Page 42 of Crave
Beforetheycould finish, the whole universe seemed to ignite.
The scanner control panel and the viewport blazed blinding white, and the shuttle blared an alarm that Kinsley’s translator couldn’t decipher quickly enough, as if the ship itself were freaking out. “Since when do illusions explode?”
“It appears the decoy wasn’t sufficiently compacted,” Sil reported in an aggrieved tone. “There were just enough combustible elements in the dust to act as an accelerant. Secondary explosions could catch across the entire belt.” The shuttle jolted as the pressure wave knocked them about. More alarms joined the choir of chaos.
“Definitely something to consider the next time we are fabricating a ghost to save our asses,” Kinsley said, struggling to match his composure. “Speaking of asses, how about we get ours out of here?”
“Scanners are down, visibility zero, and the proximity of the explosion impacted thrusters and stability. We’re too close to the densest part of this rubble field. Our hull would not withstand a collision of that magnitude. One wrong move…”
Damn. After being stuck all her life, she’d fled across galaxies just to get stuck again.
Lunging across the gap between their chairs, she grabbed one of his tusks and pulled him in for a deep kiss. She had good aim so she didn’t stab herself, but somehow she felt lanced all the way through.
This was a mistake, definitely a wrong move.
She stared into his pearly eyes. “If we can’t get out of this, then I want you to know what this adventure meant to me.” Throwing all the years of calculated caution aside, she clarified, “Whatyoumean to me.”
Still holding her, he loosened one hand to tuck back a wayward strand of her hair, the red dye faded like the rest of her disguising armor. “Whatdoyou mean? Maybe I need to tweak your translator. Perhaps you are suffering from a knock to the head after the explosion.”
“Shall I sing it for you?” She kissed him again, right between his slyly narrowed eyes. “I mean I love you. Can’t believe it, not all the way out here, with a big nerd like you. I loooooove yooooou!”
His long arm held her tight when the shuttle rocked again. “As you have become my light in the darkness.”
She stilled, except her heart which fluttered wildly. “Wait. Doyoumean…?”
“I mean, per my orc electrochemical biology and the cultural perspective of your particular Earther heritage, I love you too.”
She sighed. “Too bad we’re not going to make it out of here. Because loving you is the best mistake I’ve ever made.”
Though the scanners were still down, through the viewport, the burning dust flashed with tertiary explosions, like fireworks over their declaration.
ThePratorimfired again, trying to smoke them out, and the shuttle jolted. Too close. The plasma shine dazzled her eyes as she clung to Sil.
He clung back, except for one hand tweaking the controls. “There’s something…”
Out of the burning dust, a shadow loomed, crashing through the sullen phosphorescence in a bow wave of righteous fury.
“TheDeepWander!” Kinsley cried.
“Signal them,” Sil said. “I’ll fire what’s left of our thrusters to intercept.”
She twisted to the comm. “DeepWander, this is Sil and Kinsley! And Roxy! We’re here!”
Instantly honing in on their signal, thePratorimspun toward them, and the shuttle blared a warning of weapons lock. Ooh, how she wished her translator hadn’t understoodthat.
With nothing left to lose, Sil gunned the engines. The shuttle tumbled, seemingly out of control, and she bit back a shriek, her heart splintering with fear—and love.
Because Sil was vibrating with orc laughter as he aimed their headlong little ship at theDeepWander. The reverberations sent another shockwave through her, delight and outrage in equal measure.
“Youlikethis,” she accused.
“Not as much as I love you,” he shot back. “If I’ve aimed adequately, we should crash into the large bay. Good thing we didn’t have the funds to finish repairs after the last attack. Slamming into an intact bulkhead would be a waste of materials—and probably the end of us.”
She huffed in a desperate breath, the air feeling too thin to support her. Life support was failing.
Butshehadn’t failed. Not this time. She’d told him how she felt. And he’d said it back.
“I do love you,” she whispered.
