Page 26 of Tempting Jupiter
She heard the thud, thud, thud of shoes against decking as someone came toward them, moving fast. Her whole body tensed and her heart accelerated.
Seneca didn’t move. Still and calm, his hand slipped away. “It’s Jupiter.”
The bigger man appeared through a hatchway. He loomed over them, larger than she remembered. That wasn’t exactly true. She remembered him being large—it was just that her brain had been telling her he couldn’t beaslarge as she remembered. But he was. Large and alive and looking healthy. The mends she’d made seemed to be holding. The injuries were already starting to heal—miraculous. Soon they would just be two more scars on a body covered with them.
He frowned. “You must be in pain. Why are you awake?”
“I’m okay,” she fibbed. “I might even give standing up a try, if you’re willing to catch me if I start to fall on my ass.”
Jupiter stepped closer, scowling and Seneca moved out of the way.
Instead of pulling her up, Jupiter squatted down in front of her and kissed her forehead. The soft heat where he pressed his lips sent warmth through her core and then out to her extremities. When he leaned back his scowl had softened. “No sign of fever.”
“I’m okay.” She held his gaze and let the warmth he’d shared with her, beam back at him. “And I owe you my thanks. I mean, really, thank you.” She ignored the pain and smiled at him again. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s happening?”
She thought he might not answer, but after a moment and a glance to Seneca and back to her, he relented. “The door to this craft has closed. We’re trapped in here.”
She didn’t manage to keep the shock off her face. She could feel it lifting her eyebrows and tightening her face. “They know we’re here? No,” she asked and answered her own question, thinking aloud. “If they knew, they wouldn’t just close us in.”
“We don’t know what’s happening.” Jupiter wrapped a warming-blanket around her shoulders. “The ship rocked and the lights changed, and when I went back, the hatch had been closed.”
She closed her eyes to engage Bug. Dizziness engulfed her. She opened her eyes, desperate for some reference. Strong hands clamped around her biceps. She leaned into him. His body stiffened against her, but she needed his strength whether he liked it or not. “You missed an easy opportunity to kill me.” She muttered against his chest.
His hands tightened gently. “For Arena Dogs, easy is usually a trap.”
She laughed a single release of breath. “I need to lean on you for just a minute, okay? It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’m not exactly steady here, big guy.”
“I’m here,” he reassured with a soft, low rumble.
Feeona pressed her forehead against his chest and relaxed into his hold. She closed her eyes and checked Bug’s power reserves and sensors. Power was low, but Bug was still functional and right where she’d left it, clinging to a tangle of wires hanging out of a control panel on the flight deck. Through Bug’s vision, she could see the closed hatchway just as they’d said.
“What is she doing?” Sen spoke softly. “Did she lose consciousness again?”
“She is operating the remote device,” Jupiter explained. “She must concentrate to control the machine.”
There wasn’t enough power for Bug to take flight, so Feeona tried for a wireless hack into the ship’s systems. The baseline interface came up, but all she could get out of it was a systems lockout. She tried a back door into the power stats, a system that didn’t usually get a lot of protection.
“Bingo.” She spoke unintentionally, the word heartfelt but barely a whisper.
“What is bingo,” Jupiter rumbled.
Feeona welcomed the small surge of adrenaline that came with success. “Old Earth saying. Means I win or, in this case, I get into the computer system.”
“That’s good?” His question vibrated beneath her cheek.
She pressed more firmly against him, deciding she liked feeling his voice rumble up from his chest when he spoke.
The ship’s response came back with power consumption levels. She could have sworn theSalley Hohad been feeding the ship power, but there was no sign of any external power coming into the system now.
“Good? Yes,” she answered. “Just checking the logs for the past twenty-four hours.”
“What will that tell us?” He released his hold on her biceps and settled his arms around her. His warmth chased away her chill more effectively than the warming-blanket around her shoulders.
She reexamined the figures and her heart surged into her throat at the only possible explanation. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
“I need to get up to the flight deck.” The one-million things she hadn’t checked before she’d passed out flooded her tired brain. Like what ship systems were still functional. She pushed at Jupiter’s torso, panic and hope driving her to move, but he didn’t release her. He didn’t budge a centimeter.
Jupiter’s dark eyes fixed on hers. “Tell me.”
