Stowaway by Becky Black Read Free Book Online Page B

arrived in Raine’s office for his daily check-in a good ten minutes late. He had no good reason for this tardiness; he just knew it would annoy Raine. He’d come straight from the galley where they’d finished cleaning up after breakfast and still had his whites and his apron on. He never took the apron off when wearing his kitchen gear. He liked not looking as if he was wearing a sack.
    “You’re late,” Raine said as Kit walked in.
    “So dock my pay. Let’s get on with it.”
    “Don’t use that tone with me, please.”
    “I’ll use any tone with you I like. What are you going to do about it?”
    Raine raised his eyebrows, surprise taking over from the irritation on his face. He smiled. “Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
    Kit wasn’t conciliated by the smile. He’d been hoping to spend the night not in the bunk room but in an officer’s quarters. But when he’d gone to Parker’s cabin, he hadn’t even gotten past the door.
    Parker had opened it only partway and looked awkward when he saw Kit. Kit had made an effort. Showered, shaved again, changed into the best-fitting of his borrowed clothes, and his hair looked damn good. But his smile had frozen in place when Parker said he was sorry, but it wasn’t such a good idea for Kit to be there after all.
    “You seemed to think it was a good idea this afternoon.”
    “Sorry,” Parker had said and closed the door.
    Kit had stared at it. He rarely saw a closed door from the wrong side. Most men were extremely happy when he showed up with his sexy grin, ready to show them a good time. What the hell could have changed Parker’s mind?
    “You were in officer country from 2238 until 2322,” Raine said, bringing Kit’s attention back to him. “What were you doing there?”
    He could only tell what section Kit had been in, Kit knew. The tracking data wasn’t fine-grained enough to show an individual cabin, and there were no cameras in that corridor. So for all Raine knew, Kit might have been in Parker’s cabin for nearly forty-five minutes. And Raine wanted to know, because a lot could happen in forty-five minutes.
    Kit hadn’t realized he’d hung out up there so long after seeing the wrong side of Parker’s door. There was a tall, narrow port at the end of the corridor and he’d found himself drawn to it. He’d stood there gazing out at the stars for some time, trying to figure out why Parker had turned him away. Had Raine warned him off after seeing them flirting in the mess hall?
    He wanted Kit himself, so why didn’t he say so? Did he think it would be inappropriate? He surely couldn’t be disciplined enough to ignore the instructions his cock gave him— Fuck this guy right now ! In Kit’s experience, such men did not exist.
    “What were you doing there?” Raine repeated.
    “Visiting someone.” He watched for the reaction, quite gratified to see the little wince.
    “Who?”
    “None of your business.”
    “It is my business.”
    “You’ll have to beat it out of me, then.”
    Provocation again. And the reaction he wanted. Raine stood and came around the desk. He had gloves on again. Did he have poor circulation or something?
    “Why do you wear those gloves?”
    “What?” Raine stopped and looked down at his hands, apparently disconcerted by the change in subject. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
    “Is it a style thing?”
    “No.” Raine went and sat down again. “I come from Ryesh. It’s a very hot place.”
    Hot and dull, from what Kit had heard. A colony that had never delivered on early promise and, as others prospered, became a backwater, with a sparse and scattered population scraping a living in near-desert conditions.
    “So that’s why you wear a jacket and cap all the time too?” Kit asked. “Other people only wear those if they’re going down in the cargo holds. It’s pretty cold down there.”
    “You’re very observant,” Raine said, leaning back in his chair.
    “The