Hunted By the Alien Pirate by Celia Kyle Page 0,3

had to deal with other sapients, including the Kilgari crew who rescued us from the derelict Frontier.

Of course, we wouldn’t have been alive to rescue if not for yours truly and a stroke of blind luck. My cryo pod was one of the ones that malfunctioned and opened early, and just in time, too. I was able to rig a cargo bay up with enough life support to keep us going, for a while at any rate. Solair and the Ancestral Queen literally showed up in the nick of time to save us all.

So we blended our crew, and for a while I worked down in engineering with Montier, the ship’s chief technical officer. Also the chief hottie officer, because…damn. For an ostensible science nerd, he’s built like a BBL linebacker, or an underwear model. I guess all the heavy lifting he does each and every day as part of his normal duties have paid off.

Montier is not exactly what you would call a personable sort. Far from it. Many of his own people consider him to be gruff and off-putting in the extreme, which is rare for the polite and well-mannered people he hails from. But I can see past his exterior and know that his perceived bad attitude comes from his strong desire to take care of the ship, and by proxy everyone on board, as well as frustration from those who don’t take as good of care of the vessel as he would want.

If it sounds like I have a thing for Montier…I absolutely do. From the first time I laid eyes on him, I felt something stir inside of me, not lust, though to be honest there’s plenty of that sentiment as well. Connection? I suppose that’s the right word. Chemistry? I feel it, and I often wonder if he does as well.

Unfortunately, given both his solitary nature and my duties putting me at the exact opposite end of the ship, I’ve had precious little opportunity to explore these burgeoning feelings. Perhaps that’s why I decided to take drastic measures.

The skimpy little swimsuit I wore out to the beach today was intended to get Montier’s attention in the most lascivious way possible. Judging from the way he’s been staring at me, I’d say it worked.

When I couldn’t stand the feeling of his eyes boring holes into my back any longer, I invited him over for a chat.

To my immense pleasure, he accepted, and now he’s crouching down beside me in the sand, the gentle afternoon sunlight reflecting off the golden skin of his chiseled musculature. One look in his big, sensuous eyes and my heart rate increases to a higher tempo.

“Hey there, big guy. Well, you’re clearly not a vampire. You didn’t explode in the sun.”

“Vam—pire?” He cocks his handsome face to the side, a slight grin spreading over his lips. “Is that some sort of sports official?”

“No, it’s a—I don’t know what the word in galactic standard might be—a ghost? A ghost who drinks blood and explodes into fire in the open sun.”

“I see. I think.” He chuckles and inches a bit closer. I can feel the heat coming off his skin, and it’s driving me crazy. “And what makes you think I might be one of them?”

“I’ve hardly ever seen you outside of engineering or your workshop and never in the open sun before.”

“Is that so?” The grin fades just a bit. “I suppose I do spend the bulk of my time in such places, but only out of necessity. These vampires you speak of, are they scary?”

“Sometimes, but usually, they’re considered to be sexy.”

His eyes widen slightly, and the grin returns.

“Am I to believe that by proxy you think I am sexy as well?”

Oh, big guy. You have no idea.

“Maybe…” I twirl my hair around my finger and lean back on the towel, which causes my barely restrained bosom to shift. I’m aware a bit of pink areola is sticking out of the side, but I don’t make any move to cover it. Montier’s eyes quickly dart to it, and then dart away, but the sweat beading on his brow between the base of his horns seems to indicate he noticed.

“I don’t know much about vampires, but if sexiness is a prerequisite for being one, I’d say you have that base covered most admirably.”

Oh god, is he flirting? I think he is. I’ve been waiting a long time for this, or at least it seems like it.

“I bet you say that to all