Page 49 of Fated to the Dragon Alien
“I know.” He kissed her again, just a brush this time. If a ship hit them now, Stavian thought, it wouldn’t matter—because holding her like this was everything.
Cerani shifted against his side. She propped herself up on one elbow and gazed down at him. Her golden eyes had sharpened despite the haze of what they’d just done. “Stavian?”
He turned his head slightly, still curled around her, with one wing slung over them like a shield. He had a feeling the basking in afterglow part of the cycle was over. “Yes?”
She brushed damp hair off her face, her voice thoughtful. “You said you had a plan. To get us out of here. To get the miners out.” Her eyes fell to his chest and back again. “Tell me. All of it.”
Stavian looked up at the sky-glass above them and let out a slow breath. Then he looked back at her. “I began preparations for our escape two cycles ago,” he said quietly. Across the long, bloodstained stars above them, the countdown had already begun.
Cerani sat up fully, the blanket slipping down to her hips. “Tell me everything.”
FOURTEEN
Cerani
Cerani didn’t feel different. Not in the way she’d expected. She didn’t emerge from Stavian’s passion with glowing warmth or a ring of clarity wrapped around her thoughts. She just felt…loved. Valued. Powerful. Her hands trembled when she thought about the way he’d touched her, how he loved her with such apparent ease that expressing it was as simple as breathing. It was getting easier for her. She’d told him she loved him without hesitation. She’d let herself feel it, open and full, and the words had tumbled out. She hadn’t even tried to stop them. She never would again.
But that moment was over. The time for softness was gone, buried under the pressing reality of escape and survival. Her heart still ached with the echo of it, but her fists had closed again. There was no room for tenderness in what came next. She loved him, yes. But right now, she needed to think like the female she was in the mines—scrappy, sharp, and out of time. Because reality had returned. And their past wasn’t chasing them.
It had arrived. Tell me everything.
Stavian sat up. He rested his back on the headboard, with his wings stretched out on either side. He maneuvered her so she was tucked against his side with a wing to her back. It was thick and leathery. She’d never felt so protected.
“Every cycle I continue to file reports on ore yields and track losses,” he said. “Routine. Just as I’ve always done.” His voice dropped, slower now. “That keeps Central Axis from looking too close. As long as the numbers are steady, they don’t send review teams.”
“I figured,” she said. “Miners weren’t cycled out or put offline. The medics just let me leave with you. You’ve been buying time. Planning.”
Stavian smiled—but not like he was proud. More like he was pleased she’d noticed.
“And you’ve been watching,” he said.
“Of course I’ve been watching,” she said. “I’m not going to sleepwalk through my own escape. So, go on. Tell me the rest of it.”
He hesitated. It was only a second, but she caught the flicker in his eyes. He was about to lay something out that would lock them both into a path that couldn’t be erased—one he needed her to carry as much as him. “After that tunnel collapse, the review teams will come. We need to go before they arrive.”
Of course they were coming.
Cerani tapped a finger against the edge of the table. “How long until they get here?”
“Soon,” he said. “Six cycles, maybe less.”
She heard the edge in his voice: Probably less.
She sat forward. Here was the big question. The one that had plagued her from the start. “How do we get out of here?”
He got up out of bed, walked across the room gloriously nude, and came back with a datapad. After settling beside heragain, he activated the screen. At first, it was blank. Then a ship schematic glowed soft orange and silver across the display.
“I cut this device off from the Axis network,” he said. “It’s not being tracked. This is the ESS Mirka. Mid-range transport.”
She leaned in. “That’s in the docking bay now?”
“Yes. I assigned mechs to it for a full maintenance last cycle.” He rotated the schematic. “No one’s questioning it. The cargo bay can easily be retrofitted for more sleeping quarters. It has a basic shield and weapons array. It’s not fancy, but it’s fast enough and structurally sound. I can operate it myself, but I’m hoping to form a crew from miners with past ship experience.”
Cerani stared at the layout. She knew nothing about starships, but this one looked big enough. It had a long, stacked design with two cargo levels and four thrusters. Her heart thudded once. “You’re going to fly us all out from under the nose of a full Axis surveillance grid.” It wasn’t a question, but she needed him to confirm this. It sounded impossible.
“Yes,” he said.
She didn’t blink. “How many passengers can it hold?”
