Page 48 of Forbidden Desires

“We’re being hailed,” Amelia said. Her voice was soft and accepting.

“There’s no way we can take them all before they get in a lucky shot, even with both of us targeting them,” Rakha said.

“Amelia,” Zylar said. She brought up the communications and patched the other ship through.

“Amelia, I’ve missed you.” The male speaking was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He was no longer wearing expensive jeans and a baseball hat that kept everyone from getting a good look at him.”

Zylar responded, “You’ll address me and not my mate.”

“Aww, the healer. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” Vexar gave a small laugh. “We may have a problem. I’ve come for your mate, and you’re not listed on the invitation. Hear me out,” he said before Zylar could tell him to go to hell.

“All I want is Amelia and I’ll let you and your precious cargo leave safely with no Tan-ge intervention. I can’t stop you from searching for her. I encourage it. What is the life of the royal family worth? You may be able to destroy us, but I guarantee I’ll make sure you can’t reach Earth and every person on your shuttle will be dead before help can arrive.”

“No.”

“I wasn’t asking you. I was speaking to your mate. Don’t worry, from what I understand, when she dies, you’ll join her no matter where she is. Amelia?”

Amelia muted the stream. “I have to do this. It’s the only chance any of us get to live without him working in the background to take our lives.”

“Amelia.” She kissed him. “I’ve been learning to trust you, and now I need you to trust me. I don’t believe we were given a second chance at life to be cut down before we get a chance to live.”

Zylar pulled her into his arms. “I trust you,” he whispered into her neck.

He kissed her deeply. “I’ll be coming for you.”

“You better.” Amelia wasn’t steady on her feet when she unmuted the stream.

“Yes, but be careful what you ask for, Vexar. You might get more than you bargained for.”

He laughed. “You were always funny, Amelia.”

She blinked out of existence at the sound of Zylar’s roar.

Chapter Twenty-five

Amelia staggered. She was a little dizzy and everything was black, but she remembered what happened. That was a win in her book.

“Your vision will return in a few minutes,”Vexar said.

“Thanks for clearing that up.” Her snarky remark was meant to let him know his input wasn’t needed.

“If you weren’t such a convenient tool. Things could have been different between us.”

“You mean like they were between you and Stacey? What did that get her? Thanks, but I like being on the winning side.”

“Look where that got you.”

“Yeah, look.” She could finally see now. It was apparent that she was on a ship much larger than a shuttle. This could be a battle cruiser or a ship they used to haul their council around. Worse yet, it could be both.

The walls she could see were a dark gray, unrelieved in their darkness. There wasn’t a hint of gloss or satin to these walls.She wouldn’t even describe them as matte, they were simply an unyielding field of dark, boring gray.

“What happened? Did you guys run out of paint, or did you shrug your shoulders and go gray is good enough?”

The floors were gray, too. They were hard and cold, and her bare feet weren’t appreciating it. She revised her opinion this wasn’t a cruiser. It had to be a battleship.

“Vexar, I assume I’m on a battle cruiser.”

“Call me general.” Yeah, no way in hell was that happening.

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