She swallowed when he filled her mouth with his cum. The ecstasy at the added sensation had him crying out again. His tense body shook and when it ended after she released him gently with her mouth, he turned completely limp. He panted, eyes still closed, and his head fell forward. A deep sense of utter paradise settled throughout him.

“I take it I did that right?” Jill’s hesitant voice broke him from his euphoria.

Coal lifted his head, opened his eyes, and gazed at her with pure adoration. He couldn’t stop the smile that curved his lips. She had to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her mouth looked redder than normal, a little swollen, and a slight pinkness spread across her cheeks. Absolutely adorable, he thought, realizing how shy she looked and how unsure of her sexual skills.

His body didn’t want to move yet but he forced it to. He held out his hands to her. “Come here.”

He took note of the way her hands trembled a little when she placed them in his and how delicate they were in comparison to his own. She seemed so fragile—humans were—and he tugged her closer. She came, moving between his spread thighs again, and he lifted one of her hands, turned it over, and brought it to his mouth. He pressed a kiss to her soft palm. He saw her stunned look. “Thank you.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she blushed more. “You’ve gone down on me and I wanted to try it with you.”

“Did you get pleasure from it?” He hoped so because he really wanted her to do that again in the near future.

“You taste good and…” She bit her lip, something he had noted that she did often when nervousness came into play. “I did.”

His grin widened until the muscles in his face protested. “I’ve never had a female do that to me before and you nearly killed me from how wonderful it felt.”

Shock blanked her features and his smile died.

“Should I have not admitted that to you?” Uncertainty gripped him, not wanting her to react negatively. He wasn’t similar to other males, his life had made him different, and he hoped she wouldn’t pity him for something she obviously considered odd about him.

“Nobody ever gave you head?” Her astonishment couldn’t be clearer.

He shook his head, keeping hold of her hands. “No.”

“But didn’t any of those women ever try that to turn you on?”

“It was never about my pleasure but theirs. They used pain to stimulate my body.”

Jill jerked her hands out of his and he inwardly winced. He needed to stop informing her about what had, or in this case, hadn’t been done to him. She suddenly lunged at him. He tensed, stunned she’d attack him, but her arms slid around him instead, wrapping around his neck tightly in a hug. Her body pressed firmly against his chest. She turned her head until her lips brushed his throat.

“I’m so damn sorry for what those bitches did to you, Coal. Any time you want me to do that to you again, just tell me.”

A sense of happiness flooded him, nearly blinding him as his eyes watered and his arms wrapped around her to draw her up his body until he had her across his lap. He held her and she seemed willing to allow it when her arms continued to cling to him.

“Thank you, Jill.”

“How about if I send Arm after those women? He can kick some serious ass.”

The unexpected laugh poured from his chest. “Arm?”

She nodded against his throat. “Yeah. Can you imagine their faces when he came at them full speed to get some revenge for you? You should have seen your face when you first saw him. Someone should kick their sorry asses for what they did to you. I’d do it myself but I’m not really a fighter.” She paused. “I wouldn’t order him to kill them but I’d sure like to tell him to break some arms and legs.”

Coal hated to do it but he released her enough to pull back to study her upturned face. “Don’t even joke about it. I never want my people to have a reason to see you as the enemy. There are far more of them than you’d suspect. I appreciate the sentiment though. They can no longer harm me. I’m free.”

“It just makes me really mad.”

“I understand. I would love five minutes in a room with your ass**le.”

The laugh she gave him astonished him, not sure what he’d said in such a serious moment that she’d found humorous. Perhaps the idea of him harming her ex-husband made her that joyously happy. He’d sincerely hunt that human down if it pleased Jill and removed some of the sadness caused to her.

“I thought you said we weren’t going to have anal sex.” The teasing look glinting in her beautiful blue eyes demonstrated that she’d understood his context but had chosen to joke about it.

He grinned. “Your sense of humor is growing on me.”

“Good.” She winked. “I’m not having anal sex with you though.” Her grin faded. “You’re way too big.”

He laughed. “I can easily accept that.”

The chair suddenly made a crunching noise and Coal tensed as it collapsed under them. His hold on Jill shifted, protectively trying to shield her from harm with his arms when they hit the floor hard. She landed on top of him.

Jill gaped at the broken pieces next to them.

“Are you harmed?” His first concern was to make certain she hadn’t gotten hurt.

She shook her head. “You?”

He didn’t mention that a piece of metal dug uncomfortably against his bare ass cheek but he didn’t feel any pain, assessing that the skin hadn’t broken. The seat had remained under him for the most part while the legs and back of it had scattered in a debris pattern around them. “I’m fine.”

Jill laughed. “I guess we were too heavy for it.”

Coal looked toward the piece of the chair he’d snapped off earlier and tossed away. He didn’t want to admit he’d probably damaged it, made the seat unstable, in order to avoid digging his fingers into Jill’s lovely red hair when she’d wrapped her mouth around his cock.

“That’s more than logical,” he said in a serious tone.

Jill planted a quick kiss on his cheek and then wiggled on his lap. “We should find you some pants and clean up this mess.”

He hated to let her go but he did, helping her rise to her feet. “Good plan.”

What he really wanted though would be to sweep her into his arms, carry her to her quarters, and remove the rest of her clothing. He could happily spend days, weeks, even months pleasuring Jill.

Chapter Eight

Jill grinned, watching Coal toss the pieces of chair into the trash recycler while she put away the tools. The pants he’d changed into were too tight, revealing a nice ass when they stretched to the point of the seams possibly bursting, and made her wish they would, just to see him bare again. A warm sensation surged inside her chest so strongly it had her heart racing. Her happiness faded to be replaced quickly with sobering realization.

“Oh hell.”

Coal turned, his beautiful eyes meeting hers. “What is wrong?”

A lump formed in her throat and she had to swallow it down. “Nothing.”

A dark eyebrow lifted. “Jill?”

“I just remembered I don’t have another mobile chair in here,” she lied. I’m falling in love with him. Deeply.

“I’m sorry I’m not able to fix it.”

“It’s fine.” She forced a smile. “No worries. I’ll pick up another one the next time I go to a dump planet. That’s where I got that one. I probably should have left it there considering it obviously wasn’t well made.”

He gave her a sharp nod, turned away, and continued to clean up pieces. Jill spun to give him her back in case he glanced her way. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Don’t do this, she ordered silently. He’s a person, he wants to go back to his cyborg people, and you can’t keep him the way you did the droids.

“I believe that’s the last of it.”

She opened her eyes and turned, forcing another smile. “Hungry? I am.”

He nodded. “I could eat.”

“Good. I have canned roast beef I’ve been saving for a special occasion. Have you ever had it? It’s not simulated meat. It’s the real stuff, straight from Earth.”

“I haven’t, but I trust it will be delicious if it’s a special treat you have hoarded.”

She laughed. “Hoarded?”

“Saved?” He grinned. “Is that better?”

“Yes. I also have some―”

“Incoming traffic,” Fray announced over the speakers. “Two vessels.”

Fear gripped Jill. Coal’s features tensed.

“Follow me.”

He spun quickly and strode toward the cargo hold doors. Jill remained still for a split second and then compelled her body into action, jogging after him. He kept a steady, fast pace and she had to upgrade to a run to keep up with him.

“Move,” Coal demanded the second he entered the piloting station.

Fray abandoned his seat quickly and moved to the wall to keep out of the way. Jill had to catch her breath as she hovered just inside the doorway, watching Coal sink into the pilot seat to stare at the readings.

“It’s not the freighter we attacked,” he informed her. “They are coming into range from the direction we are traveling.” He paused. “Come here, Jill.”

She pushed forward and came around the chair to his side. One glance at the screen showed her two blinking lights and as she watched, they moved closer to the Jenny, heading right for them.

“Open communications and demand to know who they are and why they are approaching.” Coal turned his head to stare up at her. “Can I trust you not to send them a distress message that you need help?”

It hurt that he still didn’t trust her but she pushed it back, her fear stronger than the pain in her chest. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Your system is so outdated I can’t get a lock on what classifications they are. I hope they aren’t Earth Government warships.”

“Me too,” she muttered. “I’m probably wanted by them, remember?” She hesitated. “If they are and they decide to board us I want you to hide. There’s a false bottom under my bed where some illegal shit had once been stored. I found it by accident. They’ll never find you unless they bring scanners aboard. This shuttle is too old for them to bother to confiscate and they will just arrest me, leaving the ship abandoned to float in space. That’s what they do when they arrest people. Once they take me away you fly out of here but wait until they are out of range before you start the engines. I’m sure they will leave the droids behind with you.” She paused. “All I ask of you is to please take care of them for me. I don’t want them ending up in a trash pile somewhere or aimlessly drifting in space aboard an abandoned ship.”

His jaw clenched. “Hail them.”

She nodded and reached over his arm to turn on the coms system then, before she spoke, she flipped another switch that made Coal frown. “This is the captain of the Jenny. I’m hailing the two inbound vessels approaching. Why are you tracking our ship?”

Coal turned off the com. “What is that?” He pointed to the extra switch.

“It’s a voice modifier. I took saved messages from my father to this ship that the computer had stored when he communicated to the old crew and it’s his voice that is being broadcast right now instead of mine. I use it to fool people I trade with to make them think he’s talking to me instead of one of my droids when they check in on me while I’m off the shuttle. I also use it when dealing with unknown ships. It would be stupid to let them hear a woman’s voice this far out. I may as well send out a signal telling them to attack me if I used my own voice.” She could see that he was uncertain. Jill reached out and squeezed his biceps, her fingers rubbing his hot skin. “Trust me.”