“You don’t need to come with if you have other things you—”
“I choose to follow you.”He smirked.She had no idea how true that was.
Her breath hitched.She said no more, just angled her head, listening to beeps.
“Do you know where to go?”he asked, wishing he could help her, but the cursed passage was too narrow for side-by-side.
“No, but Computer can take me there,” she said, tossing a smile at him over her shoulder.
He said no more.
Chapter Fifteen
WhenTinyenteredherex-captain’s room, Themba was sobbing.She’d had to override security to gain access.
“Captain,” she said, with no response.
“Someone has died,” Nenn whispered from her right; his presence like an immovable wall.“A vid is playing on the wall.”
“Oh.”Now, Vic’s hesitancy made sense.He’s not well, she’d said.Pain had been in her voice.Maybe she’d known the person who’d died?
Tiny tapped the injection gun, choosing a mild tranquilizer.But when she took a step to where the crying came from, Nenn grabbed her hips and swung her, pinning her to his body.
She gasped and clung to him, her mind blank.
“There is debris on the floor,” he said, his breath hot against her temple.
Beneath her fingers was solid muscle.Red hair and eyes?She liked the sound of that.And the texture of his skin was a mixture of warm suede and velvet.How could he be walking around shirtless in cold space?The thomp-thomp of his boots on the grated flooring said he wasn’t fully naked, but still.While drawing in deep breaths to calm her erratic heartbeat, she pressed her temple to his chest.His scent filled her nose—sunbaked rock and metal.
“Thank you,” she croaked.“Lead me to him, please, or press this gun to his neck.”
Nenn shifted back but gripped her elbows.Then his touch was gone, along with the gun she’d squashed between her palm and his arm.
The swish of the injection ended the crying, no doubt surprising the catatonic captain.Sniffles then silence consumed the room.
“Computer, status?”she asked, reaching out a hand for Nenn.
When he grasped her fingers, something fluttered inside her: a sense of permanency, hope, promise… Whatever it was, it took all her concentration not to dwell on it.
“Heartbeat stabilizing.”
“Take me to him,” she asked Nenn.
Up he lifted her, summoning a squeak from her.He wrapped his arms just under her butt, leaving her clutching his shoulders.Before she could chastise him, her feet touched down.He released her, and the sweep-clink from the floor told her he brushed things aside for her.
Against her knees was the hard edge of a bed.She patted the air until she met Themba’s hair.Under her fingertips, she registered dehydration, no doubt worsened by alcohol—he reeked of it.What she’d given him would help him sleep and wouldn’t be affected by anything he’d consumed.Maybe in the morning he’d feel better?
“Computer, monitor him, and notify me if anything changes.Please lead me to the med bay.”A beep sounded to her left.
Hot fingers laced with hers, and with a gentle tug, Nenn drew her toward it.“Computer, deactivate the vid.”
At his thoughtfulness, she smothered a smile.She trailed him, happy to do so.Just because he was a medic wasn’t a good enough reason to blindly trust him.Yet, he’d healed her, stayed with her, and been nothing but kind.No way would she entertain the thought that he did all this to get into her pants.
She shivered and ignored her nipples puckering in anticipation.No, she wouldn’t seduce the man, nor would she broach the subject.She’d waited, bided her time, hoped Dieter would make the first move.How quickly she’d forgotten the lessons learned from her promiscuous past.An interested man would move mountains.One who didn’t care wouldn’t even bother to get to know her.
And she wanted it all: a knight who swept her off her feet, seduced, cherished, and…loved her?Finding that for a normal woman was hard, but for her, unable to read expressions, she was at a disadvantage from the get-go.
“My chessboard’s the last thing I need to pack,” she said when the familiar smell of her med bay surrounded her.
