Page 35 of Tempting Jupiter
His frown flipped, turning into a grin in a flash. “Now you’re after my heart.”
Jupiter wasn’t certain of all of the expressions common beyond the gates of the arena, but he did know he didn’t like the way the man watched her. Eyes focused on her breasts with occasional glances down to her hips.
“I have to go up to my ship for a few minutes then I’m going into the station. I want to leave in four hours. Can you have things ready by then?
“Sure. No trouble.”
***
Feeona knew the Arena Dogs were around somewhere, but she wasn’t prepared for how fast they appeared when she stepped out of Peety’s sight. Jupiter materialized out of a shadow and Sen came from somewhere off to her left.
“The little man is going to chop the ship?” Jupiter’s nose scrunched in confusion.
“Fitz will guess we’re here, but I don’t want anyone to be sure of anything. Peety’s crew will take the ship apart and sell those parts so no one will be able to find a piece big enough to identify it. And they’ll destroy the ship’s computer, so Roma won’t get their hands on any data.”
“You said you had cleared the data.” Seneca’s voice was free of accusation.
It rarely showed any sign of emotion unless he wanted it to. Even having spent more time with him, he remained as mysterious as the day they’d met. The only thing she knew for sure was that he was completely devoted to Jupiter.
“Trust me. Roma can afford to hire an army of experts to find a way to get something out of the computer’s corpse. With data, nothing is ever one hundred percent except melting down the hardware.”
A twinge of guilt tugged at her conscious. After two days aboard, she’d learned everything there was to know about that ship. Everything she was doing her best to keep safe was backed up on her neural processor’s storage. She hated that melting down that computer also ensured the value of what she had. She didn’t want to think she would ever use the info except to help Jupiter and Seneca, but if that was true, why hadn’t she told them she had the location of the resistance’s base? Old habits. Always hang on to your aces.
She traced her fingers over Bug’s rigid surface, where it hugged her neck like a gaudy piece of jewelry.
“I have to go into the station, but you two need to stay out of sight.”
Feeona led them to the edge of the maze of machinery and ships, then slid her palm over the almost invisible control panel. She traced her fingers over the images that appeared on its surface to open the small lift. It hadn’t been designed to accommodate the bulk of two Arena Dogs, but she stepped in and urged them to crowd in around her.
Jupiter maneuvered her to stand with her back pressed against his chest. She looked over her shoulder at him. When he lifted an eyebrow, she smiled a closed lip smile.
Then they bolted upward. To his credit he didn’t panic, but his muscles tightened and his breath hitched. She hadn’t considered that he might not have been in a lift before. She’d only wanted to keep where they were going a surprise. She reached for his hand and squeezed.
“It’s a lift,” explained Seneca. “To take us to another level.”
The answer seemed to satisfy Jupiter. Odd that one of the men would know and the other wouldn’t.
Seneca stared down at her. “There are lifts in the arena, but Dogs don’t ride them.”
She wanted to prompt him for more, but the door slid open before she could formulate a question. They stared out onto a similar but much smaller maze of ships. They hung from above. Beneath them there was only space. No floor—just a network of narrow metal grated walkways.
Jupiter and Sen followed her onto the walkway, alert and soaking in their surroundings.
“It’s an impressive sight, isn’t it?” She directed them to look down. “That’s a clear drop to the level we were on earlier, so be careful up here.”
“I can see it, but something obscures the view,” said Jupiter, hesitation in his voice.
“Some sort of energy field?” added Seneca.
“Yes, but nothing solid enough to break your fall if you go over the edge.”
Jupiter tipped his head to the side as he studied the obfuscation field. “It’s like looking through a basin of water.”
“From down there, you can’t see the ships stored here.” Fee stopped in front of her sleek black craft. “The extra layer of security is expensive but worth it.”
“Didn’t you say this is a secret landing port?” Seneca sounded only mildly curious.
“Mm-hm.” She ran a hand over the ship’s satin hull.
