Tymber Dalton - Love at First Bight

The men exchanged glances, but Aaron spoke. “There’s a comfortable bunk in sick bay. If it’s going to be a deal-breaker though, I mean, I can talk to the retrofit crew and have them build out a cabin. There’s a large storage room next to the main cabin that could be converted. There’s plenty of time to have that done. You could tell them what you want.”

“You have a dedicated sick bay?” She’d never even thought to ask the other crews that.

“Sure. Want to see it?”

“Yeah.”

She followed the men down another corridor and was amazed at the set-up. Top-quality, state of the art machines, well-stocked drug synthesizer, a full inventory of instruments and supplies, even for extreme surgical cases.

“This is great!” she said.

The men, even Aaron, looked pleased at her response. “We can get anything else you think we’ll need,” Aaron said. “DSMC doesn’t pinch pennies when it comes to safety.” She tried to hide her smile. He was slipping from his original distrust into hoping she’d made up her mind to join them.

“I think what I’d like to see next is the kitchen.” Caph groaned. “The galley’s a mess. Inventory, I mean, not like pig sty mess. We won’t make you cook all the meals, we take turns.” He had a thought. “Were those grunt assholes going to make you cook all the time?”

It was getting harder to hide her amusement. “No. Is that how you got all those demerits? Getting into it with the military guys?” The twins blushed.

The galley was disorganized, but from the lack of dirty dishes or caked-on food anywhere, it was obviously more inventory mess. Then she spotted it.

The coffee machine.

“You have a Java Max Excel 10k?” Her jaw dropped. If she had one passion in her life, it was coffee. This machine did it all and did it all well. Espresso? Cappuccino? No matter what your poison, it could make it.

Ford grinned. “Like it? That baby really took some wheeling and dealing to get. It’s fantastic¯”

She turned and grabbed him, kissing him, taking him by surprise, but it didn’t take him long to get into it. When she stepped back he wobbled on his feet, a silly grin splashed across his face.

Aaron smiled, but Caph’s jaw gaped. Not wanting to leave him out, she grabbed the large man. His stunned surprise soon changed to passion as he returned her kiss.

Then Emi turned back to the Java Max. She’d kiss it too, if she didn’t think they’d think she was weird.

Aaron laughed and looked at his stunned crew. “Well, guys? Do you want to ask her, or should I?”

The twins were apparently shocked into silence, staring at Emi as if she was a goddess. She suspected if she asked, the twins would drop to their knees and bow before her.

I could get used to this.

Aaron stepped over to her. “I know you said you can’t give us an answer yet, and that’s fair. I would, however, like to extend the offer to join our crew. Right, guys?”

The twins nodded, speechless.

“How about we start with dinner and see where things go from there?” She turned to him. “You’re right that I can’t promise this minute that I’ll join you, but I would like to spend at least the next day or so with you guys and get to know you better. I’m not in any rush to leave.”

“Day?”

Her gaze never wavered from his. “And night.” Aaron smiled.

The three men cooked her dinner. Not a pre-made, reconstituted, out of the box crap dinner, either. Home-cooked with fresh vegetables and meat.

“We can’t eat like this all the time, obviously,” Aaron said, not letting her help. “We like to cook. Whenever we can use fresh ingredients, we do.”

She stole a raw carrot off his cutting board and didn’t miss the smile he tried to hide from her. “What else do you guys like to do in your spare time, besides each other?” The men froze, then laughed. Ford shook his head in disbelief.

“Please don’t wake me up if I’m dreaming, guys.” Caph carefully nudged past her, potholders on his hands and carrying a freshly roasted chicken in a pan right from the convection oven. “Poker.”

“Is that a joke?” she asked.

He looked startled, caught her playful smile, and laughed. “Oh my gods, you are too much, girl. The card game.”

“I’ve never played. You guys going to teach me?”

“It’s sort of a requirement to be on this crew,” Caph said.

“You don’t play for money.”

The men exchanged a glance. “No,” Caph said. “Chips.

Sometimes other things.” Caph focused his green eyes on hers and she felt that sensual tingle again.

“What other things?”

Ford had slipped behind her. His lips lightly brushed the back of her neck, making her shiver. Hades, was she that sensitive back there?

She never knew.

“Sometimes strip poker. Sometimes more than that,” he murmured in her ear.

Her mouth went dry. “More?”

Aaron looked at her. “Yeah. More.”

Well, this could be a good way to get better acquainted with the guys. “I’m game.”

Ford pressed close behind her, his body hot against hers through her clothes. His stiff erection rubbed against her linen slacks. He felt huge even through his jeans.

“It’s not nice to tease,” he whispered in her ear.

She wiggled her hips against him, drawing a heated, husky moan from the man. “Then I suggest you put your money where your mouth is, Ford.”

“Goddamn,” he softly grunted, thrusting back, his cock even harder now.

“All right, Ford,” Aaron said. “That’s enough. Dinner first, then we can play a game of poker and see how anxious Emi here is to get to know us better.”

Ford looked up then reluctantly stepped away.

Emi had to admit as crazy as this whole situation was, her nipples were pebbled, uncomfortably rubbing against her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, usually didn’t unless she was exercising or something because she wasn’t overly endowed in that department. Something else, she was extremely wet between her legs, a dull, constant throbbing exacerbated by Ford’s seductive bump and grind. She started to reply to Aaron when her hand-held console vibrated on the counter where she’d left it.

It was also glowing. She picked it up.

A message from Graymard.

Everything okay? Haven’t heard from you.

She replied.

Everything’s fine. Spending more time with Tamora Bight crew.

At the top of my list.

Before she had time to set the console down, it vibrated again.

Really? The Tamora Bight crew?

If Graymard was there, she would jam the fucking console down his throat.

Yes, the Tamora Bight crew. You have a problem with that?

Apparently not, because he didn’t reply.

Dinner was great, the guys were sweet. Clean-up was quick, and the men settled around the table with her and started teaching her the game.

“We’ll play for chips first,” Aaron said, shooting a warning look at the other two men. “Just so you learn the game. No pressure.”

“Okay.”

She realized she’d lost track of time. It had to be getting late, but she didn’t care because she wasn’t even tired. This was fun. The men had settled into an easier, relaxed mood now that it was obvious she wasn’t running, screaming, out the main hatch. This made it a lot easier for her to read them, although Aaron was still cloudy and guarded in many ways. An enigma she wouldn’t mind spending more time exploring.

Ford partnered with her first, helping her with her cards and teaching her the finer subtleties of betting and calling. Apparently they played a very standard, basic version of the game and not one of the more horribly complex ones.