Page 107 of Cosmic Captain

I dropped my head to his shoulder, shaking. Vince ran his hand through my hair. He conjured the song we’d made back on Inogga together. The wordless tune slipped into me, and my thoughts followed along. The longer he hummed, the more I relaxed.

My Vince was soothing me with my own inner fire.

After a few minutes, he led me out of the shower and into the bedroom. Without a word, he undid my uniform, tossing it inthe laundry chute, then he rubbed a towel over my hair. I could detect a slight tremor in his hands.

Grabbing one, I kissed his palm. “I’m sorry, my Vince. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” he replied. “Was this because I jerked off?”

“No,” I said, “though I did feel it.” I kissed his palm again. “You seemed to enjoy yourself.”

I earned a smile. “I did.” Vince brushed his thumb over my lips. “I thought about you.”

Even though I’d known that, his words made warmth flood my soul. I nuzzled his forehead, spreading my scent. Even that small claim helped settle me.

“What scared you?” Vince asked, stealing all the heat and comfort.

Slowly, keeping my eyes on his, I stepped closer to Vince until I was pressed against him. He wound his arms around my waist, holding me. The feel of his wet skin flush against my scales soothed something deep within me. My mate. I needed him. It scared me how much I did. I could hardly believe how important he had become in such a short amount of time, but he had and there was no arguing against it.

“I received a note from the commandant of the Drakcon Navy,” I said.

“Oh?”

I burrowed my face in his neck. Time was running out for us, and one day soon the cool feel of him in my arms would be a distant memory unless Vince chose me.

“Sweetheart, talk to me.” Vince held the back of my head, fisting my hair.

“She’s ordering me back to the Immortal Planet. She wants me to drop you all off at the next Drakcon space station and leave. You will all stay there until theAdmiral Vencan come get you.”

“What?” Vince asked, thoughts spiraling so fast I couldn’t catch a single one.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Two days.”

Vince wrapped his other arm around me, practically scaling me as he plastered himself against my chest. “No.”

“I can’t refuse, Vince,” I replied in a broken voice.

I understood why Garqixren wanted me to return to the Immortal Planet. A portal had opened near it, and sensors indicated something had crashed onto the surface. The planet had moved further out of phase, not allowing us to get a true reading, but the navy wanted the planet guarded and studied. It was important—but so was Vince.

“No,” Vince merely said again. Disbelief, anger, fear, possessive need, and a far stronger and fiery emotion filled him. If I was bold enough, I would call it love, but Vince had never thought, let alone said he loved me, nor had I to him.

Stroking his back, I continued, “I won’t return before theAdmiral Venleaves for Earth. There’s no way. The Immortal Planet is on the edge of our territory, and no one will relieve me so soon.”

His grip tightened, almost painfully so. “No,” Vince snapped. “No.”

I didn’t know if he could find another word in his shock, but I had nothing else to say. When Vince calmed, I’d ask him to choose me, but I had little hope that he would. Why would he choose me over his home and his desire to forget? The answer was: he wouldn’t.

With Vince in my arms, I lay down, keeping my mate close. My duty could wait, my responsibilities could wait, everything could wait until I was sure my Vince didn’t need me any longer.

Chapter 37

Decisions.

Dontilvynsan lay on the bed across from me. He’d fallen asleep well before I had. We’d spent the day together, regardless of his duties, which he really shouldn’t have ignored. But he hadn’t left, merely passed the responsibilities off. Of course I hadn’t encouraged him to leave, even though I probably should have. I hadn’t been able to let him go, though. I’d had to physically hold onto him, utterly terrified. The panic was so strong, even now, that I couldn’t bear him out of my sight.

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