“It’s hotter than the two suns of Lamia Zed in here. “You want me to disrobe?” He stared at her. “The Laws of Galactic Equality state that in all transactions, reciprocity must be observed.” She eyed his uniform. He almost groaned when she ran her tongue over her lips, moistening them. She couldn’t miss the fact that an erection tented the front of his uniform. And, as a pilot, she had excellent vision. Instead her dark, wide pupils nearly eclipsed the silver of her irises, and her breaths came shallowly. He expected to see anger or amusement on her face. “Thorough inspection.” Her voice cut through his thoughts, and his gaze snapped back to hers. His hands were the perfect size to cup them, feeling their silky weight as he lowered his mouth to hers… Gods, he couldn’t believe he was staring at Lieutenant Celene Jur’s breasts, but by the Ten Hells, how could he not? For such a slim woman, her breasts were surprisingly full. His gaze followed the lines of her collarbones to the hollow of her throat, and lower. Back in SimCom she had also worn a tank top and uniform pants, but he’d been too busy fighting for a place on this mission to truly see the tight, lean wonder of her body. Her dark hair had come loose from its sleek ponytail and damp tendrils clung to her neck and her bare shoulders. And he did, because once he caught a glimpse of her he couldn’t look away. She stood with arms wide, her chin tilted up, daring him to look. “Mission accepted.” He turned back to face her. “Consider it a research and discovery mission.” “The only way I wouldn’t notice you was if I had already crossed to the Starfields of Eternal Bliss.” “I might be a fellow 8 thWing officer and I might be NerdWorks, I’m also a man with perfectly good vision.” He turned away to adjust the torque on a valve. He would have blushed if he wasn’t already overheated. “Analyzing my systems?” She turned, putting her hands on her hips. He couldn’t help but stare as sweat gleamed on the sleek muscles of her arms and in the valley between her breasts. Celene had already peeled off the top of her uniform, so that she wore her tank top and uniform pants. Though he had stabilized the life support, the climate controls required more repairs, keeping the temperature at a blistering level. The work in the systems room was not difficult, not for him, in any case. But if he had to choose between simplistic and complex, he would choose complex, every time. Yes, Lieutenant Celene Jur was far more complicated than the most arcane computer system. But rather than disappoint him, it made Nils appreciate what she had accomplished that much more.Ĭould he even say that to her? And would she want him to? He always held himself to a high standard. No one expected him to be better than everyone else-except himself. No one whispered about him in awed tones as he walked down the corridors of the base. Was that the cost of prestige? He had his own reputation in Engineering, but no one outside of NerdWorks ever came up to him and slapped him on the back, congratulated him for his incredibly innovative plasma-conversion processor. “It’s other people who have a problem with it.” “Believe me, I don’t.” She turned back to her work, half-burying her next words. “You should never feel badly about what you’ve achieved.” “I won’t feel so badly next time I polish my medals.”