Rave moved to settle beside Kain and pull him close. Their breathing synchronised and slowed as they drifted to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Kain bolted out of bed.
Why am I always falling asleep with Rave?
He shook his head and looked around, trying to find out what had woken him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he glanced back at the bed. Rave tossed and turned. He mumbled something, but Kain couldn’t make it out.
Could this be one of the nightmares Se had told him about? Should he wake Rave or would it make matters worse? Kain was tired of being kicked out of Rave’s room, and he wanted to avoid that. They’d made some progress. He knew it and didn’t want to backtrack.
When he’d come to Rave’s room earlier, it had been to tell him what the General had said, but once Rave’s clothes had come off, Kain had needed to have the man.
“Rave.” Kain knelt on the bed, taking things slow. “Rave?” He tried again when Rave didn’t wake. “Rave, wake up, baby.”
“What—”
“ Shh …it’s okay. I think you were having a dream. You awake now?”
Even in the dark, Kain could make out Rave’s hand as it moved over his face and traced his lips. Kain wanted to reach out, but he feared Rave wasn’t completely awake.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to crash on you,” Rave said.
“I slipped under myself.” He heard the grin in his own voice.
“How long?”
“I’m not sure. It couldn’t have been too long. Rock isn’t here yet, at least Se hasn’t contacted you. I don’t think so, anyway.”
“Good, good.”
“I want you to know that I didn’t come here for this. I stopped by your room to tell you about my talk with the General.” He settled next to Rave and pulled the man into his arms.
“Damn. I hate to say it, but I forgot you were making that call.”
“I’m glad you did. I want us to be more important than the Alliance. I think we both deserve it.”
“At this point, I’m all for saying, ‘fuck the Alliance and the Royalists’.”
“I agree.”
Rave sighed, “Tell me about the call.”
“I have the name of the person who issued the warrant. The general wasn’t aware of the situation and thinks the man went rogue on them. Seth Davidson, ring any bells for you?”
“No. You?”
“It sounds familiar, but I’m not sure,” Kain replied. He wished it would come to him.
“Computer, search for Seth Davidson, Alliance Commander.”
“Searching,” the mechanical voice responded.
“I’m not sure how long the search will take, but I should head to the bridge and relieve Se.” Rave sounded reluctant to leave, but duty called.
Kain hugged Rave to him before getting out of bed. “We should clean up first. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see Se smelling like sex. She’d never let us hear the end of it.”
“Great idea. Maybe we should conserve water. I’m not sure how much we have stored.”
Kain smiled when Rave winked at him. Here was the Rave he remembered, the carefree man who’d always worn a grin.
Rave tugged on his hand and led him to the shower. That was something else he remembered, a shower on the day before all hell had broken loose. They’d just made love that day and had taken an afternoon to themselves. Whenever he had bad days, he thought of the last time they were together.
“What are you thinking about?”
Rave’s voice brought him out of the past.
“Nothing.” He followed Rave into the shower and let the water wash his troubles away.
Rave closed his eyes when Kain’s hands wandered over his body. Why did he feel as if his happiness wouldn’t last? His gut told him something bad hovered on the horizon. He shook it off and enjoyed the moment.
Se’s voice broke through his musings. “Rave, Rock is here and docking.”
“Thanks, Se. I’ll be right there.”
He waited for the computer to click off the coms before talking to Kain .
“You can stay here if you want. Or, you can come to the
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