Page 22

Chapter Thirteen

B ritt awoke to the sensation of floating.

She’d read a book to Lily who drifted off to sleep with the ease of a carefree child.

After this day, Britt longed to be as unburdened.

She’d showered, donned a baggy T-shirt she’d ordered from the replicator, then climbed into bed beside Lily.

Self-recriminations, solutions, and what-ifs circled her mind.

She blinked her eyes open, trying to stay awake.

Nerx could come by at any moment to say he’d found her mom.

But now, he carried her out of Lily’s room and into his.

“Nerx,” she whispered, cuddling into his warmth. “Any news?”

In the minimal lighting, his expression didn’t soften. “The comms are not reliable. We managed to transmit some data, but cannot get a response. Aldur and Matir’s O.D.I.s are active which is hopeful.”

“O.D.I.?” Using his shoulders as leverage, she pulled herself up to meet his gaze.

He settled her on his bed. “Let me cleanse, then I will answer all of your questions.”

She slumped. How long would that take? But having showered herself, she’d let him do the same. The hot water and a good cry had gone a long way to calming her. Not to mention giving her perspective. She scrambled to the replicator for a blanket. Then around him she darted to sprawl on his bed.

He watched her, his eyes narrowed, his focus sharp.

Without a word, he disappeared into his bathroom.

She lay back, snuggling deeper under the blanket while musing over what he’d revealed so far.

If the data reached his king, the armada would be en route.

If it didn’t, they were still weaving around rocks, hoping the battleship didn’t shoot them or worse, vanish.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat then sucked in shuddering breaths, willing the tears pressing behind her eyes to stay away. Mom would be fine. She’d have an adventurous story to tell, one they could all laugh about. For now, Britt only had to live through this agonizing uncertainty.

The blower came on, announcing Nerx would join her soon.

He appeared all too soon, wearing one of those bathrobes.

Shit. She pinched her lips together so she wouldn’t gawk.

The deep ‘V’ of the neckline showed way too much of his sculpted chest. And with his hair undulating around him, his electric blue gaze on her, the blanket became a little too warm.

He settled on the far end of his bed, his leg half-extended.

The robe parted from shin to mid-thigh, highlighting muscles she wished she knew the names of.

Mom would know.

“The two females you stunned are—”

“Females?” Britt dragged her gaze off his fine physique.

“Yes, they are female, these Viqrians.”

“Is that what they call themselves? But didn’t the purple dude have no hair?” She waved a dismissive hand. Women could have any hair style they wanted. “Never mind that, do you know what they wanted?”

“Primary Shioll…” His lips twitched into a smirk. “The purple ‘dude’…wanted Etteria…as in the planet. Failing that, to meet King Xeus, no doubt to kill him and assume his position.”

“Shit.” Britt fixed her gaze on Nerx’s eyes and no lower. Well, she tried to. Damn, did he look lickable. “Just up and ask for a planet? That takes balls.”

He chuckled. “I suppose so. What is curious is that they have yet to send fighter craft after us or to fire a cannon. Nor have they commed us again. If they did not have my males and your mother, I would have headed to Etteria posthaste.”

“So we’re like an unruly child waiting to see what our punishment will be?” She sat up, letting the blanket pool in her lap and the chilly interior of his room cool her. “So, what’s an O.D.I.?”

He touched his wrist, summoning holographics.

“An implant powered by your body’s internal energy and with a path to your brain.

It is how I know Earth English.” He dipped his chin to his chest. “It is protocol for all women to receive one. And you would have, either today or tomorrow. I just never expected this mission to go to hell so quickly.”

She patted his shin, the closest part of his body to her. It was rock-solid. “Why would an O.D.I. make a difference?”

“We can lock onto it and port you.”

Her mouth fell open. “Thus saving my mom. Shit .” She gazed across his room, her thoughts in a whirl. “And you aren’t porting Aldur or Matir because of my mom?”

Nerx nodded. “If she was touching Aldur, she would port as well.”

That explained how they’d arrived on the ship without having an O.D.I. “Except you don’t know if she’s near him.”

“Nor is the signal strong enough to avoid mishaps, otherwise I would port a male across to bring them back.” A pulse ticked at the base of his clenched jaw.

He’d considered every avenue, something she was so grateful for.

From Nerx’s wrist, Ziot’s voice filled the room, a little tinny but recognizable. “I have reached Adviser Kanzo. King Xeus commanded all nearby battleships to rendezvous at our co-ordinates. He is en route in the Celeeri .”

Nerx tapped his O.D.I. “My thanks, Ziot. Take turns finding your rest. Who knows when next we will have the time.”

“As you command, Supreme Commander.”

Britt grinned. “This is good news, right?”

“It is.” He fisted the edge of the blanket and tugged, peeling it off her legs. “Do you wish to return to your quarters?”

She wasn’t sure if his voice was huskier, but the way it stroked over her senses made her shiver.

Or it could be the cool air hitting her bare legs.

She didn’t want to be alone now, not with this hanging over their heads.

Hours-ago-Britt would’ve jumped his bones like it was nobody’s business.

The new her was taking their relationship a little more seriously.

She opened her mouth to say yes. “No.”

Her heart thudded in her chest, trying to escape the sex-mad-and-desperate-for-affection she’d become.

He studied her, not revealing his thoughts, nor putting her at ease.

She squirmed, torn between self-consciousness and the heat pooling between her thighs.

A part of her wanted to know what he was thinking; the other part savored the brooding intensity he leveled on her.

“Leave your hair down,” she said, running a gaze over the swirling mass.

His fingers were hot when he circled her ankle.

With a yank, she sprawled backward, blinking at the ceiling like an idiot.

She glanced at him crawling over her, his robe still on.

With his hair caressing her skin and his face hidden, she couldn’t read his expressions or intentions.

Something soft touched the skin behind her ankle, along her calf, then tickled her behind her knee. Her leg jerked, spreading her thighs.

His head whipped up. He locked gazes with her even as his breath hitched. His nostrils flared. “ Ensa ,” he rasped, his focus dipping to where the T-shirt had ridden up, exposing her sex.

Heat exploded across her cheeks at what he must perceive as a blatant invitation. She tried to close her knees but trapped his hand between her inner thighs.

“Oh, no, you do not,” he said, flashing her a smirk. “The scent of you drives me to taste you.”

She gulped back a gasp. He hadn’t just said that. Unfurling his fingers, he stroked her, inches from the pulsing need. She wanted to whimper when he ran a featherlight touch up her outer thigh with his other hand.

He caught the hem of her T-shirt. “Lose this.”

If she obeyed, there was no going back. This would be consummating the Ethera thingy, and right now, with the endorphins flooding her body and her mind on vacay, she could see nothing wrong being stuck with Nerx.

She didn’t hesitate, not one to consider the consequences.

In this case, the new her had warned her, even if it was briefly.

Her fingers trembled when she peeled the T-shirt off, tossing it on the floor beside the bed.

Her nipples puckered, pulling tight enough to shoot sensations to her core.

He took in his fill, admiring every inch of her from her face to her sex, lingering for long moments on her cheeks and breasts. Again, his eyes burned with something dark and potent. He lunged, catching the backs of her thighs on his shoulders and pushing her knees up.

She laughed but swallowed it when he ran his tongue over her sex. “That feels…so good,” she hummed, burying her fingers in his affectionate hair.

He growled, then latched his mouth over her clit, devouring her. She arched off the bed, the sensations too intense with every flick of his tongue.

“Your taste is better than I remember,” she thought she heard him say.

It hurt her brain to think, so she dismissed his mumbled words and succumbed to the ecstasy coursing through her.

He had a masterful tongue, lapping and circling, then thrusting into her.

She whimpered, her world spinning. Squeezing her eyes shut only focused everything that defined who she was on what he made her feel.

Then it slammed into her. She let go, falling off the edge of sanity into the abyss of bliss. “Nerx,” she cried out and splintered, uncaring what he saw when she came apart.

As she descended from the best euphoric high she’d had in ages, a movement of air caught her attention. He’d stepped back and slipped off the robe, showing her that her imagination couldn’t match reality.

Shit . He was perfect with those broad shoulders, bulging biceps and pecs into a ripped torso to…

. Her core thrummed in anticipation. His cock, so hard, was bronzed with a darker base, and hairless which made visible the ridges along its length.

She almost threw her legs wide and declared he was free to take her.

“Britta, ensa , now is the time to leave…if you have changed your mind.” He kneeled on the bed, his body taut, as he waited for her decision. Not once did he reveal how he’d feel if she up and left him. Honor, Aldur had called it.

“I’m staying,” she said.