Sometimes, she didn’t understand what hesaw in her. He lived and practically ran this space station, while she was nothing more than a courier who travelled the stars, delivering one item after another to earn enough credits to support herself. The pay wasn’t great, but it was enough to keep her ship in the air and her stomach full.

Alex pulled out of the kiss, but Ulric didn’t remove his hand from the back of her head. He actually tightened his grip on her hair, pulling it back enough to expose her neck. He licked her skin, rousing a shiver.

“ Promiseisn’t a piece of crap. I inherited her from my father. It was the best thing he ever gave me.” Well, the ship and her attitude.

She spent a lot of her childhood riding around with her father while he delivered his own cargo. Except noneof his business deals were ever legit, and he liked to keep a lot concealed from her. Mostly, Louis Wales made his dubious living as a smuggler, but she never let on that she knew. She enjoyed a life in space with him and knew he tried his best to support them.

After more than a decade’s absence, her mother decided to resurface one day, demanding Alex go and live with her. Her mother being the more politically powerful of the two, her father had no choice but to obey. Alex was sent to a planet she hated and was forced to live a life she despised. When she turned 15, her mother coerced her into an engagement with someone she didn’t even know. The guy was her age but still a stranger. Besides, Alex never liked to have others choose her path in life, and especially not her selfish mother.

“I can offer you a lot, if you’re willing to accept it,” Ulric said. He trailed his tongue up the side of her neck, followed it onto the underside of her chin, and back to her mouth. When he kissed her again, it was rough, hungrier. “I hate knowing that you’re out there in space on your own. Stay with me a while longer, and let’s see where this leads us.”