Page 15 of A Fool For Her Mates

“We will,” V’Lin says carefully.

“Good. You may proceed,” the blue guard says and motions for the other one to follow him out.

I feel like we should be high-fiving, but I follow V’Lin’s lead. He’s still acting like they’re observing us, so I slide lazily into my seat. He closes the portal doors and we wait for a minute for another whoosh and the light to change. Once it does, he fires up the engines and we jet out of there.

I’m thrilled! We made it through, but V’Lin and H’Row still have their serious faces on.

“So what’s—” I start to ask and suddenly my vision starts to go streaky and everything around us turns liquid. Is this like hyperspeed, a wormhole, or something? I need to get a better understanding of what’s happening as we pass through this gate because it’s trippy as hell, and I feel the air around me contracting like a vise. The pressure pushes in on me almost unbearably as the world streaks by.

Great. We made it this far just for me to get ground to dust by extreme air pressure. Did V’Lin tell me about this earlier? Probably, but I was so lust drunk I didn’t hear him. Well, I really hope I don’t die now. I was looking forward to faxing Miranda from WP12 and, you know, living out a blissful life beside the men I love. I feel tears start to leak out the side of my eyes. There’s too much pressure to wipe them off. Is this the end?

The moment I think it, the pressure releases, like that cuff when they’re taking your blood pressure. I can breathe again. I can move my arms, and I don’t feel like I’m about to be ground to dust.

“What was that?” I yell.

“That was the spacegate.” H’Row answers.

“Holy hell! I thought it was going to kill me. Why didn’t you tell me it was going to be like that?”

“We did tell you, but you said ‘whatever’ and ordered us to come back to bed.”

“Okay, that sound plausible. But still. That was scary.” I cross my arms over my chest. H’Row gets out of his seat and stands in front of me.

“Are you doing alright now?” I can see the concern etched in his expression. In a moment, V’Lin joins him.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Are we safe now?” I ask, still a little breathless.

“As safe as we’ll ever be.” V’Lin undoes my seatbelt and helps me to my feet.

“Have you checked the battery?” I don’t want to leave anything to chance.

“Yes, still going strong.” V’Lin smiles.

“Anything else I should be worrying about?” I look between the two of them. My beautiful mates, who look maddeningly relaxed right now.

“Just worry about keeping up your stamina,” H’Row adds with a wicked grin. I roll my eyes, but feel relief washing over me.

“Does that mean we did it?” I’m hesitant, but I let them guide me out of the cockpit while we talk.

“Yes,” H’Row tows me faster.

“And we can just spend the rest of our lives together now?” I squeeze his hand.

“Yes, assuming you can breathe the air and not catch a killer disease.” V’Lin grimaces cartoonishly.

“Why are you bringing that up now?” I squeak. H’Row begins taking off my shirt. I raise my arms and let him glide it off me.

“Because I don’t think it will happen. But I know it will make you mad.” V’Lin’s expression changes to a mischievous grin.

“Why do you want to make me mad?” My voice has grown breathless because he’s taking off my pants.

“Because you punish me so beautifully.” His voice is dark, but his eyes dance with amusement. Before I can respond, I feel a tug on my hand as H’Row is pulling me onto the bed. He’s already naked, his blue skin gleaming and his eyes hot as watches me. As he watches us.

I crawl over him until we’re face to face, then lean down and kiss him long and slow. In moments, H’Row has deepened this kiss. And then V’Lin arrives. I feel him kissing his way up the inside of my ankle.

“How much time until we get there?” I ask. I want to know how to set the pace here.

“One more day,” H’Row says between kisses.

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