Do you think there’s anyone left on this ship except for you and me?” she asked, voice suspiciously sweet.

“No, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone around,” I insisted. “Or whatever made those tracks.”

“So, as long as I work inside the ship, and keep the hatch sealed and coded, I should be safe?” that honey sweet voice pressed on.

“Probably,” I admitted grudgingly.

“That’s easy enough,” she said. “I want to dig around in the logs, check the system’s readings, figure out what happened here.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe even find a proper tool set.”

Her grin spread and she went up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms over my shoulders. “And if you’re very good and don’t argue, I promise to wake you up in interesting, exciting ways.”

Dammit.

I was never going to win an argument with her with that sort of leverage.

Yasmin

Who would have thought that after sleeping in a trench and a cave, my giant would put his foot down about clean sheets?

“If we can’t find clean ones, I’ll just sleep on the cot.” He started rummaging through the supply cabinets. “Or use an emergency blanket.”

“Really?” My brain boggled, just a bit.

Despite the lines of exhaustion carved into his face, his gaze didn’t allow for any