Adamant Spirits

Prelude To Possession

Prelude To Possession

AstridI drummed my fingers on the smooth surface of my console and studied the navigational read-outs. “I’m never going to get this.”

Glancing around the bridge, I let out a relieved breath that I was the only one who’d returned from the outpost early. The rest of the dull-gray consoles were empty, as well as the swiveling captain’s chair covered in well-worn black leather. I was grateful for the solitude and the soft hum of the life support system while the engines were powered down. Usually, the freighter echoed with the sounds of crew members rattling along the corridors or the aged machinery simply rattling, but now it was blissfully quiet.

Even though our supply run on Gedarven Prime was supposed to be a short one, almost the entire crew had taken the opportunity to grab a few drinks at the canteen, including my sister, Tara, the ship’s captain. As supply runners for the Zagrath Empire, we welcomed breaks between our typically uneventful journeys and were grateful for time spent not traversing the cold darkness of space. A bustling outpost like Gederven Prime that drew aliens from all over the sector and boasted a busy market and eateries that filled the air with rich, savory scents was a nice change from our small crew and the old, creaking ship we called home.

I shook my head as I thought about the last glimpse I’d gotten of Tara and the rest of the crew before sneaking out of the smoky canteen and escaping the chaotic din. My sister had been eyeing a hot Neebix who’d seemed just as into her. I might not be experienced with males, but even I knew that the Neebix—with their long tails and nubbed horns hidden in their curly hair—were insatiable. Tara would be occupied for a while, which meant that I had time to practice my navigational skills before we took off.

“No more mistakes,” I whispered to myself, twisting a strand of blonde hair around one finger as I tried to figure out the numbers and the coordinates I needed to plot our course.

I’d been recently moved to navigation after one too many mistakes in communications, but I had a feeling this position wasn’t going to be a great fit either. Spaceships just weren’t my thing. It didn’t matter how many times my sister moved me, I always got distracted and messed up. It wasn’t that I didn’t try, but I didn’t get ships and flying the way my big sister did. She was a natural in space. She always had been. It was only one of our many differences.

I cringed as I thought about Tara’s expression every time one of my screw-ups was reported to her. She wouldn’t get angry. That was the worst part. She always looked so disappointed I wanted to cry.

She never mentioned how much I owed her or how much she’d sacrificed to take care of us both since our parents had died. I’d seen it all firsthand, and I would never be able to repay her for what she’d done to keep us from starving and then to get a ship and become an imperial transport captain. The least I could do was earn my keep on her ship, even if none of them came easily to me. I had been rotated to nearly every position on the ship and screwed up every one of them.

I blinked hard and narrowed my eyes at the console. This time would be different. This time I’d get it right. I huffed out a breath. “If only there weren’t so many numbers.”

“That’s the problem with nav. Too many f*****g numbers.”

The voice made me jump, but I relaxed slightly when I twisted around and saw that it was Jayne, a blue-skinned Quabar. She was a tactical specialist, which made her a badass in my book, but she’d always been one of the nicer ones in the crew. At least she’d never made me feel bad for being the captain’s sister and a total disaster at everything.

“Yeah,” I tried to laugh but it sounded strangled. “I got here early to go over everything before we take off.”

Jayne grinned at me as she took her seat at one of the consoles. “No one can say you don’t try, Astrid.”

My face flushed. That wasn’t really a compliment.

“Don’t sweat it too much, girl. As long as we don’t crash into a planet or veer off into Vandar territory, we’ll be fine.”

My stomach sank. “Are we going near Vandar territory?”

“Your sister wants to make the supply run to the imperial outpost pretty fast, and the best way to do that is to skirt along Vandar territory. But it’s been a while since one of their hordes has come close to the border.”

If that was supposed to be reassuring, it wasn’t. The knot in my stomach started to churn. I’d never seen a Vandar horde, but I’d heard about them enough. Even the possibility of being surrounded by their swarm of ships as they dropped their invisibility shielding made my leg jiggle beneath the console.

“I wish we didn’t fly supplies for the empire.” It was no secret that the Vandar went after imperial ships or ones that worked for the empire.

The rumors about the menacing aliens were the kind of thing whispered in dark corners. They were not like other aliens. They didn’t abide by the traditional rules of warfare, and they cared nothing for imperial rules. They didn’t even acknowledge that the empire held any power, targeting imperial ship and raiding them with impunity. Survivors of the Vandar raids talked of huge, bare-chested aliens with swishing tails and sharp battle axes. They boarded imperial vessels like a violent swarm, taking everything of value and leaving behind only death.

“Well, no one pays as well as the Zagrath,” the first officer said as he strode onto the bridge, followed by the rest of the command deck crew.

I turned back to my console, not wanting to argue. I focused on my navigational charts, trying to plot a route that didn’t fly too close to Vandar territory. My hands trembled and my throat tighened. Why did my first time at the nav controls require us to go so close to the raiders? Our battered ship wouldn’t stand a chance against a Vandar warlord’s horde of ships that flew cloaked and appeared out of thin air. We would be surrounded before sensors could detect them, and then it would be too late.

“Prepare for takeoff,” Mose said as he strapped himself into his chair.

I stole a quick glance at the empty captain’s chair. “What about my sister, I mean, the captain?”

The first officer’s upper lip twitched. “She’s on board, but busy.” He hesitated over the last word. “She’ll join us soon.”

I knew what that meant, not that I cared what my sister did or with whom. She’d had to do a lot for us to survive over the years—much of it unpleasant—so I was the last person to begrudge her a little fun.

The engines rumbled to life as the bridge filled with chatter. So much for my quiet respite on the bridge. And so much for practicing my navigational skills.

The pilot cut his eyes to me, clearing his throat over the sound of the freighter powering up. “I’m waiting for those coordinates, Astrid.”

“Right.” My pulse fluttered as I tapped the console, hoping the calculations I sent him were right.

The ship lifted off the ground like a sleeping giant lumbering to his feet, rocking slightly before the engines fully engaged, and we lifted into the planet’s atmosphere.

I glanced up at the view screen as we left the dingy brown planet behind, the buildings and people milling about becoming like brown blocks and scurrying ants. The sky became blue and then inky black as we entered space and rocketed away from the gravitational pull of the surface. Tiny pinpoints of light sparkled in the distance as we cruised at full impulse power, and everyone on the bridge relaxed and settled in for a long, boring supply run.

My mind wandered as we flew, wondering about all the planets we passed and what type of aliens lived on them. I’d heard of lush alien worlds, but most of the places I’d been were grimy, imperial colonies or seedy outposts.

“Astrid?” the pilot’s voice was a hiss as he leaned over toward me.

I snapped out of my mental wanderings and turned to him. “Sorry? What?”

“Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction? We should have that cluster of stars to the starboard side, not the port.”

Biting my bottom lip, I peered down at my console. Had I calculated wrong? I attempted to stay calm, but my pulse was racing, and I couldn’t think straight. The numbers swam across the shiny surface, making it almost impossible to recalculate them, but I had a sinking feeling the pilot was right, and I’d reversed the course’s trajectory—which meant I’d navigated us directly into Vandar space.

Bile rose in the back of my throat. I could sense the irritation from the pilot and the general murmurs of unease from the rest of the bridge crew, which didn’t make it easier for me to concentrate and recalculate the route.

Although I knew she’d have plenty to say if I’d messed up again, I wished my sister was on the bridge with me. Tara might be tough on me, but she could fix just about any f**k-up. Considering the potential magnitude of this disaster, I really needed my big sister.

Where was she?

TaraI threaded my hands through his long, sandy-blond hair—my fingertips bumping up against the velvety bumps of his blunt horns—and arched my back. I was pressed against the engine room wall, and my pants were kicked over to the corner, but my black lace thong was only tugged over to one side as the Valox resistance fighter buried his face between my legs.

Luckily, the rumble of the freighter’s ancient engine masked my moans, but it also warned me that my ship would soon be taking off, and I didn’t want the alien I’d picked up at the outpost to be an unwitting stowaway. Not that the Neebix male wasn’t hot and incredibly built, but I made it a rule never to mess around with anyone under my command. And if he flew off the outpost with us, he’d unofficially be part of my rag-tag crew instead of the Valox resistance, which would be an issue for both me and the resistance fighters.

Hitching one of my legs up and hooking it over his shoulder, I closed my eyes and ignored the rattling of the engine as it warmed up. The buzz of the Pallaxian tonic still buzzed my fingers and fired my arousal, almost as much as the warm tongue working between my legs. As the metal floor of the ship started to tremble so did my body, my hips twitching and my legs shaking as I cried out and fisted my hands in his hair, holding him to me as wave after delicious wave shuddered through me.

The Neebix might be known for being easily aroused—something no female who’d been on the receiving end of their attentions would deny—but their reputation as skilled lovers was equally deserved. I had no regrets about letting the alien think he was picking me up from the canteen and bringing him back to my ship for a quickie. It was exactly what I needed after back-to-back supply runs for the empire.

I relaxed my grip on his head, and he peered up at me, grinning wickedly. “Now it’s my turn to hold you by the hair, Red.”

I wasn’t crazy about being called Red, but since I was known for my mane of red curls as much as for being one of the youngest freighter captains in the sector, I couldn’t really fault him for it, either. And I did like being held by my hair.

I jerked a thumb toward the dull-gray engine across from us. “You did notice that my ship’s engines are firing up, right?”

The resistance fighter stood, cutting a quick glance over his shoulder at the hulking machinery. “Is that your way of trying to keep me here?”

“I told you I wasn’t interested in anything more than a little fun.”

His black uniform shirt was unbuttoned enough so that I could see the swell of his chest muscles and the Valox resistance tattoo emblazoned over his heart—if that was where Neebix hearts were located. He c****d an eyebrow at me. “That was fun, but I’m not done with you yet.”

Before I could argue with him, he flipped me around so that I faced the wall and whipped my hands over my head, holding my wrists together with one of his large hands. With the other hand, he grabbed my hip and tilted my ass up then used his knee to part my legs.

I wanted to tell him that we should stop so he’d have time to get off my ship, but I barely had time to open my mouth before he was pushing down his pants and notching the crown of one of his c***s at my slick entrance.

“You’re so wet for me, Tara,” he whispered into my ear, as he pressed his hard body against me. “So ready to take me.”

A shiver of desire skated down my spine as he nipped my neck and then drove himself deep inside me with a single hard thrust. I gasped as he filled me, thinking that I’d been right when I’d spotted him across the smoky canteen. He really was big all over.

The hand that had gripped my hip moved up to tangle in my hair, grabbing a fistful of my curls and holding it tight while he buried himself inside me again. The engines thundered as he stroked into me, flesh slapping flesh. I didn’t bother to muffle my cries as the ship floor vibrated so forcefully that his hands slipped off my wrists.

Even though he dropped his grasp on my wrists, he cupped his hand around my jaw, tilting it up and back so that his mouth closed over mine. As he kissed me deeply, he never slowed his savage rhythm, our moans mingling as I quivered again, my body clenching around his c**k. Then with a final hard thrust, he pulsed into me, holding his body over mine as we both sagged against the wall.

When he pulled out and started to stroke his other c**k through me, I spun around. “No time for an encore today.”

The resistance fighter brushed a sweaty strand of hair off my forehead and sighed. “Too bad. I have to tell you, you’re the sexiest captain I’ve ever fucked.”

I laughed, breathing in slowly to steady my racing heart. “Considering the fact that most ship captains are big, hairy males, I won’t let that compliment go to my head.”

“Do you and your crew always resupply at Gedarven Prime?” he asked as he pulled his pants up and somehow tucked his two equally thick c***s inside.

I snatched my own pants off the floor. “Is that your way of asking if I go there often?”

He shrugged. “All I know is I’d like to do that again. If you’re up for it, Captain.”

I knew all about the Neebix, although this had been my first experience with one. Between his deft tongue and his thick c**k—correction, two c***s—I wouldn’t mind f*****g the resistance fighter again either, although I wouldn’t have to wait until my ship returned to the outpost. Tugging on my dark pants, I grinned at him and patted him on the chest. “I’m glad you called me captain. You’re going to need to get used to it, big guy.”

Confusion flickered across his face as I scraped my hair up into a topknot. I gestured to the trembling floor and rumbling engine. “We aren’t on Gedarven Prime anymore.”

“What?” His face paled. “I’m supposed to be leaving for a reconnaissance mission.”

“I did try to tell you, but you didn’t seem too concerned.”

He cursed as he looked wildly around the engine room. “What am I going to do on a freighter that carries supplies for the empire? If the resistance finds out, I’ll be done for.”

I bristled slightly at the veiled insult. I didn’t carry supplies for the Zagrath empire because I liked supporting them. I did it because they paid well, and I needed to support my crew. Not to mention my sister, who was a bit of a disaster.

“Don’t worry,” I told him. “If it helps, you can stay in my quarters until we reach the next outpost. No one will know you were here.”

He looked a little mollified. “How long will I be hiding in your quarters?”

I grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him to me. “Oh, you won’t be hiding, big guy. You’ll be working off your room and board—in my bed.”

A low rumble escaped his throat. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Captain?” a sharp voice bellowed over the noise of the engine, and I turned toward the door and my first officer.

“Yes?” I turned to my second in command, glad I was dressed and had my hair pulled back up.

“There’s been a navigational issue.” He cleared his throat. “Your presence is needed on the bridge.”

Navigational issue? My heart sank. My sister Astrid currently oversaw ship navigation. It was a position I’d assigned to her because I thought she could do the least amount of damage routing our ship. It would be an understatement to say that my younger sister was not cut out for flying spaceships. So far, she’d been a catastrophe in every post I’d given her. I’d considered letting her be a passenger on my ship, but my crew was too small to let anyone hitch a ride without working for it—even my kid sister.

I sighed. “On my way.”

My first officer left, and I took the Valox resistance fighter by the hand. “I’ll drop you off at my quarters on the way. Since this is an issue with my sister, I’ll definitely need some stress relief afterward.”

He followed as I pulled him behind me through the battered corridors of my ship. “I live to serve, Captain.”

I glanced back at the brawny blonde with his horns poking out from his tousled hair, making him look truly devilish. Heat pooled in my core at the thought of him waiting for me in my bed later. I’d get to try out his second c**k, after all.

Desire throbbed between my legs. The Neebix would make this supply run anything but boring. I smiled at how well this trip was turning out. I’d have to remember to get a well-hung, boy toy on all our supply runs from now on.

All I had to do was make sure Astrid hadn’t made a total mess of things, then I could go back to my quarters and finish what I’d started. How bad could a navigational error be?

Then the red sirens began to blare overhead.

Fuck me.