Page 66 of Stealing the Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lords 3)

“Just so you know,” she continued, “I’ve taken care of myself and Caryn all our lives. I don’tneedyour protection. But if I did, you know you would.”

“Would I, then?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re so sure because…?”

“Because you’re a good boy, and didn’t you know? Good boys get rewarded.”

He wasn’t sure if he should be offended or turned on by that. His traitorous cock made the decision for him, and she rode him until his eyes rolled back in his head.

Aidan had been a bit hesitant to leave Onnika alone in his room. In the end, he decided not to disturb her slumber. She’d looked too sexy stretched out on his bed, hair a nest of satiny waves, her bare flesh covered only by a thin sheet.

It bothered him that she’d evaded his questions so easily, and he vowed he’d discover her secrets eventually.

On the bridge, as he crossed to take the helm, he received speculative looks from the crew on deck: Zeek, Asher, and Lear.

Sensing his previous dark mood had been eradicated, Zeek started in on him right away. “So”—he cleared his throat—“did you set her straight?”

“Everything’s taken care of,” he hedged, trying for nonchalance.

“Then you bothcameto an understanding?”

Aidan gazed up at the ceiling. “Can we please not do this? Let’s just focus.”

“I’m sure we can all focus on thetaskat hand.”

At that last one, everyone gave Zeek a cockeyed look.

He simply shrugged. “I couldn’t think of anything fast enough; give me a break.”

“Moving on,” Lear said. “We’re nearing the object that was marked on the map, and we discovered it’s a wormhole.”

“To where?”

“Unknowable until we go through.”

Wormholes could be unpredictable. “It could lead back to the start,” Aidan mused.

“I thought of that,” Zeek said, taking on a more serious note. “So I calculated the manifold and spacetime curve against the metric structure, and, given the identity matrix—”

“Zeek,” Aidan admonished. “Small words, so that Lear can understand.”

Lear harumphed with mild humor. “He already explained it to us. In detail, so doona pretend it’s no’ you who needs it dumbed down.”

“The point is,” Zeek interjected, “I think we’re meant to penetrate that hole. Eh, eh?” He looked to the others for approval of his joke.

Aidan touched his fingers to his forehead. “Zeek, one more and I will seriously knock you out.”

“What? All I’m saying is the commissioner’s map is directing us toward the wormhole. As you know, our next stop is on planet Roukii, the Roukiian home world. By my calculations, it’s possible the wormhole will take us right there. And there’s something else.” He zoomed in on the wormhole. An informational blip appeared above it. “The wormhole is marked clearly with the Roukii numeral five…or, rather, itwas.I’ve clocked another ship that was ahead of us. When they entered, that numeral dropped to four.”

“So what? The number drops when a ship enters? What happens at zero?”

“It’s possible it might shift the final destination or shut down entirely.”

Noticing three other ships ahead of them and another closing in behind them, Aidan set a course and fired up the thrusters. “Then we’d better make this fast.”

Zeek pretended to cover his ears. “Hey, man, we don’t need a play-by-play…oh, you’re referring to thewormhole.”

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