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payment, I only came away with him.” Her heart missed a beat as Aleph ran his critical gaze over Daned. “And you’re not having him. He and I have plans.”
    Aleph huffed. “Putting your need before sense?”
    She gave a loose shrug. “Would you expect anything less?”
    “From you? No.” Aleph ran his palm over his head. “My pod-brother Zayin has a reclamation yard in Baruun Urt. I will arrange for him to give you a tau-class ship.”
    Tau-class. Chae held down a wince. It would just have enough power to pull out of the atmosphere and a three-fold increase to rift lock. Damn it. And hell, it’d be barely big enough for two people. She couldn’t help it; her gaze flitted over Daned and his tantalizing lithe perfection. The display room’s soft lighting almost gilded his honey-brown skin. She pinched the bridge of her nose to try to divert her brain from thoughts of removing his gold and getting him even more naked. And failed.
    “You’re not normally this altruistic…” Yes, she wanted to know what the Samekh wanted. He didn’t do anything out of the goodness of his hearts.
    “Your ship is unharmed. We’ll have it.” His grin irked her. “You can always buy it back.”
    “A gamma-class in exchange for a chair half-strapped to an engine?”
    “Yes or no, Chae? I had the drek surround you, block you from the suits.” His grin faded. “I can just as easily let you go into the hangar and meet the men who are so eager to find you.”
    Chae let out a long breath. “How are you getting me—us—out of here?”
    “Are you sure you still want to be burdened with flesh?”
    She pushed herself away from the table and stretched her spine. She pocketed a handful of the red roots. Aleph was already skinning her. It was the least she could take. “If all I have is the clothes I’m standing up in, then I’ll need some comfort.”
    Aleph shook his head. “Yes, I really expect nothing more from you.”
    “You have my ship.” Her voice was clipped, she couldn’t stop it. It’d taken her years, and the only piece of luck she’d had in her life was being gifted her ship. And it let her do what she did best—fly. For a moment, she closed her eyes and reminded herself that there were still two crates of black crystal with her name on them. A tau-class, with maybe three rift locks, would get them to Ladaia-prime in time.
    Just.
    Chae put out her hand and Aleph’s rough-skinned palm slapped against hers. His claws dug into the skin of her wrist. She ignored the sting and was thankful he didn’t draw blood. She had no choice. She had to go with the option he gave her. “Show us the way out, Aleph.”

Chapter Three
    “This Aleph.” Daned whispered the words against her neck, his hands sliding to her hips. Chae leaned back into the hardness of his body and tilted her head to expose more of her skin to his mouth. “Can you trust him?”
    Chae closed her eyes and ignored the rest of the passengers standing and sitting in the crowded sky track coach. The rhythmic rock and pull of the carriage made her grip his strong forearms, the throb of the engines vibrating through her flesh pulsing with the insane need she had to have Daned. “Yes.” Her reply was little more than a whisper.
    “Are you sure?”
    “You didn’t investigate him?”
    “We did. No Ladaian connections, besides you.” He licked her skin, a slow slide of his tongue from the curve of her shoulder to the sensitive skin below her ear.
    A soft mewl escaped her and fresh heat pooled low in her belly. Damn him. But his mouth on her skin was the only way they could communicate in such a public place. She couldn’t have a proper conversation with flesh; they’d been grown and fitted to think only of pleasure. “I’ve known him years,” she murmured. “He’s an amoral thief, but he has his payment. And we shook on it. He honors that.”
    “And this Zayin?” The Samekh’s name brushed warm air over her skin and Chae shivered. Her fingers