Hellcat's Bounty (Rosewood Space Western Book 1) by Jones Renae

Author:Jones, Renae [Jones, Renae]
Language: eng
Format: azw
Tags: Romance, Space Western, Lesbian Romance
Publisher: Renae Jones
Published: 2014-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Anelace got home late that night, after the lights had been turned down and the air scrubbers turned up. Brisco and the other farmhands were home to mourn and finish realizing they'd nearly died, but Taledad had wanted his money's worth. She'd reviewed schematics and given her opinion—illegal water tap somewhere down ship. Then she'd gone with the maintenance boys to find it.

And the whole time Dick was standing there with a flamethrower and crazy eyes, scaring her more than the blobs ever did.

Meidani was in Anelace's bed, curled in a sleeping lump of naked limbs and patchwork quilts. Her hair was braided for bed and her expression was peaceful under the faint night-set lights of Anelace's quarters.

Anelace didn't want to wake her, but she was sour with worry sweat, so she shrugged off her clothes in her best silence. The air was cold and she felt restless in the adrenaline aftermath. She washed first, quiet as she could. Then she climbed into the cozy bed nook. She even thought she'd pulled it off, until Meidani spoke. "Night light off."

The lights blazed to full bright, which was very bright.

"Ouch." Sleepy Meidani threw an arm across her eyes.

"Lights off!" Anelace commanded.

Nothing happened. Anelace sighed. Meidani buried her face into a pillow, fully woken up now.

Anelace stood to use the control panel near the door.

"Bad mic?" Meidani asked.

"I think the ship's computer just hates me."

"Probably. Your heat's busted, too."

The station was originally built with every light switch and door hooked to a vast voice-activated network. Mostly, these days, the network just didn't work. Or caused messes. Or shorted things out. Even the grid on Rosewood was old and crotchety.

Anelace used her thumb on the front door panel to turn the lights off completely. The panel was a makeshift layer of medical tape with the buttons drawn back on with cheap copper wire. Panels were easy to fix. You had to buy ceiling microphones when they broke, though. Or steal them from one of the few well-policed areas where the company still replenished them.

In the cool darkness, she crawled back into bed and drew Meidani into her arms. The woken woman buried her face against Anelace's shoulder, her breath a pool of comforting heat.

Anelace slowly relaxed, carefully not remembering the way blobs had been burrowing into the eye sockets of the last corpse. Meidani's hair smelled like apples, and that was a much better thought.

Anelace was safe. Meidani and Brisco were safe. She'd been paid, and she had a soft woman in her arms. At the end of the day, when her boots were off and the lights were out, that's all that mattered.

Meidani hitched her breath, an uncomfortable catch that filled Anelace with dread. Then she started talking.

"I hate that you're an exterminator. I hate everything about it. I hate when you get hurt and I hate when you don't, because I just spent all day worrying for nothing."

Anelace lay still. She could feel gentle lips moving against her collarbone, a comforting touch, but the words she heard were chilling.

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