Thrill-Kinky by Teresa Noelle Roberts Page B

striping, but in lurid colors that Rita sincerely hoped didn’t exist on actual San’balese people. Many of the off-world visitors, and there were a lot of them, were still in ordinary clothes, brightened up with silly hats, masks, or other festive touches, so the Malcolm ’screw, in their breaking-and-entering clothes and simple masks that kept Buck and Rita’s paler complexions from being too visible in the darkness, didn’t stand out too much as they made their way through the crowd.
    Gan was off in the flyer. The airspace restriction over the heart of the city had been lifted at dusk and was now over an athletic field on the outskirts of the city, where fireworks had already started and would continue until near dawn. That made life easier for them, both the restrictions being lifted and the distraction of the fireworks. Gan planned to circle over the city, occasionally passing high over the festival grounds but not hovering, as if he was a tourist trying to get a feeling for the size of the festival without getting too close to the fireworks. The flyer pads near the museum were mostly full, but they’d noticed earlier in the day that no one was landing flyers or parking zipbikes or other vehicles in the big courtyard in front of the museum, despite the festival crowds.
    “And all it took was a ‘no parking’ sign,” Buck mused. “No cops. No barricades, even. San’balese are polite, I tell ya.”
    “Except for the one that kicked the crap out of me last night.” Drax absently rubbed his left side. “Although she didn’t actually use any foul language while she was doing it, and that’s rare for a thug. You’d expect the occasional marling driftdwell , at least, while someone’s breaking your ribs with her boots.”
    Drax sounded remarkably good-humored for someone who was talking about his own attempted murder, but he was squeezing Rita’s fingers so tightly it hurt.
    All the better, she supposed, to maintain their cover as lovers. Though it wasn’t exactly a cover anymore, not that they’d had a chance to talk about it much. Though if they’d had that opportunity, Rita would be at a loss for what to say. She’d helped Drax because he’d needed help, and that had led to some intense sex.
    And that intense sex had led to Drax saying some things she’d have to classify as downright romantic, things about flying with her. Maybe it wasn’t so romantic to a Banjali, though it sounded galaxies beyond ordinary sexytime talk of fucking and sucking and “need you now”. But the intensity in his voice, the way he’d looked at her…he wasn’t acting like a man who’d just had a fling, even a super-hot one, with a stranger.
    She wasn’t feeling like a woman who’d just done the same. She knew what that felt like. She’d done it often enough: hooking up with an interesting man when she was dirtside (granted, usually not as abruptly as she’d hooked up with Drax, and always before, without anyone shooting at them as foreplay), sharing some fun, and going their separate ways, often not even exchanging comlinks because they knew the odds of being in the same place again were slim.
    Maybe she and Drax had a spark that could grow into a real connection given time, but they didn’t have that time. They’d get back his artwork and he’d return to Banjal to bask in glory, or at least covertly enjoy the rewards of a job well done. Either that, or something would go supernova and even if they both survived, they wouldn’t wantto see each other again.
    Yeah, thinking this could be more than a fling was all adrenaline and sex. Drax flat-out said he was thrill-kinky and she suspected she was. Heck, she’d kissed Buck that time they’d almost crashed on Delfeen. Buck had pulled away, patted her on the back, and said, “It’s just the scare talking, Rita. Makes people want to grab something that reminds them they’re alive. Give it a few minutes and I’ll look like Buck again and you’ll feel like you