I expect it was an uncomfortable situation to be in for everyone. For me, it was near-unbearable. The only thing that let me get through it was Harmon retreating to his studio and working away there. At first, he even ate in the studio, but after a day Allison tired of that and forbade anyone to take him food. “It’s not anyone’s job to fetch and carry for him. He can eat in there if he wants, but he’ll fetch his own food.
Karnac and I were back to an uneasy peace as we worked together in Maintenance. I’d tried to set a professional tone, but that proved tricky now that I knew what a good kisser he was.
I still sneaked peeks at him, admiring his muscles and the precision of his movements, remembering how swiftly he’d leaped to my defense. He sneaked peeks at me in return, hungry glances that tracked my curves, almost physical in their intensity. And every once in a while, worst of all, we sneaked looks at each other at the same time.
Then our eyes would meet, and the sheer power of his need, his desire, his lust struck like a hammer, knocking the breath out of me.
My own feelings had nothing to do with it. Nu-huh. Nope. I refuse to admit to the pent-up cauldron of lust I’d become since our kiss.
So when this happened, I’d quietly disengage. By which I mean, I’d get out as fast as possible, looking for something — anything — that needed work outside the maintenance bay. And that’s how I came to be outside, checking the transmitter grounding cables, when I noticed that something was wrong.
Squinting, I looked up at the antenna. “Glitch, is that cable dangling loose?”
The hologram cat appeared two feet from the ground and dropped. His glitching was worse after the repair, but I was glad nothing worse seemed to have happened to him.
He focused, projecting a hologram of what he saw. Yep, that was a dangling cable. Half of one, in fact, the other half caught in the antenna’s frame. I traced the line, swore, placed a call to Allison, swore again.
A small hologram appeared above my vambrace, Allison smiling her fake smile at me. “Well?”
What the fuck’s your problem? I wanted to ask, but I stuck with the much safer topic of a near disaster.
“Something’s chewed through the transceiver cabling,” I said, wincing at the look of incomprehension on her face. Whatever brief alliance we’d had, it faded faster each time we talked. “It’s… Okay, it sends power and messages up to the transceivers, and the setup is a bit unorthodox. We had to bodge it together to get it to work at all. If you power up to talk to the Joint Colony, probably the circuit will fry.”
“No messages from the Joint Colony?” Allison frowned. “That’s not good. How long will it take to replace the cable?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed deep. “You remember when I said our number five cabling had disappeared and we needed to ask for more? And you said it would keep, we had more urgent supplies to order?”
“Oh. Oh no.”
“Yep. This is what we need number five cabling for.”
She didn’t curse. Just barely, she didn’t curse. I saw it in the tension around her eyes, the way her fake smile froze. The pause where she stayed silent before speaking.
“Well. That’s inconvenient. We can still call down, though? Ask for some as soon as possible.”
I didn’t roll my eyes. No one would ever know the heroic effort I spent not to. Number five cabling carried both signal and power to the transceivers, and I’d told Allison that more than once.
“You’d have to do it through the main antenna, broadcast the message for everyone to see. Our contact with the Wandering Star runs through the transceivers.”
“… there’s no other way?” Allison hadn’t interrupted scheduled programming once since she arrived, it was like an obsession. Using a broadcast slot to ask for more resources would horrify her, so I took pity.
“I’ll see if Karnac has any ideas to add. Maybe there’s some Prytheen technology he can use to replace the damaged cabling.”
The tension in Allison’s expression relaxed, just a fraction, and she let out a long sigh. “Yes. That’s an excellent idea, Molly, I’m sure he’ll be able to sort something out.”
Great. Talked myself into it. I’ll have to work with the Prytheen again. No running away this time. The worst part was how much I wanted to, no matter how much my conscious mind protested. It was an excuse to spend time with him, one that no one could fault. Not even me.
Cutting the connection to Allison, Glitch called up the maintenance bay instead. A voice only channel opened up almost instantly.
“Karnac,” he said, voice gruff, his name bitten off as though he resented every wasted microsecond.
“I need some help,” I said, about to explain. Over the comm I heard the clatter of a chair knocked over.
“On my way,” Karnac said, voice already faint with distance. Before I could object, I saw him racing out into the snow and running my way.
How did he know where I was? The fixed comm in the maintenance bay didn’t give any location data, but he’d found me in seconds. An oddly comforting feeling, knowing he could find me quickly if I needed him.
Don’t. You don’t need him, this is just work. Any colleague would do. Even as I thought that, I knew I was lying to myself. If I imagined Amy turning up to help instead… no. Not the same, not even slightly.
While I struggled with my feelings, Karnac leaped up to join me in a single swift motion. A jump, then a grab at the edge of the roof, and he swung up to land before me.
I tried not to stare, but wow. Pulling myself together, I did my best to focus on why I’d called him.
To get close to that gorgeous body. No. Stupid brain. Important maintenance work came first.
“Look up there, see the severed cable?” I said at last, face flushing. How long had I stood in silence, looking at him? At least he didn’t tease me about it, just looked up where I pointed and nodded.
“We don’t have a spare,” I continued. “And, um, I wondered if you had any Prytheen tricks that would work?”
Scowling and shielding his eyes from the sun, he considered the problem, then shook his head. “I don’t know. The cable might be patchable, but it’s a mess and I don’t know the specifications. I’ll take a closer look.”
I swear I was about to stop him. The words were there, on the tip of my tongue, and then he shrugged off his leather coat and I had a view of those muscles again. Every thought went out of the window, all I wanted was to run my hands over his back, feeling scars and muscle and strength.
Biting my lip, I resisted that temptation and watched him leap up, catch a handhold, and pull his way up the aerial mast. Metal creaked and groaned under him, but he had a good feel for what would bear his weight.
Watching from below, I marveled at the view. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I tried not to stare, but who could resist Karnac’s muscular legs and ass? Not me. Not when he wore nearly skin-tight pants.
As he reached the severed cable, he looked down at me and grinned. My cheeks burned as he caught me staring and I tore my gaze away.
Above, Karnac laughed. Not mocking me, just amused, but it still stung.
“Hey, asshole, what’s so funny? It’s not like I don’t catch you staring at me.” I snapped, but he only laughed harder.