“Why…? How…? What?” I’m stunned, my mind taking too long to realize Fin is here. She’s here, in my arms. With me. Warmth spreads through my entire body at being able to hold her again. Then it’s quickly doused as I realize our situation. We’re on a ship that could fall apart at any moment, headed toward a monstrously large, heavily armed battleship that might just decide to blow us up or, best case scenario, arrest me the moment we dock. “You can’t be here.”
“I am here,” Fin replies. “You said you wanted me, so I’m here. Deal with it.”
Her words are final, but there’s an underlying insecurity in her tone, as if she’s doubting my feelings for her. “Fin, I want you, I do, but I want you safe, more. That is why I want you stay on Earth. But now you are here…” Pulling her closer, I capture her stubborn mouth in a kiss. This kiss is different to the one back on Earth, the one I believed to be our last. Instead of “goodbye”, this kiss is “hello”. It’s passionate and grateful and full of hope. Fin responds by plunging her tongue into my mouth, taking control, as if she needs to convince herself this is real as much as I do. My cock hardens from how tightly she’s pressed against me and, while I’d love nothing more than to take Fin right here on this floor, we have bigger problems.
As if on cue, the cockpit display starts beeping insistently. “Unidentified ship,” comes from the speakers, “you are in violation of the Non-Interference Directive. Identify yourself or be destroyed.”
Pulling away, Fin looks worriedly at the monitors. “That sounds like we’re in trouble.”
It’s probably for the best she can’t translate the obvious threat just issued by the UGC. “Yes. I need answer.” She’s hot on my heels as I return to the cockpit and hit the transmit button, praying to the winds that the humans fixed the comms. “This is Omni, former Voidstalker of the Nova Squad.” I rattle off my identification and security code. It’s invalid, but it should still be in their database. At the very least, it should make them interested in talking to me before opening fire. “I have urgent information for the commander of this blockade.”
“We’re detecting two life forms on board.”
“I have a human with me.” Wincing, I imagine the ruckus this admission has just caused. I’m happy to have Fin by my side, but she’s just increased my charges from trespassing to primitive species kidnapping. There’s no talking my way out of this. On the other hand… “She’s an innocent victim, which means you can’t shoot us down.” I’m certain that Garresh’s contact was about to do just that. Destroying my ship would be the ideal way to silence me and without Fin on board, the spy would suffer little more than a slap on the wrist for it, which means that Fin’s presence really is a blessing. “Send me the docking coordinates. I surrender.”
There’s a growl from the other side of the communication channel, but the person has no choice but to oblige. Once I’ve altered our course, I turn back to face Fin. Seeing my serious expression, she frowns. “Did I get you into more trouble by being here?”
“You just saved my life.” I’m not about to tell her about the increased charges, she’ll find out soon enough. “Listen, Fin. When we arrive, they arrest me.”
“But I can tell them—”
“Infinity,” I interrupt a little more abruptly than necessary, but I need her to understand the stakes. “We are in incredible danger. Both us. Theywillarrest me.” Winds, they might justshoot me, but let’s hope it won’t come to that. “No matter what happens, you need give information about Garresh.”
“Okay.” Determination shines through her watery eyes. “They won’t hurt you, though. Will they?”
“Fin, I am not important. I did not want you involved but now you are here, you need to do right thing. Stop Garresh. That is only important. Nothing more. Understand?” Her nod is a little hesitant, but I trust she’ll pull through. “You are innocent. You need to say that in front of people. Say you were kidnapped, you are innocent and you not give consent to memory wipe. That is important. You must say you not give consent in front of many witnesses.”
Her brows draw together to form a frown. “You think the traitor will try to silence us. Arrest you before you can talk to someone and have my memories wiped, so I can’t tell anyone about them.”
“So smart.” I kiss her forehead. “Yes. Exactly. Laws protect victims. If you say you are victim, traitor can’t touch you. You still have to be careful. They are dangerous. Very, very dangerous.”
“Okay,” Fin repeats. “I’ll inform them of the alien conspiracy, then I’ll get you out of jail. Piece of cake.”
I grin, my own eyes getting a little teary. Damn, how will I live the rest of my life without this beautiful and brave woman? “Yes. Piece of cake.” Because this is likely the last time I’ll get to see her without force fields separating us, I pull her into another kiss. A searing, passionate declaration of my love. Committing every inch of her delicious curvy body to memory, I hold onto Fin as if she’s the air that I breathe, intent on replaying this very moment over and over in my head during the life sentence I’m bound to get.
The screeching sound blaring from the autopilot interrupts our stolen moment, making me reluctantly pull away fromthe woman who would have become my mate under different circumstances. “I need to fly manually.” Nodding, Fin slips off my lap and settles into the copilot’s chair. Glancing at her one last time, I begin guiding the shuttle into the gaping maw of one of the battleship’s hangars. “Remember what is important, Infinity.”
Chapter 29
Fin
Omnisoundssosolemn.It’s like he’s saying goodbye forever and I don’t like it one bit. If he thinks I’m going to let him rot in some stupid alien jail for something he didn’t do, he’s gravely mistaken. I’m going to go full Erin Brockovich on these fuckwit aliens if they so much as touch him. I’m sure they have alien internet and tabloids and other outlets where dirty laundry is aired in front of an eager crowd. I’m normally the shy pushover, as evidenced by my many years spent being bullied by Mr. Robertson, but that time of my life is over. I’m in freaking space! Old, submissive, people pleasing Fin died back on Earthand now a new, stronger Fin is born. Or something. My normal weirdness gets a little extra weird when I’m nervous and, truth be told, I’m kind of freaking out right now.
We’re flying straight toward an Independence Day-sized spaceship, only less round and more Star Wars-y shaped. It’s…huge. Like, fucking huge! No wonder Omni said our little spaceship was an antique. It doesn’t even begin to compare to the futuristic, battle ready world-destroyer that awaits us. Massive gun turrets holding what I can only assume are some kind of sci-fi worthy cannons, stick out of strategic locations across the entirety of the ship, along with dozens of other attachments I have no name or description for.
We slowly enter the hangar through a freaking force field. The hangar is lined with smaller, deadly looking fighter jets. This thing could annihilate humankind in a matter of days without even trying. I know they’re supposed to be the good guys but my stomach still churns as Omni sets the ship down with a bone-rattling clunk.
As we head for the door release of this seriously old fashioned clunker, Omni eyes me seriously, reminding me of our goal. I know what I need to do, but I really wish we could do this together because I’m close to peeing my pants right now. These people might be the good guys, but they’re about to arrest the man I love and let’s not forget the cat amongst the pigeons. Garesh’s mole will likely try to silence us the moment we step out of the ship.
To my relief, there’s about a dozen armed aliens of all shapes and sizes waiting for us by the door. I mean, I’m not relieved to see a dozen huge aliens pointing guns at us, but Omni did say I needed to speak in front of as many witnesses as possible, and a dozen aliens seems like enough to ensure at least some of them are honest.
The second Omni steps outside of the shuttle, every weapon is aimed directly at him. Already anticipating this, Omni has his hands up in the air and immediately speaks in a language I don’t understand. I assume he’s surrendering verbally.
A tall four-armed asshole barks something at the guards. He’s clearly in charge of the welcome committee. Just from his tone and arrogant stance alone I’d swear he’s trying to convince them to shoot the clearly unarmed Omni. They look hesitant, one of the soldiers responding to the four-armed commander in that apologetically conciliatory tone I know so well. It’s the one you’d use when telling your boss that what he wants you to do is either impossible, illegal, or just incredibly stupid. God knows I’ve used that tone with Mr. Robertson a million times.
Omni tries to speak, but the commander angrily shuts him down. They then partake in an angry back and forth before the four-armed man snaps and pulls out his own weapon. Omni’s sentence is cut in half when an energy beam hits him and he crumples to the floor.
The guards’ gasps are drowned out by my scream. Ignoring the weapons still aimed at Omni, I lunge to his side, my hands sliding over his limp body, looking for injuries. There are none and he’s clearly breathing, so the beam must have been some sort of stunner. Regardless, it’s probably not the best form to stun an unarmed man who has openly surrendered because now the guards are looking at the commander warily. I guess we now know who Garresh’s inside man is. Wonderful.
