Page 59 of Sol Survivor

He met her gaze, wanting to declare that her vow was his to fulfill, her debt his to settle, her future his to share.Instead, he nodded.“I believe you.Come, dress in your old garments.We will order fresh ones later.For now, we need to meet with Aehort and find your ship.”

“Could I have something to drink?”She pulled on her breeches and sleeveless tunic without her tiny strips of cloth.When she tugged on her boots, her breasts jiggled.He closed his eyes and offered his back as he summoned his armor while snapping on his boots.

“Yes.We will stop at the galley.”He held out his hand.

She slid hers into his without hesitation.Her hair fell across her shoulders, glowing in good health and appearing incredibly soft.Breaking his focus, he left his quarters and led her down the passages.

Nenn sat at the table opposite Gusin.They gawked, their meals forgotten.

“Vic, this is Giniiri aac Nenn Maed and Zuphayr aac Gusin Taed.”

She wiggled her fingers in a strange gesture and sat on the bench beside them.“Those are your names?”

Drafe laughed.“Your family name is last, our tribe name is first.Aac means from, and maed, taed, arrak, uz, and sava are ranks.”

Her tempting mouth formed an ‘oh.’He shuffled where he waited at the replicate, trying to ease his hardening koq, as if he hadn’t just enjoyed her.

“This is a military ship.”She studied their armor then chuckled.“You’re so colorful.Is there a significance to your red and blue hair and matching eyes?”She smiled at Drafe when he placed a jar of water in front of her and a plate of tulsig alongside browned strips of garak.

“Each tribe has a color.None know why.”Nenn grinned then tore into the fleshy part of his charred audinna—a variegated-yellow mushroom that grew inches above bubbling lava.“That’s the Giniiri in my name.”

“It also means from which clime we stem.”Gusin sucked on his thumb after he popped into his mouth his last bite of raw kurrula—meat from winged creatures Drafe had yet to see.“Giniiri is the volcano tribe.Zuphayr is where the sky meets the water.”

“And Meorri?”She picked up a tulsig with her fingers and bit into it.Groaning, she stared at the cake while she chewed.“This issogood.”

“Drafe is from the desert tribe.”Nenn pushed off the bench, gripped Drafe’s forearm, then left.

Drafe settled beside her, content to watch her eat.

“Vic.”Gusin offered his forearm.She blinked, licked her fingers, then clasped his arm as Nenn had done.

Drafe’s heartbeat stilled at the Qaldreth gesture to acknowledge a worthy warrior.Frowning, he stared after a disappearing Gusin.

“I like your friends.”

He glanced at her.“Warriors are not friends.We are brothers-in-arms.”

She shrugged.“Some you prefer more than others, though.”

In her eyes, they were his friends, but that term lacked depth.He would give his life for his males and they for him.What he hadn’t anticipated was how this adventure into the unknown had brought them closer.

She emptied her jar and pushed the plate aside.“Thank you.”

He rose, and so did she, trailing him.Perhaps it was insanity that made him sneak peeks at her.The door to Aehort’s quarters opened before he requested access.

“Welcome, Vic.It is a pleasure to see you again.I trust you are well?”Aehort smiled and gestured with a wide sweep of his arm to a chair.“Please, sit.We have much to discuss.”

“We do?”She sat and clasped her hands between her thighs.

“A few months ago, we discovered a pod heading for our planet, Ivoy.”Aehort tapped his chin.“I am an uz, a servant class, but since Drafe and I survived the pod exploding, killing all of our leaders and many Qaldreth warriors, the council tasked us to investigate the pod’s origins.”

Her gaze flew to Drafe.She studied him, as if she searched for an injury.At finding none, she knitted her brows.“You were hurt?”

Foq, he needed to touch her, to ease her concern.Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and let Aehort continue.She was here now.He would have plenty of time to adore her later.

Aehort tapped the closest screen, revealing the many ports and waystations they had visited.“All our questioning led to your planet, Vic.”

“What?”she squeaked.“Why would we send bombs in pods beyond the outer reaches of space?”She shook her head.“Humans are greedy.There isn’t profit in that.”

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