His muttering was cut off abruptly when a huge hand wrapped around his throat. The last thing he saw were two blazing white-blue eyes glaring into his. Slowly the eyes turned from the palest blue to blood red. And then they began to glow.
Then, nothing…
* * * * *
“What happened to the lights?”
Reddix blinked, trying to clear his head of the strange dream. What the hell had it been about? Some kind of prisoner being transported but they needed the Hurkon collar and didn’t have it…
“I said the lights are out—why?” Nina’s voice sounded high and frightened in the dark ship.
Reddix blinked again and realized it didn’t make a difference whether his eyes were open or closed—everything was still pitch black. He sat up with a groan. His arms and hands felt nearly dead from being cuffed over his head for hours.
“Reddix?” she said again, and he heard her coming toward him in the darkness.
“Don’t touch me,” he said sharply. “Stay right where you are—auxiliary power must have cut down to save energy.” At least he hoped that was what it was. If the ship’s generator was dying they were going to be in bad shape very shortly.
“I was just getting to sleep, and then the lights died.” From the sound of Nina’s voice she was pretty close by—standing right beside him. “And then I thought I heard noises,” she continued. “From outside. Do…do you think there are other, uh, people besides us here on this world?”
Reddix shrugged. “Could be. Last thing I saw on the console indicated a breathable atmosphere and Earth-normal gravity.”
“Oh.” Nina sounded more upset than ever. “Do you think…do you think they could get in?”
“No,” Reddix said shortly. “The ship’s hull is pretty solid, and I don’t think we sustained a breach during the crash.” He shifted around. “You got nothing to worry about sweetheart—although I could protect you better if something happened if my hands were free.”
“I don’t think so.” Nina’s voice became firmer. “I’m not going to let you use this situation to scare me into letting you go. For all I know you dimmed the lights on purpose somehow yourself. Maybe they’re voice activated or only respond to you, like the beacon.”
Reddix sighed. “That’s a nice little paranoia you’ve got going there. Look—forget about it. Just go back to be, and we’ll see what we can do in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said, but he could tell that she hadn’t moved a bit. She was still standing there right beside him in the dark. He could smell her warm, feminine scent and hear her soft breathing.
“Nina?” he said at last. “You all right?”
“I can’t sleep in there, okay?” she burst out. “It’s too big and dark and quiet, and I can hear every single noise outside the ship. And it’s cold—really cold. Even with all the blankets on I’m freezing.”
“Yeah, because without auxiliary power the ship doesn’t have much in the way of climate control. It’s on straight life-support now which means we get breathable air and not much else.”
“Oh,” she said again in a small voice. She still wasn’t budging, and without being able to feel her emotions, Reddix couldn’t figure out what she wanted. Then something occurred to him.
“You want to stay out here with me?” he asked.
“Yes!” She sounded infinitely relieved. “And I promise I won’t touch you—your skin, anyway. But I thought if I could sit beside you and cover both of us with a blanket it would be a lot warmer.”
Reddix wasn’t sure how to feel about this. On one hand, he knew he ought to keep her at an arm’s length—he was already way more involved with her than he ought to be. On the other, he wanted nothing more in the universe than to have her pressed close against him. He opened his mouth to send her away and heard himself say,
“Sure. Come on,”
“Oh, good.” There were some slow, careful scuffling noises, and then Nina was beside him on the floor. She threw a warm blanket over both of them and then cuddled against his side. “Is this all right?” she asked softly. “I’m not touching you, am I?”
“No,” Reddix said and it was true—she wasn’t touching his skin. But he could still feel the warmth of her soft, curvy body pressed against his chest. He got instantly hard, his shaft straining insistently against his flight trousers. He tried to will away his erection, but his body wasn’t listening—not that Reddix could blame it. Having her so close to him seemed to short-circuit his brain somehow.