Adiron (Corsair Brothers 1)

"Perfect," I tell Jade as she holds it out to me. "Let's trade."

"Trade?" she asks, confused.

I pull the heavy plas-blanket off the bed and wrap it around her. "You're gonna get cold, and much as I'd love to warm you up, my hands are gonna be busy with other things."

"Oh. Thank you, Adiron." She still sounds a little dazed and scared.

I take the tools from her and hold my hand out again. "Come on. Let's go beat that control panel into submission."

“I’m sorry,” she says as we head out of Ruth’s rooms. “I need to get ahold of myself. I just…this is my biggest fear.”

“Then it’s good you’ve got me along,” I tell her smugly. “Because I’m going to take care of you.” And I mean it, too. Jade’s never going to be forced to rely on herself solely again. She’s got me now, and I’m going to look out for her. If I have to take on the universe to protect her, I will. She’s mine now. And she'll realize that soon enough.

43

JADE

The fact that the ship gets so cold so quickly makes me a little panicky. I clutch the blanket tightly to my body as Adiron guides me through the dark halls. He walks with confidence, as if he has the ship memorized already. Maybe all alien spaceships have the same layout, and that's how he knows exactly where to go. He doesn't seem worried, though, and that helps ease my frazzled nerves a little.

To think, just a short time ago, I was feeling better than I have in years, drowsy and delicious from a hard orgasm and the best oral sex I've ever had…and poof. Gone in the blink of an eye. The ship breaking down is my worst nightmare. It's the one that haunts me in my dreams and makes me break out into a cold sweat. I like control, and I don't have any with this ship. I don't know how to make much of it work, and if it's anything like cars back home, it'll need maintenance at some point. The smallest thing could go wrong and then we're without oxygen, or food, or water…

Or, as I'm noticing rather quickly, heat.

The temperature drops rather fast, which is a little alarming to me. Maybe it's because I'm not wearing a lot of clothing, but the floor feels colder against my feet within minutes. I think of the ice field Adiron claims we're on the edge of and wonder if we're slipping over into it. If we're going to turn into human (and alien) popsicles before the power comes back on. "Adiron," I whisper, worried. "How long do we have before the ship freezes over?"

He squeezes my hand. "Don't you worry. There's plenty of time to get things up and running again. I won't let you freeze."

His confidence makes me feel better. "It's really damn dark."

"I know. I've got you, though."

"Should we get a light of some kind?"

"Don't need it. We're almost there. Look." He points the tool case at a door at the far end of the hall. It's dimly lit thanks to the tiny blue emergency lights that are along the floor of the ship. I'm not all that familiar with this particular hall. There's a lot of doors and rooms in this ship that I don't know all that well, simply because they house technology that I don't know how to use. But Adiron seems to know what he's doing. He releases my hand and puts his on the panel to open the door. When it doesn't open, he chuckles. "Right. Power's off." He drops to his knees and presses a tiny button in the wall, and a panel pops out. "There we go. There's always a manual override."

He flicks a tiny switch and the doors make a clicking sound. Adiron stands and pushes them open and then steps inside.

I follow behind him closely. "What happens if we don't get it running?"

"We will."

"But if we don't?" Gosh, he's stubborn and frustrating sometimes. I don't want an answer meant to soothe me, I want a real answer.

It's even darker in here, so I can't make out his face. His legs are lit up, just a little, though, and I see his tail do a little shimmy that makes me think he shrugs. "Then we get cozy in an escape pod and figure things out from there."

"Oh…but we can't leave…" I protest.

"We also can't save anyone if we're dead," Adiron reasons. "I promise you, though, it won't be necessary. We're going to get this old girl working." He heads toward a large, smooth black structure with a few dead screens on it. It takes up most of the room, has a few cords curling around it leading off into the ship, and is bigger than my last car. I have no idea what the thing is, but Adiron seems to recognize it. He runs a hand along the surface. "We just need to get inside and check the wiring. There's a switch here somewhere." He touches something, and then I hear a snap. A moment later, Adiron holds up a piece of metal and chuckles. "Well, that ain't good."