Elyot stared at the code on the screen. “No way! She wrote that? I thought she was a scavenger.”

Cruncher chuckled at Elyot’s reaction. “Yeah. That’s what I thought too. This is the same code she wrote to distract Ramiro so she could steal the Aurelia Data Cube.”

Elyot let out a low whistle and gestured to his sister. “Lisia, you’re a tech. You should see this.”

“I’ll pass.” She waved him off, not bothering to turn away from her screen. Elyot started to make a comment but fell silent when he noticed Carl standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Boss. Didn’t know if we would see you today.”

“Yeah, I’ve been on my commlink all morning.” Carl leaned over the desk to see what they were working on. “What’s this?”

Cruncher sat back in his chair and gestured to the monitor in front of him. “I was showing Elyot the code Kayla wrote when she stole the data cube. She modified it so it’ll protect our system from the same type of attack. Apparently, some of our critical base systems were vulnerable.”

At Carl’s obvious interest, Cruncher entered a few commands. The new code appeared on the screen, along with the overlay system Kayla modified.

Carl looked at the code in surprise. “When did she do this?”

“She started working on it yesterday. Then, this morning when she woke up, she insisted I hook her into the system so she could work on it from the med room. For the past several hours that girl has been tearing apart our security and rebuilding it.”

Carl chuckled, imagining the scene. “She’s been doing all this from the med room?”

“Yeah, she was pretty pissed with Veridian for not letting her get up. Veridian compromised by letting her work from the med room. That girl is something else. I’ve never seen anyone with her skills either above or below ground. I don’t know how the hell she does it.”

Lisia turned away from her screen and stared at the three men, not bothering to hide her disgust. “How much longer are you going to keep going on about this? I’m sick and tired of listening to you guys fawn over her.”

Cruncher raised an eyebrow. “When you start bringing in a fraction of the credits that girl does in a week, let me know. Then I’ll start singing your praises too.”

Elyot moved between them and held up his hands. “Come on, Cruncher. Leave her alone.”

Lisia shook her head and pushed away from her desk. “No, Elyot, I’m sick of this. Every single one of you has been going on about her since she came up on your radar. But how much of it is her so-called talent you’re admiring? From the looks of things, she’s been nothing but trouble since you first saw her. She’s got us on lockdown over here, and we’re working around the clock because of her. Personally, I think it’s her assets that have you drooling.”

Carl had just about reached his limit with her attitude. Cruncher wasn’t helping matters either; he’d never been fond of Lisia. “That’s enough. All of you. Lisia, you’re a good tech and we appreciate everything you do. You and Kayla are both valuable members of this team. We need to work together and try to get along.”

Lisia let out a forced laugh. “So maybe I should mimic your behavior and try sleeping with her? Because from where I’m standing, that’s what it looks like you want.”

Elyot’s eyes widened. “Lisia… don’t,” he said in a low whisper.

Anger floored Carl, but he managed to rein it in. “This conversation is over.”

“Fine.” Lisia slammed her monitoring station shut. Without another word, she stormed out of the room.

Elyot looked sheepish and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about that, Boss. I’ll talk to her.”

Carl shook his head. He’d put off dealing with Lisia long enough. “No. I appreciate the offer, but I’ll speak with her. I’ve given her more leeway than I should have because of what happened. That was my fault. I need to be the one to work this out with her.”

Elyot hesitated. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll stay out of it as much as I can, but she’s still my sister, Carl.”

“I know. That’s why I haven’t pushed until now.”

Elyot nodded and sat back down. With a deep breath, Carl headed down the hallway after Lisia. When he reached the crew’s quarters, he found her talking to Zane. Judging by Zane’s discomfort and relief at seeing Carl, it was clear she was complaining again. Carl clenched his jaw and tried to maintain his composure. “Lisia, I need to speak with you in my office.”

Her shoulders stiffened, but she gave him a curt nod before turning to Zane. “Sorry, I’ll catch you later.”

Carl ignored the questioning look on Zane’s face and followed Lisia. She flounced into his office and turned to him when she reached the desk.

Even in her anger, Carl couldn’t deny she was extraordinarily pretty. Her long, blond hair was piled on top of her head with a few curls falling around her face. She was tall and slender with delicate features. Her blue eyes were full of a mixture of hostility and apprehensiveness. Unfortunately, her once sweet nature had been replaced by an angry bitterness.

“You need something, Carl?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he engaged the privacy controls. There would be enough rumors circulating over their previous argument in the tech room. He didn’t need to add more fuel to the fire. “We need to talk about your attitude, Lisia.”

She leaned against his desk and crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s to discuss? You’ve made it clear you’re no longer interested in me.”

Carl sighed and tried to remain diplomatic. “Lisia, you’re a good person and a good tech. What happened between us shouldn’t have happened. I crossed a line when I kissed you. I gave you the wrong impression and I apologize.”

Lisia’s expression clouded as her shoulders slumped. “I thought there was something between us. I don’t understand what changed. I care about you.”

Carl could see the pain in her eyes. He wanted to be gentle with her, but she’d gone too far. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve never wanted to hurt you. But this has got to stop.”

She frowned. “This is because of Kayla, isn’t it? Until she came into the picture, everything was fine. What’s so special about her?”

“You’re wrong. This has nothing to do with her,” Carl insisted, although part of him wondered if she might have a point. The more he was around Kayla, the more he wanted her, even to the point of being distracted from his responsibilities. On some level, he recognized he was approaching dangerous territory. A relationship between a ruin rat and a trader could be disastrous.

“I don’t believe that. I’ve seen the way you look at her. She has every single man in this camp practically falling over himself trying to get her attention. It’s too bad Vex wasn’t able to finish what he started.” Her hand flew to her mouth. She shook her head and whispered, “I didn’t mean that.”

Her words were the last straw. Carl gave her a hard look. “Are you sure about that?”

She didn’t answer. Carl leaned across his desk. “You signed a one-year contract with me. That contract is up in two months. Unless I see a dramatic shift in your attitude and you begin treating everyone on this team with respect, your contract will not be renewed.”

Her blue eyes widened in shock at his declaration. “Elyot won’t stay without me.”

“If that’s what happens, so be it. I’m prepared to lose both of you, if that’s what you decide. You need to figure out if that’s what you want, and if you’re willing to go back to your old life.”

Lisia swallowed and straightened her shoulders. She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a cold stare. “I understand. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?”

“No, that’s all.”

She started to turn away, but Carl held up his hand to stop her. “Lisia, I hope you consider this carefully. Your decision will also affect your brother.”

“You’ve made yourself clear, Carl.” Lisia turned on her heels and left his office.

Carl slumped down in his chair and ran his hands over his face in frustration. He supposed his confrontation with her could have gone worse. At least she hadn’t tried to take a swing at him.

A beep from his commlink interrupted his musing. Flipping it open, he stared at the message from OmniLab. A representative from the towers was coming to the camp to discuss the situation with Ramiro. He sighed and tossed it on his desk. If it wasn’t one thing, it was something else.

He pushed away from his desk. If OmniLab was coming, he needed to let Kayla know and prepare her. There was no doubt they were going to want to speak with her about the Aurelia Data Cube incident. The representatives from OmniLab would probably be in for a shock when they realized how large of a rift there was between themselves and the so-called ruin rats.

The moment Carl left his office, he heard shouting. Alarmed, he ran down the hall where the yelling seemed to be originating from.

Jinx, Veridian, and Xantham were standing in the hallway outside the medical room. Veridian was leaning against the wall and seemed undisturbed by the noise. Jinx was chewing on her lip anxiously and looked as though she wanted to intervene while Xantham tried to stifle his laughter.

“What the hell is going on?” Carl demanded.

Veridian shrugged. “Leo stopped by to see Kayla. He wanted to see for himself what Ramiro did to her.”

Jinx shook her head in exasperation. “They’ve been yelling at each other for about twenty minutes now.”

“At least they aren’t breaking anything.” Veridian grinned.

“Is this normal?” Carl glanced at the closed door, incredulous at their behavior.

“This is relatively tame. Usually it’s much worse, but I guess it’s to be expected since Kayla isn’t running at full capacity yet.”

“You should hear some of the insults, Boss.” Xantham chuckled. “Kayla’s got some especially creative ones.”

“This is absurd. I’m putting a stop to this.” Carl reached for the door, narrowly avoiding being hit when it swung open. Leo stormed out, his face red and furious. When he saw Carl, he squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest.

“Good. It’s you. Maybe you’ll have better luck getting that screeching harpy in there to listen to reason.”

“I heard that, you snot-nosed, scrawny-assed half-wit!” Kayla shouted. “How the hell did you learn to walk on your hands and teach your asshole how to talk?”

“Shut up, you pit-diving, self-absorbed shrew. Your betters are talking!” Leo shouted over his shoulder and winked at Carl.

“What betters? You can’t count your balls and get the same answer twice!” Kayla yelled from inside the room.

Xantham burst out laughing. Veridian grinned, and Jinx tried unsuccessfully to hide her smile. Carl stared at Leo. The man had to be insane.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Leo?” Carl demanded in a low whisper.

“I should ask you the same question. You take my best scavenger for the sake of protecting her and let this happen?”

Veridian interrupted. “Leo, Carl was the one who saved her. She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”

“Don’t think I don’t know that, boy,” Leo reproved and turned back to Carl. “I’m grateful for what you did for her. When Veridian called me and told me what happened, I needed to come out here and see how bad off she was. Now that I’ve seen for myself, I know she’ll be okay. She’s still got her fight left in her.”

“You were intentionally trying to provoke her?”

Leo grinned, rocking back on his heels. “Of course. How else do you get through to her? She’s got more spit and vinegar in her than anyone. If she wasn’t bitching and yelling, I’d know it was serious.”

Carl rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the headache that threatened. “Xantham, can you show Leo out? Kayla needs rest, not… whatever this is.”

Xantham grinned and led Leo toward the exit. One hurdle overcome, Carl took a deep breath and stepped into the medical room prepared to face a bigger challenge. How such a willful personality could fit inside a petite, curvy body was a mystery.

Kayla was sitting up looking down at her legs as they dangled off the side of the bed. Her head shot up when he entered.

Her eyes were bright, and her skin was slightly flushed from yelling back and forth with Leo. Her dark hair was loose around her face, and Carl noticed the bone molds had been removed. Someone had brought her some clean clothes, and the bruises were barely noticeable.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh. Hey, Carl. I thought you were Leo coming back to go another round.”

“You seem to be feeling better,” he observed.

“Yeah. I’m tired of sitting here though,” she complained. “Veridian wouldn’t let me get up. Then he stuck Leo on me.”

“Oh?”

Veridian stepped into the room. “Only because you were bound and determined to try to get up and go running around. Kayla, you nearly died! You need to rest. Let your body heal.”

She waved her hand, dismissing his objections. “So you’ve been telling me all day. I get it.”

Carl sighed in exasperation. “Kayla, you’re a piece of work. Veridian, give me a few minutes with her.”

Veridian raised an eyebrow but didn’t object. He left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

Carl crossed the room to stand in front of Kayla. He gently tilted her head back and studied her. The cut on her head appeared to be rapidly healing, thanks to the OmniLab medicine.

“How do you feel?”

“Other than wanting to drag Ramiro through the district tied to the back of my speeder? Much better, thanks.”

“Don’t worry. He’ll get what’s coming to him,” Carl promised. “You had us worried, Kayla. We thought we were going to lose you.”

“Yeah, I heard.” She glanced away and bit her lower lip. When she turned back to look at him, her face was filled with uncertainty.

“I’m not very good at this, but I… um… wanted to thank you. Veridian told me you were the one who stayed with me and brought me up from the ruins. He said you sat in here with me afterwards for a long time too.”

A small smile touched his face. “Yes, I did, and you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re all right.”

Clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, she tugged at a loose thread on the blanket. “So did you find out anything more about Ramiro?”

He shook his head. “Not much. I called him last night and told him where to retrieve Vex’s body. I’m sure he’s done it by now. He was pretty pissed about it. But you don’t have anything to worry about. I contacted OmniLab to escalate the petition and they’re reviewing it now.”

“I didn’t know I’d killed him until Veridian told me.”

Carl sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. “What do you remember?”

Kayla frowned. “I had just gotten down to the fourth level and I was sitting there, thinking. I remember hearing the motor of a cable and I thought it was either you or Veridian. I figured you guys had come looking for me. When my cable fell down, I realized it was probably one of Ramiro’s goons.

“Next thing I knew, Vex knocked me to the ground. He kicked me, but I managed to get back up. He lifted me up and started choking me. I couldn’t breathe,” she recalled, rubbing her throat absently. “I didn’t even think about it. I grabbed my knife and lashed out. I must have cut him. I didn’t even realize I’d hurt him. I think he threw me into the wall. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Carl reached out, putting his hand over hers. “You did what you had to do, Kayla.”

“I know,” she said in a soft voice. “I don’t feel any guilt for killing that bastard. I just wish it had been a year ago.”

Carl squeezed her hand, wanting to reassure her. “You did the right thing.”

“Yeah,” she murmured and let her gaze drop to the floor. She bit her lip and looked up at him hopefully. “Think this mess with Ramiro will be cleared up and I can go back to scavenging in a couple days?”

Carl shook his head, unsurprised by her eagerness to get back to work. He’d known she was going to be a terrible patient. “No way. You need to stay above ground a bit longer than a couple days. The petition against Ramiro should be resolved soon, but you still need to heal.”

Her lips turned down into a pout. “What kind of time frame are you thinking? Two days? Three?”

“Why don’t we take it a day at a time and see how you’re progressing. You’re healing rapidly, thanks to the booster we gave you, but you still need to give yourself some time.”

Kayla blew out a breath, and he could tell she was frustrated. “Well, can I at least get out of this stupid room? It’s making me crazy. I’m not an invalid.”

“That’s fine.”

“Good. I want to see what Cruncher’s been doing with my security modifications. I also want to get Xantham to show me the comm system so I can figure out how they managed to get through to your system.”

Carl chuckled at her enthusiasm. “I’m sure Cruncher would be happy to show you. He was admiring your work earlier. You’re very talented, Kayla. Where did you learn your tech skills?”

She bumped her shoulder against his playfully. “You should know better than to ask. Ruin rats don’t tell traders their secrets.”

Carl raised an eyebrow, pretending to scrutinize her. “Hmm. Now that I think about it, you’re not looking as well as I first thought. You may need to stay in bed for at least a week. I’m not sure you should overly excite yourself by looking at security or communication systems either.”

Kayla’s face fell at his words and she scowled. “Why, you lousy, sneaky—”

“Careful, Kayla,” he warned teasingly. “You might even need two weeks to recover if you get yourself worked up again.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at him, clamping her mouth shut.

“So you were about to tell me where you learned your tech skills,” he hinted.

“You’re almost as bad as Veridian,” she accused and then shrugged. “Well, there’s no big mystery. I’ve always had a knack for it. It sounds kinda silly, but I’ve always thought computers were a lot easier to understand than people.”

“What do you mean?”

“They do what you tell them to do, and if it doesn’t work, it’s not because they’re mad at you, or feel threatened by you, or think you’re a smartass. It’s because you didn’t do it right. They’re infinitely patient too. You can keep trying until it’s finally right. They don’t ever give up on you.”

Carl watched her quietly for a moment. Her head was slightly lowered, and she was intently studying the blanket on the bed. The tough exterior she portrayed to the world had slipped away. She looked so uncharacteristically vulnerable that he wanted to take her in his arms and reassure her everything would be all right.

“That makes sense.”

Kayla looked up at him and blushed when she realized she’d said too much. Carl smiled at her. The light flush on her cheeks was endearing and so unlike the normal façade she presented to the world.

He took her hand in his again. “Well, since you were forthcoming with me, I think we should see about getting you into the tech room. Are you still interested?”

“Hell yeah!”

“And she’s back,” he said, chuckling at her exuberance. He helped her up and put his arm around her waist to steady her. “Go ahead and lean on me. Take it slow.”

She took a few tentative steps and muttered, “Okay, maybe you were right about keeping me above ground for a few days. This sucks.”

He chuckled and slid the door open to find Veridian and Jinx waiting outside. Veridian gaped at Kayla. “She shouldn’t be out of bed yet.”

“It’s okay, Veridian. I’m taking her into the tech room for a few minutes, and then she promises to go to bed.”

“What? No, I didn’t,” Kayla protested.

“Yes, you did. If you’ve forgotten already, maybe you should lie down now.”

“You’re too damn sneaky.” She sighed in resignation. “I guess I did then.”

“Good girl,” he whispered in her ear, giving her a slight squeeze. She laughed at his teasing.

Veridian started to object again and then shrugged. “I guess you know what you’re doing.”

Carl walked her into the tech room, impressed with her determination. Cruncher jumped out of his chair and gave her a gentle hug, careful to avoid her injuries. The two men helped ease her into a chair in front of the monitors.

“Glad you’re okay, kiddo. You had us worried.”

Kayla offered him a smile and gestured to the monitors. “I’m just glad to be out of the med room. Bring on the goodies, Cruncher. Let me see what you managed to do while they had me locked up all day.”

“You’re gonna love this,” Cruncher predicted and pulled up the security overlay. Kayla’s eyes immediately fixed on the screen.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Carl promised. “And then you’re going to bed.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” She waved dismissively, not bothering to look away from the screen.

Carl chuckled. “Mind keeping an eye on her, Cruncher?”

“No problem, Boss.” Cruncher sat next to her and rested his arm on the back of her chair. He leaned over her to point out some areas of the screen.

Pleased she was recovering well, Carl was still smiling when he left the room and headed to his office.

Kayla studied the security images Cruncher pulled up on the screen. She was impressed with how far he’d gotten on her designs since this morning. He’d incorporated a few new ideas into them, and she wondered how she could apply it to other programs she’d worked on.

“How does it look?”

Kayla turned at the sound of Carl’s voice. “Fantastic. I think we’ve got everything locked down tight. I want to make a few more tweaks, but even I would have a hard time getting through this system now.” She beamed with pride. It was some of her best work. “I haven’t looked at the communication system yet though.”

“Soon. But you need to get some rest now.”

She started to object but fell silent at the look on his face. With a sigh, she stood up. Carl took a step toward her. “Do you need help?”

“No, I can do this.” She shook her head, squaring her shoulders in determination. “I need to do this.”

Carl kept pace with her as she made her way toward the crew’s quarters. Even though he didn’t insist on helping her, she enjoyed his reassuring presence. He was quieter than usual, though, and Kayla wondered about it.

“Is everything okay? You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine.” He darted a quick glance at her. “There is something I need to tell you though. I got a message from OmniLab earlier. They’re going to send someone out to talk about the petition against Ramiro. They’ll probably want to speak with you. I’m hoping you’ll be nice.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. Be nice? To a bunch of Omnis? “Are you asking me to be nice or kiss their ass? Because it’ll be a cold day in hell before the latter happens.”

He chuckled in spite of himself. “I suppose I’ll be thankful for nice.”

She winked at him and offered, “In that case, I’ll see what I can do.”

When they arrived at her private area within the crew’s quarters, he followed her inside and activated the privacy settings. Kayla raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get frisky with me while I’m recuperating,” she teased.

His mouth twisted into a grin. “As tempting as that would be, I’ll try to restrain myself. I wanted to let you know there’s a good chance they’re going to ask you about Pretz. I understand it’s painful for you, but you’ll need to tell them what happened.”

She sat on the edge of her bed. “Screw that. You want me to tell a couple of pompous Omnis about my personal life? Keep dreaming, pal.”

Carl opened her locker and took out the picture of Pretz. Her heart pounded. Why was he bringing this up again? He tried to hand it to her, but she pushed it away.

“Put it back.”

He put the picture on her lap. “Kayla, I want you to look at him. He meant a great deal to you. I’d like you to tell me about him.”

She stiffened. It was bad enough she’d poured her heart out to him before. She didn’t need to do it again. “I’m not interested in your games. Take it, Carl. Put it away. Leave the past in the past.”

He shook his head and said stubbornly, “He was important to you. That memory deserves to be honored.”

Kayla looked down at the picture. Pretz’s smiling face stared up at her, and she studied it for a long time. She traced her fingers over his image. She felt a pang of sadness, remembering his laughter. “Why are you pushing this, Carl?”

“It’s important for you to talk about it. The more you talk about it, the easier it’ll get. You’ve kept this bottled inside for almost a year. Don’t you think it’s time you let some of your pain out?”

He didn’t understand. It wasn’t just about losing Pretz. She’d lost part of herself when he died. “What do you know about it? You know absolutely nothing about losing someone you care about! He was one of the only people who ever gave me a second thought. Because of me, he’s gone. If I had only…” Her eyes welled with tears as she looked away.

“Kayla, it’s not your fault. It’s Ramiro’s and Vex’s fault. If it weren’t for them, he’d still be alive. You need to stop blaming yourself.”

Carl’s voice was full of compassion, and it made the heaviness in her chest even worse. Kayla put the picture aside, not wanting to look at it anymore. “Go away, Carl. I don’t want to talk about this.”

He ignored her request. Instead, he sat next to her and put his arm around her. She stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“What was he like?” he asked and put the picture back on her lap again.

He was torturing her. She wanted to lash out and push him away, but she doubted it would do any good. That tactic had proven ineffective with him. She hung her head in resignation. “He… he was the only person in Ramiro’s crew with an ounce of talent and charm.”

“You met him when he came to your camp?”

Kayla nodded, smiling at the memory and brushing tears out of her eyes. “Yeah, he was an impossible flirt. He used to wait for me outside Leo’s camp and follow me to our scavenge sites. He was incredibly annoying and sweet at the same time.”

“Was he the one who taught you how to work locks?”

“Mmhmm,” she murmured and traced his outline on the photograph. “I was already pretty good at locks, but he was amazing. He knew how competitive I was and turned it into a game. There was this stupid song he used to hum while he was working the locks. It drove me crazy because it was so distracting, but I’d love to hear it one more time.”

“What was it that you liked about him?”

Kayla sighed and leaned into Carl, letting his warmth surround her. “He loved being in the ruins. Although I think part of him said that because he knew how I felt about them. He used to sneak off from Ramiro’s camp to go scavenging with me. We would end up sitting there and talking for hours. He was such a dreamer.”

“What do you mean?”

“He always had these big plans for the future,” she explained with a laugh. “He wanted to one day run his own camp or make some kind of outrageous discovery and try to buy his way into the towers.”

“What about you? Did you want that too?”

She shook her head. “No. Until Pretz, I’d never thought about the future. If I spent all my time fantasizing about the future, I’d forget to live in the present. But he seemed to enjoy it, and I liked listening to him.” Kayla put the picture on the small table next to her bed. “I never told him I loved him. I didn’t even realize I did until after he was gone.”

Carl looked at her in surprise. “I’m sure he knew how much you cared for him.”

“Maybe,” she said in a quiet voice. She hoped he did. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life is far too unpredictable.”

“I agree, but that’s part of what makes it precious.” Carl reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. His hand caressed the side of her face, sending chills through her. “I should probably let you get some rest.”

“Carl, wait.” She put her hand on his arm to stop him. “Don’t go yet.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re still recovering, Kayla. You should try to get as much rest as you can. We can talk more tomorrow. The sooner you heal, the sooner you can go back into the ruins.”

“I know,” she said impatiently, but her thoughts weren’t on scavenging. In forcing her to confront her demons, he’d loosened something inside her.

What she felt for Carl wasn’t the same as what she’d felt for Pretz. There was no substitution. Her relationship with Pretz had been consummated in innocence. They’d both been blind to the realities of their harsh world. With Carl, there was no future, and he’d never make empty promises. In some ways, it made it easier. She could live fully in the moment with him and not worry about tomorrow.

Kayla leaned toward him and pressed her lips against his. When he didn’t immediately push her away, she wrapped her arms around him. There was only a moment of hesitation before Carl deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him. She shifted herself so she was straddling his lap and could more easily tease his mouth with her lips.

He broke the kiss. “Kayla, you’re still injured.”

“Shut up, Carl.” She pushed him back on her bed. She didn’t want words right now. She needed to just… feel. Kayla kissed his neck and nipped at his earlobe while his hands roamed up her thighs toward her waist. She sat up and ran her fingers lightly over his chest before reaching down and pulling her shirt over her head. Tossing it across the room, she looked down at him intently, waiting to see if he would accept what she offered.

Carl took a deep breath as he looked up at her partially nude body. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her dark hair fell around her face, and her green eyes were full of desire. His hands wandered from her slim waist up toward her breasts. Her skin was incredibly soft, and the scent of her was intoxicating.

“Kayla,” he murmured, not wanting to break the moment but needing to say the words. “I’m a trader. Are you sure about this?”

She paused for a moment, and Carl started to wonder if she’d changed her mind. He was about to reach for her shirt when she said, “Just tell me you can’t get me pregnant.”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head. Of course she’d worry about such a thing. A pregnancy for a ruin rat could be disastrous. “OmniLab carefully controls procreation so we can maintain our resource levels. We’re all required to—”

“I don’t need a birth control lesson, Carl,” she interrupted. As she tugged on his shirt, he sat up to help her remove it. Kayla threw it on the floor and turned to him with a look of fierce determination. “And yes, I’m sure. I’ll face whatever comes. I don’t want to wait. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day, but right now, this is what I need. I need to feel alive.”

Carl stared at her, powerless to refuse her. She was offering a large part of herself to him, and selfishly, he wanted to take it. He couldn’t remember ever wanting someone the way he wanted her.

She ran her fingers across his chest, and he pulled her close to him. When his mouth found hers again, he flipped her over, pinning her to the bed. As she wrapped her legs around him, he was struck by the intense need to be inside her.

This woman drove him to the edge of sanity. Her smell surrounded him, intoxicating him, and driving him to possess her. He forced himself to slow down and bent down to take one of her nipples into his mouth. Kayla gasped as he flicked his tongue against her nipple and suckled gently.

“Carl. I want… I need…”

“Shh. I know.”

He pulled off her shorts with nimble fingers while his mouth teased her navel. When he reached the soft mound of dark curls, he gently spread her open and tasted her sweetness. Kayla gasped, her hands fisted in the blankets.

Finding the sensitive nodule above her opening, Carl gently worked it with his tongue. When she cried out, shuddering in release, he moved back up to cover her body with his. Unhooking his pants and slipping them off, he positioned himself against her and paused.

“Kayla, look at me.”

Her eyes fluttered open, still dazed from her orgasm. He held her gaze as he began to push inside her, not stopping until he was fully seated within her. Kayla gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders, pulling him toward her.

She was so tight and hot, it took all of his control not to lose himself completely. He forced himself to move slowly inside her, trying to give her time to get used to him.

Carl shifted her slightly and found the sensitive nub again with his fingers. He rubbed against it while she clung to him. His rhythm increased as her body responded to his. Feeling her writhing beneath him with her soft cries in his ears was a heady combination.

When she wrapped her legs around him again and whimpered in his ear, Carl felt as though he was already lost. He plunged into her depths without abandon as she met him stroke for stroke. When Kayla trembled with her release a second time, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He pushed into her once more and exploded inside her.

Collapsing on top of her, Carl buried his face in her hair. After a moment, he became dimly aware he was probably crushing her. He rolled over to give her a chance to breathe and looked down at her.

Her skin was flushed from their lovemaking, and she had a small smile on her face. Her eyes were closed, and he was struck once again by how stunning she was. Bending down to kiss her softly, she wrapped her arms around him in response.

He felt a faint stirring inside him already and was mildly surprised at the reaction she evoked from him. “Kayla?”

“Hmm?” she replied, lazily opening her eyes.

Carl propped himself up on his elbow, worried he’d been too rough. In the heat of the moment, he’d forgotten about her injuries. “Are you all right?”

She lifted her hand to touch his face and murmured, “Mmhmm. I’m better than all right. I feel wonderful.”

Carl lightly brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, sweetheart.”

Kayla closed her eyes and snuggled against him. He wrapped his arm around her and held her while she slept.