Page 26 of Black Star

“I second that.” She sounded about as content as a woman could possibly be. And she might have stayed that way for a long, long while.

Gods. Just looking at her made him hard all over again. Damon wanted nothing more than to sink his cock into Phoebe’s sweet, hot cunt over and over again till she screamed out his name with her every breath. Unfortunately, Viktor -- and a couple of security guards -- chose that exact moment to barge in.

Chapter Five

Damon groaned. Phoebe squealed and would have jumped away from him had Damon not held her fast. How many more ways could he look like an idiot? He snatched at the cover to shield Phoebe from the eyes of his unwanted guests.

“What the holyfuckare you doing, Viktor?” Mortified didn’t begin to describe Damon’s feelings right now.

“We heard a disturbance. It sounded like you were in trouble.”

Ranier -- theBlack Star’s pilot and a man Damon liked and respected above anyone else in his crew -- snickered. “Oh, he was in trouble all right. It sounded like he blew his tonsils out his --”

“That’s enough!” Damon knew his face was as red as a Tamarian Blood Ruby. “If I need help, I’ll ask for it.”

“What exactly would you like us to wait for?” Viktor crossed massive arms over an equally massive chest. “We could hear your screams from the corridor.”

“We’re aboard theBlack Star, Viktor! Nothing can happen to me here.” Why wouldn’t they justleave?

Ranier’s continued amusement grated on Damon’s nerves. “Yeah, well, I didn’t think it was possible to pick up a stowaway either. Yet, here she is.” Ranier winked at Phoebe. If he hadn’t been butt naked, Damon would have crossed the room and cheerfully punched the man. “My apologies, miss. I sincerely hope you won’t hold such a barbaric intrusion against me and withhold my rations. My friend, on the other hand --” he nodded toward Viktor, “-- doesn’t need his rations anyway. Keep me in mind if you have extra, will you?”

The soft, muffled giggling next to him drew his attention. Phoebe had the sheet pulled up to her nose -- her enormous silvery-green eyes and mass of silver-white hair were all that was visible. Damon rolled his eyes. Why was he the only one so acutely embarrassed?

Viktor turned to leave. “Black Starshould reactivate your security protocol once we leave. And just so you know, the ship is as amused as the rest of us.”

“Just because you’ve managed a tentative link with the ship doesn’t mean you can stand there and make fun of me and Phoebe.”

Viktor whipped around and raised a hand against further protest. “No, my link with theBlack Stardoesn’t give me the right to have a chuckle at your expense -- being your friend does. As to the young Miss Phoebe, if such a beautiful, passionate woman were mine, I would love her as thoroughly as you just did. I’d hold nothing back.”

The man hardly ever spoke more than a couple of sentences at a time. The mere fact Viktor considered himself Damon’s friend shocked, but also flattered, Damon. The big vampire wasn’tanyone’sfriend.

Viktor slowly turned and left the room. As soon as he did, Phoebe burst out into gales of laughter. Did everyone on the entire bloody ship -- including the bloody ship -- need to have a good laugh at his expense?

When Phoebe’s arms snaked around his neck, and she kissed his shoulder in between giggles, the humor of the situation finally hit him. He could only imagine the look on his face when Viktor and Ranier had come rushing in on them.

“Oh my, but I don’t see how any of them kept a straight face.” Phoebe wiped tears from her eyes and pulled Damon back down on top of her. “I never thought I’d find humor in that kind of an entrance, considering what it would have meant in another lifetime, but I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.”

Looking down at the smiling woman with laughter in her eyes as bright as the tears, it struck Damon exactly how deep he was in. Up to his eyeballs.

Damon Singh was head over heels in love with Phoebe Lightheart.

* * *

Phoebe finished cleaning up after the morning meal. The men had scarfed down everything she’d fixed. There wasn’t even a drop of gravy left. More, one of the younger men had insisted he help her with the dishes. The work had been done in half the time and she’d finished preparing for the midday meal early enough to explore a bit.

Her new home was wonderfully spacious, if a bit plain. The floors were covered by a thin padded runner down the center, and computer linkups were the only thing that marred the smooth surface of the metal walls. Even the doors didn’t break the continuity. The only entryways she found that did break the illusion of a never-ending hallway were the captain’s, the one leading to the engineering section, and the one leading to the command section. Command was a very formidable place to be if you didn’t know your way around.

She wondered again how she’d managed to end up where she had. She could just as easily have wandered into the detention area and gotten herself locked up. Still, she rather liked it here. It was clean. Almost painfully so.

At the moment, however, something was wrong. She wasn’t well versed in navigation, but she could have sworn they were going in the wrong direction. More than all that, though, the place was empty. There were no sounds other than the normal mechanical sounds everything made when not planet side. No one was in the recreation area, or the mess hall. The one person she did see was in a big hurry and looked a bit strained. He didn’t even acknowledge her as he passed. Strange.

Phoebe turned to head back to the kitchen when the ship gave a tremendous lurch. Claxons blared, and the ship continued to shudder for several minutes. Phoebe stumbled to her feet. Staggering down the corridor, she finally made it to the mess hall where she ducked under a table and braced herself. There wasn’t much in the area to fall, but if anything did, she didn’t like the idea of it falling on her head.

Used to a space station that made a continuous orbit around a dead planet, Phoebe felt every move theBlack Starmade. They pitched from side to side, up and down, every movement quick and precise. Phoebe had the sinking suspicion they were avoiding something, dodging a battle.

“Phoebe.”

The mechanical, but ultra-feminine voice coming from the comm startled Phoebe so badly, she bumped her head on the table. Stars danced in front of her eyes and she had to shake her head to clear it.

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