She bit her lip. “No, I’ve got it.”
Cifer prepped to follow as she shimmied into the maintenance space. It was about half a human high and maybe the same width. Tubes and color-coded wires ran in tidy conduits. Cifer shifted closer to Blaize, whose breath was shallow and rapid. “What are we looking for?”
With a shake of her head, she met his gaze. “Anything out of place, any signs of wear, especially around the turns. There should be adequate slack to avoid tension, but no sagging. That could indicate a problem somewhere up or down the line, or deterioration in the material itself.”
Cifer was sure that Blaize wasn’t comfortable with small spaces. He’d do what he could to ease her discomfort. He leaned a bit closer, letting his shoulder graze hers. “Do we want to work together or take different directions?”
“Together, I think.” She flinched. “So we don’t miss anything.” With a deep breath, she shifted to her knees and crawled forward, neck craned as she visually inspected the veins of the ship. Cifer followed, reminding himself to check the wires and tubes, but he was primarily focused on the beauty in front of him. He was here to keep her from panicking in the space or get her out if she did. He couldn’t think of a more delightful way to spend the day than cozied up to the hot redhead and protecting her delectable ass. Even temporarily.
“Does this look right to you?”
They’d been crawling through ductwork for what seemed like hours. Cifer dragged his gaze from Blaize and sidled closer, taking the opportunity to brush against her as he inspected the area she pointed to. She shivered, and he indulged in the vibration. The temptation to discover how else he might make her shake was irresistible—almost.
“Do you see it?” She pointed.
A slight—very slight—bulge in one of the tubes caught his eye. He would have missed it if she hadn’t pointed it out. “Small bubble,” he agreed.
She shifted and sat back on her haunches before digging into the kit she’d been pushing ahead of her. First, she snapped a picture. Then she dropped a pin on the digital map she had of the ship on her data pad. Finally, she wrapped the weakened area with some kind of reinforced tape. “That should hold until we get to Cassan. Have to replace that section before we head out again.”
“How often do you do this?”
She blushed, and her pink cheeks were perfectly adorable. “I should have finished the inspection when I first joined on. But after the spiders escaped?—”
“That explains the webs.” Cifer craned his neck to peer down the duct they’d climbed through.
“First delivery for me on this ship. Venomous spiders.”
“Venomous?” Cifer’s skin rippled, and he struggled to maintain his form.
“I haven’t been able to come down here since, even though I know it’s not possible for any of them to still be on board. We counted the inventory when we delivered, and even if the count was off, after spending so many cycles on Kolben, anything in this part of the ship would surely have been dead by now.”
Surely. Somehow that word didn’t comfort him as much as it probably should have.
“Thank you for coming with me. Sorry I failed to mention the spider thing.”
Cifer swallowed down his irrational fear. “Not to worry, Beauty. I’m happy to be your protector.”
She grimaced, but it seemed more to hide her smile than any irritation with his words. “We’re almost done. A few more meters, and we should be back where we started.”
“Good thing you have the map. I’d be hopelessly lost by now.” It was a white lie. He was aware of exactly where they were in the ship, but she deserved the praise for tracking their progress so well, braving her fears, and being so diligent with the care of the ship. He’d be sure to mention that as a reason he wanted to contract passage to Hiargus.
It had nothing to do with extending his proximity to Blaize. There was no future for them.
She was clearly dedicated to her job, as was he, but that meant traveling in different directions. And even if it didn’t, there was no way he could maintain this form forever.
But there was nothing wrong with securing a safe, mostly comfortable ride to meet the obligations of his contract. As a paying customer, he’d likely be afforded a berth of some kind. A berth where he could relax his defenses periodically and possibly pursue a brief affair with Blaize. She deserved to know exactly how beautiful and smart she really was. If he did have a fling, it wouldn’t be for selfish reasons at all.
Well, maybe a little selfish.
“Done.”
Cifer snapped back to reality, away from the engrossing fantasy of Blaize naked in his bed. He followed her lush form through the hole. She secured the floor panel. “Anything else?”
She licked her lips, and Cifer would have given the balance in his credit account to know what had passed through her mind. She shook her head. “We’re done for today.”
“Then I’ll see myself back to my cell.”
“I’ll go with you. I need to ask Veda something.”
