Chapter 2: Chapter Two

Remy Cruz had already picked the freighter he planned to start salvage on the next morning, and he was on the way to it with his skid when he saw the woman from yesterday approaching on her skid as well. He considered it a happy accident, though he suspected she would accuse him of infringing on her find. The problem was, he’d already registered his claim for this vessel before departing the ship.

Their skids reached the wreckage of the ship Januvia at roughly the same moment. Her hands were already on her hips, and as she approached him riding her skid, he couldn’t help thinking she was beautiful. She stirred his interest, though it was impossible to tell if she was an Omega with their E-suits blocking their scents.

Unlike with Alphas, an Omega’s stature wasn’t necessarily any shorter or smaller than Betas, so he couldn’t tell just by visual appraisal. The way she made his pulse rocket had him considering the possibility that she might be though. He didn’t usually take notice of Betas much these days, focused as he was on finding his true Omega.

She was certainly beautiful, with pale skin that suggested she hadn’t spent enough time in her UV chamber, closely cropped chestnut-colored curls, and unusual purple-blue eyes that were vivid even from the distance separating them and with both wearing helmets.

She had a CAP with her, and it jumped from the woman’s skid to his even as she waved it back. He looked down at the feline-bot and nodded his head. “Hello.”

The CAP stared at him appraisingly for a long second. “Change your communication frequency to channel eight-seven-two.” With those instructions, it seamlessly jumped from his skid back to the woman’s.

He did as instructed, and soon enough, the woman’s voice was filling his head. It was just as pleasing and dulcet as yesterday, except for the tone of outrage that lent a shrill pitch. “How dare you? This is my find.”

“I identified it earlier this morning via scan. It has some of the richest deposits of rathium. I’ve already registered a claim.” Inasmuch as he wanted to please her, as he would want to any woman, since it was in his nature to care for those who weren’t Alphas, he wasn’t going to give up on the find.

She scowled at him. “I’ve already claimed it as well. It was part of the scan I did last week when determining my working order.”

He arched a brow. “There must’ve been a problem with your claim then, or the system would have refused mine.”

She looked disconcerted, and her voice lowered a bit, as though she were mumbling. “I just registered it this morning.”

He nodded, not surprised, since she would have been bending the laws if she’d registered it that much in advance of working on it. “What time?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe thirteen minutes ago? It was shortly before I left the ship.”

He couldn’t help a grin. “I suspect we might’ve registered at the same time. Why don’t you check your status while I check mine?” She gave him a grudging nod and lowered her head as he brought up his wrist comm.

He called up his claim history and was unsurprised to see he was listed as the co-owner of the salvage now, sharing the find with one Maya Broward. Now he had a name for her. He looked up, giving her a slow grin. “It appears we registered our claim at the same time.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she nodded. “Very well. I’ll withdraw mine.”

“No,” he said forcefully, making her flinch. He immediately lowered his voice, taking on a gentler tone. “There’s no need for that. There are plenty of items to share. I suggest we work together to recover it. This is just an accident, but we might as will make the best of it.”

She bit her lip, looking indecisive for a moment. The CAP brushed against her leg, and it seemed to be in a reassuring fashion that worked, because Maya squared her shoulders and nodded. “Very well, Mr. Cruz. I’ll take the aft end if you want to take the forward end.”

That wasn’t what he’d envisioned. He’d had plans of working alongside her, but if this were all she was willing to do, he considered it a minor victory. With a nod of his head, he directed the skid toward his half of the ship while she moved around to the other side.

That meant he lost sight of her, but he could still talk to her, and he spent the next several minutes doing so as he started to work. He quickly discovered either she wasn’t much of a conversationalist, or she just didn’t want to talk to him, but he didn’t let that deter him. Remy had always been loquacious, and it was kind of fun to have a captive audience, especially when he knew she was fighting not to respond. He could tell by the way she drew in her breath sometimes, and by the note of irritation in her voice when she did answer.

“How long have you been here?”

“A couple of weeks,” she said after a hesitation.

“It takes a while to get here, huh?”

“It’s a long trip. And it took a while to save for the fuel expenses and the tolls to use the ionospace booster gate.”

He nodded. “I know what you mean. I’ve been flying solo for about a year now, and I just finally got enough together to make this trek. I need to make it a successful one.”

She sighed, and he couldn’t tell if she was irritated with him, or if she was empathetic. Her tone had softened slightly when she said, “So do I.”

“It’s a good thing there’s plenty to work with around here. I still think we might want to consider teaming up. We could get it done faster.”

Her silence spoke volumes.

He uttered a small sigh of his own. “Is it just you and the CAP?”

“Swish,” said the CAP.

“That’s how I like it,” she said with a hint of defensiveness just after the pet’s reply.

He paused, forced to take a break from conversation as the laser cutter seemed like it might overheat. It took a moment to restore its cooling function, and then he could focus on her again. “It’s different traveling alone. Before this, I was part of a crew of what I thought were traders, but they turned out to be more.”

She sounded reluctantly intrigued. “How so?”

“I discovered their second hold on the ship by accident. It was filled with weapons and contraband, and I don’t fancy spending the rest of my life in a Coalition hellhole prison, so I left the crew as soon as we stopped at the next port.”

He grimaced, calling how overbearing Aurelius Stahl had been. As captain of the Aurelius, named for the captain himself and a true reflection of the other Alpha’s arrogance, he’d expected final word on everything. Remy was already chafing at accepting Aurelius’s authority, and he’d been considering the idea of leaving the crew but finding the illegal cargo hold filled with weapons that didn’t belong in anyone’s hands had hastened his decision, though he imagined it had angered Aurelius. Not because he lost a viable crewmember, but simply because Remy had gone his own way without consulting the other Alpha. That wasn’t Remy’s style. He did what he wanted, and he tended to live and let live whenever possible.

“It sounds like you made a good decision.”

He liked her validation, though he certainly didn’t need it. “I think so. I worked some odd jobs on that planet for a while until I had enough to buy the freighter. Then I took some smaller salvage jobs until I had enough accumulated to make the trip to the Antares Belt.”

“I guess our stories are similar.” She sounded pained to reveal anything about herself.

He wanted to ask more, like how she’d ended up alone out here, and if it was by choice, but he sensed she wouldn’t respond well to any personal questions. Instead, he said, “One’s gotta make a living, huh?”

“Indeed. The idea of living in one of the Coalition cities on the major planets holds no appeal to me.”

“Me neither. I’m glad to be away from all that.” He shuddered at the thought. They were overcrowded, and while they were technically clean, there was just underneath the surface an air of grime about most of them that made his skin crawl. He preferred the vast expanse of empty space to the overcrowded cities on most Coalition planets.

Out here, he could do what he wanted when he wanted. For him, that kept things simple. It wasn’t to hurt anyone or break any laws. He just wanted to be left alone to find his Omega and make a living doing what he chose rather than being assigned some Coalition task or put on the Coalition dole.

There was more warmth in her tone when she said, “I’m not surprised. Most people who grow up in those places all their lives never find their way out though.” Her voice rang with pride.

He was intrigued, but he forced himself not to ask any questions. “I’ve lived on a few of the planets here and there but never could get comfortable and feel at home.”

“I mostly grew up in the New Bacar colony.” Her voice was clipped. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“I’ve actually been there. If I recall, it’s one of the more overpopulated, less hygienic places.” She laughed, and the sound was musical, causing his insides to contort in a strange fashion that left him feeling breathless.

“I suppose it’s not overly dirty, but it feels like it is with all the people crammed in together, along with the dissatisfaction and unhappiness. So many people there are on the dole due to lack of economic opportunities and poor resources that it leads to frustration and violence. The enforcers were quick to crack down, but they couldn’t keep it from happening.”

He heard a little fear in her voice then, and he was convinced she spoke from familiarity. Remy wanted to ask more, but since she was talking to him, he didn’t want to risk her closing down.

Instead, he changed the subject to tell her about some of the other places he’d lived throughout his life, starting with the cities before moving on to some of his other adventures. As long as they kept things relatively impersonal, she was a willing conversationalist, and they passed the day working together companionably.

Near lunchtime, he asked, “Are you going back to your ship for food?”

“No. I have a nutrition pack in my suit.”

He frowned at the dart of disappointment, though he had done the same. When planning to ingest lunch via his suit, he hadn’t considered the possibility he might be able to sit down and share a meal with someone instead. “Yeah, me too. I plan to just work through lunch.”

“Same.”

Those were the last words exchanged for another hour or so as she got busy disassembling a particularly stubborn part of the ship and was unable to focus long enough to talk. He respected that, not wanting her to injure herself by him distracting her, so he waited until he saw her appear around the side with her skid before he started speaking again.

It was mostly idle chitchat, but he could catch glimpses of the real her revealed by her tone. He was dying to have her take off her E-suit so he could smell her. He wanted to find an Omega, the perfect one for him, and if she wasn’t an Omega, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

Remy had decided a couple of years ago that he no longer wanted to pursue casual sex with Betas or other Alphas when his Omega was out there waiting. They were rare, but he intended to find her, so he had devoted himself to that task while making a living. For the first time in the two years since deciding his next lover would only be his Omega, he was tempted to break from the idea if this woman was a Beta.

When they had finished for the day, she came with her skid to stand near him again, though a few feet of space separated them. She was closer than she had been this morning, and she appeared far more relaxed. That decided him to say, “You could come over to my ship for a meal, if you want?”

Her expression closed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Thanks, but I have plans.”

He arched a brow, knowing it was a lie, and at least she had the grace to blush. He could tell that from the heat sensors in his suit that lit up around her face. “Going to the symphony?”

She laughed, though it was a little awkward. “I meant I already have a meal prepared and waiting for me. Thank you for the invitation”

It was clearly a refusal, and he decided to accept graciously and not seem like a pushy Alpha. “I thought we worked well together today. Did you?”

She nodded after a short hesitation. “It wasn’t bad at all. For some reason, I feel like I accomplished more, though I would’ve done the same amount of work either way.”

He nodded his agreement. “I think it’s because having someone to talk to helps pass the time. What do you think about working together tomorrow? I was going to go after the…” He trailed off for a minute to bring up the analysis report he had done upon his arrival yesterday. “Helena tomorrow.”

She looked at her wrist comm and hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I had another ship on the list first, but that’s agreeable. I was saving the Helena for later, since it’s such a large project.”

“I think we can make short work of it between the two of us. We’ll have to go inside the ship though. Its ionocore is still functional according to my analysis.”

She nodded. “I see that as well. Do you have the expertise to disassemble it? I’ve never done that before.”

“I do. I spent some time working in a repair hub on a planet.”

“That should definitely be your claim then.”

He frowned, realizing what a substantial amount it was. That was part of what had drawn him to it. Only the rathium they had harvested today was worth more in this graveyard of ships. “I wouldn’t feel right doing that.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I had no plans to salvage it myself, since I don’t know how, so you aren’t taking it from me. I’ll be happy to help if you need it, and in return, I’ll take a little more of the other salvage. Deal?”

He still felt like he was giving her an unfair bargain, but it was her suggestion, so he shrugged. “If you’re happy with that, then yes.”

She nodded at him. “In that case, I’ll see you in the morning. I like to get started early.”

“So do I.” He lifted his hand and waved at her as her skid headed back to her ship. She didn’t glance back, to his regret. He could look into her purplish eyes for hours, and he reluctantly put his skid in gear and directed it toward his ship, separating from her once more. He’d hoped the evening would end differently.

Once he arrived on the Raven and had secured his cargo for the day and stowed his skid, he moved through the ship to his quarters, ravenous but also wanting to clean up. He stepped into a hot shower moments later, closing his eyes as the water beat down over him. It felt wonderfully refreshing, helping to ease some of the soreness in his muscles from the day’s hard work, and he slumped against the wall.

It wasn’t a conscious choice. Her face just appeared before him, without the E-suit. In his fantasy, she was an Omega, and she smelled delicious. In real life, Remy groaned as he cupped his cock in his hand, starting to stroke himself as he imagined what it would be like to bury his face against one of the scent glands in her neck and inhale, before rubbing against her to impart his scent.

He imagined her skin flushed with estrus, filled with a frantic need to have him as she tugged at his clothes that magically disappeared in the fantasy, leaving him as naked then as he was in real life. She was naked too, and her reddish nipples were particularly luscious, her estrus making them seem like delicious cherries. He moaned as he imagined the taste of them in his mouth while stroking his cock harder.

In the fantasy, his mouth drifted from her nipple down her body, finding her wet core. She was drenched with slick that would ease the way for his Alpha cock. First, he had to ensure she was ready for him, so he would dip his tongue inside, tasting her until she came in his mouth, filling him with her slick before he lifted her, lined up his cock, and drove into the heat of her.

He squeezed his fist around his cock as he imagined what it would be like to be inside his Omega. Generally, his fantasy Omegas had a more generic appearance, since he hadn’t met an Omega in years, and the last ones had been claimed by others. That automatically made them unappealing, even for fantasies.

This time, he could clearly see Maya’s face and imagined it was her pussy he was driving into. He didn’t knot as he came, since he wasn’t inside his Omega during her estrus, so the orgasm was only partially satisfying, and it didn’t last nearly as long as it would if he had been engaged with his mate.

It took the edge off though, allowing him to finish his shower and step out a short time later. He tried not to think about Maya or the fantasy he had created in his mind. He prayed she would be an Omega, but until he had a chance to get the E-suit off her, he wouldn’t know.

He was going to be vastly disappointed if she was just another Beta. He was so drawn to her, but he wasn’t certain he could be happy with a Beta when he could have an Omega. There was just something missing in such a relationship, and he wasn’t willing to compromise even for someone as alluring as Maya.