Page 71 of Star Claimed Omega
‘I wasn’t talking about the food.’
At his words, the ambiance shifted into a sensual, drawn-out, locked-gaze moment.
She tore her eyes away and served him, heart pounding.
‘It’s just something simple and plain.’
He glanced down at the feast, and then back up at her with a wry look. ‘Simple, my ass.’
She laughed, and some of her nerves ebbed.
When her plate was loaded, she sat, and they ate.
Santo dug in, famished, groaning with appreciation that Soleil appreciated.
They dined in easy silence for a while, serenaded by the clink of cutlery and the soft hush of the lake breeze drifting in through the terrace doors.
After first nibbling, Soleil abandoned all decorum as she dove in, her hunger kicking in.
Soon her dish was clean.
‘You eat fast,’ Santi drawled.
She nodded. ‘Where I’m from, it’s first-person dibs.’
‘Sounds like my childhood, too.’
The tension in his frame had eased since her ministrations, and now he leaned back, a glass of red in one hand, a satisfied gleam in his eyes.
He swallowed his latest bite, jaw flexing, then tilted his head at her with a languid rasp. ‘It was delicious,sante.’
Her breath hitched at the low register of his voice. It slid over her skin like velvet, stirred the hollow beneath her ribs. ‘You’re welcome,’ she murmured.
Eventually, her curiosity overcame her.
She reached for her wine, turning the stem in her fingers. ‘What happened earlier today on the ship?’
He stilled, wine half-lifted to his mouth.
A flicker passed through his expression, wariness, perhaps. Then he exhaled, setting his chalice down.
‘We were attacked,’ he grunted. ‘Bridge incursion. Armed assailants dropped from the upper bridge ceiling. They came in hot, too, blasting with no care.’
Soleil’s spine stiffened, and her fingers tightened around the stem of her drink. ‘How?’
‘The maintenance shafts,’ he growled, his sapphire eyes flicking to her. ‘They bypassed all main corridors. Straight through engineering access. We’re still tracing how they got our security codes.’
Her skin went cold. The blood drained from her face.
She rubbed her wrists beneath the table, but Santi didn’t seem to notice.
‘Who were they?’ she managed, forcing calm into her voice even as her chest thudded with sick dread.
‘Evidence points to a pirate gang,TheRedSkulls,’ he said, his tone nonchalant, but there was steel under it. ‘The kinais have been up our asses these past few weeks, aggravating our crew and imperiling innocent bystanders. I spaced them all.’
Her stomach twisted.
Spaced.Ejected.Erased.
