Collision Course by Zoe Archer Read Free Book Online

more developed planets are still mostly magma.”
    “So they’re constantly shifting and re-forming. Like one of those old-fashioned magma lanterns.”
    Her laugh was low, husky—unexpectedly arousing. He suddenly imagined her sultry laugh as she tumbled across her bed, with him tumbling atop her.
    “Think I remember my older brother having one of those,” she said, entirely unaware of his thoughts. “He used to smoke bindleweed and stare at it for hours.”
    He tucked away the knowledge that she had an older brother as one might pocket a glimmering flake of zelenium. Each piece of information about her felt strangely precious.
    “But that’s an apt analogy,” she continued. “Ilden’s Lash looks almost exactly like that, except you’d be incinerated if you just stood and stared at it. A passage through might look clear one moment, and in the next, it’s a wall of molten rock.”
    “Unpredictable. That’s what keeps everyone out.”
    “Except the scum.”
    “Except the scum,” he echoed.
    They both took sips of their kahve . Sitting with her in the small confines of the cockpit, both nursing their mugs—it felt intimate. He had sat in the base’s mess more times than he could remember, sharing the day’s first cup with other members of the squad. Even when it had been just him and one other person, male or female, discussing the latest briefing or plans for R & R, he hadn’t sensed the same kind of intimacy as he did now.
    She must have sensed it, too, because she cleared her throat and shifted awkwardly in her seat. “Just because there are some who know the Smoke and know Ilden’s Lash doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. Pilots die trying to make their way through, even ones who’ve taken the Lash a hundred times before.”
    “Doesn’t sound like an even trade,” Kell mused. “Risking your life again and again just for a bit of privacy.”
    “Two things, Commander. First, never underestimate a scavenger’s need for privacy. We spend our lives running from the law, constantly looking over our shoulders. Having a place that’s all our own is a gift.”
    He mulled this, considering how it reflected on her needs. “And the second?”
    She gave him another blood-heating smile. “Risk turns us scavengers on.”
    “Us scavengers? Or you?”
    “Yes to both.” She ran her finger around the rim of her mug. “But especially me.”
    He fought a shudder of need. When he spoke, he was surprised how level his voice sounded, instead of the growl he thought it would be. “You should consider becoming a fighter pilot.”
    “A bunch of thrill seekers?”
    “Worse than kids darting between laser trams.”
    She shook her head. “And here I thought you 8 th Wing types were all rule and regulation.”
    “A lot are,” he admitted. “Couldn’t fight PRAXIS if there wasn’t discipline and order. But Black Wraith Squad—we’re the wild ones.”
    Her gaze turned contemplative as she stared at him. “I like the sound of that.”
    Kell seriously wondered if she was trying to kill him. Every word out of her mouth seemed laden with erotic promise. Deliberate or not, it played havoc with his willpower. He felt tightly wound, as if it had been two months and not two weeks since he’d last taken a woman to bed. It took him a moment to remember who that woman had been—a lieutenant from the Engineering Corps who’d been looking for a night’s release—but everything about that night vanished in the heat of Mara’s presence.
    How the fuck was he supposed to get through this mission with his mind and reflexes intact? He had thought the danger would come from either PRAXIS or negotiating the Smoke Quadrant. Turned out that the biggest threat sat right beside him, in the form of a scavenger with wide-set eyes, silky white hair and a thirst for excitement.
    It was a relief when the control panel blared, breaking the moment. Mara straightened and set her mug down at her feet.
    “Better drain your cup,