Chapter One
“I found that faint energy signature,” Noah murmured as he searched through the data streaming into his console. “It’s coming from that moon.”
Ronan squinted as he assessed the small moon through the view window. They’d been following the elusive energy fluctuation for several days, ever since Noah’s bionic ears heard the faint whispers taunting them deeper into the Cold Lands. The forbidden territory filled him with foreboding. It was a section of space devoted to outlaws, murders, and pirates, and it was the last place he wanted to be.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered.
“Let’s take a quick look,” Noah urged. “We’ve traveled this far. Might as well find out if we can salvage anything.”
Ronan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Then let’s land on that damn moon and find out what’s gotten your panties in a twist,” he all but growled at Noah.
Noah smiled at him and for a moment Ronan lost his breath. He loved it each time the younger man looked at him like that, with blue eyes crinkling at the corners as his delectable mouth curled upward, showing a little teeth. He flushed hot all over as he briefly imagined what those lips could be doing on him.
“Damn it,” Ronan grumbled. “Let’s explore that ship, so we can get the hell out of here so I can do delicious things to your body.”
Noah winked at him. “There’s a small patch of smooth terrain just a click away from the energy readings.”
He had found Noah five years ago, half-dead on the planet Isaren, an industrial planet, manufacturing everything from spaceships to hovercrafts and the toxic waste was deadly to humans. Masks were required for breathing and unfortunately, only the wealthy could afford proper masks. Everyone else had to make do, which meant most masks didn’t work at a hundred percent.
He’d found Noah by accident, passed out in an alley one night as he prowled through Isaren’s streets trying to salvage any of the industrial rubbish cast off from the plants. As soon as he’d laid eyes on the man’s golden curls Ronan had felt his heart stutter. He’d immediately abandoned his searching and had taken Noah back to his ship where the medical interface had stabilized him enough for Ronan to get him professional help.
It had been Noah who had suggested ship salvaging and, tired of shuffling through industrial waste, Ronan had agreed. Though the transition had been rocky, eventually they became successful enough to amass a small fortune by returning lost cargo and personal possessions, as well as scrapping the burned out hulls of lost ships. Ronan found the work satisfying and for the most part he would call himself happy. He loved Noah, loved the life they had built together. But lately he’d had this nagging feeling that something was missing, and damned if he knew what it was.
Of course, he hadn’t told Noah because the last thing he wanted to do was upset him. No lover wanted to hear that his partner was feeling slightly empty. That only screamed trouble in paradise.
Ronan smoothly landed the ship on the surface of the small moon before powering it down. He glanced over and caught Noah looking at him. Immediately, Noah smiled and pushed away from his console, standing and stretching his lithe body. Ronan’s gaze traced the toned muscles straining under Noah’s clothing, his mouth watering.
“Stop that,” Ronan admonished.
“Stop what?”
Noah batted his baby blues innocently. Ronan felt his body tighten and in a flash he was leaning over the smaller man, cupping his face as their lips met. Tongues met in a heated duel, twining and dancing, making his blood boil. His cock swelled in his pants and all he wanted to do was strip Noah naked and take the younger man over and over, until both collapsed in satisfaction.
But that fantasy would have to wait.
With a groan of frustration, Ronan ended the kiss and pulled back. Noah looked delightfully flushed, his pale skin rosy with rising desire.
Wearing space-walk outfits, they shuffled their way over to the large ship half-buried in the moon dirt. From what Ronan could tell, it was an Aphelion class ship, whose belly was round and tail end ballooned out for the engines. They hadn’t been built in about thirty years, when the sleeker and narrower ships had come into favor. And seeing the decay gave him an idea of how long the broken ship before him had been lost.
“This ship is dead,” Noah stated. “Nothing should have been sending out a power signature.”
Noah was right. They were in bad territory with a once-expensive ship that, for all intents and purposes, would never have been found. If Noah’s extrasensitive ears hadn’t picked up the faint beacon, this ship would have remained buried forever. That didn’t sit well with Ronan.