Read Badlands for Free Online

on us by now if not for her. I never figured our guns could do enough damage at a distance to make it worth the ammo cost.”
    With how rarely sky-fighting occurred, Spencer was just amazed their guns had worked at all. “Thank you for your assistance, Ever. We owe you a debt of gratitude.”
    Finally she raised her head and met his eyes, the flush all but gone from her cheeks. “Just help find my…Help me complete my mission, and your debt will be more than repaid.”
    He raised a brow at her slip as he stood. “That we can do. In the meantime, I believe you needed some suitable attire.”
    Mahala waved from the pilot’s seat. “Like I said, take what she needs. I never had so many clothes in all my life as I do now. Not sure what to do with ’em all.” She turned from the controls for a brief moment and smiled in Ever’s direction. “It’s a pleasure to meet a woman who can impress that brute.” She winked at Zeke.
    “Now, Mahala, you know you impress me every day.” Zeke slipped past Spencer to take the vacated captain’s chair. “Like that time you almost crashed us into a mountain.”
    “I did not crash us into a mountain.”
    “I know. That’s what impressed me. ’Cause till then, I didn’t think you knew how to fly.”
    Spencer shook his head and waved Ever through the door and down the hall. She stopped in front of his quarters.
    “Go on in. I’ll just grab a couple things from Mahala’s room.” He swerved around her, but she didn’t budge. Was this some weird display of propriety, expecting him to open the door for her? Maybe she was unsure how to act with what she’d seen of Henri and Mahala. His hand brushed her arm as he reached for the knob and pushed the door open. He had to resist the urge to touch her again as he pulled back. “Make yourself at home.”
    Still she didn’t cross the threshold. “This is your personal domain. Are you certain you want me to enter?” Her voice was quiet, barely audible over the noises of the ship.
    With her back to him, Spencer couldn’t study her face, couldn’t read what made her hesitate. “It isn’t like you’re barging in without knocking. Make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    The muscles of her shoulders and back tightened, but she nodded and stepped into the room.
    Spencer crossed the hall, opened Mahala’s door and sifted through her clothes. Ever hardly seemed the type to care about fashion, but he knew she wouldn’t give up her weapons belt and studied the shirts with an eye for what would work with the well-oiled tan leather. He pulled out two shirts, one a deep red, the other pale green. Then he moved on to Mahala’s pants, hoping to find a pair that would fit over Ever’s long, lean legs.

    Waiting inside the captain’s quarters, Ever’s hands balled into fists. He would return momentarily. If she didn’t move, she couldn’t be tempted to search for some explanation of the way he made her feel. For the heat that had started on the bare skin he’d brushed opening the door and had traveled through her body, settling between her legs and drawing moisture from her core.
    It was madness. She was here on a mission. If she required release from weeks of frustration in the desert hunting for new prisoners sent across the border, that was one thing. This? This was something else entirely, and she needed to cure herself of the insanity immediately.
    Her muscles loosened, and she rolled her shoulders as she stepped toward the desk bolted to the floor in the corner nearest the door. Her fingers trailed on its smooth surface, dipping into the grooves caused by hours of use. She paused there, wondering what Spencer did at his desk. Shipping manifests? Letters to family—or a woman—back in the States?
    She clenched the hand into a tight fist and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before moving deeper into his room. The straps holding his closet shut fell beneath her fingers, inviting her to take a closer