Page 9 of Wrapped in Their Arms

“Right between us.You’llbe safest here,” he assured her.

“Okay…”Noellemurmured, settling into the seat.Theharness was complicated—five separate straps, all crossing between her thighs and over her chest.Shefumbled awkwardly for a moment untilBrightleaned in to help.

“Let me,” he murmured.

His hands were deft and careful, not lingering, but there was no way to ignore the heat of his fingers brushing her inner thighs while he adjusted the strap between her legs.

Noelle shifted slightly, feeling embarrassed when she remembered her damp panties and wishing she’d worn jeans instead of a skirt.Butto his credit, theLightTwindidn’t take advantage.Heonly did what was necessary to strap her in… though his smile said he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“There,” he said.“Allset.”

He sat down beside her and clicked his own harness into place with quick, practiced moves.

“All right,Burn—we’re ready.”

“About fucking time,”Burngrowled, not taking his eyes off the navigation panel.“Youknow it takes a fuck-load of power to fold space and the longer we wait, the more energy we waste.”

Bright leaned over to whisper inNoelle’sear, his breath warm against her skin.

“Don’t worry about him—he’s just grumpy because he doesn’t believe this is really going to work.Hethinks there’s no way we can actually form aTwin-Bond… butIhave faith.”

Noelle blinked in surprise.Sheturned to look atBurn, who kept his eyes forward.

“I can hear you, you know,” he said flatly.“Andyou’re right—Idon’tbelieve this is going to fucking work.”

“Then why are we going?”she asked, honestly confused.

Burn sighed, the sound low and rough.

“BecauseBrightis my friend—the best oneI’veever had.Soif he wants to try something impossible, who amIto stop him?”

TheDarkTwin’swords hit her.Hard.

SoBurndidn’t believe in the prophecy or the mission—but he was still coming along.Hewas doing all this because he cared forBright.Thatsaid something aboutBurn, who seemed so gruff and growly on the outside, and it made her heart ache in a way she hadn’t expected.

But she didn’t have much time to think about it because then the ship shuddered softly and lifted off.Theview through the front viewscreen shifted as they rose upwards in theMotherShipand then out of the atmosphere bubble, going from metal hull to starry sky.

Noelle gasped at what she saw.

There was a horizontal slash in the blackness of space, wider than theMotherShipitself and red as fresh blood.Itshimmered like a wound in the universe—glowing…pulsing.

“That’s theFold,”Burnsaid, glancing at her.“Theconnection between this galaxy and the one whereTherimFiveorbits.”

“It looks like…”Noellecouldn’t quite find the words.“Likesomeone tore the universe open.”

“Don’t worry—it looks scary, but it’s painless to fold space,”Brightassured her.

“Unless you’re pregnant,”Burnadded, eyeing her sidelong.“You’renot, are you?Becausefolding space is bad for a baby.”

“Pregnant?”Noellenearly choked.“No—there’s no wayIcould be pregnant.Ihaven’t even had sex in…”

She trailed off, her cheeks going crimson.

“Since when, my lady?”Brightasked gently.

“Never mind.”Sheshook her head, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.Whyhad she said such a thing?“There’sno chanceI’mpregnant.Let’sjust leave it at that.”

What shedidn’tsay was that her ex had never wanted sex unless it hurt her.Thatwas why she fantasized about something different…something gentle and slow.Bransonhad never wanted tenderness or connection—he wanted control and more than anything, he loved to make her cry.Whenhe’d finally declared that she was “too fat and too old” to be desirable anymore and had stopped sleeping with her altogether, she’d been incredibly relieved.