Page 19 of Two Aliens Are Better Than One (Bodyguards in Space #1)
Chapter 18
Lucky
I trudged down to the science labs with all the excitement of a kid headed to detention, caught up in Vaelu’s words and the pictures he’d painted in my mind. Relzo wanted me to stay, to focus on what would serve my career. Vaelu wanted me to come with them. And what did I want? I tried to do some deep soul-searching, to sort my career ambitions from the emotional tangle of wanting the two men. Between the lack of sleep and the emotional stress of the night I was going to be useless at work, but I was there anyway. Why? Was it because Relzo wanted me to follow my dream to pursue my academic passion?
And just like that, the answer was clear as day. I didn’t want to lose this career opportunity, but I’d always have science. I could always get involved in interesting research, even if it wasn’t a project of this magnitude. Relzo and Vaelu, on the other hand, well, I was pretty sure I’d always have them, too. But Relzo, and by extension, Vaelu, would suffer every moment that I was away from them, and that thought hurt far more than a career hiccup ever would. So what if I got a bad reference? I could work through that. I had years of academic experience and mentors and research work under my belt. Leaving one project for personal reasons wouldn’t destroy my career. The more I considered it, the more I was fortified in that belief.
“Why are you here?” Jaia’s voice surprised me, and I turned, frowning at her.
“Um, it’s a workday, isn’t it?”
She shook her head, walking over closely. “Vaelu Cherai and his big sexy Zangrel are fleeing the space station and you’re here, logging on to your computer to do work?”
I blinked, tilting my head, trying to make sense of her words. Big sexy Zangrel? She thought Relzo was sexy? “What are you saying?”
“I know. I know you’re part of their triad. You three weren’t exactly subtle. But why wouldn’t you leave with them?”
“Relzo thinks I should focus on my career. This research project.”
She burst out laughing. “Darling, your career is fine. Go be with your men.”
“But the project…”
“We’re in the documentation stage now. You can help me analyze data and write up the research from anywhere. And I’m sure you can find another position. You’re brilliant and have an incredible understanding of the science, and a unique way of approaching questions.”
My mind was reeling. My boss had never said something like this to me before, never really showed emotion. “I didn’t think you liked me.”
“What made you think that? Listen, I’ve been going through some things, and I apologize if it made me a little cranky.” She lowered her voice, looking around. “I have an illicit love affair of my own. This xenophobic law that prohibits us from relationships outside of our own species is ridiculous.”
“What?” I whispered. “I’m going to need the details on this.”
“Later. For now, you’d better pack and get to the shuttle bay. I heard a rumor that the Velasu Council is going to arrive early and try to surprise and arrest the Zangrel for his transgressions.”
“Relzo?” I whispered, standing up, my heart pounding.
“Go,” Jaia said, giving me a little shove. And I did, taking off at a sprint, laughing as I passed an uptight Chokreini woman who yelled something at me about running in the space station corridors. I didn’t care. I called Nela along the way, letting her know what was happening, and by the time I got to my apartment she had a bag packed for me.
“I’ll pack up the rest. You need to run, girl,” she said, handing me the wheeled suitcase. “Your computer and comm are inside, with your passport and everything else you’ll need to go on the lam.”
“I’m not going on the lam,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Quick. Mags messaged that she and Connor are docked, so you need to be there before the bad guys get there. I didn’t pack you very many clothes, because I don’t imagine you’ll need them.”
I laughed, hugging my sister. “I love you, little sister, even the crazy bits. Maybe you’ll find love with your sex therapist.”
“I’m not looking for love, just dick, you psycho!” she yelled down the hall after me. A Chokreini woman gasped, and a tall Araced man went completely still, then turned around and walked the other way. Just like my sister to offend the natives.
And then I was running again, weaving back towards the tram-lift and pushing onto an overcrowded car, to the grumbles of some of its passengers. Well, they could fuck off. I had a man to save. The tram-lift seemed to take forever, and by the time the doors hissed open at the shuttle bay the Amnaethal was already docked. Vaelu and Relzo were nowhere in sight, but flashing lights indicated that a new ship was incoming.
An incoming ship must be the Council, here to make a fuss about their most powerful telepath. I skidded to a stop outside the shuttle bay the Amnaethal was docked at, entered the door code, which had been the same for as long as I could remember, and stumbled onto the ship, dragging my bag behind me. Something warm rushed through me as the familiar scents and sounds of the old ship surrounded me. I tapped a hand on the door frame for luck, the well-worn spot smoothed by thousands of similar gestures. This ship had been home to my friends and family for the past ten years, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed home until Mags came around the corner, smiling widely.
She was human, and a petite little Asian-American firecracker of a woman, who’d moved to Merax when she was a teenager. She launched herself at me, hugging me tightly. “Lucky! We gotta go, bad guys incoming. Your boys are in Relzo’s old room.”
“They’re okay?”
“They’re okay. And we’re not letting those assholes onto the Amnaethal. We’ve got all the usual tricks in place, and Connor’s piloting. There’s no one who can outrun him on this ship,” she said, patting the lucky spot on the door frame. Connor was another human refugee, one of the first friends I’d made on Merax and one of the best pilots I’d ever seen. He flew risky missions for our parents’ somewhat questionable business ventures.
“Do you need my help to prepare for launch?”
“Nope. Get to your men.” Her eyes twinkled as she spoke. “Who would have thought our nerdy little scientist would be in a ménage relationship?”
“Shut up,” I said, shaking my head, then turning down the familiar hallway that led to Relzo’s old room, thinking about the time I’d spent on this ship over the years fondly as I pushed the door open and stopped at the sight of them. They both looked up, startled, slightly guilty expressions on their faces. Because they were naked, and pressed together.
“Oh, thank god,” Vaelu murmured. “He wouldn’t stop shaking, and he asked me to give him his favorite fantasy, the one where he’s a mindless fuck-toy. I think the best thing would be to have you skin-to-skin with him, so he knows you’re here. I’ll pull him out of it.”
I smirked. “That was your solution?”
“Better than dealing with his intense reaction to possibly losing you.” He kissed Relzo’s forehead then his lips, and whispered something that might have taken Relzo out of his trance. Relzo blinked, his vision clearing.
“Vael, I’m not ready,” he murmured, but then he spotted me and a huge smile spread across his lips. “You came? You came for us?”
“Funny thing, I got to work and my boss told me I was being an idiot.”
“Because you were,” Vaelu said.
“But I would have come anyway. I was trying to think about what I should say to resign, when she walked in and told me to go.”
“Well,” Vaelu said, grinning. “Perhaps you’d better get naked.”
“He means to say we love you,” Relzo said, eyes warm. He reached for me, cupping my chin. “That I’ve always loved you.”
“Why spend so much time avoiding me, then?”
He hesitated. “At the time I thought it was because it would be best for you, but now…” He glanced at Vaelu. “Vaelu showed me what it was like to really have someone, and that made me greedy for more I guess. Maybe it was destiny. I needed him to help me understand how much I needed you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Vaelu muttered. “Destiny is a crock of shit.”
“Says the guy who’s always talking about how insanely well we fit together,” Relzo tossed back, grinning. I couldn’t resist climbing between them, feeling the luscious comfort of skin-to-skin contact with the men who had quickly become mine.
The lovemaking was slow and tender, lasting for hours, and I couldn’t get enough of them. I wanted them again and again, filling up every part of me and making me whole.
Though I was curious about this mindless fuck-toy fantasy.