Sunday Snippet: Stripped to the Skin

Wow, September flew by. Now that we're into fall the days always seem to go faster, probably because they're shorter and the activities tend to be jam-packed. I love the fall season so I hope I remember to take time to enjoy it.

As usual, the week got stuffed full of last-minute projects, but I did get some good viewing in. I caught The Last Ship on Monday because my brain needed time to recover from homecoming. LOL An excellent episode by the way.

I binge-watched classic Hawaii Five-0 most of the day on Sunday and it helped soothe my garbled mind. Caught another episode of Midsomer Murders and I'm almost through the season. I think I still have about seven more to watch.

Got in another episode of Babylon 5 along with The Sarah Conner Chronicles. To keep with the sci-fi theme, I also watched episodes of Birds of Prey and Lexx. Rounded the week out with Pensacola Wings of Gold and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Caught an all-day marathon of The Garage Sale Mysteries, too.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Stripped to the Skin, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of rewriting a scene from your favorite show but give it a twist. I chose to write one from Battlestar Galactica and instead of oxygen deprivation I went with a malfunction that made the temperature rise.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Kaley Pick and Dax Christopher are trapped in an isolation chamber when a ship-wide power outage occurs. The temperature rises and they have to strip to the skin—a perfect time to consummate their growing attraction—except they're not alone. A junior officer is stuck with them and he's not dealing well with the heat.

And a sneaky peek…

Kaley Pick paced the small confines of the isolation area. "Figures one of you asshats brought some kind of contaminant back with you." She didn't like downtime with nothing to do.

Dax Christopher quirked a brow. "So you're sure it wasn't you that stepped in something nasty then?" He propped a shoulder against the wall and let his gaze track her progress.

Stupid man.

The third member of their team, Brad Robinette, added his two cents. "Yeah, Lieutenant, what makes you so sure?" He didn't move from his spot on the tiny sleeping berth against the wall.

"Shut up, Bird Dog." Kaley spoke in unison with Dax.

Robinette rolled his eyes. "Sucks being an ensign to two lieutenants." He swiped a hand over his forehead and pulled his t-shirt away from his body, fanning himself.

Dax moved to sit on the small bench beside the table where they ate their meals. "What's got you all hyped up? We've only got three more hours left in iso." He leaned forward, placing his forearms on the metal top.

Kaley stopped pacing. "You know I hate being confined with nothing to do." She started walking again. "Gives me too much time to think." Which never worked out well for her.

Dax couldn't disagree. "Yeah, okay. But you don't have to get twitchy. It's almost over."

Kaley loved the fact he'd totally call her on being jumpy but understand why.

She snorted. "That's exactly why I'm twitchy." And feeling flushed.

Robinette cut in. "Is it me or is it really hot in here?" He got up and went to the door. "Seriously, I'm sweating buckets." His face pressed against the small glass window, but it didn't seem to help.

Kaley didn't like the way Bird Dog looked. His hair stuck to his skin, his soaked shirt clung to his body, and his breathing had gone shallow. Dammit!

 Dax got up and met Kaley at Robinette's side.

He nodded toward the comm unit. "Try to get in touch with someone." He led Brad to the berth and got him settled. "It is hotter than a sauna in here." He snagged a bottle of water, one of their last ones, and gave it to Robinette.

Kaley picked up the handset. "It's dead. No tone." She hung up and looked out the window.

The observation area appeared to be deserted. Shit. Of course everyone would be scarce when they actually needed someone.

Dax came over to her side and looked out the window. "Looks like the outer door is closed." Meaning no risk of contaminating anyone by leaving before the allotted time. "Let's go out and try the comms." He tried the hatch and it wouldn't budge. "Dammit, it's jammed." He had sweat dripping from his face.

So did Kaley. Sweat on her face, dripping down her back, and between her breasts. Ugh. How did she miss the rise in temperature?

Because she thought her anxiety caused the perspiration. And it skyrocketed with the current hatch situation.

She pushed Dax aside. "Let me take a look." She pulled the panel to the inner mechanisms. "Dax, it's not jammed. It's autolocked." Well, crap.

Dax peered over her shoulder. "Which means malfunction. Perfect."

Kaley sighed and put her head against the hatch. "What a time for the ship's systems to go haywire." A thud hitting the floor drew her attention.

Robinette lay sprawled on the floor beside the berth.

Perfect.

I love to take a scene and turn it on its side or spin it around. Dax and Kaley are fun to write and I love adding little beats between them on the page.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Strategic Wagers

Well, it's homecoming weekend and our football team won the game last night, which is an amazing feat. They came from behind and pulled out the win. The weather took a cool turn and the group we hosted for the pre-festivities had a lovely evening to take pictures.

Had a super-busy week leading up the big group activity, but I did get some solid viewing in. I'm working through Luke Cage and I like the newest season but I'm a little disappointed in pushing the anger angle. I'm hoping it ends up being worth the character assassination. Looking forward to the second season of Iron Fist.

Caught the third episode of Driven, Passionflix's first limited series. I'm really enjoying this one. So far, everything they've released is pretty terrific. Can't wait for the holiday offering this year.

The Last Ship's second episode kicked some serious butt. I hang on the edge of my seat each week to see what happens next. The hour flies by too. Why can't time move that fast when I'm stuck waiting somewhere? LOL

Also got another episode of Peter Gunn's first season out of the way, along with several episodes of Classic Who. Watched the second episode of Penny Dreadful and, holy crap, there's some crazy stuff going on in this show. I love it.

Caught episode five of Wynonna Earp. This show improves with every new twist. Not sure how I feel about Mamma Earp, but I'm in for the ride. Also watched an episode of The Dresden Files. Someday I need to read the books this series was based on.

Caught the next to last episode of Canal Road. As I predicted in something like episode two or three, my money is on the lawyer for setting everything in motion and getting rid of Spencer's family. We'll see if I'm right with the final episode.

I watched the DVD of Hairspray and really liked it. This is a movie I didn't catch the first time around and I had fun watching.

The rest of the week, I filled in with the usual marathons of Murder, She Wrote and In the Heat of the Night. I'm pretty sure I've almost made my way through both series with only a few hit-or-miss episodes being left to watch.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Strategic Wagers, a sexy short that started with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Onyx West and Lev Thorogood, friends and fellow crewmates, have the best kind of friendly rivalry. But when Onyx decides she can best Lev at a game of strategy, something he rarely loses, she pulls out all the stops to win.

And a sneaky peek…

The night started out innocently enough. An offhand wager from Onyx West saying she could win a strategy game against him.

Lev Thorogood quirked a brow. "Strategy isn't your strong suit, Onyx. You tend to fly by the seat of your pants." They'd had these little bets since getting stationed at the same base.

Onyx smirked. "But my lucky streaks are legendary, Lev. Try not to forget that."

How could he? First came cards, the wager that started it all. And Onyx had him there. Her hot runs rarely cooled off long enough to let anyone win, least of all him.

But, oh, man… the fun. His brain flipped all the way to the Broward and the lovely little glimpse she'd given him into her psyche. Even if she didn't mean to provide one.

Onyx cut the deck. "Come on. Someone has to be willing to sit at the table with me."

A chorus of groans went around the rec room. No one had anything left to lose. She'd cleaned everyone out.

Lev pulled out a chair. "Let's change things up a little." He sank down and kicked his feet out, settling in.

Onyx tilted her head. "What do you have in mind?"

Lev flashed a smile. "Something simple. High card wins." Evened up the odds a little.

So he thought.

Onyx grinned. "Okay. What's the bet?" Her nimble fingers shuffled the cards several times.

Lev took a moment to reply. "Best of five? You pick the spoils."

Onyx put the deck in front of him. "Let's go with shots. Alcohol of choice." She tapped the cards.

Lev cut and nodded in her direction. "Done. You draw first." His lips curved when she overturned a three of clubs.

He flipped over a jack of spades.

Onyx slid the cards his way. "Looks like the jack buried my poor little three." She snagged a jack of hearts on her next turn.

Lev came up with a seven of the same suit. "And your jack stomped all over my hearts." 

Onyx laughed. "So sorry. I'm a heartbreaker." She gave him a saucy wink.

The play continued with puns and innuendo flying. They got to a point where he owed her three shots and she owed him two. Lev enjoyed the banter and liked the fact the stakes were fairly even.

And he truly loved sitting across from the hottest female in the squadron. Getting caught up in the playful exchange, he could almost ignore the fact they were on a military base in the middle of an asteroid belt. The risqué back and forth with Onyx had him turned on and ready for action.

Until one of the pilots walked by and delivered a cold splash. "Geez, find an empty supply closet somewhere." He rolled his eyes and stalked away.

Onyx cringed. "Damn. Almost forgot we had an audience." She cast her gaze around the room and sank down a little in her seat.

Lev put the brakes on his libido. Too soon. And from the look on Onyx's face—a cross between mortification and disappointment—she'd come to the same conclusion.

Swiping the cards off the table, she met his gaze. "So, yeah, I should hit my rack." She got up and pushed her chair up against the table, regret tingeing her voice and her gaze clouded.

Lev waited until she started to walk past him. "Hey…" He grasped her forearm. "This is just us dialing it back a little and taking some time, okay?" His fingers trailed down to capture hers.

Her brown eyes flared with renewed interest and a little calculated speculation. "Yeah. I think that's a good idea." Squeezing his hand, she tucked the cards in her pocket and made her way to the exit.

Lev moved his feet up onto her seat and scrunched down in his chair. He didn't like to rush things. He needed to know what he might get into with the gorgeous pilot. Onyx had an enter-at-your-own-risk vibe and he kinda wanted to discover why. He loved puzzles… and Onyx should prove to be an interesting one to figure out.

The back and forth with Lev and Onyx is so much fun to write. This hot little game gets steamy between them.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Steamed

Whew. What a week. Our high school's homecoming is next weekend and we're in a flurry to get the last-minute accessories for the big event. We usually host about six couples each year and we're getting the menu finalized and nailing down who's bringing what. Like I said. Whew.

Had a semi-productive viewing week for television. The season premiere of The Last Ship didn't disappoint. I loved how much exposition they packed into small moments. I'm so excited for the next episode, even though we lost two of my favorite characters.

I caught the second episode of Birds of Prey. Also caught episodes of Pensacola Wings of Gold and Lexx. I'd forgotten what happened during the most recently watched Lexx. Now I need to see the next episode to see what the fallout was. LOL

Caught a classic movie on DVD, Crazy Love. It's a Myrna Loy / William Powell comedy and it was excellent!

Watched another episode of Strike Back. I'm beginning to like how the team is coming together and it was great to have some references back to the previous incarnation of Section Twenty.

Finally, I watched the next to last episode of season six Chicago Fire. I'll be interested to see what happens in the finale.

That's pretty much it. Caught the usual marathons of Murder, She Wrote and In the Heat of the Night along with a mini-marathon of The Saint.

Tonight's post is from Steamed, a sexy short that started with a writing community prompt of having one main character have enough of the other main character's innuendo and do something about it.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Page Wagner and Gannon Bendis pull long range recon duty and Page decides they need to play truth or strip. After several days of sexy banter, Gannon has enough of Page's innuendo and confronts her… in the shower.

And a sneaky peek…

Page Wagner stowed her gear in the duty locker aboard the small cruiser she'd call home for the next week. "Normally, I'd ask who I pissed off to get this temporary assignment." Instead, she said a silent thank-you.

Because… she'd hit the jackpot with partners. Gannon Bendis should be directing their small two-cabin craft to the star system they would be working in right about now. Long-range scan details tended to be boring with lots of charting, recording, and reconnaissance during specific hours and not much of anything else for the duration. She'd gone a full day before being bored to tears—long enough to almost arrive at the location for the scans.

Which meant she could see if any kind of spark existed between her and Gannon. "Not like I don't already have the hots for him." She totally did.

And why wouldn't she?

The man defined the word attractive, at least in her dictionary. About five-ten, with broad shoulders, a defined chest, and arms that made t-shirts look sexy. And his ass? Drool-worthy. Not many people could make fatigues look good, but Gannon absolutely did.

Throw in dark hair and eyes and she might as well tattoo yum on her tongue.

Grabbing a deck of cards, she ducked into the common area and waited for Gannon to secure the cruiser in the specified location. When he entered from the cockpit, she gave him a wide smile. He nodded and made his way to the small food storage area and snagged a quick-heat meal.

Page quirked an eyebrow. "We're all set?" Stupid question, but one to get a conversation rolling.

Gannon gave her a sideways glance. "Would there be a reason we wouldn't be?" He popped the meal into the cooking unit and hit start.

Page's lips curved. "Not particularly. I'm used to flying into an assigned territory instead of flying out." She didn't balk at being relief pilot, but she wouldn't lie either.

Gannon removed the package from the oven and hot-fingered it to the table. "Yeah, we're safe and secure in the first quadrant and I set the modules to record. We'll get an alert if anything pings out there." He peeled the film away from the dinner and the aroma of spicy noodles wafted up from the tray.

Page settled back and shuffled the cards. "And the motion sensors? How far out did you go with the scope?" Mundane topic, but one easily discussed while he ate.

He chewed and swallowed. "Five hundred kilometers in all directions. If we don't get an advance warning with sound, we'll have time to move if we need to." He finished off the entrée and got up to recycle the trash.

Page waited until he sat back down before pouncing with another question. "Care to play some cards?" She shuffled the deck again several times.

Gannon eyes her hands but shook his head back and forth. "Nah. I think I'll grab a book. I brought more than one." He made a move to get up.

Page tsked. "Come on, Gannon. Indulge me." She whipped the cards from one and to the other in slow waterfall. "Let's play truth or strip."

He blinked then frowned. "Such a game doesn't exist." His head cocked to one side. "You're mixing it up, right?"

Page shrugged. "Well, gotta get creative." She shuffled the cards again then set the deck on the table. "Can't do truth or dare because there're only two of us and there's nothing we can dare each other to do." She paused. "Except maybe sending prank messages but, oh, yeah, we're on long-range recon and have to stay radio silent." She flashed a smile.

Gannon nodded. "Okay, point made." He kicked back, folding his arms over his chest.

Page took that a cue to continue. "And strip poker is out of the question." Please take the bait.

Gannon quirked a brow. "Why?"

Page snorted. "Wouldn't be fair."

Gannon reacted by sitting up and placing his forearms on the table. "Why not?"

Page laughed. "You'd end up naked all the time." She paused a moment. "Not that I'd mind. I like eye candy. But I'm nothing if not an equal opportunist." Biting her tongue, she stopped there.

Gannon tilted his head to one side. "You think you're that good?" His tone held plenty of disbelief.

Page tsked. "Not to brag, but, yes. I'm not allowed to sit in at the poker table anymore." She'd been banned within two months of arriving on the Essex.

Gannon settled back in his chair again and kicked his feet out. "Okay, how do you see this equal opportunity nude-fest working?" Clearly, she'd piqued his interest.

Page grabbed the cards again. "Thought you'd never ask." She cut the deck then shuffled. "High card chooses. If you say truth, you have to answer a question honestly. If you don't answer, you have to remove two articles of clothing." Not bad for making something up on the fly.

Gannon considered the rules. "What happens if we decide to pass on answering the question?"

Hmmm. Think fast, Page.

She grinned. "Simple. If either of us passes, we choose which article of clothing the other has to remove."

Score one for the power of creative thinking.

This is a fun little story and I love the dynamic between Page and Gannon. The whole truth or strip trope is something I like to explore as an ice breaker with characters.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Stealing Hannah

Well, September is off to a bumpy start. Not in a bad way, more like a "here are some changes, let's see how you like them" kind of thing. So far… meh… I'm not a big fan. LOL

Got some solid television viewing in. I'm still not back to the usual schedule, but I'm getting there. Right in time for the new seasons to start.

Last week, I caught Chicago Fire and I'm almost at the end of season six. Also caught another episode of Luke Cage and a few episodes of Classic Who. I also watched the second episode of Driven from Passionflix.

Started Penny Dreadful and wow, not at all what I expected and better than I thought it would be. Looking forward to more of this show.

Caught another episode of Killjoys and, seriously, I love this show so much!! The banter is sheer perfection and the complicated relationships are awesome. I got another episode of The Dresden Files in and caught a couple of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Followed that up with Canal Road. I have two episodes left of this one and I'm still not one hundred percent sure if I've called the killer of Spence's wife. Guess I'll find out soon.

Watched another series thirteen episode of Midsomer Murders and followed that with Babylon 5 and The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I also watched a marathon of Hallmark Channel's The Good Witch movies.

All in all, not a bad week for television. Tonight's post is from Stealing Hannah, a novella filled with sibling rivalry and a meeting the wrong brother first trope. One of my favorites.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Hannah Keane gets caught between Kane and Trent Canterman when their sibling rivalry heats up. Kane loves to push his brother's buttons by telling everyone Trent likes to steal girlfriends. When Kane introduces Trent to Hannah, Trent decides stealing Kane's girl is a good idea to settle the score once and for all.

And a sneaky peek…

"You gotta watch out for my brother, Hannah. He likes to steal my girlfriends."

Trent Canterman's shoulders tensed. He'd wondered when Kane would bring that up. "For god's sake, Kane. Give it a rest." He directed his gaze to Hannah, his brother's flight instructor, and current main squeeze. "I was in twelfth grade, Kane ninth, and the girl in question played us against each other."

Why did he feel the need to explain any of this to Hannah Keane, who probably didn't give two shits? Trent should shut up now and leave well enough alone. No one wanted to get sucked into his sibling drama with Kane. Especially when dinner had gone well and Trent almost had one foot out the door.  

Hannah chuckled, pulling Trent's jacket off the coat rack. "Sounds like a cop-out to me." She handed the well-worn leather garment over.

"Yeah, well. Kane found out the truth later." He shrugged into his jacket. "Thank you." Leaning forward, Trent kissed Hannah on the cheek. "For the hospitality." He slapped Kane on the back and wrapped an arm around him. "I'll call you later. Maybe we can find a pick-up game of barrelball?" He might as well end on a good note, if possible.

Kane smirked then nodded and walked Trent to the door. "Sounds great, bro. I've got class 'til four, but after that, schedule is wide open."

Trent grinned and ducked out. "Later." He lifted his hand, waved at Hannah, and headed for the stairs.

By the time his feet hit the bottom step, Trent's smile disappeared. Damn his brother. The guy got everything. And always, always had to bring up the stupid girlfriend deal.

Jogging out to the street, Trent hailed a cab and climbed in the back. "Delphi base."

The cabbie started the meter and Trent settled back, letting his thoughts drift to the incident that started Kane's one-track mind.

Sarah Marsters. A grade ahead of Kane. And she liked older boys. Trent overheard her telling her friends she said yes to Kane's invite to a dance, hoping to get an introduction to his older brother. Trent didn't want to let his sibling get tangled up with such a conniving girl.

Too bad his good intentions blew up in his face. Trent thought he'd head Sarah off by introducing himself and acting like an ass. He had zero clue she'd enjoy it. She liked the aggression and returned it in kind. Kane came outside to find Trent up against the wall with Sarah's tongue down his throat. Nothing Trent said made a difference. Kane misinterpreted his brother's misstep as stealing his girl out from under him.

And still brought it up any chance he got.

After almost seven years, his brother could give it a rest. Trent had half a mind to show Kane what he could really do if he set his mind to it. Why not prove his sibling right? The fact Trent liked Hannah, or that Kane seemed happier than he'd ever been, couldn't quite win out over the thorniest bit of rivalry between brothers.

Trent had been wrongly accused, tried, and sentenced to constant reminders of one stupid incident. Hell, the way Trent looked at it; he'd saved Kane a pack of heartache over a skanky bitch and instead of thanking Trent, Kane rubbed salt in the wound. Didn't help his brother chose to believe the sweet-faced, black-hearted Sarah over family. Kane should've had more faith in Trent.

Several months after the tongue-in-throat incident Kane learned the cold, hard truth when he caught Sarah behind the weight room with one of Trent's classmates. But did Kane appreciate Trent's gesture after that? Nope. He had too much fun blaming Trent.

The cab let Trent off at the entrance to the base. He made his way to the guest quarters and let himself in. Flopping down on the bed, Trent made a decision. Since Kane wanted to keep bringing up the girlfriend stealing, Trent would prove him right. Once and for all. He'd start a campaign to steal Hannah right out from under his brother's nose. First thing in the morning, Trent would drop by her class on the pretext of checking how Kane was doing in flight school.

Yeah. That would work out very well.

I honestly love exploring the dynamic between siblings and how messy it can be sometimes. Trent's decision will definitely bite him on the ass and seeing how that will play out makes writing the story so much fun.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Star Chasers

Greetings, September! I decided to start at least thinking about what to do for holiday shopping this year. I'm fairly certain I've decided the direction I want to go in for the kids and the husband. Possibly even my parental unit. This never happens. I fully expect the world to stop spinning sometime in the near future. Just saying.

Had a super crazy and busy week, but still got some solid viewing in. Granted, I did end up doing the usual marathons of Murder, She Wrote and In the Heat of the Night. I also got a solid block of The Saint in. Also got two episodes of Classic Who watched.

I started Sunday with Midsomer Murders then followed with Babylon 5 and The Sarah Conner Chronicles.

Monday, I caught the Birds of Prey pilot episode. I loved this show so much when it premiered. Tuesday was Pensacola Wings of Gold. Wednesday, I watched another episode of Lexx and on Thursday, I watched Surprised by Love, a Hallmark original. Finally found one I thoroughly enjoyed.

On Friday, I started season five of Strike Back. I got interrupted during the first episode so I'll finish it over the weekend. I did finish Band of Brothers, which is one of my rewatch at any time shows.

Saturday has been a big block of The Saint again. Not sure what else I'll get into but I'm writing the blog post a little early so it's out of the way.

Still behind on Killjoys and Wynonna Earp, but I'll definitely make sure to watch every single episode in the near future.

That's it for this week. Tonight's post is from Star Chasers, a novella that will probably launch at least one follow-up book.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Marnie Ritoli, a kick-ass mechanic for the premier team in the galaxy, is presented with a dilemma: choose a new mate or leave the Chasers. But Marnie knows Luce Carrington isn't dead, and she won't play second fiddle to anyone, so she does what she's best at and finds a loophole in the league rules, picking Luce's best friend… the person who backs her into a corner in the first place.

And a sneaky peek…

Luce Carrington jerked awake. Mind jumbled, a throbbing pain pounded at the base of his skull. Okay, maybe he'd just regained consciousness instead of waking up.

He looked around and two things registered. The first? He had to figure out his location. He could solve that little issue as soon as the room stopped spinning.

And second? Someone wanted him dead. Why else would he be blessed with the mother of all monster headaches?

The latter wouldn't be so easy to figure out. The list, long and varied, would take some time to pare down. At least to a manageable level. Too many people on too many planets had axes to grind with him.

But there were two people he could trust with his life. Marnie Ritoli and Winston Ashcraft. He also relied on the rest of his crew, they were all family, but even family members had favorites.

Except his. The real one, the familial unit he'd walked away from. He'd have to add those names to the list of potential people with lethal intent. He'd renounced any claim on the Carrington interests, but it wouldn't stop some of his less savory relatives from trying to better their odds.

Christ, his head hurt. But the room had stopped going in circles, so he risked trying to stand. Slowly. Very slowly. He braced his back against the wall and moved upward, inch by inch, until upright. Everything went hazy, pinpricks burst behind his eyes and Luce sucked in several deep breaths before he could see clearly again.

He had to think, move past the pounding in his head, and figure out his next move. Whoever put him here hopefully thought they'd done the job and killed him. That should buy him some time.

To do what? He couldn't bring whatever shit he'd stepped into to the club. And he couldn't risk contacting Marnie or Win, not until he knew if anyone on the crew put his current situation into play.

With no one to cover his back, he felt naked and exposed.

"Hey, mister, you all right?"

Luce whirled around to find a slip of a girl standing inside the entrance… of a cargo hold. One piece of the puzzle fell into place. Friend or foe? Only one way to find out.

Luce strode toward the female, snaked an arm out, and hauled her soft and curvy body against his hard frame. Okay, not a girl, but a woman. Clear and guileless green eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised breath before molding herself against him. Her blond head barely grazed his chin when she wrapped her arms around him.

Raising her face, she gave him a wide smile before lifting her foot and stomping down, hard, on his ankle.

Spinning away from his grasp, she put some distance between them. "Look, asshole, I'm strictly hands-off. I cook in the galley. You want more, you gotta book your time with the dickhead porter who runs the girls." She marched up and punched his arm. "You're not supposed to be here. No one is."

Luce admired her chutzpah. She'd caught him off guard, which had to be her intent when she'd all but glued herself to his side. But despite her hard words, fear trembled in her voice. He could use the emotion to get some answers.

Reaching out he grabbed hold of her arms. "Then what are you doing down here?" He cast his gaze around the space. "I don't see any kitchen supplies around."

She turned her head away but shrugged. "It's quiet down here." Her eyes glanced upward. "It's not up there." She jerked away from him. "This is my refuge. Or it was until you showed up." She put a hand on her hip. "So go away and don't come back."

Luce snorted. "I'd be happy to if I knew where the hell I was."

Her head tilted to one side. "Are you serious? How do you not know where you are?"

I actually love how this one is coming together. I kind of have a thing for taking an established couple and having them be apart in the beginning of the book.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye