Page 20 of Tempting Jupiter
Sen rolled his shoulders and Jupiter wished they had room to spar. He needed to stretch his muscles, but simple stretches were never enough for him. He needed something more energetic. Always had… and why did that lead him to thoughts of the woman? Just because she’d had a…satisfying way of relieving his restlessness, that didn’t mean he should be wondering if she was still on the ship.
“Okay.” Jupiter announced. “We make destroying that ship our priority. If there are more Dogs out there, we have to keep Roma from finding them.”
A sense of purpose settled into him and the weight of helplessness fell away. They had a goal. A priority. With those came direction and focus.
“Agreed,” Seneca said, eyes serious and somber. “If Dogs are living free…we’ll ensure theystayfree.”
Jupiter nodded and they shared a moment of silent accord.
Seneca tilted his head to the side. His ears twitched and his eyes narrowed as he climbed back to his feet.
A buzzing sensation tickled Jupiter’s ears with a familiar melodic zing. The noise came from down the hall, and they both peered through the shimmering barrier that formed the front of the cell, waiting for the source to appear. Fee’s small flying machine zipped into the main room of the brig and flew straight to the panel that controlled the cell door.
Seneca turned his face to Jupiter and raised an eyebrow. Words that had started to form on his lips froze in place as a discordant rhythm came from the small device.
Jupiter shook his head, uncertain why Fee’s small flying machine, Bug, had returned, but he didn’t think it had been part of her plan. “Something must be wrong.”
The pulse field flickered, then winked off. Bug jerked away from the panel and headed toward the hallway. He and Seneca leaped across the invisible line where the barrier had stood.
“She wants us to follow.” Seneca was already trailing the device.
They stayed close as Bug zipped along the corridor near the ceiling. Fee’s voice echoed in Jupiter’s memory…if I can help you find a way off this ship, I will. Was that what this was? Had she found a way to help them?
As he and Seneca ran easily, side-by-side, he considered the situation and his own surprising reactions. When he’d seen the device, he hadn’t even considered that it might be a trick. He trusted Fee, possibly the first human to earn that from him. But why did Sen seem so willing to follow her blindly? He studied his pack brother. “How do you know about the device?”
Sen’s brows drew together. “She used it to speak to me in the med center and just now in the cell.” Sen’s eyes shifted away. “She saved you.”
She’d checked on Seneca just as she’d told him.
Seneca shot a glance at the flying device that had returned to hover closer. “He can’t hear you,” he said, clearly not talking to Jupiter. “Our hearing is different.” They locked gazes and Sen spoke again. “She says to tell you she has a plan.”
Of course, she did. Jupiter remembered her lecturing him on the value of a good plan. “She probably has a schedule too,” he mumbled.
***
Seneca kept pace with Jupiter as they ran behind the winged machine. With their natural healing abilities and good medical care, they were both recovering quickly. Seneca’s muscles heated and stretched. Strength pounded through him. Despite the uncertainties surrounding them, the moment felt right as they settled into the rhythm of the run.
Against his will, his thoughts drifted to Jupiter and the woman and speculation on what had happened between them. He’d bitten back the temptation to ask Jupiter when he’d first entered the small cell. Their scent, not distinct but intertwined, had been everywhere, but especially on the bunk. And her scent had been on Jup’s skin.
Arousal had been there. Jupiter’s arousal, dominant and distinct. Seneca might not have scented it often, but that scent had been seared into his memory—it featured in all his impossible fantasies. He’d known Jupiter was attracted to women. Females of their kind were scarce. But recently a female had been given to their pack. She and Carn, one of their brothers, had bonded as mates. It was their way to share all things. And when the female was willing, a mate most of all. It created a bond that ensured they would all protect and provide for her. They’d all fucked her. All but Diablo, the least stable of their brothers. So, Seneca had known Jupiter desired females. It had been the strength of the scent that had shocked him. But the moment for questions had passed and they ran in silence.
They followed the little machine through the ship as bland hallways gave way to an even blander gray metal bulkhead. The space opened up around them and they ran at full speed for more than the length of the arena field. It gave him a sense of the ship’s size. Big.
The tiny flying machine stopped in front of a hatch, latching onto a control panel. Seneca found it hard to stop moving and wait. His muscles were warm and his genetically engineered body hummed.
“Seneca.” The high-pitched mechanical voice snagged his attention. “Stand clear. When the hatch opens, don’t go through. You guys hang in there.”
He relayed the message to Jupiter with a shrug. He could hear the woman’s words, but that didn’t mean he understood what she was up to.
Jupiter nodded, but Seneca knew he wanted to demand details. Patience had never been his strength.
When the door slid open, they looked inside to see a small room outfitted with padded benches and heavy straps. The door slid shut again and Bug took-off down the passageway. They sprinted after the thing and followed it down the long, straight corridor.
“I think this is the exterior bulkhead.” Sen pointed to the bright red CAUTION: DECOMPRESSION AREA boldly printed across a rectangular section that might be a hatch.
Like most Dogs, Jupiter couldn’t read the human language, but he would understand the color and bold print always meant danger. Seneca had learned to read at the knee of one of the arena patrons who thought he was doing him a great favor.
The little robot stopped again and went to work on a second hatch, identical to the first. Only, this one was at the point of an intersection with another passage, so they were exposed on three fronts.
