Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 by C.M. Simpson (top ebook reader txt) 📕

us. Captain Targil frowned, but Mack ignored his discomfort.

“Is there any reason why we would not?” he asked, and the captain blushed, as though he’d been caught in a blunder he now had to dig himself out of.

“Oh, no, sir,” he replied. “His lordship just wished to ensure you did not get lost when you traversed the city. He decided to send a transport.”

“Really? He didn’t mention the need. We were going to take something more local.”

The color subsided from the captain’s face.

“We understand, sir. Lord Barangail sends his apologies. He has canceled your booking, and asks that you take no offence at his precautions.”

This time, Mack stopped.

“Precautions?” he asked, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.

Captain Targil looked at him, only just appearing to notice the cut of his uniform, the number of weapons he carried, and the experience written on his face. He assessed Mack with a quick sweep of his eyes, and then turned his gaze on me. I managed a slightly uncertain smile, coupled to an anxious look at Mack, and a slight shift closer to his side.

“Oh, beautiful!” Casey breathed. “That’s got him.”

And it had. The captain took in my reaction, and turned right back to Mack. I did not miss the moment, when he decided I wasn’t any kind of threat, and had to suppress a grin.

“Don’t you dare!” came through the implant, and I managed to let my anxiety fade into the blank look I’d adopted at the start.

The captain didn’t spare me another glance, but hastened to reassure Mack.

“There were rumors of unrest, just before your arrival,” he said. “We thought it better to ensure your security than gain your permission. Please forgive our presumption.”

And if that man was looking for forgiveness, I was hoping to be dressed in pink lace and fed on candy for the rest of my life. Mack gave me a startled glance, and then smoothed the expression from his face, as he looked back at the captain.

“It can be arranged,” echoed through my head, accompanied by the sputtered laughter of those watching in the comms center.

Smart ass!

But he ignored me, focusing solely on the captain, as though I was little more than a bauble decorating his arm. It would have made me angry, if I hadn’t been able to feel how satisfied he was for my abilities to be kept secret. It was good, apparently, to have ‘an ace in the hole’, whatever that meant.

“Unrest?” Mack asked, and lifted the hand from my fingers, so he could let it drift towards the blaster at his hip.

The captain hastened to reassure him.

“Not here,” he said, “and not now, but we didn’t want to risk a disruption to your evening.”

Or his negotiations, I thought, but didn’t say.

Tension ran briefly along Mack’s forearm, and then he relaxed, and continued moving along the umbilical. I wanted to tease him with the fact I could actually behave, but thought better of it, concentrating, instead, on walking like a lady. These dresses were harder to move in than it looked—and to make that movement look like I’d been born to glide with all the grace of a cruiser slipping through space... Well, that took a bit.

“You’re doing fine,” came Case’s reassurance. “More than fine.”

I couldn’t help but think that, after the hours of incentive abuse she’d heaped on my head, I’d darned well better. The Stars knew what she’d do if I mucked it up, now. There was no reply, and we moved off the concourse beside the ship’s docking bay, and further into the station.

The trip down the beanstalk was swift, and far too similar to being in an airlock for comfort. I was fine, until the elevator’s doors closed behind me, not quite able to suppress a small gasp as I came to a sudden halt.

“Keep it together,” Case snapped, her voice cracking through the shock, and Mack took my hand with his free one, unlooping his arm from mine to wrap it around my waist.

“She’s not very good with heights,” he explained to the captain.

And, before I could react to that, Mack had scooped me into his arms and stepped all the way into car.

“Where should we sit?” he asked, as I recalled the fact I was wearing the latest pair of combat boots, and made sure to keep my feet tucked under the folds of the dress.

My sudden movement must have reminded Mack that I wasn’t exactly kitted out as a lady under the dress, and he met the captain’s gaze.

“Where?”

The man gestured towards a seat in the center of the car, and Mack carried me over to it, setting me down, buckling me in, and then taking his place beside me. As soon as he was settled, he tucked his arm around me, and drew me close to his side.

“It’s okay, sweetling,” he said. “We’ll be on the ground, soon.”

The inside of my skull roared with laughter, and I had to duck my head to hide the expression on my face.

Sweetling? I mean, when the fuck had he ever called me that?

And I swear I heard Tens fall out of his chair, again. As for Case, she was laughing so hard she was crying. Mack leant over me, cradling my head against his chest—and it wasn’t because I was frightened.

“You let me know when you’ve got your face back under control,” he said, and he sounded like he was having a hell of a time keeping his own laughter at bay.

“I’m going to kick your ass, first chance I get,” I told him, glad, for once, the implant was somewhere we could speak in semi-privacy.

He ignored that, and, when he spoke, again, it was to the captain of the guard.

“She’ll be fine as soon as we’re on the ground,” he reassured the man, and I resisted the urge to try and put the ribs closest me through the other side of his chest.

“Play nice,” he said, inside my skull.

“I think she deserves another set of boots,” Casey suggested,