Page 44 of Hijack!
Fisting his fur, she levered herself to her knees. “At least we have a chance now.”
“A chance for wha—?”
Threading her fingers through his whiskers, she crashed her mouth down over his.
With him sitting and her on her knees, they were mouth to mouth. And this moment deserved a victory kiss. They’d stopped their runaway ship, and they would figure out the rest too. She’d overcome her fears, both real and imagined, andshedeserved this kiss.
As he wrapped his powerful arms around her and raised them to their feet, Felicity swore to herself she’d always find a way to stand up nottohim—he was still her captain, after all—butwithhim. They’d get through the rest of this haunted cruise together.
When he settled her lightly on her boots, arms still entwined, she gazed up at him. Her heart beat a little faster. And it feltgoodto be alive in his embrace. “After we get back, would you like to go on a date?”
He blinked down at her as if surprised, but the way his cats-eye pupil dilated, she knew he was getting ready to tease her. “A date?” he drawled. “Why wait?”
Oh. So not teasing.
As he helped her clamber over the scaffolding, his datpad chimed. “Captain?” Suvan’s gravely voice was tentative. “Are you, eh…?”
“Alive? Aye. And the anomaly is contained.” Over the sound of cheers, he added, “For the moment.” Ellix lifted her down from the last step, and they both contemplated the suspended shadow within the torus. “While our systems are clear, we need to pin down our location and initiate a rescue request, without attracting the attention of the zone’s denizens.”
“Already underway,” Suvan said. “We knew this would succeed.”
Felicity grinned at Ellix. “Good work, everyone.”
While he peppered the crew with more tasks, she updated poor Ikaryo, stuck with their guests, and ended with “On my way.” Because it was her job and she was good at it.
When she wasn’t kissing the captain anyway.
Outside the engine module, he dropped her hand and they both paused, looking at each other.
His whiskers swept forward. “See you later?”
“Aye.”
And they parted, him toward the command module, her to the lifepods. But when she glanced back, he was already watching for her. She smiled, her heart soaring.
Holding onto that feeling kept her going through a marathon session of reassuring the passengers, reviewing supplies with Chef Styr, and working with Griiek to hastily prep the staterooms for emergency occupancy. There was worry of course and some complaining from everyone, but she got them settled into rooms—with snacks.
To her surprise, Remy was the most accepting of their hijacked journey. “I mean, the brochure did say to stay open to unexpected possibilities, so…”
Felicity shook her head, bemused. “I wrote that. Although this wasn’t what I meant.”
“Of course it wasn’t. Or it would’ve been expected.”
Much later—since this was only supposed to be a three-hour tour, she hadn’t been keeping track of the time—she finally dragged herself to the room she’d assigned herself.
But when she palmed the door and caught a hint of lion-man musk, her energy came surging back. “Oh no. Is this bunk already taken?”
“Iam taken. By you, no mistake.”
The growl rumbled delightfully through her bones. When she launched herself at him, he caught her easily and held her against his chest. He petted her for a moment, his big paw circling from lower back up to her shoulders and down again, soothing away the tension she hadn’t realized was lingering there.
“That date you mentioned,” he murmured. “Would you go with me to my great-grandparents’ devotion celebration?”
She leaned back a little, without leaving the circle of his arms. “Sounds fun, but… Meet your family? Is that moving a little fast?”
“Moving fast is what happens when you get hijacked.”
She didn’t need a steadying breath. “I’d love to go with you.”
