Chapter 1

When Reth Reilly had enrolled in the

Betelgeuse Flight Academy, sixteen and fresh off his first

interstellar jaunt, he’d thought he had his life mapped out ahead

of him like all the stars on his navigational charts. Four years at

the Academy to graduate in the Class of 2396, then he’d sign on for

a stint with the Star Corps tracing out freight routes and narrowly

avoiding space pirates. The last thing he needed was to lose his

heart to some wild-haired flyboy with deep eyes and a sexy grin,

but that’s exactly what happened when he met Xan Anders.

They were both freshmen at the Academy when

Reth fell for Xan. The two of them had the usual prerequisite

courses together and, until the second semester their sophomore

year, Xan lived on the same dorm deck as Reth. With his untamable

hair and laughing eyes, Xan was everything Reth had never realized

he wanted in a man, but he was too painfully shy to approach the

guy. Xan ignited the air around him with his quick laugh; whenever

Reth heard it, he wanted to disappear. Like a black hole, Xan

sucked the life out of everything around him—everything that

wasn’thim—leaving Reth breathless and aching in his wake.

Whenever they passed in the hall, Reth had to look away or he’d

drown in those eyes—they were as deep as outer space, and just as

enigmatic.

Their paths split junior year when Reth went

into navigation and Xan chose artillery. He still heard of Xan, of

course—the guy was a deadeye in the turret and a crack-up in the

classroom. Xan made sure he stayed in the public eye as a big man

on campus, and it came as no surprise to anyone when he was awarded

top honors in their class at graduation. At the awards ceremony,

Xan vaulted onto the presenters’ table and raised his medal high as

he crowed, “Eat this, Diedermeyer!”

The graduates cheered, Reth among them,

shocked and more than a little pleased that someone had finally

stood up to the academy’s hard-nosed principal in so flamboyant a

manner. In that instant, Xan seemed invincible. As horrified

professors scrambled to get him down from the table and failed, a

silly grin split Reth’s face. He swore he’d find the courage to

speak to Xan—somehow, some time, tonight—before they went

their separate ways in the morning. He didn’t want the past four

years to slip away into eternity.

It turned out easier to get close than Reth

had thought it would be and, a few hours later, he found himself

cozying up to Xan outside the banquet hall. Both of them were more

than a little drunk on jojobu juice, the night, and each other. Xan

kept a strong arm around Reth’s waist. It’d settled there sometime

after Reth’s breathless hello and hadn’t moved since. Reth leaned

against Xan, marveling at the way the alcohol lit up his warm

chocolate eyes.

Xan had a narrow face, with a strong sloping

nose, wide eyes, and a wider mouth. Whenever he took a sip of his

drink, his lips turned a darker shade of red. His light hair was

streaked with bleached strands which gave his pale skin a dusky

look. That hair fell like a curtain, straight from the part down

his scalp to sweep across his eyes. He kept running a hand through

the length, pushing it back, usually when grinning at something

Reth had said.

Xan was intoxicating, a burning star once out

of reach that Reth now found clenched in his hand. Away from the

banquet, in a dark corner of the observation deck with the universe

stretched out above them, Reth discovered Xan’s wide, thin lips

tasted sweet against his own and the enclosures at the crotch of

their official Academy uniforms were damn near impossible to

unfasten. “You’re the navigator,” Xan teased as Reth rubbed at the

front of his pants.

Beneath the fabric, a stiff erection pressed

into Reth’s hand, eager for release if only he could figure out how

the outfit worked. Xan didn’t help one bit by leaning against his

neck, a breathy laugh tickling under Reth’s collar. “Need me to

draw you a map?” he purred against Reth’s heated skin. Damp lips

kissed behind his ear, and Reth found his hands trapped between

them as Xan thrust his hips against Reth’s. “X marks the spot.”

Fisting Xan’s sheathed dick, Reth sighed,

“Here?”

Xan moaned into his ear and leaned against

him. He pinned Reth into the corner where the balcony railing met

the thick plastic shield that held back empty space. Wrapped in

Xan’s strong embrace, Reth thought things between them were moving

along nicely—at a fast clip, sure, but one he easily matched. With

Xan rubbing against him, those lips on his ear, he gave up on the

pants and focused on the rest of the man instead. Burrowing his

face into Xan’s neck, Reth breathed deep his musky scent and

murmured, “How about we take this up to my room, crackshot? I’ll

get these pants off yet.”

The hands on his back froze, and the mouth

latched to his earlobe disengaged. Suddenly the night came crashing

down as sounds from the party invaded the intimate space between

them—the chink of glasses and plates, laughter stabbing the night,

raised voices calling to each other, the band playing over it all.