Hagen, Lynn and Glenn, Stormy - End of the Line [Lady Blue Crew 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (9 page)

He entered the food market area, stands crowding every street. The smells were delicious, but the crowd made him antsy. After what Borjan said back on Nebular Nine, Crank wasn’t too thrilled to be out in public where he was exposed to anyone’s bullshit. Any asshole out here with half a brain would jump at the chance to collect the bounty on their heads.

Crank knew there was a price on their heads, but he hadn’t realized it was so high that even their clients were trying to turn them in to collect. They dealt with a cutthroat crowd, but there should be some kind of honor. At least the Elite Force used honor in their dealings. Too bad everyone else didn’t.

Crank didn’t care what century, species, or planet it was, credits were the root of all evil.

He touched the inventory pad to check off what he’d already bought as he purchased the things on Gigi’s list. It got to the point that he couldn’t carry the packages any longer without the pile threatening to topple over.

Crank spotted a young man with blue skin standing by one of the stalls. “Hey, you, come over here.” The young man ran over to Crank, an expectant look on his thin, blue face. From the rags he was wearing, Crank knew he was an End of the Line vagrant. “I’ll give you five credits if you take these groceries back to my ship for me.”

The young man’s face lit up at the amount Crank was offering. “Yes, sir.”

Crank gave him the loading dock number and handed the packages off to the eager guy. But before the vagrant could take off, Crank snarled a warning. “If you’re thinking about stealing my food, believe me when I say I can track you to the edge of the universe.”

The man shook his head. “I may be a vagrant, but I’m not a thief. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re at the End of the Line. You know…” The man waved his hand around. “The edge of the universe.”

“Don’t forget about the point beyond here, brat,” Crank warned as he held up his hand with the missing pinky. He had to hold back a grin. The guy had balls, he’d give him that.

The vagrant gulped as his face paled, gripping the packages tightly. “I’ll be heading to your ship now.”

Crank nodded and stepped aside for the guy to do what he was paid to do. His arms felt lighter as Crank finished checking off the list. By the time he was done, his arms were full again.

“Gigi better be one hell of a cook to go through all of this trouble,” Crank grumbled as he walked back toward his ship.

“Excuse me. Aren’t you one of the crew members on the Lady Blue?”

Chapter 6

Gigi smiled as he watched the blue man stack groceries on the shelves in the kitchen. The man was meticulous, which was an interesting trait in one so young. He was currently stacking stuff on the shelf in alphabetical order. Gigi couldn’t get over the fact that the man’s skin was
really
blue.

He knew Crank had asked the man to bring the groceries to the ship, but after seeing the sad state of the man’s clothing, Gigi decided to throw in a few more credits if the man would help put the groceries away.

“Is this everything?” the man asked as he turned to look at Gigi, the empty bag held in his hands.

“You tell me.” Gigi chuckled as he took the bag. “You brought the stuff here.”

“This is everything that man gave me.”

“Then I guess that’s it then.”

“Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”

Gigi arched an eyebrow. “Can you cook or clean?”

The young man rubbed his hands together as he looked around the kitchen. “I can clean.”

“You’re hired.”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Hired?”

Gigi grinned at the astonished look on the young man’s face. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Gigi. This is my kitchen.”

“Uh, hey.” A blue hand clasped Gigi’s pale one. “I’m Pax…er…Paxton Chambers.” The thin material of the man’s shirt moved when he shrugged. “I prefer Pax.”

“Hi, Pax.” Gigi grinned. “Do you have family, Pax?”

Pax’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “What does that have to do with cleaning?”

Gigi quickly held up his hands. “Nothing, nothing, I was just wondering if there was any reason why you couldn’t leave End of the Line. Do you have obligations here that would prevent you from leaving?”

“No.”

“Are you interested in a job aboard a spaceship? I can’t offer you a lot of credits, but you will have free room and board.”

“My own room?”

“Yes.”

Gigi could see the hesitancy in Pax. He wanted the job, and he wanted it bad, but he was also cautious. Gigi wasn’t exactly sure how to reassure the man. Something told Gigi that having Pax onboard would be a good thing. Gigi wanted to make it happen.

“What would my duties be?” Pax asked.

“Mostly cleaning. I cook for five very large crewmembers. That means a lot of dirty dishes. I could use the help. A few other duties might come up like helping keep the ship together and in working order.”

“But I’d have my own room?”

“Yes.” Gigi frowned. Pax seemed to be hanging on that one point. Realization suddenly dawned on Gigi as Pax chewed on his bottom lip, and he wanted to rip something apart. “You will be assigned your own room with a lock on it. No one will be allowed access without your permission except the commander.”

“The commander?” Pax’s face paled to a translucent blue.

“His name is Remy.” Gigi waved his hand around in the air. “This is his ship. He has access to every room on the ship, but he won’t enter your quarters unless it’s an emergency. He certainly won’t enter your room for anything else.”

Gigi crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Pax’s pensive look. “And the commander belongs to me. Lay a finger on him, and I’ll push you out an airlock.”

Pax’s face flushed, and a small twitter of laughter came from him. “Understood.”

Gigi smiled. “So, do you want the job?”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“This is my kitchen,” Gigi said. “If I want to hire someone to help me, then I will. Besides, they aren’t about to argue with me. They like their home-cooked meals too much.”

“Can’t they just use a food replicator?”

“We don’t use food replicators on this ship.” Gigi growled. And they never would again if Gigi had anything to say about it. He refused to be eaten by an appliance.

Pax’s eyes widened. “Okay.”

Gigi flushed. He hated food replicators, but there was no reason to take it out on Pax. “I’m sorry. I had a bad experience with a food replicator recently. Damn thing tried to eat me.”

Pax frowned, looking confused. “They can do that, I guess.”

Gigi chuckled. “Come on, I’ll go introduce you to the commander, and then we can get you settled. Is there anything you need to go get? I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, so if there is, you need to go get it.”

“No, not really.” Pax shrugged, glancing away. “Don’t have much.”

“Yeah, I didn’t either when I joined up, just a bag.”

“That’s more than I have,” Pax snorted.

Gigi watched Pax as they walked down the corridor toward the bridge. The man wasn’t too much taller than him, maybe a couple of inches. He had wavy black hair that seemed to curl around his face, the bangs hanging down over his eyes as if to hide them from everyone. Gigi couldn’t imagine why. Pax’s eyes were the most vivid blue he had ever seen. They were the perfect match for his pale blue skin.

Gigi saw Pax fall back when they reached the bridge. He hovered around the entrance as Gigi walked in. Gigi immediately searched the room until his eyes landed on the sex god he sought. He smiled and made his way over to his mate.

“Remy.” Just seeing Remy made Gigi feel better. He wrapped his arms around the gorgeous shifter and leaned his head against Remy’s back. “Missed you.”

Remy chuckled and reached back to pat Gigi’s side. “It’s only been a couple of hours, angel. You saw me at breakfast.”

“Still missed you.”

Gigi stood up on his tiptoes to receive the kiss he knew was coming when Remy turned around. Remy always kissed him. Personally, Gigi thought his wolf was a little addicted to kissing. Luckily, Gigi had no problem with that. He might be addicted himself.

“Did you get everything packed away, angel?” Remy asked when he raised his head a few moments later.

“Uh, yeah.” Gigi bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder. “And I hired someone to help me in the kitchen.”

Remy’s eyebrows shot up. A low growl began to rumble in his chest when he looked up and saw Pax standing by the door. “You hired someone?”

Gigi nodded.

“Without talking to me first?”

Gigi leaned in close. “We need him, Remy. I don’t know why. I just know we do.”

Remy stared for a moment then looked down, his eyebrows drawing together as he frowned. “Are you sure, angel?”

Gigi nodded again. “I’m sure.”

“All right, if you say so, but I still want him checked out.” Remy glanced back up at Pax. “He could use a bath and a fresh set of clothes, too.”

“I told him he’d have his own room, Remy.” Gigi swallowed hard. “It’s important to him.”

“I’m sure we can arrange something.”

Gigi’s heart thumped hard in his chest as he gazed up at Remy. “Thank you for believing me.”

“I’ll always believe you, angel.” Remy smiled and tapped the end of Gigi’s nose with his finger. “Now, let’s go meet your new friend.”

Gigi turned and gestured to the frightened-looking man. “Pax, this is the commander, Remy. Remy, this is Pax, my new kitchen assistant.”

* * * *

Pax could feel his lips trembling as he smiled at the biggest person he had ever seen. He felt like he was shaking all of the way down to his toes. He couldn’t remember ever being this scared. And yet, he felt safe at the same time. He couldn’t explain it, but he did.

“Hi,” he said then swallowed hard when the large man’s smoky grey eyes landed on him again. Damn, the guy was big.

“Welcome aboard, Pax.” The commander smiled at him but didn’t try to shake his hand.

Pax wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He wanted to be a part of this crew, but he couldn’t figure out why. Pax backed up to the wall when two other men appeared on the bridge. Maybe he should have thought this through before agreeing to take the job. Large men were just plain scary.

Pax stepped to the side when one of the men came too close. He watched the guy closely, making sure his hands didn’t breach his personal space. The man smiled at him and then stepped back.

“I’m Tank, the pilot.”

Pax ran his hand over his tattered shirt before shaking the proffered hand. “Pax. I’m the new kitchen assistant.” He leaned in closer and whispered. “I get my own room.” He jumped when Tank let out a booming laugh.

“That’s a good thing. Welcome aboard, Pax.” Tank chuckled as he took a seat at the helm.

Pax stood there waiting for Gigi to tell him something or give him something to do. He didn’t want to go wandering around the ship when he didn’t know everyone—although he was dying to explore.

“Gigi will show you around,” the commander said before walking away.