Page 389 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Akri

“We’ll be safe in here,” I assured Jenny as soon as I’d locked the door behind us.

I wanted to pull her into my arms, hold her tight, and kiss every single one of her hurts.

Instead, I rushed to the nearest computer access, hooking myself up to the system so I could bring down several of the hull breach bulkheads around our position.

I wanted to assure myself that she was all right, but the desire to protect her was stronger.

I couldn’t unhook either and give her my full attention, I had to monitor the situation, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to her while I did so.

“Come here. Did he hurt you anywhere?” I asked.

The image of Drameil holding his cane to the fine skin of her throat was burned into my brain; I’d never forget it.

She sat down on the floor next to me, her face pale beneath all of her adorable freckles.

She focused her hazel eyes on my face as she spoke, and I searched them for any hint of what she was feeling.

“I’m fine. He got away, Akri. That’s bad news, isn’t it?

” She looked worried and scared, which was uncommon for her; usually, adventure made her smile.

I couldn’t blame her for being scared now, this did look grim.

“I called my friends on the Vagabond. Ziame said they’d be here in thirty minutes.

I can keep them busy that long. Don’t worry—this adventure is almost over.

” I sighed. And then what? I’d failed at my primary mission.

I hadn’t found an answer to my control problems, and worse, Jenny made it sound like all people had these issues and that I just had to live with them.

I didn’t think I could live with the knowledge that I might lose my temper and hurt one of my friends, or Jenny.

Setting off an alarm in the belly of the Dart, I sent an approaching group of guards racing in the wrong direction.

I was good at this, good at being a computer.

When I returned to the Vagabond, that’s what I should do: upload myself to the ship’s computer banks again.

A pain so strong and sharp lanced through my chest that I had to reach up and clutch at my body. What was that?

Jenny’s hand reached up, curling around my thigh, her expression warm and concerned.

If I were a computer once more, I wouldn’t have this.

Jenny wouldn’t be my mate anymore, and I would no longer be able to touch her.

The horrifying thought struck me that I might not even feel for her any longer what I felt for her now—this all-consuming need to care for her, to be near her, and to see her smile.

I didn’t ever want to lose that feeling.

“Will you tell me the full story now? That Sythral thought I was the one calling the shots? That I was working together with a crimelord? What the heck was on that amulet?” Jenny’s questions pulled me from my thought spiral, and I focused as much of my attention on her as I could while still monitoring the ship to keep us safe.

Sinking to my knees, I turned so I could lean with my back against the wall.

My Liades stretched up over my shoulder to maintain my link with the console.

It was only now that I realized I’d locked us in a small office of some kind.

There was a tiny desk with some clutter on it, a wall with lockers, and the computer terminal I was currently accessing.

The space was small, utilitarian, and ugly, so this wasn’t a place that Drameil ever visited—more likely, the office of the captain or an officer.

“Forty years ago, Drameil was only just climbing the ranks as a criminal mastermind. One of his greatest ways to whitewash his money was Brake, the gladiator to whom this body belonged,” I said, gesturing down my body to indicate what I meant.

I didn’t go into detail about how Drameil had come to own Brake; that story was much too similar to Jenny’s for my peace of mind.

“He moved ranks quickly because he was very good at getting dirt on those above him,” I explained.

Jenny’s body was next to mine, but that didn’t feel close enough.

I picked her up and pulled her into my lap, and she happily let me do so.

I could see it by the smile on her beautiful face.

I felt better for having her in my arms, and I could finally give in to the urge to touch her everywhere and assure myself that she was unharmed.

“He blackmailed his way to the top? And that amulet was where he stored his dirt?” Jenny asked.

She was nestled with her head beneath my chin, her arms loosely wrapped around my neck.

The warm weight of her slender body in my lap settled me, erasing the rabid worry I’d felt when I woke up without her in that cell.

I nodded, briefly pulling myself away from the conversation to direct a few more troops away from our hiding spot.

“Affirmative. Blackmail is his game. He used Brake to store sensitive data on himself and others. Then Brake was stolen from him while he was in stasis, and Drameil has been waiting for that information to surface ever since.”

It must have been a loose end he had feared throughout his entire career as a crimelord.

The data on that amulet was now outdated, but some of the secrets he had gathered still had power.

Including, I’d learned, some of the double-crossed dealings Drameil had made when he started his career.

If it came out, it would bring the wrath of several current crimelords down on him; he couldn’t afford that when he was in such a tenuous position.

“And what happened to Brake?” she asked, not with any kind of accusation, but I felt a little guilty anyway.

I had no way to ask the former gladiator if I could even use his body.

I knew he was dead—his essence was gone when his brain had suffered too much damage in the broken stasis pod.

It would still have felt better if I could have asked his permission, although from what I’d learned of the gladiator, he truly had been a mean and violent type.

The arena had been less bound by rules back when Brake fought, and from all accounts I’d found, he had relished his fights and the glory he received after each win.

That’s why I worried so much that his violent tendencies still ruled me too.

When I explained that to Jenny, she smiled and shook her head.

“No way, that’s not true at all, Akri. You only fight when you have to, you don’t like it, and you’ve always come back to me. You are nothing like him. You are you.”

I tried to look at it from her perspective, for once not shutting out the possibility. If that was true, I had nothing to worry about, I could be her mate and a friend to the gladiators on the Vagabond. I wanted to believe that so badly, I could barely breathe for a moment.

Jenny held up a hand and started ticking things off on her fingers.

“You refocused in Drova’s bar when you realized I was in danger, and you got us out of there instead of staying to fight.

” She held up her pointer finger for emphasis, and I nodded in response.

That was true—I had pulled myself from the fight when I heard her scream.

“Then you fought those guys in the alley, remember them? You only did that to protect me, and I saw you. You incapacitated everyone except the one who hurt me.” I recalled that too; it had felt, at the time, like a compromise between two sides of me…

but it hadn’t been difficult to stay the course once I’d made that decision.

“Sinking in yet? Okay, how about this one?” She held up a third finger.

“You could have chased Drameil to punish him, but you stayed with me instead.” And with a shock, I realized I’d pulled myself back from charging into that room without a plan.

I’d calmed my battle rage despite Jenny’s dire predicament and approached the situation rationally.

She was right, I did have more control than I thought I had.

All for her. I was feeling more strongly, but she also motivated me to do better.

Curling my arms tightly around her middle, I covered her mouth with mine.

“Okay, mate, you convinced me.” She kissed back eagerly, rising to her knees to press closer.

I took the opportunity to slide one hand down along her spine, feeling each gentle bump that protected the core of her.

Then I cupped her softly curved rear, and my cock responded by eagerly rising in my pants.

“I believe,” I panted between kisses, “that on Earth, it is customary to ask a lady to marry?” She pulled back in surprise, her hazel eyes huge in her freckled face.

“So, will you marry me, Jenny?” When she didn’t immediately answer, I wondered if I’d done that wrong and scrambled to recall the custom again. Was I missing something? A ring!

I didn’t have any rings on me, but I picked up her left hand regardless and stroked a finger along the appropriate one on her hand.

“I’ll get you a ring,” I rushed out. “And cake. And a wedding dress… uh. And a minister,” I added, listing the things my mind had come up with that you needed for a wedding.

My right Liades swung down over my shoulder, the tip curling around her ring finger in an imitation of a ring.

She was smiling and shaking her head as she did so.

I didn’t understand what that meant—was she saying no?

Or was she saying yes, but objecting to one of the things I listed?

Her right hand closed around the tentacle I had wrapped around her finger.

“I don’t need all that, Akri. I just need you at my side, sharing these crazy adventures with me. I love you, and that’s good enough.”