Page 40 of Bonded

Priya leaned into the light just a little, her smile lighting up my heart like a welcome dawn after a long night. “I’m okay up here,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. Her heart-shaped face, dominated by her expressive eyes, was so perfect my hands itched to touch her bronzed cheeks.

Now, how did she get all the way up there with no one seeing her?

“Just stay there,” I mouthed to her. I grabbed a nearby pillow that looked soft and handed it to her. Perhaps she didn’t need it, but I liked the idea of giving her something.

She smiled again. “Thank you.”

My heart threatened to burst from my chest at the thrill of Priya actively linking with me. Soon, we would share so much more. “You’re welcome. Priya. Stay there. Don’t move. Please.”

I wasn’t the praying type, but I beseeched the ancestors to protect my soul from all harm.

VRYEK

Idon’t want to alarm her, so don’t tell her anything.

Easy for Captain Ithran to say. He didn’t have to share a link with his soul. “Ruzan, please tell me she is secure in there?”

“She is secure. And quite happy with herself, if I might add.”

Despite myself, I smiled. “Well, that is better than being scared out of her mind, I suppose. How did she get there?”

“I was wondering the same thing. No clue. Yet another story I would like to know. Do you need me out there?”

“No. Ithran is exchanging a few words with Brooks. I just wanted to see him return to the other shuttle. Kothar is already on board and starting the startup sequence.”

“Good. I’m doing the same here. The sooner we leave, the better for Priya. She didn’t like them, and I don’t want them anywhere near her.”

“Agreed.”That was something that I couldn’t quite shake. Priya’s fear. Just remembering it brought a sour taste into my mouth.

My vambrace signaled. It was a comm from Kothar on the other shuttle.

Ithran says to head back to the ship. We are right behind you.

Brooks and his crew had gotten that Nokta scum back to breathing. I didn’t like the way Brooks looked at the captain, squaring off like that in a near-empty docking bay. But a motley assortment of males was no match for one Dirsigian. Especially not one as blooded as Ithran.

With a last signal from Ithran, I backed up onto the shuttle ramp. I nearly stepped on a random bot that slithered quickly underfoot in my haste to get aboard. I called out to Ruzan as I walked toward the cockpit. “Let’s move out. Captain is right behind us.”

“He doesn’t look to be right behind us.”

Through the shielding, we see Ithran remained standing on the dock, well away from the other shuttle’s loading bay. “He comm’d through Kothar, and he gave his signal. I’m not about to countermand both directions. Besides, he has the rest of the away team with him, and we have most of the supplies.”

“Fine, we should go then. But if the other shuttle isn’t on the ship by the time we finish unloading, we come back.”

“Agreed.”

We pulled away from the dock and headed toward one of our predetermined coordinates. It was a random point in space. Not until you were on top of the coordinates, would you realize that a Cephela vessel was in front of you. Its hull mimicked the surrounding stars so well that it hid in plain sight.

Once we were well past any tractor beams that could be projected from the space station, I breathed a sigh of relief. Soon we would be on the ship. The rest of the away team would join us.

Until then…

I nudged Ruzan on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go back and uncover Priya from wherever you’ve buried her? I can take over from here.”

The warrior had been concentrating on his blind navigation, that it took a full moment for him to register my words. “You’re sure you can handle this on your own?”

He didn’t wait for an answer as he was up and headed toward the back of the shuttle. I shook my head. I knew he had been itching to get to hold Priya. And it would have been selfish of me to get in the way, especially since I already had my own alone time with her.

Not that I’d planned that. Nothing with her had been planned.

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