Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen Lady Blue Crew 03 Imlay's Cure

Lady Blue Crew 3

Imlay’s Cure

Dr. Imlay Jones has never understood what all the excitement is
around sex. It is dirty, sweaty, and, most times, just plain boring.

He prefers his test tubes and medical bay. But when Livewire
leaves to go on a mission, Imlay suddenly realizes he doesn't want
the man out of his sight. There's something about the crazy

mechanic that draws Imlay like a flame.

When Livewire doesn't return, Imlay is beside himself. When it's

discovered that Livewire is being held hostage, Imlay insists on
going on the rescue mission to retrieve his missing mate. But

rescuing Livewire doesn't stop once they get him back onboard the
Lady Blue. Livewire can't stand to be touched, trusts no one, and

has constant nightmares about his capture. Only Imlay's gentle
touch can calm the man. Can Imlay overcome his aversion to sex
in order to bring his mate back to the land of the living, or will he

lose Livewire forever to the memories that haunt him?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Science Fiction, Shape-shifter
Length: 39,501 words

IMLAY’S CURE

Lady Blue Crew 3

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to
only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on
your own personal computer or device. You do not have
resell or distribution rights without the prior written
permission of both the publisher and the copyright
owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any
format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer
to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer
program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest.
Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright
Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online,
offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently
known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not
want this book anymore, you must delete it from your
computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution
of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright
infringement, including infringement without monetary
gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5
years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared
illegally, please let us know at
legal@sirenbookstrand.com

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

IMLAY’S CURE
Copyright © 2011 by Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 1-61034-827-3

First E-book Publication: October 2011

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Imlay’s Cure by Stormy Glenn and
Lynn Hagen from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank
you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing
rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this
book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying
readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen’s livelihood. It’s fair and
simple. Please respect Ms. Glenn and Ms. Hagen’s right to earn a
living from their work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

IMLAY’S CURE

Lady Blue Crew 3

STORMY GLENN AND LYNN HAGEN

Chapter 1

“Remy, can I speak with you for a moment?” Livewire asked as

he leaned against the doorway leading onto the bridge of the Lady
Blue. He loved his job as a mechanic aboard the spaceship, but he
needed to talk to the commander about taking a little time off.

“Do we need more parts, Livewire?”
Livewire chuckled at the panicked look on Remy’s face. The Lady

Blue was a good ship, but she’d gone too long without repairs and
upkeep. It was taking a lot of parts for Livewire to bring her back to
her former glory.

“Well, we could always use more parts, but that’s not what I need

to talk to you about.”

“Oh, well then, what’s up?”
“The exterminator is getting ready to return to Beta Five. I’d like

to go with him.”

“I thought you said we didn’t need any more parts.”
“I need some time off the ship. I figured I could land here, and

you all could pick me up after you dropped the doc off at End of the
Line.”

“Livewire, I’m not sure we’re going to be headed back this way

anytime soon.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“I’ll take my chances.”
Livewire mentally crossed his fingers as he felt the commander’s

intense gaze move over him. He really needed some time away, even
if it was just for a few days. If he didn’t get off the ship pretty soon,
he didn’t know what he was going to do.

“I suppose we could pick up a job on End of the Line that will

bring us back this way,” Remy finally said. “There’s always cargo
needing to be transported one way or another.”

Livewire breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Commander.”
“Well, you’d better hurry,” Remy said as he turned back toward

the vid-screen on the front of the bridge. “The exterminator is leaving
in about ten minutes.” A small chuckle escaped Remy’s lips as he
shook his head. “There doesn’t seem to be much left for him to do
since Gigi and Pax launched the worms out the escape pod.”

Livewire laughed. “Yeah, that was pretty cool.”
“Cool, hell,” Remy snapped. “I still have to pay the guy.”
Livewire continued to laugh as he walked off the bridge and

headed for engineering. He needed to grab his bag, which was already
packed and sitting on the end of his bed, then get to the shuttle bay
before the exterminator left. He’d been prepared in case Remy agreed
to let him have a little leave.

Livewire didn’t need a lot of time, just long enough for Imlay

Jones to be transported to End of the Line and taken off the ship. One
more day onboard with the man and Livewire couldn’t guarantee he
wouldn’t attack the handsome doctor. The man was driving him
crazy.

Imlay Jones was simply a job. Livewire knew that. They were to

transport the man and his medical equipment from Lost Star Three to
End of the Line. Livewire had known since the minute he met the
doctor that they were mates. He had no idea how he’d known, but he
had. And being around Imlay day in and day out was agonizing.

Imlay had very clear ideas on what he thought about sex, and they

were in direct contradiction to what Livewire thought. Imlay found

Imlay’s Cure

relations between people disgusting. Livewire couldn’t think of
anything but jumping the man and fucking him into the wall.

Hence, the reason he needed off the ship until Imlay was delivered

to End of the Line and no longer on the ship. Imlay had made it more
than clear that any type of physical relationship between them
wouldn’t happen. And if Livewire stayed onboard, he knew he
wouldn’t be able to stop it.

The thought of Imlay getting off on End of the Line and both of

them going their separate ways was too much for Livewire to bear. He
wasn’t going to be around to watch his mate just walk away. This was
a much better solution for both of them.

Livewire paused when he reached the middle deck of the ship and

heard noises coming from the sick bay. He knew he should keep on
going down to the lower level to get his bag, but Livewire couldn’t
pass up the last chance he would have to see his mate.

Livewire walked down the corridor to the sick bay and peeked

inside. He could see the doctor moving about the room and assumed
he was putting stock away. Imlay was stacking boxes in the
cupboards and rearranging the shelves.

“Is there something you wanted, Livewire?” Imlay asked.
Livewire jumped a little when the doctor didn’t even turn his head

to look at him when he spoke. He knew he had been quiet. Over the
last couple of weeks, Livewire had perfected the art of sneaking
around the ship to spy on the sexy doctor.

Livewire felt like he could have been a speck of dust on the floor

for all of the attention Imlay paid him. He’d caught Imlay watching
him a time or two, but over the last several days, the doctor had taken
great strides to avoid him. Maybe that was what finally threw
Livewire over the edge. He couldn’t stand being ignored by his mate.
It was more than any one man could handle.

“Livewire?” The doctor had a dark brown eyebrow raised as he

glanced over his shoulder. “I believe I asked you a question. It does
require an answer.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Livewire barely suppressed his shiver as desire spiked through

him. It was always that way when Imlay spoke to him in that deep
tone. It was commanding, dominating, and arousing as all hell.

“I’ve come to say goodbye, doctor.”
“Oh?”
Livewire pressed his lips together when Imlay turned away and

continued stacking boxes of medical supplies in the cupboard. He
hated being ignored, but he’d grown used to it with Imlay. Livewire
felt like the man simply pushed him out of his mind when he didn’t
want to deal with him—which seemed to be most of the time.

“I have business down on Beta Five. I’ll be disembarking here.

The Lady Blue will pick me up after dropping you off at End of the
Line.”

Livewire held his breath as he waited to see if his words would get

any reaction from the doctor. He’d settle for any sign that his words
made a dent in the thick-headed man, even a nervous tick.

“Oh?”
Livewire grit his teeth and clenched his hands when Imlay didn’t

even turn around. His mate simply did not care. Something came over
Livewire in that moment, knowing this would be the last time he ever
saw his mate again and the man simply could have cared less.

He growled and leapt across the space between them. Livewire

grabbed the doctor and spun him around before pushing him back
against the wall next to the cupboards. He wrapped his fingers in
Imlay’s hair and smashed their lips together, taking from the doctor
what he wouldn’t freely give.

Livewire groaned as the sweet taste of the man blasted across his

tongue. Had anyone ever tasted so sweet? So delicious? The kiss sent
the pit of Livewire’s stomach spinning as he covered Imlay’s mouth
hungrily. Every ounce of want and need that he had been suppressing
since the doctor boarded the Lady Blue exploded as he savagely
explored Imlay’s mouth.

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire heard Imlay whimper. It was probably the only thing

that could have gotten through the lust-filled fog in his brain. No
matter how angry he was, harming his mate wasn’t allowed. And
besides, Livewire wasn’t used to being the aggressor, but desperate
times called for desperate measures. This would be their only kiss,
and Livewire didn’t want to go their separate ways without at least
tasting Imlay just once.

Regret filled Livewire as he slowly pulled away and looked down

into Imlay’s deep green eyes, eyes that he could have drowned in.
Livewire rubbed his thumb across Imlay’s kiss-swollen lips. A piece
of his heart broke off at the wounded look in the doctor’s eyes. Maybe
leaving was the best thing for both of them.

“We could have been so good together, Imlay,” Livewire

whispered before pushing away from the man. He took a step back,
then another and another until he reached the doorway. “Goodbye,
doctor.”

Livewire knew he left something behind as he turned and walked

away from the sick bay. His steps quickened as he ran down the stairs
to engineering and grabbed his bag. He made it back upstairs to the
shuttle bay just as the exterminator was loading up his equipment. He
gave a quick nod to Remy then boarded the shuttle and settled into a
chair.

Tears prickled the corners of his eyes as the shuttle lifted off and

left the Lady Blue. He was leaving behind more than a ship that he
loved and a crew he had grown fond of. He was leaving behind the
one man that made him feel complete. It was just unfortunate that
Imlay didn’t feel the same way. They really could have been good
together.

* * * *

Imlay stood in the sick bay with his trembling fingers touching his

kiss-swollen lips. A whoosh of air left his lungs as his out-of-control

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

heart beat wildly behind his ribs. That kiss had rocked his neatly
organized world. Imlay couldn’t believe Livewire had made him
come in his pants.

Imlay pressed his back against the wall as his mind whirled with

thoughts and emotions. He wasn’t sure what he should do now. Imlay
was rooted to the spot, still feeling the buzz coursing through his body
after such an explosive orgasm. Looking down his body, Imlay could
see the soiled spot in his pants where his body had released its
pleasure of its own volition.

For weeks he had been trying his best to stay away from Livewire.

The attraction he felt was not something Imlay was used to. His life
was neat and in order. There was no place for a man who talked to
machinery and didn’t have a serious bone in his body.

Imlay groaned as he walked to his quarters, taking a quick shower

and then changing into clean clothes. As he tucked his shirt in, a panic
of epic proportion seized him. Imlay ran from the sick bay down to
the shuttle bay. His feet felt like they were running through quicksand
as he tried to make it to Livewire.

There was no logical reason why he was running for a man he had

ran from, but Imlay couldn’t explain it. He just had to. His heart
thundered when he saw the shuttle blast off, carrying Livewire away
from him.

Imlay wanted to shout out for the man to come back, to not leave

him. A lump formed in his throat when he realized he had waited too
long. Imlay stood there in the middle of the shuttle bay feeling like his
world just flew away in that shuttle.

“Doc?” Remy approached him from the launching pad.
Imlay hadn’t even noticed he was just standing there, literally

staring off into space. He cleared his throat, his eyes darting around,
trying his best to clear the moisture from them. Imlay was not going
to cry in front of the commander. He wasn’t.

“Are you all right over there?”

Imlay’s Cure

The only thing Imlay could manage was a nod. He turned on his

heel and headed back to his quarters.

Livewire was gone.
Those three words circled around in his head until Imlay clutched

his temples, trying desperately to make them stop. He wiped his eyes
with the back of his hands as he left his quarters and marched back to
the commander. Imlay spotted Remy heading up to the command
deck. “Commander?”

Remy stopped in his ascent to look back at Imlay, a knowing

sadness playing in his eyes. “Yes, doc?” The question was asked in a
gentle tone.

Imlay ignored it. He had more pressing matters and was trying to

draw up the courage to ask. “Make him come back.” The request was
between an anguished plea and a simple statement.

Remy stepped down and walked over to Imlay, a soft smile

tugging at his lips. “I can’t.”

Imlay bit his bottom lip as he tried to figure out what to do. There

was no way he’d accept the fact that he and Livewire would never see
each other again. Imlay wasn’t sure what he would do with the man if
the mechanic did come back, but he’d work that out when he saw him
again.

“I’m staying onboard the Lady Blue once the cargo has been

delivered,” Imlay stated, then he spun on his heels and headed back to
his quarters. It was going to be a tortuous wait for Livewire to return,
but Imlay had that one single kiss to keep him company until his
mechanic was back onboard.

His mechanic?
Imlay groaned. Livewire was making him think things he had

never thought of before. It was scary, unknown, and took him outside
of his neat little box. Was the man worth it? That was something he
needed to figure out before reaching End of the Line.

He had told Remy he was staying onboard once the cargo was

offloaded, but Imlay had to do a lot of soul searching to figure out if it

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

was what he really wanted. Imlay walked to his quarters and sat on
his bed, feeling lost and alone.

“We could use you, doc,” Remy said from his doorway, scaring

the hell out of Imlay. His hands fluttered to his neck, giving the
commander a slight nod. Imlay didn’t trust his voice right now. It felt
scratchy and hot, like tears would spill if he opened his mouth to say
just one single word.

The lump only increased when Remy walked away. Imlay’s hands

clutched the side of the bed he was sitting on as he remembered how
Livewire had taken what he wanted. It shocked Imlay to realize how
good it had felt. Sex was always so messy and wet, something he had
tried once—albeit a hand job only—but Imlay found no satisfaction in
it.

What puzzled him was the plethora of satisfaction he had found in

just that one single kiss. Imlay ran his fingers over his lips once more,
remembering the sweet taste of Livewire. What he wouldn’t give to
try that kiss again.

* * * *

Imlay stood at the portal window, his hands clasped behind his

back. They had delivered the cargo on time and were now on their
way back to Beta Five. It had taken over a week, but they were going
back to collect the mechanic.

Imlay was mentally doing a little jig in his head, but outwardly his

posture was stiff as his eyes watched for Livewire’s shuttle. He was
also scared shitless of what he would say. How on Lost Star was he
going to tell Livewire he was interested but frightened out of his
mind? Would the mechanic make fun of him? Tease him
unremorsefully? Or would he guide Imlay through the process of a
relationship?

“I can’t raise him on the com link.”

Imlay’s Cure

Imlay turned his head to see Remy talking with the hawk shifter,

Colt. His ears perked up, knowing they were talking about Livewire.
He ached for every little tidbit of information about Livewire like
table scraps.

“I’ve been trying to reach him for hours, but I’m getting no

response,” Remy continued as he and Colt walked past Imlay.

Imlay’s stomach knotted at the commander’s words. An ice-cold

chill ran down his spine as he walked away from the porthole window
and followed the talking pair.

“We’re going to have to land. Livewire only wanted a few days.

But if he has decided to go his own way, I want to hear it from his
own two lips,” Colt commented to Remy.

“I’m going,” Imlay stated from behind them. When they turned to

look at him, Imlay repeated himself with a little more solidity to his
words. “I’m going.”

“There’s no need for you to go searching for him, doc. He’s

probably laid out somewhere drunk. We’ll make sure he’s okay,”
Remy said as he crossed the corridor toward Imlay.

Imlay took a step back, glancing from Remy to Colt, and then

back to Remy. “I’m going,” he stated firmly, his shoulders squaring
off to show how serious he was. If Livewire was in some kind of
trouble, Imlay was going to be there for him.

Remy studied him for a moment. A look of hard concentration

crossed his face before he gave Imlay the nod he was hoping for.
Imlay knew that he was part of the crew now and subject to Remy’s
commands. But a small part of him knew that he would go searching
regardless of the commander’s decision. Imlay had a feeling Remy
knew this as well.

“We’ll be touching down within the hour. Be ready,” Remy stated

in a commanding tone, letting Imlay know that the search party
wouldn’t wait on him if he lagged behind.

“I’ll be ready.” Imlay hurried to his quarters to pack a small

medical bag with a few necessities for any kind of a scenario they

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

might face. He prayed to the gods he wouldn’t need it. Maybe
Livewire had turned his com link off and everyone was making a fuss
over nothing.

He could only pray that was the case, but the knot in his stomach

said it was worse than that. Until he saw Livewire with his own eyes,
Imlay wouldn't stop worrying.

Imlay’s pulse beat in his ears as he joined the crew at the

retractable ramp. The crew of Lady Blue had their game faces on as
they stood there waiting for the ramp to touch ground. Imlay’s hands
started to sweat when everyone began to exit.

“Livewire’s com link is still active. Tank has locked onto his

signal. I warn you now, gentlemen, it’s not the nicest side of the
planet. Be ready and on alert for anything.” Remy rattled off more,
but Imlay was too busy being stuck on the part where Livewire was in
the dangerous part of the planet.

They grabbed a shuttle, giving the driver Livewire’s coordinates

as Imlay sat there nervously. He’d never been on a rescue mission
before, and from what he was feeling, he didn’t want to be on one
again. He was about to puke.

“We’ll get him out, doc.” Blade patted his knee.
Instinct made Imlay pull back. He wasn’t used to touching. Blade

didn’t seem offended, but right at the moment, Imlay wouldn’t have
cared if he was. He was too worried about Livewire to care what
anyone thought of him at the moment.

“Here you go.” The shuttle driver stopped outside a seedy

building. Imlay swallowed when he saw men with guns walking the
outside perimeter. Just what did Livewire get himself into?

“Looks like we’re going in hot. Anyone who wants to return to the

ship may do so.” Remy looked over at Imlay. “This may get ugly.”

“Retreat, hell,” the crew called out as they exited the shuttle.

Imlay placed his hand on the seat, ready to push out of the shuttle
when Remy laid a hand on his shoulder.

Imlay’s Cure

“You should stay here, doc. Those men with guns aren’t the

welcoming type, and I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.”

Imlay shook off Remy’s hold. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m ordering you to stay behind,” Remy growled.
“Retreat, hell,” Imlay said with a vicious bite. They locked eyes,

Imlay refusing to be the first to look away. If the situation was as
grave as Remy said it was, Livewire needed him.

His mechanic was in there somewhere, and Imlay wasn’t going to

sit back and hope he made it out. No, Imlay was going in and making
damn sure he made it out.

“Your neck, doc. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Remy growled as

he exited the shuttle, Imlay right behind him.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 2

Imlay pushed past Crank as he raced to the room at the end of the

hall. Phaser fire was echoing all around him, but Imlay concentrated
on the one room that hadn’t been checked. The crew was keeping the
men busy, giving Imlay cover as he pushed the door open and then
came to a dead halt.

There was no way he was truly seeing this. No way. His head

swam as his eyes blurred. His hand shot up to cover his mouth as
Imlay dropped to his knees and vomited his stomach content. He
coughed a few times before getting to his unsteady feet, wiping his
mouth.

Imlay had to pull himself together. But how could he? This was

Livewire, not some unknown entity he was dealing with. Imlay
stumbled back toward the door, his voice refusing to work at the first
attempt he made to shout.

“Help!” he cried out when his larynx unfroze. His fingers dug into

the rotted door frame as he rested his forehead against it to take a
steady breath before turning back to the room. Bile rose again, but
Imlay swallowed it back. He crossed the room and wondered where in
the hell he was supposed to start.

“Holy fucking hell,” Blade whispered when he entered the room.

“Is that…Livewire?”

Imlay wiped the free-falling tears from his eyes before reaching

into his bag, pulling out a pair of snips to free Livewire’s hands from
behind his back. He cried out when he saw the dirty rag wrapped
around Livewire’s right hand. The blood and puss had dried to a cake,
cementing the filthy fabric to Livewire’s hand and wrist.

Imlay’s Cure

Imlay glanced up to the unrecognizable face of the mechanic.

Both of Livewire’s eyes were swollen shut, and his lips were cracked
and bleeding. There was a trail of dried blood weaving a sickly
pattern from scalp to chin. Even Livewire’s beautiful head of black
hair had been shorn off.

Imlay worked quickly through his blurry focus as he freed the

mechanic. He had to shut down his emotions in order to function.
Imlay would take his feelings out later to examine them, but right now
Livewire’s life depended on his medical training.

“We got another one, doc.”
Imlay’s head snapped up at Blade’s words. He gave a gruff nod

when he saw a fragile-looking man chained to the wall. “Get him
down.”

“On it,” Blade said as he began the task of freeing the unknown

man.

“I need help with him,” Imlay barked out. There was no way he

could lift Livewire on his own. The man was just a few inches shorter
than him.

Blade hit his com link, advising one or more of the crew to get

their asses in the room. Crank came through the doorway a moment
later, a whole dictionary of curses falling from his lips as he gently
lifted Livewire up into his arms.

Imlay’s blood ran cold when a bloodcurdling scream escaped

Livewire. It didn’t even sound human. Crank froze as he stared at
Imlay. He couldn’t process it right now. If he did, Imlay would fold
into himself and weep for what was done to his Livewire. Imlay
swallowed a few times and then turned to Crank.

“Give me your phaser,” Imlay demanded.
“No doing, doc. We’ll make it out—”
“I didn’t ask you what you fucking thought, now did I? Give me a

goddamn phaser!” Imlay shouted as he grabbed it from Crank’s hand.
He clenched his jaw and led the two men out. Crank carried Imlay’s
mechanic while Blade carried the unknown man. There was no way

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay was leaving anyone behind. The stranger looked just as bad as
Livewire—if that were possible.

Imlay dropped to one knee and fired when a gunman rounded the

corner. He wasn’t a fighter, not by any means. But Imlay was fighting
for his mechanic. No one was going to stand in his way. Adrenaline
was pumping through his system like a tsunami, making him braver
than he normally was.

The rest of the crew laid cover fire, helping the three men get back

to the shuttle. Remy had paid the driver to wait. It was a hefty fee
considering what was going on, but the shuttle driver braved it.

The crew crawled in as the driver hauled ass to get them out of

there. Imlay handed Crank his phaser back as he carefully took
Livewire from Crank’s arms. It was his responsibility to care for the
man. He may not have been strong enough to carry his mechanic, but
caring for the man was something Imlay was going to take full
responsibility for.

No one asked how Livewire was. Only a blind fool wouldn’t be

able to see the torture displayed over the man’s body. Livewire shook
in Imlay’s arms as if he were out in a blizzard. Two of the crew
members removed their shirts and leaned over, covering Livewire’s
naked body the best they could.

Imlay was thankful, but didn’t say a word. He wasn’t used to

showing emotion and didn’t know how. He was afraid if he opened
the floodgates, there would be no stopping his chaotic emotions from
flying out.

“Is he going to be okay, doc?” Crank asked as he looked at

Livewire.

“He will be.” Imlay wouldn’t have it any other way. He refused to

have it any other way. His Livewire would come back to him, healthy
and whole, if it was the last thing Imlay ever did.

The ride back to the Lady Blue was long and tedious. Livewire

screamed at every little bump. He screamed if anyone touched him.
He screamed if anyone tried to talk to him. He just screamed. By the

Imlay’s Cure

time they reached the docking bay, Imlay felt like his heart was
bleeding right along with his ears.

As soon as they reached the ship, Imlay allowed Crank to carry

Livewire once again. He quickly walked beside them as they boarded
the ship. Imlay reached over and rested his hand tentatively on
Livewire’s shoulder, needing the physical contact with the man.

“Take them both to sick bay. I’m going to need two of you to

assist me. I’ll also need Gigi to make something for them to eat. Clear
broth would be best or maybe some Brilliam tea.”

“We’ll see to it, doc,” Remy said. “Whatever you need, you’ll get

it.”

Imlay clenched his fists. “I need to know what happened to them

so I know who to kill.”

A slight smirk crossed Remy’s lips. “I’ll get on that, too.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Imlay’s hands trembled as he clasped them together in front of

him and tried to look like he was in more control than he really was.
Each time he looked at Livewire, a piece of him died. No one should
have to suffer what the mechanic had suffered and Imlay was just
guessing from the man’s injuries. Until he was able to talk to
Livewire and find out for sure, he’d wonder.

“Put them in those two beds.” Imlay pointed to the beds against

the wall when they reached the sick bay. “Crank, Blade, go scrub up
and put on gloves. I’m going to need your help.”

Imlay stayed with his two patients as the two men went to scrub

up and grab gloves. His main concern was for Livewire, but he
couldn’t dismiss the fact that he had two patients. He was a doctor. It
wasn’t in him to forget about a patient.

Imlay made sure each man was stabilized then injected them with

antibiotics. He knew at the very least they both had infections. Once
Crank and Blade returned, he supplied them with antibacterial cleaner
and directed them to start wiping down the patients as he went to
wash up.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay took just a moment to breathe once he was inside the

washroom. He leaned his head against the wall and drew in several
deep breaths. If he didn’t get control of himself, he’d never be any
good to either man.

Livewire started screaming again. Imlay jerked then hurried over

to the sink to wash. He grabbed some gloves and walked back into the
sick bay as he snapped them on. Livewire was thrashing around,
screaming. He’d screamed so much he was hoarse, his voice barely
making a sound. The other man was unconscious.

“Doc?” Crank glanced up at him as he tried to hold Livewire

down and keep him on the bed. “Should we strap him down?”

Imlay’s first instinct was to scream at Crank that no one was

going to tie his man down to anything. His second was demand that
Crank not even touch Livewire. Luckily, his doctor’s training took
over, and he was able to calmly assess the situation without attacking
anyone.

“No, I’ll give him a sedative. After what he’s been through,

strapping Livewire down will do more damage than it would good.”

Imlay quickly grabbed an injection gun and filled it with a

sedative. Deciding both of his patients could use it, Imlay injected the
two men with the sedative. After a moment, Livewire settled and his
hoarse screams faded away.

“Okay, let’s see what we’re working with here,” Imlay said as he

started assessing Livewire’s injuries, starting with the top of his head
and working down to his toes. Partway through his evaluation, Imlay
had Crank turned Livewire over so he could check his backside for
damage.

He immediately saw injuries that made his heart sink. Imlay

glanced up at Crank and Blade. He could see their horror at the
injuries Livewire had sustained. “You gentlemen understand that the
confidentiality of this room cannot be broken, correct?”

Crank blinked as he looked up. “Doc?”
“Nothing you see in this room is to leave this room.”

Imlay’s Cure

“Remy’s going to want to know.”
“I will give a full report to the commander, but beyond him, no

one is to know the extent of Livewire’s injuries unless he chooses to
tell them.” Imlay swallowed hard as he looked down at the bloody,
inflamed marks on Livewire’s back. Imlay could tell by the extent of
the injuries exactly what happened to the mechanic, and it made his
heart weep. “Livewire is entitled to his privacy.”

“As long as you give a full detailed report to Remy,” Crank said,

“no one will hear a word of this from our lips.”

“Very good,” Imlay said then started repairing whatever damage

had been done to Livewire.

The next couple of hours were stressful for everyone. Imlay’s

back ached by the time he stood up straight. His head swam a little
bit, and he staggered back. Only a strong hand placed in the middle of
his back stopped him from toppling over.

“Thank you,” he said as he smiled over his shoulder, only

realizing when he did that Remy stood behind him. “Oh, Commander,
I didn’t see you there.”

Hell, he hadn’t seen anyone. He’d been too focused on treating his

patients. Both men had been cleaned. Their wounds had been attended
to and sutured if needed, then covered in bandages. The stranger
seemed to have just a few less visible wounds than Livewire, but there
were signs of long-term torture. Whatever had happened to the two
men, the stranger had suffered longer.

“That’s okay, doc, you seemed pretty intent on what you were

doing.”

“Yes, well.” Imlay cleared his throat and glanced beyond the

commander then around the room. Except for the two patients, Blade,
and Crank, the commander was the only other person in the room
with him.

“I’m sure you’re waiting for a full report, Commander,” Imlay

said. “If you could give me just a few more minutes to get my patients
situated I’ll be right with you.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Take whatever time you need, Doc. I’m not going anywhere.”
Imlay nodded and turned back to his patients. He gestured to the

bed in the other room. “Would you please transport Livewire into the
other room? I believe he is going to need to be isolated for a while.”

“Isolated?” Remy snapped as Crank carried Livewire into the

isolation room. Imlay and Remy followed right behind him. “Is this
something I need to be concerned with, Doc? Can Gigi get it?”

“No no, Commander. Livewire is not contagious. There are signs

that he has been given Paktillian Dust.” Imlay stepped over to
Livewire and pointed to the red rash around his nose. “See this? It’s
indicative of snorting Paktillian Dust, a very addictive drug. A single
dose can be addictive to the user.”

“And that means what?” Remy growled, glowering.
“I’ll keep Livewire sedated as long as I can, and hopefully it will

get him through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms, but I can’t
keep him under for too long. The longer Livewire is sedated, the
harder it will be to bring him out of it.”

Remy sighed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, Doc,

what are we looking at here?”

“Whoever had Livewire not only gave him Paktillian Dust but…”

Imlay swallowed hard. “He has numerous bruises and abrasions over
most of his body. His left pinky has been severed at the knuckle. He
has three broken ribs and a small skull fracture near his right temple.
There are several marks on his back, which suggest he was whipped
repeatedly and—”

“And?” Remy growled.
“He’s been tortured, Commander.”
Remy waved his hand at the unconscious man on the bed. “I can

see that, doc.”

Imlay swallowed again. “You don’t understand. Livewire wasn’t

just roughed up or smacked around. Someone purposely did this to
him, slowly and methodically…” Imlay closed his eyes as a rage so
deep it made him shake overtook his body. “This was done on

Imlay’s Cure

purpose to cause Livewire the most amount of pain and damage as
possible, Commander.”

“Holy mother of—” Remy rubbed his hands down his face as he

stared down at Livewire with horror written all over his pale face. “Is
he—how much—damn!”

Remy suddenly spun away and stormed across the room to lean

against the wall with his hand. He stared down at the floor for several
moments before turning around again to look at Imlay.

“How bad is it, Doc? Will he recover?”
“Physically, there should be no problem. With the medications

I’ve given him, Livewire should recover in a matter of days.
Emotionally…” Imlay spread his hands out and shook his head. “I
just don’t know. It all depends on how strong Livewire is.”

Remy pointed at the doctor. “You do whatever you need to do to

bring Livewire back to us, you understand? I don’t care what it takes.
As of right now, he is your top priority. Whatever you need, doc, just
ask for it, and I’ll ensure that you have it. I want my mechanic back.”

Not as much as I do. Imlay watched Remy storm from the room.

Never once since he was a small child and knew he wanted to be a
doctor had Imlay ever wished to be something else. But right now,
knowing exactly what had happened to Livewire, Imlay wished that
he was clueless.

The knowledge of how horribly the man he now considered his

had been abused would haunt Imlay for the rest of his life. Even if
Livewire recovered, Imlay would never forget the wounds he had
cleaned and sutured, the injuries done to the vibrant man. These were
the things of nightmares.

“What about the other guy, doc?” Blade asked from the doorway

of the isolation room.

Imlay turned to look at Blade then walked to the doorway to look

at the other patient he had worked on. “His injuries were not as severe
as Livewire’s, but there were signs of previous abuse. I believe he
was held longer than Livewire.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“How can you tell?” Blade asked.
“Many of his injuries had healed.” Imlay walked over to the

sleeping man and pointed to the fading pink scars along his back.
“These are at least three weeks old. Livewire was only gone for a
week.”

“Was he given Paktillian Dust like Livewire?” Crank asked.
“Strangely, no.” Imlay looked up at the two crew members.

“There is one other thing, though.”

“What?” Crank and Blade both asked at the same time.
“With the extent of the infection in Livewire’s injuries, I’d say

he’s been held for no less than six days, which means—”

“Which means he was taken right after he landed planet-side,”

Crank growled.

“Correct,” Imlay replied. “Whoever was holding Livewire had to

have taken him right after he reached Beta Five. I’m a doctor so I
wouldn’t know for sure, but my gut instinct says they were waiting
for him.”

“If that’s true, Doc, then they had to know he was coming,” Crank

said. “Even Remy didn’t know Livewire was going to be staying on
Beta Five until right before he left.”

Imlay nodded as he remembered watching the shuttle carrying

Livewire fly away. If only he had reacted sooner, maybe none of this
would have happened. Livewire would be healthy and whole and
down in engineering, right where he should have been, instead of
lying in a medical bed after being tortured nearly to death.

“We need to talk to Remy,” Crank said as he started toward the

door, “and see if Livewire contacted anyone before he left the Lady
Blue. There has to be an explanation as to why someone was waiting
for him.”

“I’m not positive of the exact time, you understand,” Imlay

hurried to clarify. “I could be off by a few hours but no more than a
day. The infection in his hand was pretty severe. Another day and I

Imlay’s Cure

would have had to amputate his entire hand. It takes a few days for an
infection to reach that level.”

“No, I believe your instincts are correct, Doctor.” Crank grimaced.

“They knew Livewire was coming and they were waiting for him. We
just have to figure out how they knew and who they were.”

“Yes.” Imlay clenched his hands as he gazed back down at

Livewire’s abused body. “I’d like to know that myself.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 3

Livewire was walking in a fog. He could hear some kind of noise

around him, but he couldn’t make out what it was. His memory was a
bit hazy, and his entire body ached like a river of fire was churning
through it.

It felt as though his body was coming out of a long slumber.

Livewire kept his eyes closed and his body still as he listened to his
surroundings, trying to access if he was still being held captive. He
fought the heaviness in his chest and the sudden buildup of saliva in
his mouth as he tried his best to focus.

It only lasted a few minutes before his entire body began to sweat.

His muscles locked into place as a need so deep that it felt as though it
was clawing at his very soul took over. Livewire’s mouth fell open as
a scream from the bottom of his stomach worked its way up and out,
filling the room with his horror-filled anguish.

He needed. The drugs those bastards forced on him were

screaming for him to return to them, torturing him into craving their
very existence. “Get away from me!” Livewire growled and lashed
out when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“It’s Imlay. You’re safe, Livewire.”
Livewire thrashed and screamed, trying his best to get the hand

off of his hot skin. The simple touch felt like it was burning a hole in
his shoulder. A growled ripped from his chest as Livewire swung his
arm out, trying his best to connect with flesh. They weren’t going to
make him use again. They’d have to kill Livewire first before he
inhaled one more fucking flake.

Imlay’s Cure

He howled when strong hands grabbed his upper arms, forcing

him to comply. Livewire gnashed his teeth, trying to bite his way free.

“Sedate him, doc, now!”
They were going to pump him full of drugs, make him do

whatever they wanted. Livewire renewed his efforts, growling and
snapping at anything that came close to his teeth. His head snapped up
and his teeth locked onto tender flesh as Livewire fought to get his
attackers off of him.

“Now!”
Livewire felt a slight pinch. He felt the hands holding him down.

A whimper escaped his lips as tears fell from his eyes.

They’d won.
Whoever was holding him down had won. Before he allowed the

darkness clawing at his mind to take him under, Livewire said the one
word he had chanted his whole captivity, the only thing that had let
him keep a piece of himself intact.

“Imlay.”

* * * *

Blade prided himself on his control. It was what had gotten him

through many dangerous situations. A cool head was what he always
maintained. It had saved him on more than one occasion. But not even
Blade was immune to what had just taken place.

He slowly released Livewire, his unsteady hand coming up to

wipe away tears and then run through his hair. “Is he sleeping now?”
he asked the doctor as he stayed close, ready to restrain the mechanic
again if necessary.

“He is.” Imlay’s voice had an inflection of tears in it as the doctor

turned his back on Blade and Crank. The slim man’s shoulders shook
as he pretended to work at something across the room.

“Go.” Crank nodded toward the door. “I can take it from here.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Blade looked down at the bite mark on Crank’s arm before he

nodded. He slowly backed away and then turned on his heel to leave
isolation. He walked into the adjoining room, going straight for the
bed of the unknown man. His fists clenched at his sides as he stared
down at his mate.

“Who did this to you, little one?” The words left his lips, knowing

he wasn’t going to get an answer. Blade’s hand lifted, his finger
brushing back the golden locks that were resting on the man’s
forehead.

His head snapped around when the infirmary doors slid open. Pax

stood there unsure as his eyes locked onto Blade’s. “How is
Livewire?”

Blade wanted to tell the little blue man, but not only did doc swear

him to confidentiality, it wasn’t his place to tell Livewire’s tale. “He’s
fighting it.”

Pax wiped at the moisture in his eyes as he stepped further into the

room. “That’s good, right?”

Blade nodded as he stared back down at the unconscious man

lying so peacefully on the medical bed. “Yes, Pax, it is.”

Pax ventured closer, his eyes dropping to the bed. “Who is he?”
Blade ran a knuckle over the soft skin as his heart broke. “My

mate.”

“Your mate?” Pax whispered.
Blade nodded but didn’t look away from the man sleeping in the

bed. He could hear the astonishment in Pax’s voice, the anxiousness
that he wouldn’t let himself feel. He wasn’t sure who would survive if
he gave in to that anguish.

“He has a beautiful mist, Blade.”
“Yeah?” Blade glanced over at Pax. He wasn’t sure he believed in

all that mist stuff, but he was interested to hear what Pax had to say.
“What color is it, little man?”

Pax smiled. “It’s green, a bright, vivid green. That’s means he’s a

good guy.” The smile on Pax’s lips wavered a moment. “But there’s a

Imlay’s Cure

lot of dark around his mist. I don’t know if that means he’s going to
the other side or if he’s been beaten down so much that he’s starting
to lose himself.”

“I won’t let him go to the other side, Pax. He just needs a safe

place to be.” Blade smiled as he looked back down at the sleeping
man, wondering who he was, what he was like, and how much the
man would fight their mating. Blade had every intention of winning,
but knowing his luck, it would be a long-fought battle. “I’ll make sure
he’s safe.”

“Are you hungry? Gigi’s been cooking up a storm. I could bring

you something.”

“That would be nice, Pax, thank you.” Blade gestured toward the

isolation room. "You might want to bring something for Crank and
the doc. I don’t think they’ve eaten since we got back.”

Pax nodded rapidly and hurried to the door. Blade knew the man

was grateful to have something to do. They all were. The waiting was
stressful on everyone. It had already been several hours, and except
for Livewire’s screaming, there was no sign that either man was going
to wake up any time soon.

If Blade never heard Livewire scream again, he’d die a happy

man. That just added to the stress. It was heart-wrenching to hear. The
way that Livewire scratched at his skin and cried was even worse.
Blade swore to himself that if he ever found out who had hurt
Livewire and his mate, he’d rip them apart with his bare hands.

No one deserved what happened to these two men, and Blade still

wasn’t sure exactly what happened. He doubted anyone would until
one of the two men woke up and told them exactly what had occurred.

Blade sat down in the chair next to the medical bed and stroked

his hands through the little blond’s hair. Despite the bruises on the
man’s face, he was astonishingly beautiful. Blade was interested in
finding out what he looked like without all the bruises. He was sure to
be stunning.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Blade inhaled sharply when deep green eyes suddenly blinked up

at him. He leaned closer and tried to look as nonthreatening as
possible when fear filled those eyes. “Hey, you’re safe. No one’s is
going to hurt you here.”

The man just continued to blink up at Blade until he grew

nervous. “Hey, doc,” Blade called out, “the little guy is awake.”

* * * *

Imlay rushed back into the main room of the sick bay and directly

over to the bed with his other patient in it. He grabbed his medical pad
and began scanning the man, checking his vitals. Once he was
satisfied that the man was healing, he put on his physician persona
and smiled down at him.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Jones. How are you feeling?”
Imlay’s eyebrows arched when the man recoiled back from him.

He knew he shouldn’t be surprised considering how they had found
the man and his healing injuries, but he’d never really had anyone be
afraid of him before.

“Can you tell me what happened to you?” Maybe if he knew what

happened to the guy, he could find out what happened to Livewire.
Imlay frowned when the man didn’t answer. “Can you tell me your
name, at least?”

“Adwaka,” the man murmured.
“Do you hurt anywhere, Adwaka?”
Adwaka gave a half shrug, but he winced as his shoulders moved

so Imlay knew that he was hurting. “I can give you something for the
pain if you wish, nothing addictive, just something to take the edge
off.”

Adwaka shook his head.
“Well, if you change your mind, you just let me know.” Imlay

drew in a deep breath and glanced over at Blade, a question in his

Imlay’s Cure

eyes. Blade nodded. Imlay looked back to Adwaka. “Adwaka, I need
to know what happened to Livewire.”

Adwaka’s eyebrows drew together as the man frowned and turned

his face away. Imlay sighed deeply. He had hoped Adwaka would tell
him, but he guessed that was asking too much considering the
situation. Maybe after the man had healed some more he would be
ready to talk.

“I’m going to go back and sit with Livewire. If you need anything,

just tell Blade and he can get me.” Disappointed, Imlay turned and
started back toward the isolation room when Blade called out to him.

“Hey, Imlay, what if—”
“You’re Imlay?”
The words were whispered so quietly that for a moment, Imlay

thought he had imagined them, but something told him to stop. He
turned and looked back to find Adwaka staring at him with a very
curious look on his face.

“Yes, I’m Imlay, Imlay Jones.”
“He talked about you,” Adwaka said softly.

* * * *

Livewire blinked his eyes open. He lay motionless for a while as

he took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the
overhead lights. If he were still in that room, it would be dark.

The second thing he noticed was a slim figure standing across the

room, his back to Livewire. His eyes landed on Imlay as the man
slowly turned around. Nothing was said between them for a moment
as their eyes locked together.

“How are you feeling, Livewire?”
Livewire recoiled when Imlay took a step in his direction. His

eyes darted around wildly as Livewire tried to figure a way out of the
room he was trapped in. The space was too small, too confining.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Livewire couldn’t breathe. His lungs were starting to seize in his
chest.

“Calm down, Livewire, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you

again.” Imlay held a hand up but made no move to come near him.

Livewire moved his arms and legs, testing his muscles. A wave of

dizziness washed over him as Livewire pushed himself up onto his
elbows. He had to hold still and let the feeling pass.

“Don’t get up. You should rest. Your injuries are still healing.”
Imlay’s words sent off an explosion of memories inside

Livewire’s head. Images of objects being used to beat him down until
he was lying helpless on the floor of his small prison made Livewire
sit up so fast, he nearly fell off of the bed.

“Whoa.” Imlay advanced forward until Livewire gave off a

warning growl. Imlay stopped in his tracks and backpedaled to his
original position. Their eyes locked and Livewire felt a slight twinge
of remorse for the sound. The doctor stood tall, his eyes telling
Livewire he wasn’t going to back down.

“I’m fine. You can leave.” Livewire’s voice was scratchy and

rough. His throat felt swollen and strained. He was a little astonished.
He couldn’t believe that was his voice.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Imlay stated firmly as his fingers

curled around the edge of the desk he was leaning against. Livewire
watched the move, remembering how fingers had curled around his
throat as he was forced to inhale Paktillian dust.

“Get the fuck out!” Livewire’s head began to pound as he raised a

hand in hopes of steadying his weaving head. His entire body stilled
when he saw the bandages around his hand. Livewire howled at the
remembrance of what had happened.

His head snapped up when the door slid open, Crank stepping in

and taking a step off to one side. “What the fuck are you, his
bodyguard?”

Imlay’s Cure

Crank just shrugged and watched Livewire carefully. He could see

pity in Crank’s eyes, and it pissed him off even more. “Get the fuck
out, both of you.”

When no one made a move to leave, Livewire lashed out and

knocked the contents of the table sitting next to him to the ground.
The items hit the floor with a loud crash as Livewire tried to make
sense of everything.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Imlay asked softly from across

the room. Livewire’s eyes snapped up as his entire body recoiled from
the memories.

“No,” he simply said.
“No, you don’t want to, or no you don’t remember?” Imlay

pressed further. Livewire lay back down, giving the room his back.
He cradled the wounded hand to his chest as he closed his eyes, trying
his best to forget anyone was in the room with him. Trying his very
best to just forget everything.

* * * *

Gigi loaded a serving cart with everything he had cooked. “Don’t

forget to grab the container for drinks,” he reminded Pax. After three
days, Imlay had finally allowed them to make Livewire and Adwaka
some real food. Gigi knew he had gone a little over the top, but he
wanted the two men to have a good meal now that they could have
solid foods.

Pax ran across the kitchen, grabbing the large container along with

cups. He walked it over to the cart and set it down. Pax gave a firm
nod of his head as if to tell Gigi that he had done the right thing.

Gigi cupped Pax’s face. “It’ll all work out. Livewire just needs

time to heal.”

Pax’s eyes brimmed with tears as he nodded. “I think he needs

cake. We have to take him cake.” Pax didn’t wait for Gigi’s approval.
The blue man raced across the kitchen and pulled the glass cake dish

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

out of cold storage and sat it on the counter, looking as though he was
using his whole concentration on cutting a couple of very neat slices.
Gigi waited patiently as Pax slid the pieces onto a plate and then
carried them over to the cart.

“It looks good, Pax.”
“Livewire likes cake,” Pax murmured as tears welled up in his

eyes. He hugged his arms around his waist.

“Then we should definitely take him some cake.”
Pax nodded as he walked beside Gigi. He wished he could

reassure Pax that everything was going to be okay, but somehow, he
didn’t think it would. That didn’t mean it would be bad, just different.

While no one had explained exactly what had happened to

Livewire, Gigi knew it had been very bad. Imlay still wouldn’t let him
or Pax see Livewire. He was being kept in the isolation room for
everyone’s safety. But Gigi had heard the man’s screams. Everyone
had. They had echoed throughout the ship. Gigi knew Livewire was
suffering and he wanted to help.

Gigi pushed the serving cart through the sick bay doors Pax held

open for him. He plastered a bright smile on his face and began his
campaign to make everyone feel at least a little better.

“Adwaka, isn’t it?” Gigi asked as he carried a plate of food over

to the blond man sitting up in the bed. “I’m Gigi, and this is Pax.
We’ve brought you something to eat. Doc said you could move up to
something more solid now.”

Gigi handed the plate to Pax and grabbed the napkin the man held

out to him. He ignored Blade’s arched eyebrow and the slightly
frightened look on Adwaka’s face and just went about his business,
tucking the napkin into the front of Adwaka’s shirt.

“You’re in luck today,” Gigi said as he reached for the plate Pax

held out then presented it to Adwaka. “We actually have ham today,
real ham, too, not that yucky stuff the food processor creates.”

Pax giggled as if right on cue, catching Adwaka’s attention. “Gigi

hates the food replicator. It tried to eat him once.”

Imlay’s Cure

“Nasty thing.” Gigi shuddered. “It malfunctioned and tried to eat

all of us. I would have been perfectly happy doing without it
altogether, but Remy, my mate, convinced Livewire to fix it.” Gigi
rolled his eyes for effect. “Of course, Livewire just fixed it so he
could discombobulate my molecules and beam me down to a planet.”

Adwaka watched Gigi with wide eyes, but a smile started to curl

up the corner of his lips, which was exactly what Gigi wanted.

“When you’re feeling better…” Gigi dropped his voice and leaned

forward a little as if telling a secret. “And if we can sneak you out of
here, I’ll take you down to my hydroponics lab and show you all of
the fresh fruit and vegetables Pax and I are growing. It’s really cool.
You can eat the stuff right off the vine.”

“That sounds nice,” Adwaka murmured. “Thank you.”
“Ah, think nothing of it.” Gigi gestured to Pax and then himself

with his thumb. “Us little guys have to stick together or the larger
crew members think they can make all the rules.”

Adwaka’s face tinted a little as he glanced over at Blade, making

Gigi tingle with curiosity. He wanted to ask what that look was about,
but he didn’t want Adwaka slinking back into silence. He’d been
waiting three days to meet the man.

“Oh, do you like cake?” Gigi glanced back at Pax then watched

the man quickly grab one of the pieces of cake. Pax handed it over,
and Gigi held it out to Adwaka. “Pax and I made this earlier. If you
don’t like this flavor we can make something else. It’s chocolate.”

“Can’t go wrong with chocolate.” Pax beamed.
Gigi felt Adwaka jerk when he reached out and patted his leg. He

decided he wasn’t going to pay attention to that. Everyone needed a
little human touch every once in a while. It would help Adwaka not
be so afraid.

“We’re going to take some food in to Livewire. If you need

anything, just holler. We’ll hear you.” Gigi jumped up and glanced at
Blade, catching his slight nod of appreciation. Gigi smiled back.

“Where’s my cake?” Blade asked.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“In the kitchen.” Pax snickered.
Gigi giggled as he walked toward the isolation room. It had been

three days since Livewire had been brought back. Pax and Gigi had
made a plan to drag him back into the world, kicking and screaming if
they had to—although they could really do without the screaming.
They had heard enough of that to last them a lifetime.

“Hey, doc, we brought Livewire some food,” Gigi said when he

walked into the room.

“And cake,” Pax said as he held up the last piece of cake. “It’s

chocolate cake.”

Imlay’s Cure

Chapter 4

Livewire started to growl when he realized someone had come

into the isolation room. He didn’t want company, anyone’s company.
He just wanted to be left alone. He rolled over, ready to tear into
whoever had come into the room only to spot the pensive looks on
Pax and Gigi’s faces.

“Hey, Livewire,” Pax said softly as he inched forward, almost as

if he were afraid to come too close. He held up the plate in his hands.
“We brought you cake.”

A memory floated back to Livewire from what felt like so long

ago, another lifetime. “Cake god.” The words strangled in his throat,
barely loud enough to be heard.

Pax’s head nodded rapidly as he took another pensive step, the

small plate holding the cake outstretched in Pax’s hands. “It doesn’t
matter what you put in it…”

“It’s all up to the cake god.” As Livewire recited the words his

chest began to hurt. He tamped the feeling down as he faced the two
men staring at him as if he were going to lash out at any second.

“He decided you wanted chocolate, buddy,” Pax said as he took

one more step toward him.

Livewire wanted to erase that apprehensive look from the little

blue man’s eyes, but after what had just happened to Livewire, he
wasn’t sure he knew how. Things happened. Bad things happened,
and Livewire wasn’t the same for them.

Livewire sat up, feeling confused. He swallowed a few times,

giving Pax a nod. Gigi was close behind with a covered plate in his
hands, taking small measured steps as well.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Livewire held his hand out, and Pax placed the plate onto his

palm. Livewire winced at the contact, fighting down the bile in the
back of his throat. It was only the plate that had come into contact
with his skin. Pax was careful not to touch him, but the closeness was
making him jittery.

Pax must have seen it because he took one cautious step back, but

not before whispering, “I miss you, buddy.” Pax glanced over his
shoulder at the doctor, and then back at Livewire. “You’re not blue
anymore. Your mist is pale silver now. You’re lost.”

The blue-skinned man hurried back across the room as Livewire

sat the plate on his bed. He thought of Pax’s words as he gazed at the
pale blue man, conveying with his eyes that Pax had never been more
accurate in his life. Pax gave him a slight nod, telling Livewire he
understood.

Gigi was the next to slowly approach him. His steps were a little

more assured, his smile genuine.

“And for dinner, we have pig à la swine.” He lifted the lid,

showing Livewire that it truly was food and not some trick. The steam
billowed from the plate, the aroma filling the air around him. “If you
don’t want this, I’m in good with the cook. I can make sure he cooks
up whatever you want.”

Livewire licked his lips as he swallowed a few times, fighting the

ever present lump in his throat. His eyes darted around until they
locked onto Imlay’s, feeling helpless as to what to do.

“You’re allowed to eat,” The doctor encouraged him, his deep

green eyes telling Livewire that Imlay had no qualms about guiding
him through this visit.

“And if you’re not,” Gigi leaned in to whisper, “I’ll knock the doc

out so you can eat it.” The little human winked at him before pulling
back. Livewire was very confused now. The plate trembled in his
hands as he looked back to Imlay for help.

“Okay, fellas, that’s enough for today. You may come back

tomorrow.”

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire glanced over at the two small men. They both waved at

him, their eyes gloomy as they exited the isolation room. Livewire
watched as Imlay crossed the room and removed the plate from his
hands.

“No,” Livewire protested.
“I’m only putting it on a stable cart so you don’t spill anything.”

They both turned when the door slid back open, Pax holding up a cup.

“I forgot to give you your drink.” Pax padded across the room,

giving Livewire a wavering smile as he set it down on the small
portable table and then waved once more before leaving.

“That was very nice of them,” Imlay commented as he arranged

Livewire’s dishes. “It smells delicious.”

“Then you can have it.” Livewire pushed the small table away

with some force, making his drink spill to the floor. He stared at it for
a moment and then down at his wounded hand. His eyes examined the
bandages, feeling like the galaxy’s biggest freak. Spilling his drink
was not what he had meant to do, but Livewire couldn’t bring himself
to admit it to the doctor.

Imlay bent at the waist and began to clean the mess up. It was on

the tip of Livewire’s tongue to apologize, but it died where it lay,
never being spoken. “I’m not hungry.” Livewire turned over, giving
Imlay his back.

“I’ll put it away for later.”
Livewire rolled over, glaring at Imlay. “I said I don’t fucking want

it.” Imlay seemed to ignore him as he replaced the dome covering and
set the dish on his desk. When he grabbed for the cake, Livewire
grunted. “Leave it.”

Imlay nodded, leaving Livewire alone as he sat at his desk. He

studied the doctor’s back, a memory surfacing. “Why do you stay?”
he asked to the doctor’s back.

“What?” Imlay turned his head slightly, a look of confusion in his

deep green eyes.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” Imlay looked a little surprised

at Livewire’s question, so he continued. “You wouldn’t give me the
time of day before, and now you won’t leave my side? I don’t need or
want your fucking pity, doc.”

“And you won’t get it.” Imlay sighed. “I feel sympathy for what

you’ve gone through, Livewire, but I refuse to pity you. You
survived. Many in your position have not.”

Livewire snarled as he held up his pinkyless finger. “You call this

surviving?”

“No, I call that a missing pinky, nothing more.”
“Do you know what they did to me?” Livewire shouted. He

wanted to shock the doctor, to get that understanding look off his
face. It drove him crazy. “They—”

“Beat you within an inch of your life, actually. You were

whipped, your head bashed in, your pinky cut off, and most of your
body was beaten with some sort of cylindrical item causing bruising
and a number of broken ribs. I imagine it was a pipe of some sort.
You were also forced to inhale Paktillian Dust, for which you’ve
suffered withdrawals over the last several days. Does that about cover
it?”

Livewire blinked as tears sprang to his eyes. How had the doctor

known? “I…yeah,” he whispered.

“But you survived, Livewire. You’re alive and you’re safe back

aboard the Lady Blue.” Imlay waved his hand toward the door. “Your
friends are here to make your recovery easier on you. Chasing them
away will only hurt you and them.”

“And you?”
Imlay’s eyebrows shot up. “Me?”
“How do I chase you away?”
Livewire gasped when Imlay chuckled. He’d never heard that

sound come out of the man’s mouth, even if it was self-deprecating.

Imlay’s Cure

“I let you chase me away once before, Livewire, and the results

were not so good. You won’t be able to do it again.” Imlay picked up
the vid-pad he’d been studying. “I’m not leaving, Livewire.”

Livewire stared at Imlay as the man turned back to the desk and

went back to studying the vid-pad in front of him. Imlay might not be
leaving, but Livewire got the distinct impression that he was being
ignored.

Livewire didn’t like Imlay ignoring him. It had pissed him off in

the past, and it pissed him off now. He started thinking, trying to
devise a plan to make the doctor go away. The only thing he could
think of was sex. As much as he didn’t want to be touched, he knew
making a pass at Imlay would send the man running. There didn’t
have to be contact. Just encroaching on the doctor’s personal space
had always chased the man away before.

He climbed from the bed and padded quietly across the floor to

stand behind the doctor. His heart pounded just a little faster as he
reached out to touch Imlay on the shoulders. His first touch was
tentative, not as self-assured as he would have liked it to be.

“It won’t work, Livewire.”
Livewire jumped back when Imlay turned around to look up at

him. The doctor’s face was full of strength, shining with a steadfast
determination that made Livewire rethink his plan of attack.

“It won’t work. You can’t scare me away, so stop trying.”
“I—”
Imlay stood so quickly that Livewire didn’t have time to step back

before the man was right in front of him. His eyes widened when
Imlay reached out for him, gently caressing the side of his cheek.
Livewire forgot to be scared as he stared into Imlay’s deep green
eyes.

“I tried to stop you,” Imlay said softly. “Did you know that?”
“Stop me?” Livewire frowned in confusion. “Stop me from

what?”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Leaving the ship. I reached the shuttle bay right after you

launched, and Remy said he couldn’t call you back.” Imlay smiled.
“That’s when I informed the commander that he had a new medical
officer aboard his ship. I would not be staying at End of the Line with
the cargo. I’d be staying on the Lady Blue and going back for you.”

“You came back for me?” Livewire whispered. Something deep

inside of Livewire shifted, and he leaned into the hand cupped around
his cheek, seeking the touch of another for the first time in more days
than he could remember.

“I did, Livewire.” Imlay’s thumb rubbed over Livewire’s high

cheekbone. “I didn’t realize until you were gone how much I wanted
you to stay, and by then, it was too late. You were gone.” Imlay
inhaled roughly. “And then it was too late. I won’t make that mistake
again.”

“I…you…” Livewire snapped his mouth closed when he couldn’t

seem to put his thoughts into understandable words. He was sounding
like a fool, and he was very afraid he was acting like one, too.

Livewire spun away from Imlay. The intense way that the man

watched him was unsettling, as if Imlay knew something Livewire did
not. He started feeling claustrophobic again, like he couldn’t get
enough air in his lungs.

Livewire leaned one hand against the bed and pressed the other

against his chest, trying to draw more air into his lungs, but despite
how hard he tried, he still couldn’t breathe. Livewire felt like he was
going to pass out. The room started to spin.

“Livewire, you need to sit down.”
Livewire waved his hand at the doc. He didn’t need to sit. He

needed to breathe.

“Sit now, Livewire.” Livewire’s eyes widened at the stern tone of

Imlay’s voice. He slowly looked up at the doctor as he sat down on
the side of the bed.

“Now breathe,” Imlay directed. “In and out, in and out, slowly,

deeply.”

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire’s mouth opened and closed. Imlay arched an eyebrow

and crossed his arms over his chest as if daring Livewire to disobey
him. Livewire watched Imlay as he slowed his breathing and took in
deep breaths. Little by little, the room stopped spinning as air filled
his lungs again.

“Good, now lie down.” Imlay pointed to the head of the bed.

“You’ve had quite the exciting morning, and you need your rest.”

Livewire had no idea why he followed Imlay’s commands as he

stretched out on the bed except that the steel he could hear in Imlay’s
voice brooked no disobedience. One he was lying on the bed, Imlay
picked up the blanket at the bottom of the bed and spread it over him.

Imlay stepped to the top of the bed and brushed his hand over

Livewire’s cheek. “Sleep, Livewire. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Livewire yawned as he watched Imlay walk back over to his desk

and pick up the vid-pad. He didn’t understand why he was listening to
the man. He hated people telling him what to do, especially after what
had happened to him. He couldn’t understand why he was yawning,
suddenly feeling totally exhausted, or why his eyelids felt so heavy.

“Sleep, Livewire.”
Livewire closed his eyes, deciding he was too tired to fight it any

longer. He’d argue with Imlay later…after he napped.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 5

Tank rechecked the coordinates. They had picked up another job.

The Lady Blue was supposed to pick up a shipment of Trillian silk
and deliver it to Lost Star Three. It was an easy enough job. Too bad
every crew member was wound up tighter than hell. Every single one
of them wanted to find the person or persons responsible for Livewire
and Adwaka’s condition.

“I think I found our computer expert,” Crank said from the chair

next to him. He flipped the vid-pad around and handed it off to Tank.
“His name’s Zackary Cortez.” Crank leaned over and tapped the vid-
screen with the tip of his finger. “A fucking Paktillian, but he comes
highly recommended.”

Tank ran his thumb over the vid-pad. Odd. He was expecting to

see the Paktillian trademark of eyes that resembled snakes with
yellow irises. The black pupil slits instead of the traditional round
one’s in most species. There were slits evident, but they were encased
in a crystal blue. Tank had never seen a blue so pale before, at least
not in anyone’s irises.

“How do we know he’s kosher? Paktillians aren’t known for their

loyalty. They sell their specialties to the highest bidder.” Tank looked
up from the vid-pad to Crank.

Crank leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head. “I’m told

he’s Livewire’s cousin.”

Tank cursed as he looked back down at the face that was

extremely hard to read. “Would that be wise after what happened?
How do we even know these two get along? We could be inviting
trouble aboard.” Tank ran his fingers over the vid-pad once more.

Imlay’s Cure

Zackary had highly placed cheekbones, dark black hair that seemed to
have a mind of its own, and small pointed ears peeking out from a
crop of black hair that curled around his ears.

“Dude, stop molesting my vid-pad.” Crank reached over and

snagged it from Tank’s grip and then placed on the console in front of
him. “I don’t need your drool short-circuiting it.”

Tank flipped Crank off as he turned his attention back to his task

at hand. He was running the exterminator’s name through the
database, trying his best to come up with something, anything.

There was no way Livewire had a welcoming committee without

the responsible party being tipped off. The big oaf may have acted
less than intelligent when he boarded Lady Blue to get rid of the slug-
like worms, but Tank was beginning to think it had been a façade.

“What if his cousin had something to do with what happened to

Livewire? Should we invite him onboard to finish the job?” Crank
asked as he turned his head to look at Tank. “Maybe I should find
someone else.”

“No,” Tank said quickly as he scratched at his chin. “If he was

responsible, then we could keep a close eye on him having him
onboard.”

“That’s a little too risky for me. We need to talk to Remy about

this half-baked plan before we do more harm than good.”

Tank swiveled his chair around, getting to his feet and leaving the

bridge in search of their commander. He wanted to get the bounty off
of their heads just as bad as the next guy, but one of their crew
members had suffered greatly, and Tank wanted to make sure
Livewire never saw that kind of torture again.

Remy walked out of the mess hall with a large piece of cake in his

hand, smiling at Tank as he took a large bite. Damn, maybe he needed
to get a piece. The three-layer cake looked good as hell.

Snapping his mind back on the reason he sought his commander

out, Tank leaned against the wall. “We need to talk.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

* * * *

“I think it’s safe enough to move you into sick bay with the

regular population,” Imlay stated as he watched for Livewire’s
reaction. It had been eleven days now. Eleven whole days and the
mechanic’s screams had dwindled down to just once in the past four
days. Imlay wanted Livewire to start mingling slowly again with the
crew members. The longer he stayed in isolation, the harder it was
going to be for him to continue with his recovery.

Imlay could see the uncertainty in Livewire’s eyes. They were

broadcasting his fear as Imlay kept his eyes on Livewire. This small
room had become his safety cocoon, but it was also his crutch.
Something Imlay planned to gently remove from under him. They had
to take baby steps, and this was Livewire’s first attempt at standing on
his own two feet again.

Livewire’s fingers curled around the sheet until they were ghost

white. “I don’t want to be out there,” he snapped. He spoke in an
angry tone, but Imlay could hear the fear Livewire was trying to
mask.

Imlay walked over to the bed, laying his hand on Livewire’s thigh,

something he had been doing for the past several days to get the
mechanic used to touch again. Livewire gave his usual flinch, but
didn’t pull away. The touch wasn’t just for comforting Livewire.
Imlay needed it as well.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll still be with you.”
“But—”
“No, Livewire.” Imlay made sure the mechanic was looking him

in his eyes, seeing that Imlay wasn’t going to hear any protest. He
reached a hand out, stopping short from Livewire’s cheek as the
mechanic recoiled and then stilled. Imlay’s fingers closed the gap a
little further, just hovering near Livewire’s cheek. When Livewire
gulped, but made no move to retreat even further, Imlay ran the back
of his knuckle down the mechanic’s soft skin.

Imlay’s Cure

“I am in charge of your care, your well-being. I am not

abandoning you,” Imlay spoke softly as Livewire began to lean into
Imlay’s fingers. “No one is going to hurt you out there. I promise.”
His fingers slid from Livewire’s cheek to settle under his chin, lifting
the mechanic’s face to see the seriousness in Imlay’s eyes.

“We are going to do this together.”
Livewire’s eyes shifted downward as his jaw became visibly firm.

He gave one slight nod, acknowledging Imlay.

“Good.” Imlay’s fingers drifted away from Livewire as he took a

step back. “I’ve already settled you into one of the beds out there. We
just need to get you into it.” Imlay waited, but Livewire made no
move to get off of the bed.

“Livewire.”
The mechanic’s head snapped up, his beautiful gray eyes pleading

with Imlay to not make him go through with this. Imlay touched his
cheek again, drawing Livewire from the bed with that single touch.
Livewire’s body instinctively followed Imlay’s hand as he got to his
feet.

“Good.” Imlay gave Livewire an approving smile as he removed

his hand and took another step back. Livewire immediately tried to
retreat, but Imlay touched the back of his hand. “Follow me.” He
spoke the command gently, making the mechanic focus on his eyes.

Livewire took one precarious step toward Imlay, and then another,

slowly following him to the doors. When they reached the threshold,
Livewire stopped. “I can’t—”

“Yes, you can.” Imlay shored his voice up, making it firm, yet

gentle, as he moved behind Livewire, his chest close to Livewire’s
back. A thin sheet was all that would have fit between them now.
“Take a step, Livewire.” His lips were close to Livewire’s ears. “Just
one.”

Livewire took that step, and then another, Imlay staying close to

him as they walked out of isolation and into the sick bay. Blade and
Adwaka looked their way but said nothing as Livewire concentrated

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

on his feet, his head lowered and listening to Imlay’s softly spoken
instructions.

Once they reached the bed, Imlay reached out and pulled the sheet

back. “Get in,” he coaxed the skittish mechanic. Livewire crawled in,
turning his back to Blade and Adwaka.

“Gentlemen, Livewire will be staying out here. Please take care

not to crowd him right away.”

“I don’t—”
Imlay placed his index finger loosely over Livewire’s lips, seeing

the mechanic glaring at him, but Livewire made no move to rid his
finger. Imlay bent at the waist. “Good,” he whispered into Livewire’s
ear.

If Imlay wasn’t mistaken, the praise had a positive effect on

Livewire. His body seemed to settle as he watched Imlay carefully, as
if begging for Imlay to tell him what to do next.

“Sleep, Livewire.” Imlay straightened, walking over to his desk,

but keeping in the mechanic’s line of sight. It was important that
Livewire trust Imlay. The doctor had to let the patient know he wasn’t
going to abandon him. That he was there for the long haul and he
wasn’t going to back down.

Livewire needed an anchor in the aftermath of what had happened

to him, and Imlay planned on being that anchor. A year ago, hell, a
month ago, Imlay never would have fathomed that he would become
someone’s rock. It didn’t fit into his neat little box of his life.

Livewire had taken him out of his comfort zone and tossed him

into the unknown. Now it was up to Imlay to heal the mechanic from
the inside out. Devise a cure that would allow Livewire to lead a full
life again. But the antidote wasn’t in a medicine bottle. Imlay was
going to have to become that cure.

He watched Livewire from the corner of his eyes as he updated

Adwaka’s and Livewire’s reports. His mechanic seemed to slowly
relax and drift off to sleep. Imlay finally took a long and exhausting
breath, resting his forehead in his hands.

Imlay’s Cure

“You’re doing a good job, doc,” Blade said as he approached the

desk, “with both of them.”

As strong as he had to be for Livewire, Imlay still wasn’t used to

compliments and touches. He gave Blade an appreciative smile as he
studied his hands. “I’m trying.”

“That’s all any of us can ask.” Blade patted Imlay’s shoulder, and

the doctor had to try his best not to flinch. It seemed Livewire wasn’t
the only one who needed to get used to touch. Little did Livewire
know, Imlay was gaining just as much from the touches as well.

Imlay sighed and went back to his work, throwing himself into it

as he watched over his mechanic.

* * * *

Livewire woke hungry as hell. His eyes adjusted to the dim

lighting of the sick bay. He noticed Imlay at his desk bent over and
asleep, his face resting on the cold metal. Livewire flipped the sheets
back and sat up, glancing over his shoulder at the other patient.

Adwaka was fast asleep, Blade resting his head on the mattress

next to the little man. Livewire touched his feet to the cold floor. He
crept softly over to Imlay’s desk, standing there for a moment to stare
down at the doctor. Imlay really was a very handsome man.
Livewire’s fingers itched to reach out and run them through the
doctor’s dark brown hair.

Livewire had resigned himself when he left Lady Blue to the fact

that he would never see Imlay again. But when his life had turned into
a living hell, Imlay was the only one that had gotten him through that
horrific ordeal. Memories of the man kept him from giving up. But
after what those sick bastards had done to him, Livewire couldn’t
bring himself to trust anyone—except doc.

“Did you need something, Livewire?”
He jumped as Imlay lifted his head, his dark green eyes fixed on

Livewire with an intensity that made Livewire tremble.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“I, uh…” Livewire ran his hand over the back of his neck, not

really knowing what to say. Those green eyes drew him in,
commanded him, took over his entire being, and that scared the hell
out of Livewire.

“What is it?” Imlay pulled his head up, stretched, and then settled

his arm over the back of his chair, waiting patiently for Livewire to
gather his thoughts.

“Food.” The monosyllable was the only word that popped into his

brain at the moment. He scuffled his feet in front of him, looking at
the doctor from under his lashes.

“I can go get you something.” Imlay stood, ready to leave sick

bay.

“No!” Livewire grabbed Imlay’s lab coat and then quickly

dropped his hand, feeling like a total idiot. How did he tell the doctor
that he was afraid for Imlay to leave his side and that the fear of his
nightmares returning made it hard for him to breathe?

“I’ll go.”
Livewire glanced up at Blade, seeing the shifter pick his head up

from the mattress, glance over at Adwaka, and then quietly move
away. “I’m hungry as well.”

Relief flooded Livewire. He felt foolish for his fears, so turning

back to look at doc had become an impossible task. Livewire just
stood there in the middle of the room, his fingers playing with his
gown.

“Go lay back down.” Imlay’s hand gently touched the small of his

back, making Livewire jump and rush across the room. Livewire
didn’t crawl back into bed. He just took a seat on the side of it, staring
down at his abused and mangled hand.

“It was just a partial amputation.”
“Just?” Livewire growled.
“Crank lives without his entire pinky. Maybe you two can form a

club now.” Imlay smiled as he patted Livewire on his thigh.

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire looked up at the doctor like he’d lost his damn mind.

“This is funny to you?”

“Not by any means. But I must inject levity into such a somber

room. Maybe I can hang out with Lady Blue and peek under her
skirt.”

Livewire was thrown off balance. He wasn’t sure how to interpret

the doctor. Imlay wasn’t making fun of him. Livewire could see that
in Imlay’s eyes. But still, what was he supposed to think? Imlay had
never acted like this before. Livewire was becoming confused on how
to handle it.

“Just go with it, Livewire.” Imlay winked at him before taking a

seat at his desk. Livewire turned his head when he heard a soft giggle.
Adwaka was awake and watching the two. His small hand was
covering his mouth as the little tickles of laughter fell from his lips.

He remembered the small man from the room they had been held

in. Livewire was shocked to see him onboard.

“I wasn’t going to leave him behind. No one gets left behind,”

Imlay said from across the room.

Livewire nodded absently as Blade walked back in with a few

trays balanced on his arms, Tank following close behind with two
more.

“Figured everyone should get a bite to eat,” Blade said as he set

the dome-covered dishes down on one of the empty beds.

Livewire’s stomach grumbled loudly at the tantalizing aroma that

filled the room. Adwaka sat up and smoothed his sheet out over his
lap as he waited for Blade to bring him his dish.

Imlay got up from his desk, snagged a plate, and brought it over to

Livewire. “Let’s see what we have here.” He lifted the covering,
revealing slices of pot roast smothered in gravy with baby potatoes
and some sort of green vegetables. Imlay set it on a small mobile table
and then wheeled it over to him.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Livewire kept his back to everyone, embarrassed that Imlay was

practically treating him like a child. He could hear Tank and Blade
talking behind him, but Livewire kept his eyes front and center.

“I can get it myself,” Livewire snapped when Imlay picked up his

fork. He may be fucked in the head right now, but he wasn’t an
invalid.

“No need to get testy,” Imlay said softly as he reached for

Livewire’s head.

Livewire swung his arm out, knocking everything from the small

table. He grabbed his temples with his fists as memories crashed
through the floodgate he had been shoring up. He shouted at anyone
who came near as images of a pipe swinging mercilessly at his head
had Livewire falling from his bed and curling up, trying his best to
protect his body,

The vicious, booted feet were kicking at him as cold, hard hands

yanked his hair back, shoving that god-awful drug into his face. “No!”

“Livewire!” Someone shouted his name as Livewire heard the

small cry from the man shackled to the wall. He hated himself for not
helping the small man, for letting him get beat. It was his fault, his
damn fault the man hung there suffering.

“I’m sorry,” Livewire cried out as his fists pounded his temples.

His entire body hurt. Everything on him, including his eyes was on
fire. “No! Someone, make it stop. Please, just make it go away.”

“I have you.” Strong arms wrapped around Livewire, making him

curl into himself. It was a trick. They were making him feel safe so
his guard would lower and then they could attack.

“Stop hurting me,” he sobbed into the doctor’s arms. “Make them

stop hurting me.”

* * * *

Imlay rocked Livewire in his arms as he cried along with the man

he loved. The only thing he could do right now was hold his mechanic

Imlay’s Cure

close and let him know he was safe. Imlay made shushing noises as
he rested his chin on Livewire’s head.

Tank and Blade stood by, but not too close, just in case Imlay

needed them to subdue Livewire. He knew it wasn’t necessary.
Livewire was fighting memories, not Imlay. He could see that he
wasn’t the only one affected by this. Tank was wiping at his eyes as
Blade swallowed continuously.

Imlay lay on the floor with Livewire until his man settled down

and then held him some more. He ran his hand up and down
Livewire’s back as the man lay in his arms and cried. Imlay wanted to
tell Tank and Blade to get the hell out—to yell at them for witnessing
such a private moment. But logic prevailed, and Imlay just lay on the
floor with his man, keeping Livewire close and rocking him in his
arms.

Livewire finally fell asleep and Tank picked him up carefully and

placed him in bed. Imlay covered his love with a sheet as he stood
watch over him. His heart broke as he watched a once strong and self-
assured man lay crumbled right before his eyes.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 6

Remy sat ramrod straight in the commander’s chair as Lady Blue

docked on Paktil. After what happened back on Beta Five, he didn’t
trust a goddamn soul. No one was permitted to leave the ship unless it
was absolutely necessary. And no one was permitted onboard who
hadn't been cleared.

Most of the crew reacted just about how Remy thought they

would. Gigi had pouted but understood the precautionary measures.
Pax wasn’t the least bit fazed. He didn’t like leaving the ship. They
were still trying to track down the traitor. Tank had dedicated all his
free time to the task. Blade barely left the sickbay and Imlay
downright refused to.

“I want the ship sealed tight until we check the cargo from top to

bottom. No one is permitted entrance, and no one leaves unless you
hear it directly from me,” Remy said to the bridge as they waited for
clearance to step onto the spaceport.

“Blade, Colt, you’re with me. I want that cargo thoroughly

checked and a background check ran on the handlers. Crank, you
guard the ramp. Only crew members are permitted to load our cargo.”

“Yes, Commander,” the bridge said in unison. Remy was biting at

the chomp to get a hold of whoever sold Livewire out. And when he
did, the fucker was going to know who and what Remy was.

They disembarked and went straight to the Paktillians that were

waiting for them. The smiles faltered on their faces when Blade and
Colt started opening crate after crate, their arms pushing through the
inventory that lay inside.

Imlay’s Cure

“What is the meaning of this?” one of the Paktillians asked in

outrage. “We’ve never been searched before.”

“It’s our new policy. If you don’t like it, take your business

somewhere else.” Remy growled at them and then realized he was
taking it out on the wrong people. He sighed as he tried to rein in his
anger. “I’m sorry, but we had a bad run-in and must be careful now.”

This seemed to smooth the man’s ruffled feathers.

“Understandable. I will not take offense to it.”

Remy hated politics and false politeness but knew he had a

business to run and pissing of the clientele would put them out of
business fast. No matter his personal feelings, he had to remain
professional.

“Thanks.” Remy pasted a false smile on his face as he jerked the

guy off, figuratively speaking.

“Remy.” Blade gave his head a slight nod, indicating he wanted

the commander to come over.

“Excuse me.” Remy left the wanks as he walked over to one of

the crates Blade had been checking. The coyote shifter pointed to the
inside of the crate. Buried beneath fine silk was a tracking device. He
cursed, keeping his back to the Paktillians.

“Are they watching us?”
“Yes,” Blade coughed out.
“Act natural. Load the crates—”
“But they’re bugged,” Blade protested in a low but menacing

voice.

“Load the crates, and then once we get out of here, we’ll tear them

apart and collect the devices, shooting them out of an air lock. As bad
as it sounds, we still need to make a living. The credits we made off
of the medical deal won’t last us forever.”

Remy could tell Blade didn’t like it, but he followed his orders.

Remy walked back over to his clients, giving them the best reassuring
smile he could pull out of his ass.

“Is everything well?” one of the Paktillians asked.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Remy memorized his face. Once back onboard, he was going to

do a thorough background check. One had already been performed,
but apparently this one slipped through the cracks.

“Everything is fine. We’ll be loading the crates now.”
Remy finished the final contract and accepted payment as Blade

and Colt loaded the crates. As the Paktillians left the spaceport, one of
them looked back. Big mistake. It told Remy right away who the
traitor of this shipment was. Now he only needed to figure out why
someone would put tracking devices in crates only traveling one
planet over.

Just as the last crate was loaded, a squeaky-looking man came

running onto the spaceport, hauling ass straight toward Remy. Blade
and Colt pulled their phasers out and aimed them directly at the young
Paktillian’s head.

“Is this the Lady Blue?” he asked as he gasped for breath.
“And you are?” Remy crossed his arms over his broad chest as he

glared at the short man. He looked harmless, but so did Orillian pups
until they opened their mouths to show their razor-sharp teeth.

“Name’s Zackary Cortez. We spoke over the com link. You said

to meet you here. Sorry I’m late, but I couldn’t find a shuttle coming
this way, and then the driver tried to rip me off so I had to make a
quick run for it. Then, wouldn’t you know, my mom calls. You gotta
take a call from your mom, you know? Anyway, I had to run back
home and help her with her vid-screen. It was on the fritz. So once I
got that done, I had to haul ass to make it here on time.” Zackary took
a deep breath and looked up at Remy. “And here I am.”

This guy was definitely related to Livewire. There was no doubt

about it. Even if he couldn’t see the slight resemblance, the quirkiness
gave it away. “I haven’t finished doing a background check on you,”
Remy said as he sized the small man up.

“No offense, but I’m very good at what I do. I could hack, wrong

term, finesse my way into any data bank and upload whatever I

Imlay’s Cure

wanted on my profile.” He smiled up at Remy, blinking a few times
as he waited.

“Then why should I let you onboard my ship?” Remy growled and

glared down at the small man.

“Because this is my first real job, and my mom would kick my ass

across the galaxy if I fucked it up.”

Was this guy for real? He wasn’t the least bit afraid of Remy from

the way he was smiling, but his mother scared the hell out of him?
Remy would like to meet her just to shake her hand. “Get onboard,
but the lower levels are off-limits. You can stay on the upper deck. If
I catch you anywhere near the lower levels, I’ll shove your ass into an
air lock and ask questions as your ass is floating away.”

Zackary giggled as he saluted Remy. “You got it.”
“I have a job for you as soon as we get the last crate loaded.”
“Cool. I can flex my brain and show you my mad skills.” Zackary

rubbed his hands together as he followed Blade and Colt onto the
Lady Blue.

“What the hell did I just do?” Remy grumbled as he walked onto

the retractable ramp, looking over his shoulder as the ramp began to
close. He spotted the Paktillian who had looked back as the group had
walked away. The man was hiding behind some skids stacked over in
a far corner. They locked eyes, and Remy pointed his finger like a
gun, winking at the fucker as the ramp finally closed.

“There are tracking devices in the crates we just loaded. Blade

will give them to you, and I want you to tell me what you can about
them,” Remy said to Zackary as he walked toward the air lock
between the cargo bay and engineering. “You are not permitted to
wander my ship unescorted for any reason.”

“Yeah, yeah, or you’ll shoot my skinny ass out into space. Heard

you the first time,” Zackary said with a smile. “No worries. I’m not a
spy. Just a guy with too much time on my hands and nothing
challenging enough to keep me occupied.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Remy grunted as he left the cargo bay, again wondering what the

hell he had just gotten his crew into. He hadn’t told Zackary that
Livewire was aboard. He wanted to feel the guy out first, have him
watched around the clock to see if he could possibly be the informant.
Remy could see now that whoever he assigned to the chatterbox, he
was going to owe him big time.

* * * *

Imlay checked over his report, making sure it was accurate and

complete before sending a copy to the commander. He could feel the
weariness in his bones from two straight weeks of vigilance. It was
wearing on him and finally catching up to him.

Imlay crawled onto the empty bed in between Adwaka and

Livewire. He just needed a few moments of shut-eye. Maybe ten
minutes tops.

“Well, hell’s bells. I didn’t know you were here, cuz.”
Imlay shot up out of the bed he was resting in and flew over to

Livewire, covering his man’s body as he shouted at the stranger
standing in the doorway. “Get the fuck out!”

Livewire instantly woke up and rolled Imlay, placing him on the

bottom and growling at the intruder. Sharp fangs slid from their
sheaths in Livewire’s mouth as long, black nails burst through his
fingernails. Imlay lay there astonished as he saw Livewire’s skin turn
an odd shade of brilliant reds and oranges.

Imlay wasn’t sure which grabbed his attention more, the stranger

in the doorway or Livewire.

“You still do that funny trick.” The stranger giggled as he shook

his head. “Uncle Catrelle used to do it all the time whenever I came
over.”

Livewire blinked, staring at the small man in the doorway and

then down at Imlay. The doctor was totally fucking lost. He wasn’t
sure what to make of this situation. Imlay tried to push Livewire

Imlay’s Cure

aside, but in his current state, Livewire gave off a low warning growl.
Imlay pulled his hands back, dropping them on either side of his head
as he watched Livewire defend him.

“Okay then. I’m off to see the rest of the ship. Come see me when

you turn pink again.” The stranger turned around and walked away.
Imlay quickly looked over at Adwaka, the small man sitting there
with his mouth hanging slightly open.

All three snapped their heads toward the door when the stranger

ran back into sick bay. He looked around desperately and then dove
under the empty bed, his legs still hanging out. Blade came barreling
in, spotted the legs, and then yanked the small man from under the
bed, sliding his arms under the little man’s and then locking his hand
behind the stranger’s neck.

“I’m innocent. I want a lawyer. Shifter brutality!”
“Shut the hell up, Zackary,” Tank snapped. “Remy told you the

middle deck was off-limits.”

“I got lost looking for the bathroom. You can’t prove anything.

Call my mom!” Zackary’s feet were dangling in midair as Blade
began to carry him out of sick bay.

“Wait!” Livewire’s voice was gravely, as if he had pebbles in his

throat. “He’s my…” His voice went silent for a moment as Livewire
shook his head. “My cousin.”

“About time you said something, you big oaf.” Zackary glared at

Livewire. “I thought you were going to let them shoot me out of an air
lock.”

Imlay was still fucking lost. He petted the side of Livewire as the

beast lay over him. Livewire leaned into his touch as he spoke to
Blade. Imlay wasn’t sure if Livewire was even aware of what he was
doing. But he did notice Livewire’s cock getting hard. The gown
concealed it from everyone else, giving Imlay an up close and private
view. He quickly averted his gaze, feeling something surge up inside
of him that he never felt before.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“What the fuck did I tell you?” Remy’s voice could be heard as he

approached sick bay.

“Uh, not to eat all the ice cream?” Zackary continued to dangle

from Blade’s hold as he blinked up at Remy.

“Wrong. Now I know you’re a damn spy.” Remy growled as he

stepped closer, his nostrils flaring.

“I’m not a spy! I’m just a guy whose curiosity has gotten him into

more trouble than the law allows. I still have seven lives left. Six if
you shoot me out into space.”

Remy’s attention went from Zackary’s to Livewire’s. Shock

registered for just a split second then he quickly masked it. “Tell me if
I should shoot him out into space, Livewire.”

“You can’t make him do your job!” Imlay shouted from below

Livewire’s creature form. “That’s not fair to have him make that
judgment call in his condition.”

“What condition?” Zackary asked. “He turns red and orange all

the time. Don’t you, good boy?” Zackary made kissing noises at
Livewire, as if he were a fucking pet.

Imlay growled as he once again tried to get Livewire to move his

enormous ass. Livewire just hunkered down, giving Imlay no way
out.

“That’s it. I’ve fucking had it,” Imlay shouted as he wiggled from

beneath Livewire. “In two weeks I have had a total of maybe twenty
hours of sleep. If you don’t carry his scrawny ass out of here and let
me get some rest…everyone is getting the white pills!”

Blade ran from sick bay, along with Remy. Adwaka flipped the

sheet off of his body and tried to get out of his bed. “I’m not sure
what pills you’re talking about but if those big men ran, I need to go,
too.” His small voice carried over to Imlay, making him sigh in
frustration.

“Not you, Adwaka. Get back in bed. I just need some rest.”
Adwaka stood by his bed, his eyes darting to the door and then

back at Imlay before finally crawling back into bed.

Imlay’s Cure

Imlay gave up. He slid back down under Livewire and closed his

eyes. He didn’t care at this point if the ship caught fire and crashed.
He was getting some overdue sleep. Livewire settled over him and
rested his head on Imlay’s legs as the creature closed his eyes as well.
In under a minute, Imlay was fast asleep.

* * * *

Livewire didn’t sleep. He just laid there with his head resting

against Imlay. The strong scent natural to the doctor filled his senses,
giving him back control of his body. Livewire slowly returned to his
human form.

He stayed cuddled up next to Imlay as he lifted his head and

glanced around sick bay. His eyes landed on the door leading to the
isolation room. He wanted Imlay away from prying eyes while he
slept.

Livewire crawled from the bed and carefully lifted Imlay in his

arms then carried him into the isolation room. It wasn’t easy.
Livewire was still weak and Imlay wasn’t exactly small, but Livewire
had need on his side. He needed Imlay somewhere safe.

Livewire pulled Imlay’s clothes off. Those that he couldn’t pull

off, he cut off, dropping the cut material on the floor. He wanted to
stop and look, to spend hours gazing down at Imlay’s perfect body,
but he knew the man needed his rest. Imlay worked too hard and with
very little time off. Livewire knew he would need to do something
about that.

Once Imlay was naked, Livewire covered the doctor up with a

blanket then climbed onto the bed beside him. He curled around the
doctor and protected him as best he could. If anyone came into the
room, they would have to go through Livewire first to get to Imlay.

Livewire knew he was more awake now than he had been in days.

Maybe shifting had healed whatever was wrong with his brain. Maybe
not. All he knew was an overwhelming need to protect and care for

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

the man cradled in his arms. In all of his confusion, that was the only
thing that made sense to him.

Livewire grabbed on to that thought and held on tight. Imlay was

his. He knew that deep down in his soul. Despite the need he felt to
follow the doctor’s commands, he knew it was his duty to see to the
man’s safety.

Livewire lay curled around Imlay for what seemed like the space

of a few minutes, but he knew it had been hours when he heard Blade
enter the sick bay and start talking to Adwaka. He sat up and checked
on Imlay and saw that the man was still asleep. Livewire knew Imlay
would need food when he woke, even if it was just to refuel his body.

He gently rolled from the bed so he couldn’t disturb his mate and

padded across the room. Blade and Adwaka looked up when he
paused in the doorway. Livewire swallowed past the lump that
instantly built in his throat. This was what he needed to do.

“Imlay needs food,” Livewire whispered.
“I can bring him something,” Blade said as he stood and started

for the door.

“No, I…” Livewire swallowed again. He closed his eyes for a

moment and took a deep breath before opening them. He was trying
to remember that he could trust Blade. “Can you watch him, please?
Keep him safe?”

Blade’s eyes widened, but he nodded his head. “Of course.”
Livewire’s steps were measured as he slowly made his way to the

sick bay doors. It took all of his courage to push them open and step
through them. As he made his way down the corridor and up the stairs
to the crew deck, Livewire just kept repeating to himself that it was
his duty to see to his mate’s needs, even feeding him.

The loud voices he heard coming from the mess hall stopped the

second Livewire stepped through the doors. Livewire trembled when
every head in the room turned in his direction. He clenched his one
good hand and plastered a wobbly smile on his face.

“I need to get Imlay something to eat.”

Imlay’s Cure

“Oh,” Gigi said as he smiled brightly, almost too much so, and

gestured with his hand. “Let me throw something together for you.
Have a seat. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

Livewire eyed the other crew members as he walked over to sit at

the empty end of the table. They were all still watching him. It was
unnerving. “Did you shoot my cousin out an air lock?”

Remy chuckled. “No, but I thought about it. He’s currently up on

the bridge with Tank doing some research on our latest cargo haul.”

“We had another cargo haul?” When did this happen? And where

had he been? He didn’t even remember them landing.

“We picked up a load of Trillian silk for transfer to Lost Star

Three,” Remy said.

“We found tracking devices stowed away inside the crates of

silk,” Crank added. “Tank and your cousin are trying to figure out
where they came from and who put them there.”

The sudden frown that came over Remy’s face made Livewire

nervous. The big commander was a thinker, and Livewire knew
whatever the man was thinking, he wasn’t going to like it.

“Livewire, I believe whoever put those tracking devices in our

cargo might be connected to whoever took you. I don’t want to dredge
this all up for you again, but I need to know whatever you know. Can
you tell us anything about the people that took you?”

Livewire shuddered and glanced down at his hands. He plucked at

the edge of the gauze wrapped around his injured hand as he tried to
remember anything beyond the pain. So much of his time on Beta
Five had been filled with pain he barely remembered anything else.

“They were waiting for me,” he whispered. “I didn’t even get off

the landing platform before they took me.”

“Who are they, Livewire?” Remy asked softly. “Can you describe

them?”

“Paktillian, I think, but I can’t be sure. Not all of us are exactly the

same.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

The sudden silence in the room made Livewire glance up. A real

chuckle escaped his lips when he saw the shock on the crew’s faces.
The sound almost surprised him. It was the first real laughter he had
felt in weeks.

“Saw that, did ya?”
“Uh, well.” Remy cleared his throat. “We saw something, but I’m

not real sure what it was. Maybe you could enlighten us.”

“You know I was born on Paktil.”
Remy nodded.
“Well, not all Paktillians are born the same. There’s a gene, a

mutated gene created by centuries of Paktillians being subjected to
Paktillian’s disease. While I’ve never had the disease myself,
someone in my direct lineage did. I inherited that mutated gene. It
enables me to shift into something different although I’m not exactly
sure what.”

“Well, you’re not a wolf shifter,” Remy said. “I can tell you that

much.”

“You’re not a cougar either,” Crank added.
Colt chuckled. “Or a hawk.”
“And you didn’t look much like Tank does when he shifts,” Remy

said. “So I don’t think you’re a lion shifter either.”

“What’s that leave?” Livewire asked.
Remy shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Well, that’s helpful,” Livewire snorted. “I’m such a freak that

none of you even recognize what I am.”

“Oh, I have no doubt you’re a freak, Livewire.” Remy laughed.

“I’ve heard the things you say to Lady Blue when you think no one is
listening. If that isn’t freakish, I don’t know what is. You’d think you
were courting the old girl.”

“I started to wonder if you were even gay after hearing you,”

Crank said, grinning widely. “I mean, geez, Livewire, she’s a hunk of
metal.”

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire smiled despite himself. He knew the guys were just

trying to make him feel more at ease, and it was working. He could
feel the tension in his shoulders lessening. He didn’t feel the
overwhelming urge to run and hide that he usually did. It actually felt
like they were all just sitting around the mess hall talking like they
used to.

“The Lady Blue needs a gentle hand if you want her to run at peak

performance.” Livewire grinned. “She has feelings, too.”

The easy banter around the table continued until Gigi brought out

a tray piled high with food, including two pieces of chocolate cake.
Gigi set it down on the edge of the table then stepped back, making
sure he was far enough away as to not touch Livewire.

Livewire was grateful for Gigi’s understanding as he stood and

reached for the tray. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Gigi beamed. “And I mean that, Livewire. If there’s

anything you need, just ask.”

“I know.” Livewire grimaced as he looked down at the tray of

food for a moment. “I’m trying, Gigi.”

“Just remember that you’re not alone,” Gigi said quietly, as if his

words were for Livewire’s ears alone. “You have a lot of friends here,
a lot of people rooting for you.”

Livewire nodded and carried the tray out of the mess hall. He was

too choked up to give voice to the words caught in his throat. He
knew everyone on the Lady Blue was behind him, rooting for him.
And he’d always be thankful for them. But there were just some
things a man had to do on his own. Climbing out of the hellhole he’d
been in since landing on Beta Five was something Livewire knew he
needed to do himself—with his doctor leading the way.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 7

Imlay sat up on his elbows as he watched Livewire walk into

isolation with a food tray balanced on one hand and the plates of cake
on the other. His eyes followed Livewire’s moves, watching the
mechanic set the tray down and then both plates.

Imlay noticed a few changes. For one, he was in isolation with no

clue as to how he had gotten there. He felt better, rested. The massive
headache that had thumped in his head for the past few days was
gone, and Imlay felt a little more energized, like someone had put
fresh batteries in him.

The second thing he noticed was the Livewire was back to human

form. Imlay watched the cut lines of Livewire’s biceps flex and bunch
as he went about preparing the food plate. His tongue crept out and
slid across his bottom lip. His mouth was dry as sand. Imlay noticed
the gown flap open behind Livewire’s, revealing a sensual back and
ripped hard thighs.

Imlay averted his eyes, afraid he would be busted ogling the man.

Livewire, and Imlay for that matter, was trying to get used to touch.
There was no sense the man becoming uncomfortable if he saw Imlay
molest his backside with his eyes.

The third thing was what caught and kept Imlay’s attention. “Did

you leave sick bay?”

Livewire flinched like a kid getting caught with his hand in the

cookie jar. His face flushed as he turned to Imlay and gave one short
nod. Imlay could see in Livewire’s eyes that he didn’t want a big deal
made out of it, so he shelved it for now.

Imlay’s Cure

“I went to the mess hall and got you something to eat. Sit up.”

Livewire flicked his good hand up and down, telling Imlay he wanted
him up. Imlay scooted onto his backside as he sat patiently waiting for
his love to bring him his food.

Livewire pushed the small, mobile table over to him and picked

the fork up, handing it over. “Gigi made this plate of food for you.”
Once again Livewire’s checks blossomed pink under the florescent
lighting.

Imlay grabbed the fork, his fingers brushing across the back of

Livewire’s hand. The mechanic cleared his throat as he stood there in
front of Imlay. He couldn’t take it. He patted the space next to him.
“Have a seat.” Imlay said it off-handedly, making the instruction no
big deal.

When Livewire stayed rooted to the spot, Imlay sat his fork down

and held his hand out. Like a snail crawling across the floor,
Livewire’s hand slowly raised and then settled in Imlay’s palm. Imlay
gave a gentle tug, pulling his mechanic closer until Livewire finally
sat down.

“Would you like some? It’s delicious.” Imlay wedged a little

closer as he stabbed at the meat and then raised it for Livewire. The
doctor was well aware that Livewire’s last meal had taken a nose dive
and that his mechanic was probably starving. The shift probably
tossed his appetite into overdrive.

The mechanic didn’t open right away, and Imlay didn’t lower the

fork. They were having some kind of showdown with their eyes,
neither backing down. “It’ll hang in front of your mouth forever, so
you might as well give in.” Imlay twisted his lips sideways as he
waited.

Was that a smile? Did the side of Livewire’s mouth just tug a

minute amount? Imlay breathed a sigh of relief when Livewire finally
opened, his soft lips closing around the tines. Hell if that wasn’t a
turn-on. Don’t lick your lips, don’t lick your lips. Imlay lowered his

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

eyes to his plate, his heart jumping out of his chest and trying to make
a landing at his feet.

“Good?”
Livewire nodded, opening for another bite. The fork clattered

against the plate as Imlay’s hands shook. Taking a deep and cleansing
breath, Imlay stabbed at another piece of meat and repeated the erotic
act.

Imlay’s eyes dropped, watching Livewire’s throat muscles work

strategically to swallow the meat. Oh, bloody hell. Did the
temperature go up in isolation? Maybe he needed something to lower
his temperature? How hot was it?

“This is good,” Livewire murmured.
“I imagine you’re pretty hungry right about now. You burn off a

lot of fuel when you shift like that.”

Imlay could have bitten his tongue when Livewire’s eyes

suddenly became downcast and he glanced away. He should have
kept his mouth shut. They had been making such progress. “Hey,
what’s wrong?” he asked softly.

“I…I didn’t want you to see that.”
“Whyever not?” Imlay asked. “You have a beautiful form when

you shift.”

Livewire’s mouth was hanging open when his head snapped back

around. He looked stunned. “You think that…that thing is beautiful?”

Ah, that explained Livewire’s reaction. “Yes, but I think any form

you have is beautiful.”

Livewire just stared at him, but each time he opened his eyes,

Imlay could see the gray in them bleeding over until his pupils were
almost gone. Imlay didn’t know what it meant, but it was sexy as hell.

Livewire inhaled suddenly, his nostrils flaring. He lifted his hands

and started to reach out then stopped, hesitating. “I want—” Livewire
swallowed hard. “I want to touch you.”

“Then you’d better put this over on the desk,” Imlay said as he

held out the plate and fork in his hand. This was the first clear

Imlay’s Cure

indication Imlay had seen that Livewire wanted to come back into the
land of the living. He was all for it—especially if it involved Livewire
touching him of his own free will.

While Livewire set the dishes of food on the desk, Imlay scooted

back and made space for the man on the bed. He waited until
Livewire turned back around and walked back to the bed then flipped
the blanket back. He wondered if he had made the right choice when
Livewire shuddered. Imlay started to reach for the blanket to pull it
back over him when Livewire grabbed his arm.

“No.” Livewire swallowed again. “Please.”
Imlay stared at Livewire for a moment then dropped the blanket.

He scooted back against the pillows and laid down on his back,
watching Livewire watch him. Imlay almost swallowed his tongue
when Livewire licked his lips. Was anything sexier?

Livewire knelt on the edge of the bed and ever so slowly moved

closer until their bodies almost touched but not quite. Imlay held his
breath when Livewire reached out to touch him. He could see that the
mechanic’s hand was trembling.

“Pax says you have a red mist,” Livewire whispered out of the

blue.

“Oh?”
Livewire nodded. His hand hovered just over the top of the skin

on Imlay’s chest. “I can feel why. You give off a lot of heat.”

“I’ve always run a little hotter than everyone else.”
“It’s nice.” Livewire looked up to meet Imlay’s eyes then smiled.

“Warm.”

Imlay swallowed. “I’m glad you think so.”
Livewire’s hand was suddenly on Imlay’s bare chest. Imlay felt

like he couldn’t breathe. The pensive frown that creased the skin
between Livewire’s eyebrows concerned Imlay. He didn’t know
whether Livewire wanted him or just to touch another living being.
Whichever it was, Imlay knew he would do it if just to help Livewire

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

heal. But he was really hoping Livewire looked so intense because he
wanted to be touching Imlay—the man.

Imlay clamped his jaw together as Livewire’s hand started moving

over his skin. The touch was light, tentative, and it was driving Imlay
out of his mind. He tried desperately to remember that this was for
Livewire, not because his body was one huge raging hormone.

As more of his chest was covered, his hands began to dig into the

sheets beneath him, holding onto something so he wouldn’t reach for
Livewire. Considering his actual level of practical knowledge when it
came to sex, he wasn’t sure what he would do with Livewire if he did
have the man in his hands.

Imlay knew the particulars of the sexual act. He was a doctor,

after all. He just had no real experience beyond a quick rub off with
an old schoolmate. He’d never seen the need before now to go any
further. With Livewire’s hands caressing him, the need was blatantly
clear.

Imlay was always the person to shun advances, claiming he was

too busy in his medical career. Considering the hollow feeling that
had been left in his chest after his last, correction, only experience,
Imlay wasn’t so quick to want to repeat it.

Now? Now lying under Livewire’s exploring hands, Imlay wanted

things he never dreamed of. He wanted things he’d only heard
whispered in private conversations. Imlay just wanted. He averted his
eyes when Livewire’s fingers traced over his collarbone. The look in
his mechanic’s eyes was too intense.

Livewire pulled his hand back, sitting on his haunches. “All you

have to say is no,” Livewire growled softly. Imlay swallowed, cursing
his inexperience. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

“I—”
Livewire rolled back to the edge of the bed, his body posture

telling Imlay his man was feeling rejected. Imlay couldn’t let him
think that. “I’ve never…”

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire’s head turned slowly as his brows drew down in a

frown. Imlay could see the wheels turning in Livewire’s mind, the
two words being worked out like a mathematical problem.

Imlay reached over and took Livewire’s hand in his, guiding it

back to his chest. “Show me.”

Livewire turned back around, getting onto his knees once again.

His fingers hovered over Imlay, his eyes questioning and uncertain.

“Touch me, please.” Imlay chewed on his bottom lip as he waited

to see what Livewire was going to do.

“What if I hurt you?” Livewire’s fingers brushed across his

abdomen, making Imlay’s belly quiver. His cock was so hard it was
almost painful.

“You won’t. I won’t let you.” Imlay reached out and stroked

Livewire’s arm, caressing it as he coaxed it closer to his body.

Livewire looked curious and frightened, so Imlay lowered his

hand and waited. He didn’t have to wait long. The back of Livewire’s
knuckle touched Imlay’s cock, and then slowly added pressure as his
hand ran up and down Imlay’s shaft. He sucked air through his teeth
as his legs spread further apart. “I’m burning. Touch me.”

Imlay wasn’t sure where the bravery came from, but it surfaced,

giving him the ability to reach down and unsnap his pants. He took
Livewire’s hand in his and pushed it past his waistband.

Livewire’s eyes shuttered closed as his fingers glided over the

head of Imlay’s cock, spreading the beads of moisture around. Imlay
grabbed the bed beneath him once more, his hips involuntarily
hitching at his mechanic’s touch.

“Livewire.” Imlay gave a throaty little plea. He was so close. So

damn close.

Livewire’s eyes shifted as he crawled further onto the bed and

stretched out beside Imlay, his strong fingers wrapping around
Imlay’s cock, stroking it, squeezing it. Imlay’s fingers tightened,
digging deeper into the bed. Livewire leaned closer, his lips touching
Imlay’s nipple through his shirt.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Oh, gods.” Imlay hitched his hips again, feeling his cock slide

through Livewire’s tightly fisted hand. He did it again, and then
again, fucking Livewire’s fist.

A rumbling purr tore from Livewire’s throat as Imlay’s head fell

back and he hissed. “Make me come.”

Livewire sped up his hand, stroking Imlay’s cock harder, faster.

Imlay arched his back, crying out as hot seed exploded from his cock,
hitting his chest and chin. His mind was racing, his thoughts scattered
as he experienced his second orgasm with the man. He lay there
panting, fighting for air to inflate his lungs as his eyes slowly opened.

There was something akin to wonder in Livewire’s eyes as Imlay

looked up at him. It was shadowed by need, a need Imlay could feel
pressing against his thigh. Imlay reached down and gave the gentlest
of pressure against the bulge raging behind Livewire’s gown.

“Can I?”
Livewire swallowed hard then nodded.
Imlay scooted down then lifted the fabric covering Livewire. His

breath caught in his throat when he got his first real look at what
Livewire had been hiding this entire time. “Damn!”

“What?”
Imlay quickly glanced up. He could see the worry in Livewire’s

gray eyes. “You didn’t mention you were hung like a horse.”

A slow smile started moving across Livewire’s lips. “You didn’t

ask. You were always too busy running from me.”

“I’m not running anymore.”
“No,” Livewire whispered. “You’re not.”
Imlay looked back down at the more-than-impressive cock jutting

up from Livewire’s groin. He licked his lips. “When you’re feeling up
to it, I’d really like to get to know this guy a little better. For now…”

Imlay leaned forward and licked away the drops of pre-cum

pooling on the head of Livewire’s cock. Livewire hissed and bucked.
Imlay looked up, afraid he had done something wrong. Didn’t guys
like blow jobs?

Imlay’s Cure

“Livewire?”
“Jes—don’t stop,” Livewire groaned. “Take all of it.”
Imlay blinked as he looked at the cock in his hands. He was

supposed to swallow all of that? Was it even possible? When
Livewire’s hands tangled in his hair, Imlay decided that if it wasn’t
he’d find a way to make it possible.

He experimented at first, allowing just the head in his mouth. It

wasn’t an easy fit. Livewire filled so much of his mouth. Imlay
swiped his tongue along the edges of the head then up over the top
when more drops of pre-cum shot out.

He was absently surprised at how good Livewire tasted. He was

under the impression that cum tasted sour. It didn’t. He couldn’t quite
place what it did taste like, but he liked it.

“More,” Livewire pleaded.
Imlay tried to breathe through his nose as he sucked more of the

man’s cock into his mouth. If Livewire wanted him to take more, he’d
give it his best shot. He swallowed hard and swallowed more and
more until curly hairs tickled his nose.

Imlay blinked in shock. He’d taken all of Livewire. He had

swallowed down all of the man’s massive cock. He must have done it
right because Livewire was groaning, his lower body grinding up
against Imlay.

Imlay started getting caught up in Livewire’s need. He sucked the

cock in his mouth as he pulled back, letting his tongue work up the
heavily veined sides. Livewire suddenly spread his legs. Imlay
glanced up to find Livewire watching him. There was so much want
and desire sparkling in the man’s gray eyes that Imlay paused for a
moment to take it all in.

“Imlay, please,” Livewire whispered.
Imlay jerked, realizing that he had stopped moving. He kept his

eyes locked with Livewire’s and sucked the man back into his mouth
until he felt the man's cock hit the back of his throat.

“My balls,” Livewire begged, “touch my balls.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay arched an eyebrow.
“Please!”
Imlay reached down and grabbed Livewire’s balls, gently rolling

them around in his hand. He started bobbing his head up and down on
Livewire’s cock, moving faster and faster as he watched Livewire
begin to pant. There seemed to be a direct connection to how fast he
moved and how loud Livewire became.

He wanted the man to scream.
“I’m close, Imlay,” Livewire groaned. “Gods, I’m so close.”
Livewire’s legs bent as he drew his knees up, cradling Imlay

between them. His hands moved down to cup Imlay’s face. “Let me
fuck your mouth.”

Imlay climbed onto his knees and nodded, giving Livewire the go

ahead. Livewire bucked up, his cock driving deep into Imlay’s mouth.
Imlay gagged and pulled back a little until he could swallow again.

Livewire’s hands tightened in his hair. “Imlay,” he panted heavily,

“gonna…”

Imlay nodded his head that he understood then tightened his lips

around the cock in his mouth. When Livewire bucked up, he dove
down and started bobbing his head again, moving his mouth up and
down the thick shaft.

Livewire suddenly stiffened, his body going taut as a bow string.

“Imlay,” he roared as he came.

Imlay’s eyes widened as shot after shot of spunk filled his mouth.

He swallowed down as much as he could then licked the sides of
Livewire’s cock where some had escaped and trickled down.

Overwhelmed, Imlay scooted up and laid his head on Livewire’s

abdomen. He didn’t remember that Livewire didn’t like touching until
he felt the man’s fingers stroke through his hair.

Imlay glanced up to see a small smile on Livewire’s face. “My

first blow job.”

“You’re very good at it.”

Imlay’s Cure

Imlay smiled and closed his eyes, resting his head on Livewire

since the man didn’t seem to mind. Livewire had given him no
indication that he should move, so he wasn’t going to. He liked it
right where he was.

“You’re my mate, you know.”
“I know.” Imlay laid a soft kiss on Livewire’s belly. “You think I

went this bonkers over a mechanic?”

Livewire smiled as he ran his hand over Imlay’s hair, making him

sigh.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 8

Blade took the plate from Adwaka and sat it on the empty bed.

His fingers were itching to run them through his mate’s golden blond
hair but Blade held back. Adwaka hadn’t said much about his ordeal,
and Blade wasn’t too sure about his mate’s receptiveness to touch.

Watching Livewire recover was hard on everyone. Blade didn’t

want to set his mate off. Adwaka seemed timid and afraid of his own
damn shadow, but at the same time freaked out whenever Blade tried
to leave his side. Blade was surprised he didn’t go into a tizzy when
he went to get everyone’s food or drag Zackary from sick bay.

“Is there anything you need, Adwaka?”
“No.” Adwaka smiled and folded his hands together in his lap.

“I’m good.”

“Okay, then I’m going to take these dishes back to the kitchen.”
Blade grabbed the dishes and stacked them on the tray. He lifted

the tray and started carrying it toward the door when he heard small
footsteps padding behind him. When he turned, Adwaka was standing
right behind him, smiling.

“Shouldn’t you stay in bed?”
Adwaka shook his head.
Blade frowned. He wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea for

Adwaka to be leaving the sick bay. “Hey, doc?”

“What?” A moment later, a sleep-tousled-looking Imlay appeared

in the doorway to the isolation room. Livewire stood so close behind
him that Blade couldn’t help but wonder if they were glued together.

“Is it okay for Adwaka to leave sick bay?”

Imlay’s Cure

Imlay rubbed his hand over his face then walked closer, Livewire

right behind him. Imlay stopped in front of Adwaka and stared at him.
“How do you feel?”

“I’m okay.”
Imlay checked Adwaka’s eyes then grabbed his medical scanner.

Blade stood there watching until Imlay finally nodded his head.

“Okay, you can go, but don’t overexert yourself. If you start

feeling weak at all, come right back. Better yet, have Blade carry you
back.”

When Adwaka beamed and looked up at him, Blade knew he was

in trouble. Adwaka was going to storm right in and wrap himself
around every good sense he had. He could see it coming.

“Come on.” Blade turned and headed out of the sick bay, Adwaka

hot on his heels. “Let’s go so you can explore the ship.”

* * * *

Livewire smiled as he watched Adwaka follow Blade out of the

sick bay. It was good to see Adwaka smiling after so much time
watching him cry. He liked seeing the little man happy, but he was
concerned about Blade’s intentions.

Blade had never seemed like the accepting type to him. The man

was nice enough, but he always held something back. If he was going
to become involved with Adwaka, Livewire knew he’d need to talk to
him. Adwaka had already suffered enough.

“Are you hungry?”
Livewire turned to see Imlay looking at him. He surprised himself

when he held out his hand to the man. Maybe this whole touch thing
was getting easier. Imlay was certainly helping. Still, Livewire knew
he needed to stretch his boundaries just a little bit more.

“What I’d really like is a hot shower and then maybe we could go

to the mess hall to eat.”

Imlay smiled slowly. “If that’s what you want.”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“What I want isn’t possible in a room full of people, but I think

we need food first.” Livewire grinned when Imlay’s face flushed.
This was a facet of the good doctor he had yet to encounter, a very
interesting facet.

“Did you know the showers on this ship were built big enough for

two?”

Livewire saw where his doctor was going with this idea. It was

hard to miss with Imlay’s green eyes turning into a dark swirl of
desire. Livewire’s eyes shifted as he perused his mate’s body. “Are
you inviting me into your shower, Imlay?”

The most beautiful blush spiderwebbed up Imlay’s neck and

across his already glowing cheeks. Livewire stood there in
amazement for a moment, wondering how a creature so stunning
could be his. It didn’t seem real. Imlay had pulled him from the pits of
hell and brought him back to safety.

Livewire still couldn’t figure out how he felt as good as he did. It

perplexed him that just one bout of sex, a rub off and blowjob no less,
had made him feeling as though he had gained a small fraction of his
old self back.

Imlay lifted one shoulder in a shrug and nodded, his eyes darting

around the sick bay. Livewire wouldn’t deny that he loved the fact
that he was Imlay’s first. It made him feel empowered and very
protective of the tall and slender man. He cupped his hand behind
Imlay’s neck and pulled him forward, laying a kiss on his mate’s
forehead.

“Let’s eat first.”
The small pouty look made Livewire smile as he led his mate out

of sick bay and up to the upper deck where he could feed his mate.
His health came first before Livewire claimed him. Imlay was going
to need all his strength for the claiming Livewire had in mind.

Livewire was relieved to see the mess hall empty. Even though he

was comfortable with his mate now, he wasn’t too sure about
everyone else. He was aware the crew had landed on Beta Five and

Imlay’s Cure

rescued him, but the feeling of mistrust was still running strongly
through his veins.

Imlay held onto his hand tightly as they walked through the mess

hall and into the kitchen. Gigi and Pax were there preparing dinner.
The smells wafted past Livewire’s nostrils, making him inhale deeply.
He could smell onions and cilantro sizzling in the frying pan. Thank
the gods Remy had hired a cook. The food replicator had nothing on
Gigi.

“Livewire!” Pax smiled as he slid down from the stool he was

sitting on. The little blue man kept his distance though. Livewire was
thankful for that. He just wasn’t ready for any other contact right now
other than Imlay’s.

“Hi, Pax. My mate is hungry.”
“Woohoo, look at you, Livewire.” Gigi giggled. “Laying the pipe

down on doc, are ya?” the squirrelly human asked as he sautéed his
spices.

“That’s none of your business,” Livewire growled.
He could see Imlay turning a deep shade of red as his mate took a

step behind him. Livewire was ready to demand Remy give Gigi a
good spanking. Shit, he’d probably enjoy it. Scratch that.

“I’m just saying.” Gigi sighed dramatically. “You two look all

glowy. I like it.”

The side of Livewire’s mouth pulled back when he saw Pax roll

his eyes and throw leaves of lettuce at Gigi. “Behave.”

“Go sit out in the mess hall, and I’ll bring you two something to

eat.” Gigi ignored Pax as he shooed his hand toward Livewire and
Imlay.

“Thanks.” Livewire pulled his mate along as they left the kitchen.

He moved a chair back, waiting for Imlay to take a seat. Imlay looked
cross but sat.

“I can seat myself.”
“I’m perfectly aware of that,” Livewire replied as he sat down

next to Imlay. He reached over and laced his fingers with Imlay’s,

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

grateful when the man didn’t pull away. Imlay still seemed a little
peeved, though. “I doubt there is much you can’t do. You are an
amazing person.”

Imlay sighed and the tension that held him so stiff seemed to melt

away. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be prickly. I just don’t believe what
happens between us is anyone’s business but ours.”

“I agree. What is between us is very private and not for public

viewing.” Livewire waved his hand back toward the kitchen. “But
Gigi didn’t mean anything by what he said. He’s happy for us. And
just because he makes a comment does not mean we’re parading
ourselves out in front of him.”

“I know, I just—” Imlay shook his head. “I suppose I am unused

to public displays of affection or even talking about sex. It’s just not
something I have had much experience with.”

Livewire chuckled softly as he squeezed Imlay’s hand. “And I

can’t even begin to tell you how much I like that.”

“What?” Imlay’s head snapped up. “You like the fact that I get

embarrassed so easily?”

“No.” Livewire rubbed his thumb over the edge of Imlay’s jaw. “I

like the fact that I am your first.”

Imlay’s face flushed again. His eyes widened and he cleared his

throat. “Technically, you’re not—yet. We haven’t—”

“We will.”

* * * *

“Anything?” Remy asked as he walked onto the bridge. He arched

an eyebrow when Zackary jumped back from Tank. He didn’t know
exactly what they were doing, but the two men seemed to be standing
awfully close together.

“Uh, some,” Tank said, “but nothing concrete.”
“What do you have?”

Imlay’s Cure

“These…” Zackary held up one of the transmitters found in the

crates they had picked up on Paktil. “These things are pretty
advanced, technically speaking. You can’t even find them on the open
market yet. Strictly military.”

Remy froze. “Military?”
“Yeah, you know, the Elite Force.” Zackary shook his head as he

set the transmitter down and grabbed his vid-pad. “I never really
thought I’d see one. They’re really hard to get, even on the black
market. Whoever planted these things has serious connections.”

Remy pressed his lips together as he considered the implications

of what Zackary was saying. He didn’t like his conclusions, not one
bit. “Tank, I want you to call everyone together in the mess hall, and I
mean everyone, even Adwaka and Livewire. We all need to talk.”

Tank nodded and turned to put the ship into autopilot then hurried

from the bridge. Remy turned his attention back to Zachery. “Bring
everything you’ve got down to the mess hall.”

Zackary nodded.
Remy waited for Zackary to gather his stuff then followed the

man off the bridge. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but if
the Elite Force was involved, things were going to get very dangerous
for all of them.

Remy rolled his eyes when Zackary gave the air lock a wide berth,

prancing away from it as he hurried along. “I don’t think you’re a spy
any longer, Zackary.”

“Hey, a man’s gotta protect his assets. I’m just a guy who watches

men that have threatened to send my ass out of an air lock. I told you I
only had seven lives left. I’m not taking any chances here, bub.”
Zackary sped up and practically ran down to the mess hall.

Remy wasn’t going to regret how he handled Zackary when he

first came onboard, but he did feel slightly guilty for how jumpy the
little Paktillian was now. It wasn’t his intention, but Livewire’s safety
had come first. It still did. Until they found the responsible party, or
parties, Remy wasn’t letting his guard down.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Remy pushed through the mess hall doors to see Livewire and

Imlay sitting intimately close, sharing a meal. He smiled at the way
his mechanic seemed to glow now. Imlay was helping his mate slowly
come back to them all.

The room soon filled with his crew, everyone looking at Remy

expectantly. “I think our problem of the tracking devices is bigger
than we first suspected. Tank and Zackary have traced them to the
Elite Force.”

Curses rang out around the table as his crew digested the

ramifications of Remy’s words.

“Why would they track crates going only one planet over? That

just doesn’t make any sense,” Blade asked as he pulled Adwaka
closer.

Remy didn’t miss the move, wondering if the little Orillian was

ready for a coyote shifter. Coyotes were very territorial and extremely
insane when it came to their mates. After what happened to Adwaka,
Remy prayed Blade knew how to handle the small man.

It seemed Blade’s view of mates only meeting a need and that

their importance didn’t come first was falling to the wayside.
Somehow, Remy knew the coyote would change his tune when he
finally met his mate.

“Whatever is going on, I’m guessing it’s aimed at Lost Star Three.

We could drop the cargo and haul ass. Or we could warn them.”
Remy eyed everyone in the room.

“Fuck that,” Colt snapped. “I still haven’t forgotten how that little

bitch ass concierge betrayed us. I say let the Elite Force do whatever
the hell it is they have planned and keep our noses out of it.”

“Th–They plan…” Adwaka trailed off, turning his face into

Blade’s chest. Blade reached over and smoothed his hand down his
mate’s back, making small grunting and whimpering noises in
Adwaka’s ear, a coyote’s way of calming his mate.

“Go on, Adwaka, no one is going to be mad at you,” Remy

encouraged softly. He had a feeling the little Orillian had the answers

Imlay’s Cure

they needed to put the pieces together for this mystery as well as
Livewire’s.

Adwaka took a deep breath as he lifted his head from Blade’s

chest. Blade ran his hands over Adwaka’s hair, nodding at his mate.
Adwaka chewed on his lower lip before meeting Remy’s eyes. “It’s
painful.”

Blade gave a low growl, but Remy had no choice but to ignore it

if they were going to figure this out. The last thing he wanted to do
was make Adwaka relive his torture, but they needed to know what
they were dealing with. “Take your time.”

“When I was…” Adwaka’s fingers curled into Blade’s shirt.

“Chained to the wall, I heard them talking about taking over Lost Star
Three. I don’t think it was the Federation of United Planets as much
as a few rogue members of the Elite Force. They talked about…”
Once again Adwaka buried his face in Blade’s chest.

Remy took a seat. This was going to take a while. Gigi got up and

moved closer, sitting next to Remy and placing his small hand in his.
Remy gave Gigi’s hand a light squeeze as he waited for Adwaka to
continue.

The Orillian raised his head once more. “They talked about using

the Lady Blue to haul their secret weapons to Lost Star Three,”
Adwaka whispered and then looked over at Livewire. “That’s what
they were trying to get out of you, the location of the Lady Blue. You
were brave and didn’t tell them anything.”

Remy could see admiration shining in Adwaka’s eyes as he stared

at Livewire. Adwaka held onto Blade as he turned toward Remy.

“They said you guys were already outlaws with a bounty on your

heads. They said that setting the crew up would be easy. They also
said that they were going to make a lot of credits off of the deal on
Lost Star Three and turning the Lady Blue over to the Federation of
United Planets.”

“Do you know who they are, Adwaka?” Remy asked. “Did you

ever hear any names mentioned?”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Pierce!” Livewire suddenly shouted.
Remy turned to look at him, surprised by the man’s outburst.

“Pierce?”

“Yeah.” Livewire’s face flushed a bit. “I heard them talking about

Pierce, but that’s all I know. They, the ones that had me, seemed to be
concerned that Pierce would show up and be upset with them if they
didn’t get the information out of me that they were looking for.”

“Okay.” Remy folded his hands together around Gigi’s. “So we’re

looking for someone named Pierce.”

“I might be able to do a search of Elite Force records if we get

close enough to the planet.” Zackary glanced around the room for a
minute then lowered his voice as if parting with a deeply held secret.
“Their security measures suck.”

Remy chuckled at Zackary’s tone then sobered quickly when he

realized that they would have to fly close to his home world in order
to break into the Elite Force’s database. He didn’t relish being
anywhere near his birth planet. It brought him nothing but bad
memories.

“We have a choice here, men. We can go ahead and drop this

cargo off at Lost Star Three and pretend we know nothing about being
set up. The merits of this would be finding out more information. The
downside would be that we’d be walking right into a trap.”

The frowns that were sent back to Remy didn’t make him think

his crew was in favor of that plan. “If we head toward Tronos, we’ll
be going into Federation territory. From what Zackary has said, that
could be a death sentence. The bounty on our heads seems to have
gone beyond the Turok System.”

“Get me to Paktil, and I’ll get our lady in the best shape she’s ever

been in,” Livewire said. “No one will be able to overtake us.”

“Ahhh, we just left Paktil,” Zackary whined. “Just toss me out an

air lock now. My mom is gonna blow a gasket.”

Imlay’s Cure

Chapter 9

Imlay squatted down as he watched Livewire reach under the

propulsion system. He was on his back with his hand shoved up into
the machine, but all Imlay saw were the strong movements of his
well-defined thighs, the cut of his sculpted biceps, and the flat planes
of his abdomen. Imlay felt like a downright pervert for zeroing in on
the outline that sat in the crotch of Livewire's pants, but Imlay
couldn’t help it.

It was huge.
“Do you need any help?” Imlay asked Livewire’s bulge.
“I think he’s okay for now.” His mate chuckled.
Imlay could feel his face and ears heat up at getting caught ogling.

It was true he had had Livewire’s cock in his mouth, but it was still
embarrassing. Imlay licked his lips at the remembrance of how good
his mate had tasted. Never in a million years would he have thought
to give someone a blowjob.

“If you keep licking your lips and looking at me like you want to

eat me for desert, I’ll never get this done,” Livewire warned as the
bulge in the front of his pants grew larger.

Imlay was having the same effect in his pants. “I’m going to go

stand over there.” Imlay pointed behind him as he stood and backed
away. The temperature was once again rising all around him. Damn it
was hot down here. Imlay began to wave his hand in front of him to
cool his heated skin.

“That may be a good idea until I’m done here,” Livewire said

before looking back at his task at hand.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay bit his bottom lip as he took one step in his mate’s

direction. The bulge seemed to be calling him. Imlay wondered what
it would feel like when Livewire claimed him. Would it hurt?

From the noise he heard coming from Gigi and Remy’s quarters,

it must be real pleasurable. But Gigi was strange anyway. There was
no telling what made him happy. Imlay remembered the size of
Livewire’s cock when he had to stretch his mouth wide open to take
the girth. Imlay gulped. Could he take that much manhood into his
anus?

No, he couldn’t. It was impossible. There was no way in hell. It

couldn’t happen. Imlay could feel his entire body shaking as he began
to freak out in engineering. He had invited Livewire to his shower.
What was he going to do once both of them were completely naked?
Play vid-games? Imlay wrung his hands in front of him as his eyes
darted toward the door. He really couldn’t do this. No, no, no, it
would hurt. There was no way.

“Doc!”
Imlay’s eyes snapped over to Livewire, wondering if his mate

read his mind. He had a questioning look on his face that told Imlay
that he really could. Imlay shot to the door, needing to escape. He
yelped when a strong arm caught him around the waist and hauled
him back.

“Breathe,” Livewire whispered in his ear. “I’m the head case,

remember? I get to freak out, not you. Now, why are you so pale and
shaking?”

Imlay shook his head back and forth as he covered his face. “It’s

going to hurt. Don’t lie to me, Livewire. Tell me the truth. It’s going
to hurt, isn’t it?”

Livewire turned Imlay in his arms, kissing the tip of his nose. “I

won’t lie. It’ll be uncomfortable the first time until your body adjusts
to mine.”

Imlay wailed as he hung from Livewire’s arm. “I’ve been curious.

I won’t lie. But I’m scared out of my mind. You’re so…so big.”

Imlay’s Cure

Livewire chuckled softly against Imlay’s neck. “Thanks for the

ego rub.”

“Livewire, I’m serious.”
“I’ll be gentle, I promise, Imlay.”
Imlay could see the sincerity in Livewire’s eyes. But that didn’t

stop the knot forming in his abdomen. There was just no logical way
this could work without pain being involved. No way at all.

“I have a solution if you’re so afraid,” Livewire said as he walked

Imlay backwards, leading him to his mate’s quarters.

“W–What would that be?” Imlay asked as he followed his mate,

watching him suspiciously.

“You’ll see.”
Gods, his mate was devilishly handsome when he bit his bottom

lip. He let Livewire led him into his quarters, looking around as he
was seated on the bed. “Take your pants off.”

“But, you said—”
“Will you trust me?”
Imlay exhaled loudly as he stood. “Turn around.”
Livewire cocked his head, studying Imlay, but finally did as he

was told. Imlay shucked his pants and shoes quickly and then crawled
onto the bed and covered his body with a sheet. “Okay.”

His mate spun around and then growled, his eyes shifting to that

red and orange color again. Imlay swallowed repeatedly. It was scary
and sexy at the same time. The sheet was slowly plucked from his
fingers as Livewire joined him on the bed, settling his broader frame
between Imlay’s legs.

Imlay hissed when Livewire took his shaft into his mouth. Never

before had he experienced such great pleasure, and Imlay was sure he
wasn’t going to survive this. Livewire’s hands seemed to be all over
Imlay’s body as he sucked Imlay’s cock to the back of his throat.
Imlay cried out at the foreign sensations tearing through his body.

Livewire worked his throat as his head slid back and forth,

pushing Imlay’s legs until they were crushed against his chest. His

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

mate used one arm to brace Imlay’s legs as his free hand began to
massage Imlay’s sac. Imlay grabbed the pillow and shoved it over his
face, biting into it to stop the shouts from reaching the upper levels.

His mate pulled it away, their eyes locking as Livewire’s eyes

conveyed to him that he wanted to hear every single sound. Imlay
arched his back when he felt a finger breach him. It was frightening
and exhilarating at the same time. Livewire got to his knees, sucking
his cheeks in as his mouth rode Imlay’s cock.

“I’m close,” Imlay panted as Livewire inserted another finger.

Imlay’s brain was malfunctioning as Livewire took him to heights he
never dreamed of. There was no way something existed that felt this
damn good. His bit his lips as he felt slight pressure at his anus,
wondering if Livewire had taken him. It didn’t hurt like he thought it
would. It just felt full…strange.

Imlay’s mind shattered as Livewire did something inside his anus

and Imlay exploded, his cock releasing his seed as his mate drank him
down. Imlay was gasping for air as his body became boneless. He
couldn’t move a muscle right now even if he tried.

Livewire stretched out beside him, kissing his neck and then

claiming his lips. When they broke away, Imlay found that he could
breathe no better. “Are we mated now?”

Livewire chuckled. “No.”
Imlay couldn’t understand what just happened. He felt his mate

breach him. There was no mistake about that. “Why?”

“I only inserted a butt plug. It’ll stretch you out and prepare you

for me.” He wiggled his brows as he grinned. “Don’t look so
disappointed. In a few hours”—Livewire smacked Imlay’s exposed
butt cheek, making him yelp—“this will belong to me. Now, I must
finish my work.” Livewire rolled from the bed and gathered Imlay’s
pants, helping him put them back on.

It felt strange having something in his anus as he walked out of

Livewire’s quarters. Imlay wondered if anyone would notice how odd
he was walking. Imlay shook his head. He was the inexperienced one,

Imlay’s Cure

so he was going to trust that Livewire knew what he was doing. Or he
was going to strangle his mate.

* * * *

Livewire was so damn hard that he was ready to jack off right

under the propulsion system. He had held back, wanting to bring his
mate great pleasure while inserting the plug, but damn if his stiffy
wasn’t ready to explode.

He readjusted himself before crawling back under the machine. It

would be his luck to get his cock caught in one of the main
components. He’d take the pinky loss over a cock loss any day.

“What are you doing?”
Livewire rolled his eyes when he heard Zackary. His cousin

always meant well. He was just a handful and Livewire wasn’t ready
to deal with that yet. He rolled his shoulders, preparing himself for the
cringe he knew was coming when Zackary’s hand landed on his calf.

Livewire was shocked when it didn’t happen. Once again, he had

felt like a small piece of him was returned when he had sex with
Imlay. Something was going on with that but Livewire couldn’t figure
out what, yet.

“I’m tickling my lady’s panties, why?”
“Oh, okay. Do you need any help? I’m pretty good with the

ladies.”

Livewire pushed his body from under the propulsion system,

studying his cousin. “I thought you were gay?”

“I am.”
“Then what’s with the…never mind.”
Zackary giggled. “Just because my cock bounces toward men like

a moth to a flame doesn’t mean I’m not charming.”

Livewire laughed as he lay on his back looking up at his cousin.

“What ladies?”

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Zackary shrugged. “Does my mom count? I’m always nice to

her.”

Livewire shook his head as he slipped under his lady once again.

“Go find Pax or Gigi while I get this done.”

“Whatever. You always were the strange one in the family.”

Zackary pouted as Livewire heard him walk away.

Livewire blinked. He was the strange one? Livewire shook his

head and tried to get it back on what he was doing. If he didn’t get
this shit repaired and running straight, things could get very dicey. He
had a trick or two up his sleeve, but he wanted to implement
something that would make the Lady Blue run just a bit better.

He had every confidence he could do just that, too. Being a

mechanic was the one area Livewire knew he excelled at. He could
just touch a machine and know what needed to be fixed on it. He’d
always had that ability.

The things he wanted to do to Imlay were another story. He

wasn’t inexperienced like the doctor, but he wasn’t a raving slut
either. It was a little daunting knowing he was going to be Imlay’s
first. It also drove Livewire crazy. He just couldn’t decide which
emotion to go with.

“Livewire?”
“In here, Remy.”
“Oh hey, I wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted

to add to this list of items before I send Crank planet-side.”

“Yeah.” Livewire slid out from under the propulsion system and

reached for the vid-pad Remy held out. He typed in a few things he
needed then handed the pad back. “Tell Crank to go to the East Side
Market and look for a guy named Duby. Tell him I sent him. He’ll
give Crank the best price.”

“Yeah, okay, anything else?”
Livewire shrugged. “Don’t get caught?”
Remy snorted as he turned to leave. “Yeah, I’ll pass that on.”

Imlay’s Cure

* * * *

Imlay was stocking the supply closet when he heard the swoosh of

the sick bay doors. A throat cleared behind him, and Imlay knew
Livewire had joined him. He knelt into the closet, trying to find
anything to do with his hands, knowing why his mate was here.

Suddenly Imlay didn’t feel so hot.
“Almost done?” Livewire’s voice held confidence and a touch of

desire.

It had to be desire from the huskiness Imlay heard. Imlay pushed

the hair from his eyes as he pushed to stand his full height. Using
courage from the depths of his toes, Imlay turned to face his mate. His
eyes met Livewire’s gray ones as Imlay’s insides turned to jelly. His
hand waved back at the closet as his mate’s eyes kept him
mesmerized.

“Almost.” Imlay was stalling and he knew it. His feet felt like

weights were added as he tried to cross the room and gather the last of
the supplies to put away. Imlay could feel Livewire’s eyes following
him.

“You showered,” Imlay said without turning back toward his

mate.

“I had to. I didn’t trust myself with your naked body, and the

shower isn’t the place I want your first time to take place.”

Imlay dropped the supplies. Just the mention of his virginity being

taken had him flustered. He knelt down and picked everything back
up, carrying it over to the closet. Imlay had never taken this long to
put a few items away. But he knew that once he was done, it was
going to be time to face his mate.

He gulped.
Imlay jumped nervously when Livewire’s arms snaked around his

waist and a soft kiss was planted on his neck. Thank goodness his
mate didn’t say anything about it. It was embarrassing enough without
the nervous twitch being pointed out. He had no choice but to toss

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

everything else on the shelf when Livewire started pulling him out of
the closet.

“You’re stalling, babe.” Livewire nipped his shoulder.
Gee, really? You think? Imlay’s body was sweating, his pulse

racing, as his cock filled and began to leak inside his pants. This was
it, the big moment. Why weren’t there any drum rolls? There should
be drum rolls when a man was about to lose his cherry. Maybe some
kind of parade declaring the virgin was about to be sacrificed to the
gods…or god.

Imlay was panicking, and he knew it. This wasn’t the first time

either. Every time he thought the moment was upon him, his mind
went into a mental nuclear meltdown.

“I have you. Just give yourself to me, and let me guide you

through this.” Livewire continued to play havoc on Imlay’s nerves by
sucking on his neck as his mate walked them backward to Imlay’s
quarters. “I’ll take over. You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do it all.”

Imlay was grateful to have the responsibility taken from his hands.

He was so afraid he would be a lousy lay, that Livewire would leave
his bed in disgust because the poor inexperienced doctor hadn’t a clue
what he was doing. Imlay nodded, letting Livewire know he had full
control of the situation.

“Go shower, babe. I’ll be waiting.”
Imlay pulled from Livewire’s strong arms and walked into his

bathroom, closing the door behind him. He sagged against the sink as
he thought about what he and his mate were about to do. Imlay
shoved a hand through his hair as he stood up straight and regulated
the water.

His clothes floated to the floor as Imlay stepped into the shower

and got under the spray, trying his best to let the hot water relax him.
It really wasn’t working, but he was trying.

It took him what felt like twenty hours to lather his body, and then

all of five seconds to rinse it off. Imlay soaped his body again. One

Imlay’s Cure

could never be too clean, and it bought him precious minutes. Imlay
washed, rinsed, repeated…five times.

This was silly. It was only sex with his mate. Only…mind-

boggling sex where his mate would take him and bind the two of them
together for life. Only…two sweaty bodies groping each other to find
their own orgasms. Only…oh hell, he needed to get out of the shower
because this was utter nonsense.

Imlay shut the water off and stepped out, grabbing a towel to dry

off with. He stood there drying every single inch of skin…and then
dried off again.

The towel skipped through his hair as he dried it until his scalp

began to hurt. Imlay dropped his hand and stared in the mirror. “This
is it. You’re a goner, buddy.”

“Are you talking to me?” Livewire called out from the other

room.

Crap. Stall tactics were over. It was time to get his ass claimed,

literally, and there was no two ways about it. Imlay wrapped the towel
around his waist and took a deep and steadying breath. He nervously
stepped into the other room and almost swallowed his tongue.

Livewire was laid on his bed like a sex god, and he was totally

naked.

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Chapter 10

Gulp.
Imlay swallowed hard, and then swallowed again. His throat had

gone desert dry. He stood in the doorway to the bathroom and
couldn’t get his feet to move.

“Come here, Imlay.” Livewire held his hand out.
Imlay’s feet obeyed his mate as he padded across the floor. His

fingers fluttered over his towel as he took a seat on the edge of the
bed. Only the very bottom of his butt cheeks made contact with the
bed. His body was coiled and ready to jump away.

Livewire killed the plan when his arm wrapped around Imlay’s

waist and pulled him back to a warm and solid body. Imlay’s cock
was tenting under the towel, giving away his desire as Livewire
pulled him down to lay stretched out next to his mate. Imlay could
feel his pale skin flush as Livewire’s arms wrapped around him.

“Hi.” A sexy-as-sin grin pulled at Livewire’s lips.
They lay stretched out together, their bodies molded from

shoulders to toes. It didn’t quite match up perfectly though. Imlay was
five inches taller than Livewire. But his mate made up for that in body
girth. Livewire was chiseled, muscular, maybe from working with
machines all the time. Whereas Imlay had more of a runner’s
body…okay, his mind was babbling.

“Hello.” Imlay felt strange lying in bed using pleasantries. Why

wasn’t Livewire making a move? A hand landed on his hips and
Imlay yelped.

“Relax, babe.” Livewire leaned forward and lapped at his neck as

his hand wandered on circles over his naked hip. Where had his towel

Imlay’s Cure

gone? Imlay could feel the light touches of Livewire’s finger teasing
his flesh as his tongue seduced Imlay’s neck and shoulder. This was
good, real good. It felt wonderful.

Imlay let his head drop to the side as Livewire teased and sucked,

licked and nipped. Imlay was relaxing, forgetting his fears, and his
mate’s hand ran up his back and then a finger traced down his spine,
making Imlay shiver.

“That’s it, babe.” Livewire took his lips in a mind-altering kiss as

the finger that trailed his spine dipped further down, running between
his crease.

Imlay moaned when his mate tapped the plug with his finger. He

cried into Livewire’s mouth when his mate jostled it. The sensation
felt so good that Imlay wanted more, so much more. He lifted his
hips, driving his cock into Livewire’s stomach and then pushing back
against his mate’s hand. Imlay wanted the plug out and Livewire’s
cock in.

“Please,” he begged and then buried his face into the crook of his

mate’s neck. Imlay moaned when all of the sudden, he was empty.
His hands quickly grabbed Livewire’s shoulders as he rolled them,
putting Imlay underneath so much solid muscle.

Instinctively Imlay lifted his legs, offering his mate anything he

wanted or needed. Livewire’s shifter reddish-orange hues stared down
at him, his eyes reassuring Imlay that he would stop if need be.

“Don’t stop.”
Livewire grinned and then grabbed the lube from under the

pillow. His mate leaned back, snapped the cap, and then made
everything slick and wet. His lubed fingers glided into Imlay’s
already stretched hole. Imlay arched his back, feeling like he was
going to explode when Livewire stroked over his prostate.

Imlay wrapped his arms around Livewire’s neck, pulling his mate

close as Livewire’s cock touched his hole and then popped past the
ring, burying itself deep inside of him. His mate didn’t move. Not one
muscle twitched while Imlay breathed through the wide girth. This is

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

what he had wanted, what he had been dreaming of for the past
couple of weeks.

Imlay hitched his hips, trying to get Livewire deeper inside of

him, to feel that enormous cock tickling the back of his throat.
Livewire pulled back and then rammed forward, watching Imlay’s
eyes, studying him.

“Harder…yes, harder,” Imlay begged as his feet tried to climb up

Livewire’s back. “You’re so big, so huge.” His fingernails dug into
Livewire’s skin as his hole stretched to capacity and beyond. If Imlay
had only known, really known how good this felt, he would have
jumped Livewire as soon as he met him.

So much wasted time because Imlay had been too afraid. Imlay

pushed that thought aside, refusing to let it mar their perfect moment.
It was happening now and that was all that mattered. “Give me more,
Livewire.”

“How much more, babe?” Livewire was panting.
Imlay could tell he was holding back, big time. “All of you. Show

me the real you.” Imlay wasn’t sure what he was asking for, but this
wasn’t enough. He needed more, so much more.

Livewire reared back, pushing one leg so far back that it touched

Imlay’s ear. His mate began to power drive into him, giving Imlay
what he had been begging for.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Imlay cried as Livewire unleashed his beast. His

fingernails grew long, his fangs emerged, and his skin darkened and
then lightened with those brilliant hues of sunset colors. Livewire was
giving him everything.

Imlay gasped when Livewire leaned forward, turning Imlay into a

pretzel as Livewire got impossibly close and he whispered in his ear.
“I’m going to claim you, mate.”

Imlay’s head bobbed up and down, his heart beating out of

control. “Do it,” Imlay challenged, his voice almost as deep and
gravely as Livewire’s. He cried out when Livewire sank his fangs in,

Imlay’s Cure

sealing his lips around Imlay’s neck. Imlay’s cock exploded without a
single touch as Livewire claimed him.

The large cock inside of him began to move rapidly as Livewire

used his cock to make Imlay come a second time. His balls were
drawn so close to his body that Imlay could feel them pulsing as they
emptied. Or was that his cock? Imlay wasn’t sure and didn’t care. His
fingers dug into vivid red and orange flesh as his mate sealed the
wound and then drove deeper, harder.

Imlay’s world was colliding with Livewire’s, a kaleidoscope of

colors crashing all around him as Livewire took him to the highest
peak and plunge off of the other side. Livewire took his hand as they
both fell over the edge of the summit and began to free-fall into the
murky unknown, the depths of which he felt his body sinking into a
blissful tidal wave.

Livewire’s powerful thighs lined up with his as his cock slid

across every ridge, every nerve ending inside of Imlay, making him
whimper and cry out. Livewire’s entire body went rigid as he buried
his cock deeply into Imlay and growled, hot seed filling Imlay’s
depth. He clung to Livewire, his breath ragged as he rested his cheek
on Livewire’s shoulder.

His mate was lapping at Imlay’s neck, making a soft purring

noise. Imlay began to squirm and then laugh. “That tickles.”

Livewire’s deep chuckle made Imlay grin from ear to ear. “That

was perfect, babe. Simply perfect.”

His mate’s eyes seemed to glow as Livewire pulled back and

stared down at him. Imlay felt his face blushing and wished he could
smack himself for it. Was he ever going to stop being a damn
blushing virgin?

Imlay hissed and yanked his right hand from his mate’s shoulder

as he swung it wildly around. The pain radiated up his arm as his lips
automatically sucked at the deep ache. Imlay soon forgot about his
hand when Livewire began to glow, actually glow. His red and orange
hues became iridescent, making Imlay shelter his eyes.

100

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“What are you doing, Livewire?”
Livewire shook his head from side to side as his wide eyes stared

down at Imlay. “I’m not doing this, Imlay, you are.”

Imlay broke eye contact when a small white glow caught his eye.

He gasped as he watched the light travel around Livewire’s chest and
then down his arm to his injured hand.

“My healing powers,” he whispered as he watched the light glow

brighter around Livewire’s injury. “They’ve never been this strong,
this—shit!”

He watched in fascination as the light shone brighter, and then

jumped when Livewire yelped, cradling his injured hand to his chest.
The light traveled back up Livewire’s arm, swirling around his mate’s
neck, and then…and then…holy mother!

Livewire’s entire head began to glow in that white, brilliant, and

blinding light. The light shone bright for a few seconds, but it felt like
a millennium to Imlay before it finally ebbed away, leaving Livewire
in his human form.

“Your hand.” Imlay pointed to the hand cradled at Livewire’s

chest. His mate let it go and brought his hand out in front of them,
twisting his wrist and flexing his fingers. “It’s—holy wow.”

“Healed.” Livewire flexed a few more times as they both stared at

five healthy and full fingers. The amputation was no longer, his pinky
was fully restored. “You did this?” Livewire asked as his gray eyes
locked onto Imlay’s.

“I knew I had healing powers. That’s why I trained in medicine.

But never on this scale.” Imlay waved his hand at Livewire’s. He had
a feeling deep down inside of him that Livewire’s hand wasn’t the
only thing healed.

“You healed my body, and all I did was leave crackers in your

bed.” Livewire belted out a laugh that was infectious. Imlay began to
laugh along with his mate, having no damn clue what the crazy
mechanic was talking about.

Imlay’s Cure

101

His mate was back, fully restored, mind, body, and soul. Imlay

grinned up at him like a loon as Livewire pulled Imlay into his arms
and embraced and held him close. It was an overwhelming feeling to
know he had cured his mate. But in a turn of play, Livewire had cured
him, too.

* * * *

“Get ready, men,” Remy said from the commander’s chair as they

descended toward Lost Star Three. Blade’s gut was in knots as they
reached the spaceport. Everyone aboard the Lady Blue knew this was
a setup, knew that a few rogue Elite Force were probably waiting
somewhere for them. They had to drop and go, in and out.

Once the ship docked, Crank, Blade, Colt, Livewire, and Remy

ran down to the cargo bay. They were going to work as a team to get
all four crates off of Lady Blue as quickly as possible and then haul
ass off of this planet. This shouldn’t take more than ten, maybe fifteen
minutes tops. At least that was what they all prayed.

The retractable ramp touched down and the crew went into action.

Crank and Blade worked as a team while Colt and Livewire worked
to get their two crates off of the ship. Remy stayed on the spaceport,
his hand on his strapped phaser as his eyes scanned the entire area.

Blade was sweating by the time he and Livewire had the second

crate offloaded. The large crates might contain silk, but they weren’t
light. Remy signed the registration sheet and gave the receiver the
documents that accompanied the load. Every T was crossed and every
I dotted. They were good to go.

And then the first blast shot past Blade’s head.
“Incoming,” Remy shouted as the five men hauled ass back to the

ramp. Blade hit his com link.

“Tank, we have company. Get us out of here pronto,” Blade

shouted as he pulled his phaser from the thigh strap and returned fire.

102

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Blade was the second to last to run up the ramp, Remy following
close behind.

“Fucking Tyvak,” Remy shouted at the men swarming the

spaceport.

Blade knew that name. It was the junior officer who had done

everything in his power to sink the Elite Force group that the Lady
Blue crew had once belonged to. The man had had a hard-on for this
group for some unknown reason. Tyvak was the one who had gone to
the Federation of United Planets and ratted them out as being the ones
to inform on the corrupt general. It was supposed to be kept
confidential.

Blade raised his phaser, aiming directly for Tyvak’s head as the

ramp began to close. If that fuckwad was the one responsible for
Adwaka and Livewire’s capture, he was going to see him dead. Blade
let a round go, but the bastard jumped out of the way just in time,
smirking at Blade as the ramp closed and Tank shot Lady Blue out of
the spaceport.

“Fucking Tyvak,” Remy growled as he left the cargo bay and

headed back up toward the bridge, his crew trailing behind him. Blade
was dying to go check on Adwaka. His mate was left with Gigi and
Pax. But he knew he was needed at the helm along with the rest of the
crew in order to get Lady Blue out of Lost Star Three’s atmosphere.

Fucking Tyvak.

* * * *

Livewire smiled when he entered engineering and saw Imlay

waiting for him. What a sweet sight to see after that round of bullshit.

“Are you hurt? Were you hit?” Imlay’s hands were all over

Livewire’s body. He frantically checked Livewire from head to toe.

Livewire stood there and allowed his mate to touch every inch of

him. Not because he was actually hurt, but because he was getting a
boner at the slim hands’ inspection.

Imlay’s Cure

103

“I think I was shot in the groin. Could you lean in and check it

real close?”

Imlay twisted his lips and harrumphed as he slapped the back of

Livewire’s head. “That isn’t funny. Do you know how terrified I
was?”

Livewire thought it was hilarious. As badly as he wanted cock-to-

mouth, he was needed in engineering to make sure his lady was in top
peak performance for their escape, not a blowjob.

Too bad.
“I’m fine, babe. No one got hit, unfortunately.”
Imlay’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Not us, them. Our crew knew the bastard setting us up.”

Livewire grabbed his vid-pad and began systematic checks.

“That’s disturbing,” Imlay said as he followed Livewire around,

his eyes still scanning his body.

“I’m fine, Imlay. I promise.” Livewire chuckled when Imlay gave

him a peeved look. He knew his mate was only looking out for him,
worried that he was really injured, but he wasn’t. Livewire performed
a systems reading to make sure the ship hadn’t sustained any damage
as Imlay stood close-by with his arms crossed over his chest.

Livewire sighed and set his vid-pad down, pulling Imlay into his

arms. “I’m fine, babe.”

Imlay sank into his body, his arms wrapping around Livewire’s

waist. “You can’t stop me from worrying about you.”

“I know.” Livewire kissed the side of his mate’s neck, knowing

that this was what Imlay needed right now. He needed the comfort of
Livewire’s body cocooning him, letting him know everything was
okay. Livewire didn’t have any qualms about giving his mate what he
needed. It was his job, and Livewire intended to take care of his mate.

Imlay pulled away. “I’m going to go up to sick bay. Let me know

when you’re done down here.”

Livewire smacked his ass. “As soon as I’m done screwing around

with my lady, I’ll come see you.”

104

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay shook his head as he smiled. “Do you know how wrong that

sounds?”

“In every sense, yeah. But my lady needs me to flip her skirts up

and check under her panties.” He winked at Imlay before getting back
to his task.

Imlay snorted as he left engineering. Livewire turned back around

once his mate was gone. He wondered if Imlay knew just how much
Livewire loved him. Imlay hadn’t a clue. Livewire would kill an
asteroid over his mate.

Livewire finished his diagnostics and then jogged up to the bridge.

He wanted to know what was going on. He may only be the
mechanic, but his mate was aboard so he wanted to be brought up to
speed.

“The lady is safe and sound,” he reported to Remy as soon as he

stepped onto the bridge. Livewire was about to ask for an update
when he noticed Remy sitting slightly forward, his body rigid, and his
jaw clenched.

Livewire looked around the bridge. Every single man was

postured the same way. They were all staring straight ahead. Livewire
turned his head to look out of the large vid-screen that displayed the
space they were traveling through. His jaw clenched as well.

The Lady Blue had just entered Federation territory.

Imlay’s Cure

105

Chapter 11

Gigi diced onions and peppers, tossing them into the pans Remy

had bought him as Pax mixed the batter in a mixing bowl for
pineapple upside-down cake. Adwaka was watching them, or at least
pretending to.

His eyes had darted to the door a gazillion times since Blade had

ushered him into the kitchen with them and then left. Pax felt sorry
for him. He knew how it felt to be separated from his mate, Colt. But
they had been together for some time now, so Pax was used to it.
Adwaka wasn’t.

Pax knew it was his and Gigi’s job to make Adwaka feel

welcome. “Do you know how to cook?”

Adwaka’s eyes briefly left the doors to stare over at Pax, his big

green eyes widening as he shook his head, and then went right back to
staring at the door.

“Do you like to eat?” Gigi giggled from over by the stove. “I like

to cook. So I hope you like to eat, or I’m up shit creek, feel me?”

Adwaka once again looked away from the door, shook his head at

Gigi, and then his eyes slid back to the door.

All three jumped when the doors came bursting open, Zackary

strolling in. Pax liked the computer expert, although Zackary was as
strange as they came, and then some. He was even stranger than
Livewire, and that was saying something.

“Hot damn. It smells good as hell in here. Is anything ready?”

Zackary asked as he sidled up next to Gigi, taking in a deep breath
through his nose.

106

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Not yet,” Gigi answered just as Blade slammed the kitchen doors

open.

“You.” He pointed at Zackary. “Didn’t Remy tell you to get your

skinny ass to the bridge?”

“The kitchen is on the way to the bridge. Tell him to hold his nuts

and bolts.” Zackary waved a hand at Blade as if to dismiss him.

Pax grabbed his bowl and held on as Blade chased the little guy

around the counter and out of the door. Blade returned a minute later
and held his hand out, Adwaka grabbing hold like his life depended
on it, grinning like a loon at Blade.

“We’re in Federation territory. Remy wanted me to let you two

know,” Blade said before taking his mate out of the kitchen.

“I hope he loosens up soon,” Gigi commented as he waved his

hand after Adwaka. “It’d be fun for the three of us to hang out
together.”

“Don’t you mean you’d be thrilled to have another person to

corrupt?” Pax chuckled as he finished mixing the batter.

Gigi laughed. “Same difference.”

* * * *

Imlay waited for Livewire to enter sick bay. He was standing on

the side of the closet, trying his best to hold back his laugh as he
waited to attack. He had plans for his gorgeous mate, big plans. He
just hoped they worked.

“Imlay?” Livewire walked further into the room, a perplexed look

on his face. “You said you wanted to see me.”

Imlay pressed his hand against his mouth to keep from giggling

out loud. He could never remember having as much fun with someone
as he did with Livewire. The man seemed to bring out the humorous
side in Imlay.

“Imlay, where are you?”

Imlay’s Cure

107

Imlay held his breath as Livewire walked further into the room.

He could see the man’s shadow preceding him. The moment Livewire
stepped into view, Imlay let out a loud yell and attacked, jumping
Livewire and taking him down to the floor.

“Imlay!” Livewire shouted. “What in the hell are you doing?”
Imlay groaned as he buried his face in Livewire’s neck. The man

really did smell spectacular. Imlay wanted to roll all over him. With
that thought in mind, Imlay began tearing at Livewire’s clothing.

“Imlay, wha—” Livewire started laughing as he halfheartedly

fought Imlay’s hands. “Hey, that tickles.”

“It’s going to tickle a whole lot more in a minute.” Imlay grinned

then went back to stripping Livewire of his clothes.

He’d taken great pains to ensure that his plans for Livewire were

brought to fruition. He was freshly showered, plugged, and naked
under his doctor’s coat. He’d even made sure there was a bottle of
lube within easy reach. He wanted to get good and fucked.

Imlay was a little astonished at his behavior but not enough to

stop what he was doing. He’d never cared for sex before, but now he
couldn’t seem to get enough. He kept waiting for Livewire to tell him
his dick had fallen off from overuse.

So far, so good. He hadn’t heard a peep out of Livewire. He had

heard a lot of moaning and groaning, though—kind of like he was
hearing right now from his mate. Livewire made the most wonderful
sounds.

“Someone’s hungry.” Livewire chuckled as he lifted his arms and

let Imlay pull his shirt over his head.

“Starving,” Imlay said. “It’s been forever, Livewire.”
“What are you talking about? We fooled around this morning.”
“And that was forever ago.”
Imlay leaned down and sniffed at a black mark marring

Livewire’s collarbone. “Mmm, you’ve been looking under someone’s
skirts again.”

“I have. That’s my job.”

108

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay grinned down at Livewire then winked. “Maybe you should

try looking under my skirt.”

Livewire’s dark eyebrow arched. Imlay roared with laughter when

he was suddenly rolled beneath Livewire and his doctor’s coat pulled
up. Imlay looked up when Livewire growled. He could see desire
ignite in the man’s eyes as he looked back down at him.

Imlay reached over his head and grabbed the bottle of lube from

its hiding spot under the mattress edge then held it up to Livewire.

“Going to tighten my screws, Livewire?”
“Until they snap,” Livewire growled as he snagged the lube from

Imlay’s hand and pushed Imlay’s legs back to his chest. “Sweet
mother of pearl,” Livewire groaned as he grabbed the plug and
wiggled it.

“You’re going to make me come. Don’t you dare make me come

yet, you beast.” Imlay swatted his hands at Livewire, and then
grabbed the base of his cock, giving it a tight squeeze.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, my dear.” Livewire grabbed the plug and

then popped it free, making Imlay cry out.

“Fuck me, Livewire, now!”
“As you wish, my sweet doctor.” Livewire lubed his cock and

then tossed the tube aside. Imlay waited impatiently as Livewire ran
the head around his hole, dipping in slightly, and then pulling back.

“You tease.” Imlay swatted at him again. Livewire chuckled and

then slammed home, making Imlay claw at the floor. “Warn a guy,
beasty.”

“I’ll show you beasty,” Livewire growled as his eyes shifted.
Imlay was so looking forward to this part. He loved when

Livewire’s creature came out to play. Yippee!

Livewire grabbed Imlay’s ankles and powered into his ass, giving

Imlay no allowance. He didn’t want any either. “Fuck me, you big,
bad beasty,” Imlay shouted as he lifted his hips higher. “Make papa
squeal like a pig!”

Imlay’s Cure

109

Livewire laughed as he sawed in and out of Imlay’s puckered

hole. Imlay became lost in that gorgeous face of his mate’s. There
was nothing in the known or unknown universe that surpassed
Livewire’s beauty.

Imlay grabbed at Livewire’s hair. The newly grown hair was just

long enough for Imlay to get his fingers twined into it, giving his mate
a good yank. Livewire deepened his thrusts, growling at Imlay as he
leaned forward and sank his fangs into Imlay’s neck.

Imlay cried out as his cock exploded, painting both their chests

and chins. Livewire thrust a few more times before sealing the wound
and howling out his release. Imlay was toasted and broiled, no longer
good for anything but a nap and some cuddling. The order didn’t
matter.

“Is my mate full now?” Livewire asked as he licked along Imlay’s

collarbone.

“Stuffed,” Imlay replied as he yawned. They both groaned when

Livewire’s softening cock slipped free.

Livewire tapped the side of Imlay’s hip. “Come on, babe. You

still have a full day ahead of you.”

“No fair.” Imlay pouted as he grabbed Livewire’s outstretched

hand and was lifted to his feet.

“Go put some clothes on before I have to seal the sick bay.”

Livewire popped Imlay on his ass as he fixed his pants.

“Be my guest. At least I can take a nap then.”
Livewire shook his head as he gave Imlay a heated kiss and then

walked back to engineering. Imlay sighed. That was the best damn
lunch break he’d ever had.

* * * *

“If they detect our cloaking device, we won’t be lucky enough to

see the inside of a prison,” Crank said as they slowly moved through
Federation of United Planets territory.

110

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“No worries, no worries,” Zackary said as he continuously

punched in sequential codes into the console.

“That’s easy for you to say. They’d probably smack you on the

wrists and send you home to mommy.”

Tank growled as his eyes darted over to Crank. Oh hell, this was

just too damn easy. Crank, along with everyone else on the deck, was
having a fucking blast needling Tank about his mate. It had surprised
everyone, especially Tank, when they discovered that Zackary was
Tank's mate. Crank couldn't wait to see the fireworks that erupted
when Tank eventually told Zackary.

“I sure hope so," Zackary said. "I’ll send you guys postcards to

whatever penal colony they drop you off on. Am I allowed to send
fruitcake?”

Crank bit the inside of his mouth to stop the laughter. “I think

we’d be living with them.”

Adwaka shifted nervously as he sat close to Blade. The little

Orillian had become Blade’s shadow. Hell, the little fella had even
followed Blade into the bathroom. Crank sure as shit hoped his mate
wasn’t that clingy and needy. It would drive him batshit crazy.

“How’s it going, Zackary?” Remy asked.
Crank sat forward, waiting for the short man’s reply. The whole

bridge did—everyone except Tank, who was scowling at the crew.

“I’d probably be done if my fingers weren’t cramping and my butt

wasn’t so numb. But hey, I’m just a guy who thinks hacking—oops.”
Zackary flushed. “Entering into the Elite Force data files takes a little
crafty work that can’t be rushed.”

“Heads up,” Crank warned as a Federation of United Planets ship

slowly moved toward them. Crank didn’t think the other ship was
aware of them, but he didn’t want to take any chances. If the two
ships bumped hulls, the cloaking device would be knocked off-line.

Tank readjusted their headings, pulling the Lady Blue out of the

other ship’s direct path. It was a slow-moving process, and it would

Imlay’s Cure

111

be a close call. Crank had every confidence that Tank could pull the
maneuver off. Tank wasn't the pilot because he was pretty.

Zackary’s fingers were working so fast, they were just a blur.

Crank had to admit, he was impressed. “I’m halfway there,” Zackary
said as he twisted around in his seat.

“Keep up the good work,” Remy said as he stood, walking over to

the large vid-screen, leaning a hand on the wall, and staring out as the
other ship approached. He had one hand behind him, resting on his
lower back as the fingers of his hand played back and forth, twisting
and untwisting.

Crank was aware that Remy didn’t want to go anywhere near his

home planet. He had escaped years ago, divesting the family name to
pursue his own life and career. Remy’s father had disowned him
when he was dishonorably discharged from the Elite Force. It was all
screwed up.

Tank cursed softly as the other ship approached. “Hang on,” Tank

mouthed as the ship passed so close that Crank would have bet his last
credits that they were going to hit. Tank swiveled around in his chair,
giving everyone the thumbs-up. Remy nodded and Crank’s balls
relaxed and stopped trying to crawl up inside of him.

Zackary jumped up and did a little dance next to Tank’s chair, his

arms and legs swinging wildly as his face bobbed around and his eyes
closed.

“Happy?” Tank chuckled from beside him. Crank could see the

adoration shining from the lion shifter’s eyes.

“I cracked the code,” Zackary sang as he continued his little jig.

He continued to sing, “I’m just a guy who is awesome, stupendous,
and a hot little cookie.”

Crank chuckled at the little dork. Even Adwaka got in on the fun

and was giggling from beside Blade as he bounced around in his seat.

“Can you save the dancing for later and tell me who we are

dealing with?” Remy asked with a smile on his face.

112

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Fine.” Zackary plopped back down and sighed. “His name is

Brystan Pierce. He’s—” Zackary’s brows furrowed as he scratched
his head and began tapping his fingers across the console again. “He’s
the commander of the Elite Force. He was just appointed six months
ago.”

Crank felt his stomach bottom out. They were so screwed.
“Get us the fuck out of here.” Remy growled the order as he

dropped down in the commander’s chair.

Imlay’s Cure

113

Chapter 12

Livewire stood there as the retractable ramp lowered. His mate

may have healed him, and his mate may have even restored him, but
leaving the ship was something he wasn’t sure he was ready for.
Unfortunately they needed parts that Livewire couldn’t just describe
to anyone. He was going to have to go get them himself.

“You good with this?” Blade asked from his side.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Livewire hated that everyone could see how

nervous he was. How could anyone miss the sweat running from his
temples? Maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but the ship wasn’t
going to fix itself. The Lady Blue was a very good ship, but she
needed a hell of a lot of repairs before she was in tip-top shape.

Livewire clenched his hands as he, Blade and, Colt left the ship.

They were on Nebular Nine, the black market planet, and too close to
Beta Five in Livewire’s opinion. If he never saw another Elite Force
officer, it would be too soon.

Imlay had insisted on going with Livewire, but he managed to

finally talk his mate out of it at the last minute. Imlay was currently
sitting in sick bay, ticked the hell off. Maybe Livewire could find a
gift for his mate to ease himself back into Imlay’s good graces.

“I just need to visit this old tavern where this guy I used to run

with currently hangs out. This shouldn’t take too long.” Livewire
hoped not. He wanted to get back onto the ship as quickly as possible.
With the Elite Force after them and a large bounty still on their heads,
he wasn’t sure how long it was going to be before another idiot tried
to turn them in.

114

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Show us the way,” Colt said as he clapped Livewire on the

shoulder. All three had an armory strapped to their bodies, ready for
anything.

“It’s right over there, but let me do all the talking. The guy is

super paranoid. He doesn’t even trust his own mother.” Livewire
grabbed the handle to the door, walking into a dark tavern. He stood
at the threshold scanning the room until he spotted the man he was
looking for.

“He’s right over there. You guys have a seat right here. This

shouldn’t take long.” Livewire wasn’t too sure how true his words
were. Ferris tended to grill a person for hours before he’d even say
hello.

Livewire approached the table, watching Ferris’s eyes dart around

the room and then finally settle on him. “Do I know you?”

“I would think so. We used to work on ships together over on

Paktil. We ran some crazy eights together.” Livewire stayed standing,
waiting for Ferris to invite him to sit down.

“Never been to Paktil,” the man grumbled. “You got the wrong

person.”

“I got the right person. If I recall, you ended up being arrested for

selling someone else’s ship for one credit and then telling the
authorities that it had been stolen.” Livewire chuckled at the memory.
Ferris had been pissed at the owner of the ship for refusing to pay for
repairs, so he sold it right out from under him. Those were the crazy
times.

As much as Livewire looked fondly on his earlier years, he

wouldn’t trade what he had now for anything in the world. He loved
the crew he worked with now, and he finally found his mate. Besides
the incident on Beta Five, his life was good, for once.

“Ah yeah. I still say the bastard should have paid for those repairs.

Served him right. How have you been, Livewire?”

Imlay’s Cure

115

Livewire finally pulled the chair away from the grubby table and

took a seat. He kicked back, tossing one arm over the worn-out chair
as he nodded his head. “Good. I have a great crew and a mate now.”

“Sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help you get out

of that?” Ferris asked as he, too, sat back in his chair.

Livewire grinned at his old friend. “Nah, I’m good. Listen. I need

a few parts for my Lady. I need you to help me out.”

“Lady? As in Lady Blue?” Ferris whistled low. “You’re aware

that the Lady Blue is on the hot sheet, right?”

Livewire nodded, watching Ferris closely now. They may have

been old running buddies, but he didn’t trust anyone but the people
onboard his ship. Now he knew how Ferris felt living with paranoia
all the time. It sucked.

“No worries. I could give two shits less about the bounty. I live

under the radar myself.” Ferris boasted like being wanted was
something to be proud of.

Livewire chuckled at his old friend. “What for, you crazy

bastard?”

“A little of this and a little of that. I don’t have a bounty on my

head like you do, though. Must be nice.” Yeah, the guy wasn’t
playing with a full deck. Ferris nodded his head toward the door.
“Let’s go get what you need so you can get the hell off of this rock.”

Livewire nodded and got up from his seat, heading toward the

door. Blade and Colt got up to follow him when Ferris pulled a phaser
quicker than it took to take a breath and had it aimed at the pair. “And
who might you two be?”

Livewire groaned. This was not what he needed right now.

“They’re with me, outlaws like us.”

Ferris eyed Blade and then Colt, slowly lowering the phaser. “Any

friend of Livewire’s is nuts. Let’s go.”

Blade and Colt cocked their heads at Livewire, but all he could do

was shrug and follow Ferris out to his shuttle. The guy actually dealt

116

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

out of the back of the rust bucket. People really didn’t see that
anymore.

Ferris opened the back and splayed his hands at the many pieces

and parts. “What do ya need, my man?”

Livewire was amazed at the assortment Ferris had crammed into

the back of his shuttle. There were parts there that he knew would be
hard to find. He turned to Blade and Colt. “I hope you brought enough
credits ’cause papa needs a new shuttle.” Livewire winked at the two
as he turned back to the inventory in front of him.

He grabbed what he needed and handed it over to Colt as he

haggled over the price with Ferris. They finally settled on an agreed
price when Livewire’s eyes widened, staring at the vehicle sitting
behind Ferris’s shuttle.

“Whose is that?” He walked over, running his hand along the

frame of the combat vehicle. It was sweet as hell. It had an open
frame structure, two front seats and two rear seats. It even had all-
terrain tires on the bad boy. It was a beauty. They could use this
vehicle to travel when planet-side or take it out to the barren
wastelands and have so much damn fun. “Is it yours?” Livewire asked
Ferris.

“Yep, acquired it in a deal. Everything works.”
“Really?” Blade asked as he stepped up beside it. Livewire could

see the wheels turning in Blade’s head. “What would we tell Remy?”

“Who says we have to?” Livewire winked at the coyote shifter.

“We could sneak it onboard.”

“Like he would miss a buggy the size of the shuttle, hardly.”
“We could tell him it was thrown in with the deal for Livewire’s

parts,” Colt said as he admired it. Guys and their toys, gods love
them.

“I’ll give it to you for a steal,” Ferris said as he stepped up next to

them, seeing how all three were practically drooling over it.

Imlay’s Cure

117

“Is it stolen?” Livewire turned and asked. With Ferris, one never

knew. The buggy could be the owner of the tavern’s and Ferris would
sell it to them. “I want to see papers.”

Ferris shook his head as he grumbled a few things but fetched the

paper from the front of his shuttle. He walked back to them and
shoved the ownership papers in Livewire’s hands. “Since when did
you get so paranoid?”

“Learned from the best. Now give me a price.” Blade and Colt

were already loading the parts into the back, knowing it was a done
deal.

“A thousand credits and he’s all yours.” Ferris patted the frame

above the driver’s seat.

“Why so cheap?”
Ferris snorted as he leaned into the interior of the vehicle. “What

am I going to do with it?”

Livewire shook Ferris’s hand, sealing the deal and feeling giddy

as hell. “I’m driving,” he shouted to Blade and Colt.

Ferris gripped his hand tightly as he leaned in. “Don’t forget to go

visit your sister.”

Livewire cursed. He didn’t have a sister. It was the code phrase

worked out between them years ago that indicated he needed to haul
ass out of there because company was coming.

“Gotta go,” Livewire shouted as he jumped behind the wheel and

steered the bad boy away from the tavern and back toward Lady Blue.
They had a shuttle hot on their asses, two Elite Force uniforms hot on
their tail. Blade used his com link to call ahead, telling Lady Blue to
get ready for takeoff. They were coming in hot.

Livewire whooped when the combat vehicle did everything he

wanted it to and more. Colt and Blade were facing the rear and
shooting their phasers as Livewire drove them to the spaceport. It was
a harrowing ass drive, but Livewire breathed a sigh of relief when the
spaceport and the Lady Blue came into sight.

118

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

They didn’t waste any time. Livewire drove his new toy right up

the retractable ramp as Crank and Remy waited by, hitting the
controls to close it as soon as they made it onboard.

“Should I ask?” Remy looked the vehicle over, and Livewire

could see the commander’s wheels turning as well.

Gods love men and toys.

* * * *

Colt chuckled as he exited the vehicle. He couldn’t remember the

last time he had so much fun. It was one big ass thrill ride. He
couldn’t wait to take the bad boy down on another planet and just
drive it around and have some fun.

Colt grabbed the bulkhead as the ship lifted off. He checked the

new vehicle out as he waited for the turbulence they would encounter
when they left the planet’s atmosphere. Once the ship leveled out, he
let go of the bulkhead and started for the air lock.

“Any problems?” Remy asked.
“With the parts, no, but we did encounter some Elite Force

soldiers. That’s why we came in hot. They were on our tail.” Colt
patted the new battle vehicle. “But I have to tell you, this baby
performed like a dream. Left those damn elite soldiers in the dust.”

“And how much did this set us back?”
“A thousand credits, but I think we’ll recoup our money fast

enough. Livewire got the parts he needed, and we got this little baby
as a bonus. We’ll be fine.”

“We need another job, but they seem to be getting more scarce

with each passing minute.”

Colt nodded. “Not many people are willing to take us on with a

bounty on our heads and those that do are suspect. Maybe we need to
find another line of work.”

“Like what?” Remy snapped. “Caring for Trillian silkworms?”

Imlay’s Cure

119

“Well, it’s not like we can go back and join the Elite Force,” Colt

snapped. “They kicked our asses out, remember?” Curiosity ate Colt
up when Remy suddenly smiled. “What?”

“They kicked our asses out of the Elite Guard, but they did not

kick us off the planet. As Tronos is an academic world, and the home
of the Elite Force’s training facilities, not only do you have to have a
pass to get planet-side, but bounty hunters are not allowed.”

“We’d be recognized the second we set foot on Tronos.”
“We would, but I wasn’t thinking of us going planet-side.”
Colt stared in horror as Remy’s meaning became clear. “No

fucking way!” he snapped. His put his hands on his hips as his horror
turned to anger. “You are not sending Pax down to Tronos. I won’t
allow it.”

“Colt, think about it,” Remy said. “Tours land on Tronos all the

time. No one really pays attention to the new guys checking the
school out. It would be the perfect way for Zackary to get close to the
Office of Intelligence and hack their system.”

“No!”
“Do you have a better plan?”
Colt narrowed his eyes. He knew Remy was right, but the thought

of sending any of the mates down to Tronos made his heart freeze in
his chest. Pax hated leaving the ship anyway. Sending him into a
known dangerous situation would be even worse.

“I don’t like it,” he finally grumbled.
“I don’t either. Do you think I want to send Gigi down to Tronos?

My father is down there. If Gigi even mentions my name he’s likely
to get his ass thrown in jail. And if my father learned who he is, he’d
never get out.”

“What about Imlay?” Colt asked. “He’s just pretentious enough to

stop anyone from questioning him. We could send him down to check
out the medical facilities.”

“That wouldn’t get Zackary near the Office of Intelligence.”

120

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“It would if Imlay insisted on a tour of their entire facility.” Colt

rubbed his hand down over his mouth and started working out a plan
in his head. “If Imlay was a doctor and he wanted to check over their
medical facilities before attending federation training then he would
need to look over their entire facility, make sure it met his standards.”

“I’m still not seeing how that would get him anywhere near the

Office of Intelligence.”

“Because he would demand to see their security measures, damn

it. What doctor in their right mind doesn’t demand to see the facilities
he’s thinking of attending, especially if he has some clout on his home
world?”

Remy’s eyebrows shot up. “Does he?”
Colt grinned. “He will after Zackary gets done with his papers.”

* * * *

“You want me to do what for how many brownie points?” Imlay

frowned when Remy chuckled. He didn’t like this new plan, not one
damn bit. It sounded incredibly dumb to him. Why couldn’t they just
continue to run for their lives? It sounded safer.

“Look, Imlay, it’s real simple,” Remy said. “Zackary is going to

draw you up some papers, make you into some bigwig doctor. You’re
only task is to act all high and mighty and get Zackary, your assistant,
as close to the Office of Intelligence as possible.”

“Why?” Imlay narrowed his eyes. “What will this accomplish?”
“We need Zackary to download the personnel files from the Elite

Force’s database so we can discover how Tyvak and Brystan Pierce
are connected. Once we know that, we may be able to figure out why
they are chasing us.”

“Duh!” Gigi snapped. “There’s a bounty on our heads.”
“Yes, but it’s a bounty placed on our heads by a dead man. The

bounty should have ended when Drake died. It didn’t. Which means
someone has either kept it going or issued another bounty.”

Imlay’s Cure

121

“Crap!”
Imlay felt like he was going to be sick. He’d never participated in

spy work before, and the thought of going to jail had his knees
clacking together. Maybe he could dress Livewire up to look like
him—it could work if the people were all blind—and send him
instead. Imlay wasn’t the brave sort in the least. He gulped past the
dry lump in his throat as he nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“Woohoo. This should be real fun!” Zackary bounced around as

Imlay felt bile rising to the back of his throat. “By the way, if I don’t
make it back, tell my mom you shot me out of an air lock. Because if
she found out I was in jail, she’d come visit with some fruitcake and
then kick my ass.”

Imlay massaged his temples. This couldn’t be happening. He was

going planet-side with a hyperactive Paktillian who thought it was fun
to illegally break and enter into a highly guarded facility. Why was he
doing this again?

“Calm down, Imlay. You have a few days to fret over this until we

enter the Andromeda System.” Remy clapped Imlay’s shoulder as he
walked off toward the stairs.

“How cool is this?” Zackary asked as he twinkled his fingers in

front of his body. “I get to show off my mad skills to everyone.”

“No, you won’t. The object is not to get caught, remember?”

Imlay reminded the hyperactive little shit.

“Ah, man. Can I at least put it on my resume?”
“No.” Imlay wasn’t sure why he was indulging Zackary in this

insane conversation, but he planned on going to sick bay and lying
down…for the next ten years.

Imlay walked toward sick bay when he saw Gigi and Pax in the

hydroponics room. Why he was going to torture himself, Imlay
wasn’t sure, but he veered off to his left and entered the room with
Gigi and Pax’s prize garden.

122

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Hercules and Bob came running toward Imlay, yapping at his

heels. Well, Bob was, Hercules just sat back and watched him. The
puppies really were adorable.

“Hey, Imlay. I hear you’re going into a new line of work.” Gigi

laughed as he walked over to Imlay. “It’s okay. If you get caught,
we’ll send the slugs to Tronos.”

Imlay didn’t see the humor in the situation, so he chose to ignore

Gigi. Pax walked over and grabbed Hercules up into his arms and
petted the dog’s head. “If you get caught, we’ll come bust you out.
We promise.” Pax nudged Gigi and glared at the commander’s mate.

“Sure, sure.” Gigi waved Pax off. “You know we got your back,

Imlay. If we lost you and Zackary, that would leave me and Pax to
deal with those muscle heads all by ourselves…again. No thanks.”

Why wasn’t Imlay reassured?
“Thanks,” he muttered as he walked out of the hydroponics and

headed down the corridor. He needed his mate. Imlay found him
arguing with the propulsion system once again. Imlay shook his head.
His mate might be crazy, but he wouldn’t have him any other way.

“I’m not happy with Remy’s decision,” Livewire growled. “If you

don’t want to do it, then you’re not going to. As a matter of fact, I’m
calling that shot. You’re not going.”

For some strange ass reason, Imlay felt better. Knowing that his

mate was against the idea and ready to fight for him gave Imlay the
strength he needed to go through with it. Being on the run sucked, and
the jobs weren’t coming in like they should be. If he could change
that and make this a somewhat safer place for Livewire, he’d do it.

“No need. I’ll go.”

Imlay’s Cure

123

Chapter 13

Livewire wanted to hit something. He hated the fact that his mate

was being put in such a dangerous situation. He couldn’t see any other
solution besides having Crank blow the damn planet up. He felt
helpless to keep his mate safe. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Once
someone found his mate, they were supposed to live happily ever
after, or some shit like that. Not send them on a fucking suicide
mission.

He set his tools down and led his mate into his quarters. They had

decided to keep separate quarters because Imlay needed to stay close
to the sick bay and Livewire needed to stay close to engineering, but
he was quickly reassessing that decision. With the thought of his mate
going down to Tronos and risking his life, Livewire could give a shit
where he slept as long as Imlay was lying next to him in his arms.

“Where are we going?” Imlay asked coyly.
“You know,” Livewire said in a low growl. “To reestablish my

claim on you. To take your mind off of everything and to have wild
sex.”

“Perv.” Imlay chuckled then bit his bottom lip. His mate looked

adorable when he did that. Livewire licked at his mate’s bottom lip
until Imlay gave it up and let Livewire suck it into his mouth. It tasted
all Imlay.

“You like me being a perv, admit it,” Livewire panted as he

nudged a leg between Imlay’s, groaning when he felt his mate grind
against him.

“Maybe just a little.” Imlay separated his thumb and index finger

slightly.

124

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

“Liar.” Livewire chuckled as he enveloped Imlay into his arms.

“Admit to me that you like it when I make papa squeal like a pig.”
Livewire could see the different shades of bright red his mate was
turning.

“You can’t hold anything against me that I say when you’re

blowing my brains out of my ears.”

“Blowing your—” Livewire laughed as he removed his legs and

began to walk Imlay backward. “If that’s what you want to call it.” He
pulled his mate into his quarters and began to nibble at his neck.
Imlay invaded Livewire’s senses and held him prisoner.

He couldn’t seem to get enough of his doctor. Livewire reached

between them and loosened Imlay’s pants, fishing inside for his
mate’s cock. He moaned when his hand wrapped around Imlay’s
throbbing erection. Pre-cum wet his hand as he gently stroked his
mate.

“Livewire, your hand.” Imlay swallowed loudly as he spread his

legs further apart. “Don’t s–stop.” His mate’s head rolled back onto
his shoulders as Livewire licked a path across the creamy flesh. He
nipped at Imlay’s ear, lapping the sting away.

“I plan on doing more than just holding your cock in my hand.”

Livewire dropped to his knees, pulling Imlay’s pants down with him.
Livewire cupped the back of Imlay’s foot, removing one shoe at a
time. He glanced up at his mate, seeing Imlay’s dark green eyes
watching him in wonder.

Livewire pulled his mate’s pants free and then leaned forward,

inhaling Imlay’s scent where it was the strongest. Imlay’s cock jerked
as Livewire licked one orb and then the other, taking Imlay’s sac into
his mouth. Imlay groaned and laid his hands on Livewire’s shoulders,
rocking his hips forward.

Livewire wet two fingers and slid them into Imlay’s hole,

scissoring them as his lips wandered up, licking the large vein
alongside his mate’s shaft and then taking the head into his mouth.

Imlay’s Cure

125

Imlay bucked as Livewire ran his tongue around the mushroomed
head, drinking down his mate’s pre-cum.

“Fuck me, please,” Imlay begged as Livewire added a third finger.

Livewire groaned when he felt Imlay’s ass clenching his fingers,
holding them prisoner as Livewire took Imlay’s cock to the back of
his throat, feeling the head tap the back of his throat and then slide
down further.

Livewire had to grab his mate’s waist as Imlay’s knees buckled,

nearly taking his mate to the floor. Livewire let Imlay’s cock slide
from between his lips and then stood, directing his mate to the bed.
Livewire quickly disrobed, crawling between Imlay’s legs.

Livewire tapped Imlay’s hip. “On your hands and knees.”
Imlay quickly turned over and then pushed back, offering

Livewire his ass. He reached under his pillow, snagging the lube as he
laid kisses down Imlay’s back. “I love you.”

He could hear Imlay’s breath catch as his body shuddered.
“I love you, too.” Imlay lowered his shoulders to the bed, hiking

his ass higher into the air.

Livewire drizzled a line down his cock and then tossed the bottle

aside. Using his thumbs, he separated Imlay’s ass cheeks, groaning
when he saw the pink beauty waiting for him, quivering under his
touch. Livewire grabbed his cock, smeared the lube around, and then
lined his shaft up to Imlay’s tight entrance.

Small explosions rang out all over his body as Livewire breached

his mate and sunk deep, never letting up until he was balls deep inside
his mate. Livewire held Imlay’s hips, his body jerking at the tightly
fisted hold Imlay’s muscled paradise had on his cock. Livewire ran
his hand up and down Imlay’s back as he pulled his cock back,
leaving only the head inside the tight channel, and then thrust
forward.

“Yesss!” Imlay hissed as his shoulders came off of the bed and he

began to rock back on Livewire’s cock.

126

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Livewire kicked Imlay’s knees further apart as he watched his

cock continually dip in and out of Imlay’s honey jar. His thumbs
massaged the two small dimples that lay cradled above Imlay’s
rounded ass cheeks.

“Come back to me, Imlay,” Livewire begged as he thrust harder,

deeper. He knew he couldn’t seal the sick bay doors and lock his mate
away from going on this mission. Imlay was his own man and would
chafe at being told by Livewire that he forbade him to do something.
But Livewire remembered his captivity all too well and feared his
mate would fall prey to the same setup. His heart couldn’t take it if
something happened to his doctor.

“Always.”
Imlay arched his back and mewled as Livewire grabbed his mate’s

cock and began stroking it to his rhythm. Imlay’s body was shaking
and shuddering as Livewire thrust his cock fully into Imlay’s warm
body. Livewire’s pace picked up when Imlay’s body shot up and his
cock exploded.

“Livewire!” His mate’s echoed cry filled his quarters.
The tight ring of muscle began to milk Livewire, pushing him

over the edge as he let go of Imlay’s cock and grabbed his sides,
pounding into him before his shaft erupted inside his mate. They both
fell forward, panting and gasping as Livewire curled around Imlay.

“Come back to me.”

* * * *

Zackary was sitting in the shuttle nervously annihilating all ten

nails. He’d never actually gone to the places he had
hacked…err…visited before. This was definitely one for the books.
His mom would be very proud of him, if he didn’t get caught.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked Imlay for

the millionth time. “I’m too pretty to go to jail. Everyone will want
my fruitcake.”

Imlay’s Cure

127

“Is that a code word for sex?” Imlay asked as they made their way

to Tronos.

“No, it’s a code word for fruitcake. My mom makes the best

fruitcakes in the galaxy. I don’t want to share them. Do I have to
share them when we go to jail?”

Imlay shook his head as he reached over and patted Zackary’s

knee. “We’re not going to jail. Think positive.”

“I’m positive we’re going to jail.” Zackary watched out of the

shuttle window as they flew around the academy. Who knew it was
this large? They were going to get lost, and then they would go to jail.
He wasn’t sharing his fruitcake with anyone, no matter how big the
bullies in jail were.

“I’ll do all the talking. You just follow my lead,” Imlay said when

they finally landed. “And remember, you’re my personal assistant.
You don’t have to know anything medical, but you do have to know
how to keep my schedule, take notes, and take my orders without
question.”

“Well, that sounds duller than dishwater.” Imlay chuckled, which

lifted Zackary’s mood—but just a little. “So, I’m just supposed to
stand there and look pretty?”

“Yes, pretty much.”
“I can do that.” Zackary licked his fingers then pushed them over

his eyebrows. “I do pretty really well.”

“Don’t get upset if I snap at you. It’s all part of the act.”
“Right, no killing the doctor for being an ass. Got it.”
“You’ll be fine.” Imlay patted Zackary’s thigh. “We’ll be fine.”
Zackary blinked. “Who are you trying to convince, doc? You or

me?”

“Both of us, I think.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Zackary was beginning to think that this little mission was a bad

idea. If the doc was nervous, then they were in trouble. Oh, he didn’t

128

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

want to be in trouble. Someone would call his mom, and she’d get
pissed, and then all hell would break out.

Damn!
“Is it too late to change my mind?”
“Yes.”
Zackary groaned when Imlay opened the door of the shuttle and

climbed out. He grabbed his modified vid-pad and climbed out after
Imlay. He gripped the vid-pad like a lifeline. He’d played with it until
it sang just for him. Instead of being just a basic everyday vid-pad, it
now boasted a huge hard drive and com-link back to the ship.

“Dr. Jones, I believe,” a well-dressed man said as he stepped up to

them and held his hand out to Imlay. “I’m Bertram Sylvester. I’ll be
showing you around today.”

Zackary blinked as Imlay turned into someone he didn’t know.

Hell, he turned into someone Zackary didn’t want to know. Imlay’s
nose tilted up in the air and he stared at the stranger with a touch of
disdain in every cell of his body.

“Quite right,” Imlay said.
“And this would be?” the stranger said as he looked past Imlay to

Zackary.

“None of your concern,” Imlay said sternly. “Now, I’d like to see

your facilities. If they do not meet my standards I will find another
facility to meet my needs.”

“Yes, of course.”
Imlay clasped his hands behind his back and arched an eyebrow

when the man didn’t instantly move. “I do not have all day, Barry.”

“Bertram, sir.”
“Yes, yes.” Imlay waved a hand in dismissal. “I’d like to go now.

I still have a few more facilities to tour before I make my decision.
My personnel must be trained by the best.”

“I’m sure our facilities will meet your needs, sir. We are the

premier academy in the Andromeda System.” Bertram seemed
frazzled as he hurried off the landing pad. He kept looking over his

Imlay’s Cure

129

shoulder, quickening his steps then slowing down. “Please, come
right this way.”

“Come, Z, I don’t have all day,” Imlay said as he started following

the tour guide.

Z? Zackary liked that. He bit his lips to keep from laughing as he

hurried after Imlay. If nothing else, this mission was sure to be
interesting. Not ten seconds on the ground, and Imlay already had
some guy tripping over himself to make him happy. Zackary was glad
he wasn’t mated to the doctor. He’d lose his mind.

* * * *

Imlay felt like he was sweating up a storm, but he didn’t dare

wipe his forehead. He was playing a role here, that of a high-level,
influential doctor that was looking for a new training facility for the
people he would be working with.

He had nixed the idea of being the doctor attending the academy

for training. He didn’t think it would get him the full tour that would
enable them to get close to the Office of Intelligence. Being the doctor
to oversee a special facility was much better. It also fit the uptight
persona he was playing.

“I understand that you assisted in an outbreak of Paktillian’s

Disease on Lost Star Three,” Bertram said as they walked.

“I assist in many situations, Bob,” Imlay replied, wondering what

in the hell Zackary had uploaded into his personnel file. “You’ll have
to be more specific.”

“Bertram, sir.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Imlay glanced over his shoulder at Zackary.

He could see the amusement building in the man’s eyes, but Zackary
kept his lips pressed firmly together. “Z, make a note of Banner’s
name.”

“Bertram, sir!”

130

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Imlay barely kept himself from laughing at the frustrated little

man. He was quite aware what Bertram’s name was. He was actually
having trouble coming up with new names to call him.

“Where is our security?” Imlay glanced around. “Why do we not

have security escorting us?”

“Oh, Tronos is very secure, sir,” Bertram said quickly. “We have

no need of guards.”

“No need?” Imlay snapped. “Do you know who I am?”
“Y–Yes, sir,” Bertram stuttered. He looked like he was trying not

to wring his hands, but Imlay caught them doing the very act
nonetheless. “You are Imlay Jones. Top specialist in gynecology and
Paktillian diseases, sir.”

Imlay almost choked. Gynecology? He was going to murder

Zackary. He could see the sides of Zackary’s mouth fighting not to
laugh. Maybe the little shit was going to get a fruitcake after all—
right up his ass.

“We should have security escorting us. I am a very high ranking

official,” Imlay stated in his most haughty voice. Zackary’s eyes
bugged out, his head slightly shaking. Imlay wanted to smack the
little shit on the back of his head, but kept his hands behind his back.
If Bertram saw Zackary, he would know something was going on.

“Very good, we can visit the Offices of Intelligence, sir.”
Zackary looked as though he was going to pass out as he followed

behind them clutching his vid-pad with such force that his knuckles
were turning white. Bertram stopped to speak with someone and
Imlay wanted to smack him next. They didn’t have time for
socializing. This was risky enough as it was without stopping so that
Bertram could show off that he was the tour guide for the great Dr.
Imlay Jones.

“Shall we finish the tour? I do have other appointments to attend

to, Bernard.”

The tour guide sighed, as if resigning himself to being called

anything but his true name. They entered the security offices, Imlay’s

Imlay’s Cure

131

heart beating so hard he would swear it was going to burst right out of
his chest. He saw the door for the records room and guided Bertram’s
attention to something across the hall.

Imlay saw Zackary duck through the door as Bertram led him into

a monitoring station. Imlay wanted to turn around and run when a
dozen men turn to look at them. Talk about walking right into enemy
territory. Imlay had to focus. Falling apart and confessing everything
wasn’t a smart move. He had to think positive, as he had told
Zackary. Fuck if his words weren’t coming back to bite him on the
ass.

He would have to keep Bertram occupied while Zackary uploaded

the information.

Although Imlay had been on Lost Star Three his entire medical

career, he hadn’t a clue what to look for in an academic school.
Things seemed to be very different here on Tronos than they were on
Lost Star.

“One of my tours will be on Lost Star Three. How do you think

their medical facility ranks compared to Tronos?” Imlay had to keep
the man talking. If allowing him to boast about Tronos’s superiority,
then so be it.

Bertram sniffed. “Lost Star Three is second-rate if compared to

Tronos, sir. They haven’t the advance training that your team would
undergo in order to be the best.”

Imlay tuned Bertram out as he watched the door. There was a

small glass window in the middle of the door. It allowed Imlay to
watch the room across the hall. When he saw Zackary walk out and
look around, Imlay knew he had to shut Bertram up and continue on
before Zackary went wandering around looking for him and getting
them both thrown in jail. “My time is up, Benny. Show me back to
my shuttle posthaste.”

Bertram looked annoyed as hell but held his hand out for Imlay to

take the lead. Zackary sidled up next to Imlay as soon as they exited

132

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

the monitoring room. He prayed there wasn’t a camera in the records
room. Imlay and Zackary needed to get the hell out of there pronto.

“We are leaving now, Z. Did you take sufficient notes?” Imlay

asked as they entered the docking area.

“Verbatim.” Zackary nodded and almost ran to the shuttle. Imlay

had to place a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. They had to
keep the persona up just a bit more until their shuttle was pointing
away from the planet. Imlay sighed when he saw their shuttle waiting
on them.

“Wait!”
Imlay stiffened. They were busted. He just knew it. Who the hell

had thought up this cockamamie plan anyway? Zackary’s body
stiffened as he made a beeline for the shuttle. Imlay hoped he was
sending an encoded message that they were caught and not leaving his
ass behind. Imlay turned around to see the head of security heading
his way.

They were so screwed.

Imlay’s Cure

133

Chapter 14

Livewire paced back and forth, pulling his hair out as Tank

relayed the encoded message. His mate was down on Tronos, all
alone and about to go to jail. “We have to do something!”

Tank was sitting there looking pale as he finished the message.

“They’re caught.” He visibly swallowed as his trembling hand pushed
through his short hair. “My mate is going to jail.”

“You have to land,” Livewire growled at Remy. “I’m not leaving

him to a court martial. There has to be a way to get them out.”

“We can’t land, Livewire.” Remy exhaled loudly as he took a seat

in his commander’s chair. “We have to trust that the two of them can
get out of the situation.”

“Would you say that if it were Gigi?”
“No,” Remy admitted. “Gigi would be a disaster on an undercover

mission. He’d never be able to keep his mouth shut. However, as
much as I love Gigi, I have to think about more than just him. I have
an entire crew to keep safe.”

Livewire arched an eyebrow. “Bullshit!”
“Livewire, Imlay and Zackary are—”
“On their way back to the ship,” Tank said.
“What?” Livewire ran across the bridge to stare down at the

monitor. He could see the little blip that indicated the shuttle was
returning to the ship. “They’re coming back.”

“Told ya,” Tank said.
Livewire turned to glare at Tank only to see how pale the man

was. Tank’s mate was on that shuttle right along with Livewire’s.

134

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

They both had something to lose if the shuttle didn’t make it back in
one piece.

“You get the Lady Blue ready to get us the hell out of here,”

Livewire said. “I’ll go down to the shuttle bay and retrieve our mates
and send Zackary up here to you.”

Tank swallowed and nodded. Livewire turned and ran off the

bridge as fast as his legs would carry him. He reached the air lock and
watched through the small window as the shuttle maneuvered into the
bay and then landed. A moment later, the hatch opened and the man
Livewire was waiting for stepped out.

It seemed to take forever for the two men to disembark and enter

the air lock. Livewire could hear the air whoosh in as the air lock
pressurized then the door between Livewire and the man he lived for
opened.

Livewire yanked Imlay into his arms then pointed back toward the

bridge. “Tank is waiting for you on the bridge, Zackary.”

“You can just call me Z,” the man said as he strutted past them.
Livewire watched Zackary disappear onto the bridge then turned

back to the man in his arms. He gripped Imlay’s face between his
hands and tilted his head down just enough that their lips met in a
short, tender kiss.

“Never again, Imlay,” Livewire whispered as he rested his

forehead against the doctor’s. “I swear to the gods, I’ll lock you in
engineering if I have to. You’re never going on a dangerous mission
again. My heart just won’t take it. Here, feel.” Livewire grabbed
Imlay’s hand and pressed it against his chest. He was sure the man
could feel how quickly it was beating.

Imlay looked down at his hand then his eyes flickered up to meet

Livewire’s. There was a small twinkle and them as he grinned. “This
could be a serious condition, Livewire. Maybe we should go to the
sick bay so I can give you a physical.”

Livewire gulped as arousal hit him like an asteroid being shot

through a wormhole. “A physical?”

Imlay’s Cure

135

“A full body physical, inside and out.”
Livewire’s fingers curled around the hand lying on his chest,

grateful that his mate had come back to him. They still weren’t in the
clear. They still had to get out of the Andromeda System, but Imlay
was back in his arms and that was all that mattered. Livewire could
finally breathe again.

“I’ve never had a full body physical before.”
“Let’s see if we can’t change your status.” Imlay raced past

Livewire, gaining a head start.

“I don’t think so,” Livewire growled as he chased down the man

who had not only cured him, but changed his entire world.

* * * *

Blade swiveled his chair around, watching Zackary decode the

data he had sent to the Lady Blue from Tronos. “So tell us again why
you thought you were going to jail.”

Zackary giggled as he lifted his head from studying the console.

“The head of security was chasing Imlay down. I took off to the
shuttle.”

“You planned on leaving Imlay?” Remy’s brows shot up as he sat

in his commander’s chair.

“Hey, I’m way too pretty to go to jail, and Imlay said I’d have to

share my fruitcake. No way, no how. I’m just a guy that loves his
mom’s fruitcake.”

“Can we get back to the story?” Blade asked as his mate, Adwaka,

scooted a little closer. Blade curled his arm around Adwaka’s
shoulders, giving him a small hug of reassurance.

“Oh yeah, that.” Zackary sighed dramatically. “The head of

security just had to shake Dr. Imlay Jones’s hand—the top authority
in gynecology and Paktillian diseases.”

136

Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen

Blade fell back in his chair laughing as he listened to Zackary

retell the harrowing adventures of Imlay and Z. “Did you pick his
field of expertise?”

Zackary blushed as he looked around the room. He gave a small

shrug as he turned back around to the console. “Maybe.”

Remy and Crank were laughing so hard they had tears in their

eyes. Tank and Colt were chuckling on the other side of the bridge.

“Hey, I got it.” Zackary sat forward as his eyes scanned the

decoded information. “Commander Brystan Pierce came into his
position six months ago. It’s like he just appeared out of thin air,”
Zackary mumbled as his eyes jumped up and down, reading the data.
“Wait. It says here that his next of kin is none other than Gregory
Tyvak, his nephew. It also says that Commander Pierce put the
bounty on the Lady Blue crew for…espionage? That doesn’t sound
right.”

Remy sat up with this news. Blade started seeing the puzzle pieces

clicking together one piece at a time. “It’s not. Tyvak is the one who
turned us in and then his uncle takes over the commander position of
the entire fleet of Elite Force? Why do I feel like our dishonorable
discharge was a setup to get rid of us and get his uncle into power?”

Remy sat forward, resting his arms on his knees as he looked at

each and every crew member. “Because I was next in line to take over
as commander of the Elite Force. Each and every one of you knows
my uncle is the king. I’m not directly in line for the throne, and I was
commander of our group. My father pushed for my promotion to be
commander of the Elite Force. It seems someone else wanted that
position enough to dishonor us and put a bounty on our heads,
gentlemen.”

“So it wasn’t enough that we got kicked out, Commander Pierce

wanted us silent…permanently?” Fuck. Blade knew they were totally
and unequivocally screwed now. They needed substantial proof, hard
proof, that they were innocent.

Imlay’s Cure

137

He pulled Adwaka closer as he saw the hopelessness of the

situation. How the hell were they going to get out of this tight
situation?

“We have a fight ahead of us, gentlemen. Are we going to prove

our innocence or retreat into the shadows?” Remy asked his crew.

“Retreat, hell!” The crew sounded off as the Lady Blue carried

them out of the Andromeda System and back to familiar territory.

“Then get ready for a bumpy ride, ladies. The Lady Blue is going

into battle.”

THE END

WWW.STORMYGLENN.COM

WWW.LYNNHAGEN.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots

is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first
sight, soul Mates, true love, and happy endings.

Stormy lives in the great Northwest region of the USA, with her

gorgeous husband and soul Mate, six very active teenagers, two
boxer/collie puppies, one old biddy cat, and one fish.

You can usually find her cuddled in bed with a book in her hand

and a puppy in her lap, or on her laptop, creating the next sexy man
for one of her stories. Stormy welcomes comments from readers. You
can find her website at www.stormyglenn.com

Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but

lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to
find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart.

You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a

cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story.

Also by Lynn Hagen and Stormy Glenn

Siren Classic ManLove: Lady Blue Crew 1: End of the Line

Siren Classic ManLove: Lady Blue Crew 2: Pax's Blues

For all other titles, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/lynn-hagen

www.bookstrand.com/stormy-glenn

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Wyszukiwarka

Podobne podstrony:
Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen Lady Blue Crew 05 Tank s Tweak
Stormy Glenn and Lynn Hagen Lady Blue Crew 04 Adwaka s Blade
Lynn Hagen Shifters of Mistery 03 Jeremiah s Heart
Stormy Glenn & Lynn Hagen Elite Force 01 Second Chances
Lynn Hagen & Stormy Glenn Phoenix Rising 2 Kyle s Return
Stormy Glenn, Lynn Hagen Beautiful Béla (Phanta City #1)
Stormy Glenn Lady Blue 1 End of the Line
Lynn Hagen Brac Pack 5 Stormy Eyes
Stormy Glenn Forever and a Day
Midnight Matings 10 Stormy Glenn Sparkle and Purr
Midnight Matings 08 Stormy Glenn White Paws and a Dream
Lynn Hagen Blue Moon
Stormy Glenn Fangs and All(1)
Stormy Glenn Tri Omega Mates
Stormy Glenn Blaecleah
Stormy Glenn True Blood Mates
Stormy Glenn ?rk Court
Stormy Glenn Wolf Creek Incomplete
Stormy Glenn ?lta Wolf

więcej podobnych podstron