Survivor: Survivor’s Heart book 3: Planet Athion Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Other books by Debbie Cassidy

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2019, Debbie Cassidy

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  1

  Vex was sprawled out on my mattress. He’d crept in last night and woken me with tongue and teeth and the delicious bite of his fingers. My body still thrummed from his attentions. In the heat of the moment, there was no censoring our moans and gasps. No muting the slap, slap of flesh on flesh.

  I knew the other guys could hear us, but I didn’t care.

  Sharing was caring, right?

  I ran my gaze over his muscular frame, sitting up to look down into his beautiful face. Fuck, the Trad was gorgeous. And he was mine. I straddled him, and rolled my hips against his, gasping at the hardness that swelled almost immediately to greet me. His hands came up to grip my hips, and he opened amethyst eyes to sear me with rising heat.

  “Fuck, Rogue.” He growled. “You’re a torturer.”

  I grinned, leaned in, and pecked him on the nose before sliding off him, eliciting a ragged moan. “Nope. I’m your alarm clock.”

  He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes.

  There was a soft rap on the screen that separated us from the rest of the room. “Vex, we got to leave in five,” Xavier said. “Kellon will fire us if we’re late again.”

  Vex sat up and rubbed his face. “Coffee?”

  “Yeah, half a cup,” Xavier said.

  Vex stood, showcasing a body to die for and a butt that begged to be caressed. Every inch of him was muscle and velvet. The Trad was a honed fighting machine.

  He pulled on his clothes in quick, economical movements and then leaned down to brush a kiss across my forehead.

  “See you later.” His voice sent thrills through me.

  He rounded the screen and was gone.

  Xavier popped his head around the screen with a cheeky wink. “Have fun last night?”

  I smiled lazily. “Did you?”

  He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. “It was good, but I think I’ll take the real thing next time.”

  There was heat in his gaze.

  I sat up and tilted my chin for a kiss. “Tonight?”

  He brushed his lips over mine and then swept his tongue over my bottom lip. My pulse picked up even though I knew this kiss wouldn’t be going anywhere right now.

  He pulled back, his pale blue eyes dark with desire. “Tonight.”

  “Xavier. Let’s go,” Vex called out.

  I lay back and closed my eyes. It was warm, and my vest and sleep shorts felt constricting, but taking them off wasn’t an option. Not right now.

  Ten minutes passed as I drifted, and then the doors slammed open and Tide and Lore stomped in. I was suddenly wide awake.

  I stood and rounded the screen. “How was work?”

  They were sitting on their bunks and pulling off their boots. Tide’s hands were covered in grease, and Lore had streaks of it all over his face.

  He was also wearing a dirty bandage on his hand.

  “Shit.” I rushed across the room and crouched at his side. “What happened?”

  He smiled wryly. “I got clumsy.”

  “No,” Tide said. “That bastard, Chambers, shoved you. He wants your prime spot.”

  “The extractions?”

  Lore nodded.

  Our plan had been to buy a ship and move on, but when we’d landed on the spaceport two weeks ago, there’d been nothing for sale. Tide had sold the shuttle immediately to the shipyard, which dealt in parts. The thing was dismantled, no way to trace us now. But it didn’t change the fact we were stuck here, because even if a ship for sale did become available now, the Athion government would be monitoring the guys’ accounts. The shuttle hadn’t fetched much, and we didn’t have enough funds to buy a ship.

  Tide and Lore had taken jobs at the chop shop, but the pay was shit. Anything more prominent was asking for trouble. Vex and Xavier were hauling space trash down at the depot that dealt with the spaceport waste. Shuttles passed every few hours, and they loaded the waste to be dumped into the local asteroid belt, Minerva X.

  The guys had kept me off the grid. The owner at the chop shop had given us use of one of the rusted ships that was practically welded to the ground, and this had been home for the past two weeks.

  I studied Lore’s hand, turning it over and wincing at the bloodstains. Extraction was dainty work, the work that required a steady hand. And no one’s hands were steadier than Lore’s. He was a scientist, a surgeon of sorts.

  I peeled back the edge of the bandage. “We need to clean you up. This bandage is filthy.”

  “I need to shower first,” Lore said.

  With that hand? “I’ll help.”

  He blinked up at me. “What?”

  “You’re going to need help washing with that hand.”

  “She’s right,” Tide said with a small smile.

  Twin spots of color appeared high on Lore’s cheeks. “Um … I … I can manage.”

  “Maybe, but we have limited water, and it will be quicker if I help.” I headed out of the room. “Come on.”

  There was a short corridor and a sharp left to the washroom that Vex had customized to suit our needs. The whole room was a shower now. The toilet was in a separate cubicle.

  Now that I was here, my pulse was pounding. I hadn’t been alone like this with Lore before. I felt him enter the room behind me.

  “Rogue, I can manage. You don’t have to do this,” he said softly.

  I turned to face him. “Maybe I want to.”

  His throat bobbed, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. He closed the door.

  I bridged the gap between us. “We should get rid of this bandage first.”

  He held out his hand, and I unwrapped the dirty, yellowing fabric. There was a cut underneath, deep but no longer bleeding. I wet a washcloth in the sink and wiped away the dried blood.

  He sucked in a quick breath.

  “Shit, I’m sorry.”

  “It’ll be fine by tomorrow.” His voice was soft. “I can just shower then.”

  I locked gazes with him. “I know you, Lore. That would drive you crazy.”

  The guy was a semi-germophobe. />
  He cracked a smile. “Yes, yes, it probably would.”

  I grasped the hem of his shirt and slowly tugged it up to reveal his slender, muscled frame. Tight abs and dark blue skin, pectorals speckled with dark blue hair. He was perfect. And then the shirt was over his head, and he was bare-chested and glorious. I moved on to his trousers.

  “Wait.” He gently grasped my hand with his unhurt one. “You’ll get wet if you stay.”

  “Most definitely.” I licked my lips and then peeled my vest off. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and my nipples were instantly hard.

  He exhaled sharply. “Rogue …”

  I stepped closer and unbuttoned his trousers before inching them down over his hips, taking his briefs with the cargo pants. They snagged on his arousal.

  “Fuck.” Lore stepped away and turned his back on me. “Rogue. I’m sorry.”

  My neck heated. He was hard for me. So fucking hard. “Don’t be.” I kicked off my trousers. He wanted me, but he wasn’t ready. “Let me touch you, Lore. Please.”

  He didn’t speak, but he nodded.

  I hugged him from behind and reached round to find his desire. My fingers wrapped around him, and the muscles in his lower back tightened in anticipation.

  Slowly, leisurely, I began to pump.

  He was breathing fast, heaving breaths as I worked him, and then a low groan spilled from his lips. “Rogue. Stop or I’ll—”

  “Come for me.” I picked up the pace, hugging him close as sounds of his release accompanied the hot spurt of his seed over my fingers.

  He turned to face me, his unhurt hand slipped around my throat to tilt my head back, and then his mouth was on mine. Hungry and desperate. He kissed me thorough and wild, backing me up until my skin met tile, and then the water was gushing down on us. He pulled back, lashes lowered to shield his ember eyes, mouth parted as water skimmed down his face, and then his hand slid down between my breasts, down my abdomen toward the lip of my panties.

  I gripped his hand. “Not today.” I offered him a crooked smile. “Our time isn’t today.”

  I wanted him, but I wanted our first time to be off this rock. On a ship, safe and away. I wanted it slow and leisurely, and I wanted all of him.

  I grabbed the soap and lathered up. “Lean forward so I can wash your hair.”

  He scanned my face for a long beat, and then, with a small, mystified smile, he obliged.

  * * *

  Sticking to my guns and not taking Lore then and there in the shower had been bloody hard. But every inch of his body was etched into my mind. My fingers had memorized the feel of his skin, every dip and plane. We’d held each other for long minutes under the spray, reveling in the heat that our bodies generated, and the churn and rush of blood in our veins.

  We sat around the rickety table Tide had procured, spooning yellow gloop into our mouths. They called it krell here on the port. It was a staple diet of the long haulers and contained all the vitamins and minerals required to sustain life.

  I felt Lore’s gaze on me on more than one occasion, and my pulse quickened. They’d be going to sleep soon. Four hours before their next shift. Working around the clock was the only way to gather the funds we needed to get off the port.

  I swallowed the final mouthful. “How much do we have?”

  “Not enough,” Tide said solemnly.

  “You need to let me work.”

  His gaze cut sharply my way. “There’s a distinct shortage of females on this port, not to mention your distinctive human traits. We can’t risk you being attacked, or a Trad coming across you.”

  “Athion could have eyes on this place,” Lore added. “We can blend in because there are plenty of Athions on the port but no humans.”

  We’d had this argument before.

  The logical part of me understood the danger. But inaction wasn’t a trait I cultivated. The guys must have realized this because their shifts alternated and never overlapped. Two of them were here at all times, which meant I was stuck here. I was sure they’d planned it that way to prevent me from leaving.

  I got it. They were trying to protect me, but fuck I was bored out of my skull.

  I gathered the metal bowls and headed for the small kitchen area. “Get some rest.”

  “Lore, you go first,” Tide said.

  I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to sleep in shifts. I’m not going to run off and get myself captured.”

  Tide fixed his silvery-gray eyes on me, and I caught the waver.

  Seriously? “I’m not stupid.”

  He sighed. “Fine.”

  He stood and walked over to me, and then used the crook of his finger to tilt my chin up. “I’m trusting you, Rogue. I can’t lose you. Promise me you’ll stay indoors.”

  My throat pinched. It was the first time he’d said something like that to me. Opened up like that.

  I nodded. “I promise.”

  He pinched my chin and ran his thumb across my bottom lip. “We need to be patient.” His throat bobbed. “Just a little longer.”

  As he released me and walked away, I couldn’t help but think there’d been a double-entendre to that statement.

  2

  Light slanted in through the holes in the wall of our temporary home. It dappled the room and the two alien guys sleeping in it. Lore and Tide were sprawled across their bunks, their huge bodies hanging off the sides of the tiny metal-framed beds. They’d given me the best mattress and set up a nook for me with screens to give me my own space.

  The light came from one of the nearest suns but only hit the port every sixteen hours. The port turned on its axis, mimicking a twenty-six-hour day. The light meant that Vex and Xavier would be back soon.

  My legs were jittery, and the paper and ink the guys had provided for me to sketch and write with weren’t enough to keep me active. I’d done several laps of the ship, two hundred push-ups, and spent thirty minutes scrubbing the bathroom.

  I was going insane.

  We needed off this rock. I’d been a prisoner on Vesper, and I’d been an unwitting prisoner on the Athion ship. I was so done being locked up.

  The door opened, and I rushed out to greet Vex with a body-slam hug.

  He lifted me off my feet and slanted his mouth over mine in a heated kiss.

  “Whoa,” Xavier chuckled. “Leave some for me.”

  Vex set me on my feet, almost reluctantly.

  Xavier slipped around him and pulled me into a hug. “How was the day?”

  “Boring.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.” I stepped out of his embrace. “There’s been no sign of Marick or your Athion boss, though, has there?”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Tide said from his bunk. When had he woken up? “They could have people working for them, people we wouldn’t see coming.”

  “Plus Kellon mentioned a noir ship docking yesterday,” Xavier said.

  This was a new thing. “A noir ship?”

  “Pirates,” Lore said. “The scourge of the stars. Chambers was talking about them. They’re here to trade and to stock up, and they’re staying in the Cogs.”

  The Cogs was the other side of the hub, the less pretty, less affluent side where the long-timers lived and played.

  “If the noir are here, then you know the bounty enforcers won’t be far behind. There’s always a hit on one pirate or other,” Lore added. “If Athion has put out a warrant for our arrests, then it’ll be on the enforcers’ systems. If they see us …”

  Shit. More pressure.

  Xavier slung an arm around me. “It’ll be okay. We’ll keep a low profile, and we’ll get through this.”

  But the tension in the room was obvious now. Bounty enforcers meant that even the guys were in danger of being spotted now. Especially the Athions with their distinctive blue skin.

  My stomach quivered. We needed to do something, and we needed to do it quick.

  Tide and Lore tugged on their boots. “We’re
just going to have to be careful.”

  “There’s something else,” Xavier said. “We got to be back at work in two hours.”

  “What?” Tide stood and glared at Xavier. “That’ll leave Rogue alone.”

  “No choice,” Vex said. “Kellon moved the shifts around. If we didn’t take it, then we’d get nothing for two days.”

  Lore pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have this shift for two days?”

  “Three including this one,” Xavier said. He hugged me to his side. “Rogue will be fine, won’t you?”

  I nodded, my mind churning with possibilities, all forbidden but necessary. “I’ll be fine.”

  Tide blew out a breath. “It’s just three hours. I guess it’ll be fine. We’ll be back off shift then.”

  Three hours to find another option off this rock, because despite what the guys said, despite how hard they worked, if we were still here when the bounty enforcers showed up, we were fucked.

  “I’ll be fine.” I smiled up at Xavier.

  * * *

  Xavier fucked me hard, his hips a piston moving in time to my cries as he thrust. My legs were hooked over his shoulders, allowing him to drive deeper, hitting that spot that had me spiraling. His skin was beaded in perspiration, slick beneath my fingers. Vex was out there, listening; the thought made me come violently. I bucked as my body tightened, and my insides gripped Xavier’s cock, milking him.

  He came with a grunt, his butt flexing beneath my fingers, and then slumped over me, breathing raggedly.

  “Rogue …” He kissed my cheek, the corner of my mouth, and then claimed my lips.