“Yes,” the crowd muttered.

“You keep refined company,” Kell murmured into Mara’s ear.

She gazed up at him through eyelashes pale as clouds. “My taste is improving.”

He burned with the need to kiss her, savor her again after too many hours without. Hesitation lasted only a moment. He was a pleasure slave, after all. What he knew was giving pleasure—hers. So he took her mouth, and she responded immediately, opening for him. Her fingers curled over his shoulders, gripping tightly, as he pulled her closer. She was spice and sweetness, more potent and addicting than specerij.

The withdrawal was going to be hell. He couldn’t make himself care.

It was she who broke the kiss, reluctantly. “The transmission. About to start.”

He shook his head, clearing it. Gods, she was dangerous, especially now that he knew what it was to kiss her, to make love to her.

Forcing himself to focus, he noticed that the club owner, Kusa, had set up a holo transmitter atop a table. Kusa punched a few buttons on the transmitter, and then an image flickered to life. It showed a red-haired woman of middle years, with a polished Jereian ruby where her right eye had once been.

“Listen up, trash,” the woman said without preamble. “I’ve got prime merch to sell to the highest bidder. A Black Wraith ship and an 8th Wing pilot, both in excellent shape. The pilot puts up a fight, but that’ll make things interesting for whoever gets her.”

A coarse chuckle rose up from the mob. Kell struggled to keep his breathing even. Like hell would he let anyone lay a hand on Lieutenant Jur. He could only hope she was largely untouched at this point.

“How do we know you’ve got the merch?” someone yelled.

“Yeah—you could be pulling a bait and switch,” seconded another.

The woman, Gavra, sighed, and rolled her one eye. “Proof.”

The holo image flickered again, and then the crowd gasped collectively as the sleek, dark lines of a Black Wraith ship appeared.

He swore under his breath. 8th Wing protected even the images of Black Wraiths, ensuring that PRAXIS didn’t get enough visual information to make educated guesses about the ships’ construction.

But this scavenger clearly cared less about 8th Wing security.

“That satisfy you pieces of shit?” sneered Gavra.

“Show us the pilot,” a barrel-chested man shouted.

Lieutenant Jur appeared in the holo image. Except for a fading bruise on her jaw, she looked relatively unharmed. Kell was expecting the crude catcalls, the vulgar suggestions—Celene Jur, with her long, dark hair and silver eyes, was a beautiful woman in addition to being an excellent pilot. She glared defiantly at the camera. The crowd reacted to her appearance just as he anticipated they would, but it still made him want to bash people’s heads in with a barstool.

“She’s stunning,” Mara murmured beside him. “Gavra could net a lot of creds for her.”

He made a noncommittal noise, not trusting himself to speak.

“If all 8th Wing pilots are that fuckable,” Barrel-chest hooted, “I’m gonna join up tomorrow.”

Kell didn’t realize he was growling until people nearby started edging away, glancing nervously in his direction.

Mara stretched up on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Throttle down, Kell. We’ll need that fury,

later.” She held his gaze meaningfully.

He nodded, and took a deep breath. Later. Save it for Lieutenant Jur’s rescue. And recovering the Black Wraith ship.

The face of Gavra reappeared in the holo image. “That’s all you galactic asses get for free. Both the ship and the woman will be on display at the auction site.” She glanced down, presumably at a keyboard, because suddenly numbers began to scroll at the bottom of the holo. “These are the coordinates for the auction location. I’m holding the auction in five solar hours—energy storm or no.

If you aren’t here by the time bidding starts, you’re screwed. We clear?”

The mob grumbled its assent.

“Bring your creds.” Gavra smiled unpleasantly. Then the transmission winked out.

More muttering from the crowd before it began to disperse. To the annoyance of Kura, few bought drinks as people drifted toward the waiting elevator.

Kell led Mara to an unoccupied corner. “Can we make it to the auction site in five solar hours?”

“Without the storm blocking us in, I’d say no problem.” She planted her hands on her hips,

considering. “Just fly up, out of the atmosphere, and fly back down. A quick, straight shot. Storm hasn’t let up, though. Meaning we’re going to have to stay under it, adjust our speed accordingly.”

“We’ll make it.”

“Yes—but it’s going to be a squeaker, time-wise.”

“So we need to get the hell out of here. Every minute costs us.” He glanced over toward the crowd, thick around the elevator. It was going to take an hour just to get out of the damned club. “The crowd’s moving as slow as a drunk laiskasloth.” He looked around, eyes alert, attentive. “There’s got to be another way out of here.”

“Wouldn’t be much of a smuggler’s club if there wasn’t.”

“Somehow, out of everyone here, I figured you would be the one to know the location of this hidden exit.”

She grinned wickedly at him. “Very sharp, pleasure slave. I made a good purchase—more to you besides muscles and a pretty face.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Pretty is the least of my qualities.”

“True.”

He wasn’t vain, but that stung a little.

“Never seen a more gorgeous man.” She said this softly, almost too softly to be heard, with a kind of shyness he never would have anticipated.

Their gazes held, and he was lost in the crystal green of her eyes, the depth there. She showed him a rare fragility—and he understood how privileged he was to be given this extraordinary insight.

It took strength to show her vulnerability, much more so than bluster and bravado. It was humbling.

Precious.

There wasn’t time to explore this further. They had to get to her ship and reach the auction site before the bidding began.

“You’re our guidance system. Take us to that secret exit.”

She nodded, taking his hand. Yet he couldn’t help but feel as though he had squandered a rare opportunity.

Mara guided them through the club, away from the crowds waiting to leave. She slipped into one of the smaller side rooms, empty except for a cleaning bot listlessly circling the floor. Booths and tables stood waiting for the next round of patrons eager to drink themselves into nothingness. The performance platform in the center of the room seemed bereft without people writhing atop it in the throes of impersonal pleasure.

“Never been here in the morning.” Mara glanced around and grimaced. “Shabby. Sad. This place was a kind of…home. Emphasis on was.” She strode toward a booth in the corner.

“That’s a shame,” he muttered without remorse. She deserved better than this pit.

Once they reached the booth in the corner, Mara braced her hands on the round table. She turned it like a giant wheel. It stuck for a moment, so he stepped beside her and lent his strength to rotating the table. There was a hissing sound, and then a panel in the wall beside the booth slid open, revealing a passageway.

“How did you find out about this?”

“Charmed it out of Kura one night. And by ‘charmed,’ I mean I poured Girilal brandy down his throat until he gave up every one of the club’s secrets. Then he gave up the rindroast he’d eaten—all over my new boots.” She smiled wryly. “Disgusting, but worth it.”

They stepped into the passage. It was an unadorned, dimly lit corridor lined with pipes, the floor mottled with stagnant puddles. Scuttling sounds revealed that at least one szemét rat called the passage home.

“This leads to a cargo lift.” Mara’s voice echoed in the corridor. “That takes us to the ground level.”

She headed down the passage, but something prickled Kell’s awareness. He turned around,

plasma pistol in hand, just in time to see a man also stepping into the corridor. The panel slid shut behind the stranger, closing all of them in. Kell recognized him as the blocky man from the night before, the one who thought he remembered Kell.

“I know who you are.” Blocky had two plasma pistols out, one trained on Kell, the other pointed at Mara. “And you aren’t a Halu pleasure slave.”

“Turn around.” Mara had her own weapon aimed at the interloper. “Then get the hell out.”

But the man didn’t listen. “Got to thinking last night, about that move you used to take down Jorgo. Seen it only once before—by a street brawler on Sayén. Dangerous fucker. Killed at least two men in the ring.” He stepped closer, and the dimness turned his eyes to small, sharp beads. “Can’t forget someone like that. He disappeared, though. Then word got out that he’d joined the 8th Wing.”

Cold heat tightened Kell’s muscles, yet he felt perfectly calm, focused.

“Think of what I could buy, selling that intel,” Blocky continued. “A nice villa on Merane. A half dozen Halu pleasure slaves of my own. But I’m a businessman, so I’m willing to deal. I take creds. Or I can be creative when it comes to payment.” His gaze flicked to Mara, and that was when Kell’s anger roared to life.

Blocky was an idiot. He’d gotten too close, within striking distance. Kell kicked a plasma pistol out of his hand. As the man yelped in pain, Kell grabbed his other arm and broke it with a swift movement. A louder scream of pain. The second weapon landed on the ground with a clatter. Kell had the barrel of his own plasma pistol lodged tight against the underside of Blocky’s jaw.