the only warning he gave before leaping into action.
* * * * *
Bree drifted into a state of half-awareness, imagining hypnotically dark eyes and erect fangs attached to the hands that were presently moving all over her back. The chip in her mind signaled her preferences to James, whose motions went along with her thoughts, facilitating the massage until she was completely relaxed.
Then suddenly he tensed, his body becoming a crushing pressure against her thighs. She felt him pitch forward and she screamed, knowing the droid’s heavy weight could kill her.
But before that could happen, the burden was snatched away with a snarl. She rolled over, confused, and barely caught sight of James’ bent legs moving horizontally out the door.
“Hey!” she yelled, leaping from the bed and dragging the sheet with her. She covered herself as she ran out to the corridor. Alexei was already halfway down the hall, her droid tucked securely beneath his arm. Bree gaped. James weighed a ton, but the vamp carried him as if he weighed nothing.
Her bare feet slapped against the cool metal floor as she gave chase. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“This thing’s got to go,” he muttered.
She studied the odd stillness of her droid. “What did you do to him?”
“Shut it off.”
“You can’t do that!” she protested.
“I just did.”
Alex rounded the corridor and entered the cargo hold. Finding a neglected corner, she heard him drop James unceremoniously to the ground.
“You’re going to break him,” she complained, stumbling blindly into the darkness behind him.
He rounded on her, dark eyes flashing red in the unlit interior. “If only I could be so lucky.”
Bree scowled. “What’s your deal anyway?”
The laser brightness of his gaze grew more intense, signaling that he was moving closer. She stood her ground and lifted her chin even as her heart raced with excitement.
“I’m not sharing you with a droid. Got it?”
She blinked in surprise and then bit back a smile, grateful he couldn’t see it.
“I love your smile,” he purred, moving closer. “Even when it comes at my expense.”
Choking, she took rapid backward steps. Damn! She’d forgotten he could see in the dark.
“No need to make me jealous,” he said softly, the foreign inflection in his words making her nipples hard. “I’m easy.”
At the reminder, she snorted and spun on her heel.
“Hey!” Now he was chasing her.
“Go away, Alex.”
She shrieked as her feet left the deck and she was swung up into his arms.
“Don’t be mad at me, sweetness,” he said, nuzzling her throat. “I can service you much better than a droid could.”
“No doubt,” she said petulantly. “With your experience.”
He moved down the corridor, walking straight past her room. “Isn’t my experience something you want?”
Bree glared at him. “Stay out of my head, captain.”
“Call me Alexei, like you do in your thoughts.”
“Listen…” she began, but then fell silent as they entered the dining area. Turning her head, she gazed around the room and her mood switched from irritation to blossoming pleasure. The mess hall, normally a stark utilitarian space with metal bulkheads, chairs and tables, was transformed. “Wow,” she breathed.
A small table set for one was draped in a multitude of colorful scarves and softly lit by dimmed overhead lights. She inhaled the luscious scent of curried Tolan fowl and her mouth watered.
“Do you like it?”
Looking up at him, she was arrested by his boyish, hopeful smile. Black, silky hair fell across his forehead framing his exotically handsome face with its sensual lips and thickly lashed eyes. She was suddenly aware of the way her right breast was pressed against his chest and how her hip rested against the rippling expanse of his abdomen.
“Oh yeah, I like it.” She wasn’t talking about the food. And he knew it.
“Good.” Alex carried her to her seat and set her down.
“Shouldn’t I