a handheld medic and arched her hand back as if she would throw it at them. “Dev gave me his word that I would be protected. No one is going to end me.”
Jackson arched a brow and drawled, “I meant end the fight between you and your sister, not end your life. If I were going to kill you, I’d have done it already. Josselyn asked us not to.”
“And where exactly is this sister of mine? I’d like to thank her personally for that consideration.” Violette smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. The men didn’t answer. She shrugged and let the smile fall. “Worth a try.”
Violette lowered her arm. Her expression hardened. He wished he could pull her aside for a moment of privacy, or rewind and freeze time to the minutes before Rick interrupted them. There was much he wanted to say to answer her words, “I wish we could stay. Never leave. The rest of the universe doesn’t matter here. Reality doesn’t matter here.”
Dev wanted to erase the hardness from her eyes, but now was not the time and he wasn’t equipped to talk about emotions. All he could do for her was try to change her life’s course. That was his plan in taking her. That is what he’d continue to do. “Is the ship nearby?”
“I parked it in—giant spaceholes what in the bloody nova is that thing?” Rick pointed behind Dev.
Dev turned to find one of his Murkernal friends hopping toward him carrying a baby Murkernal in his arms. Soon, the others emerged from beneath the canopy, all holding infants and whistling happily. Dev glanced up to the fruit, and then to Violette, before looking once more at the natives. Apparently, the food he’d given them had extra special side effects.
“No, seriously, what are those things?” Rick demanded.
“Murkernals,” Dev said.
“Dev’s been planting seeds,” Violette supplied. “Ah, congratulations, Devekin, I think you’re a daddy.”
“Exactly how long were you on this planet?” Rick asked, snickering.
“The ship,” Dev demanded. He lifted his hand to gesture politely at the locals even as he stepped away from them. He didn’t want them to get excited and try to climb him again. To Violette, he muttered, “I’m really glad we didn’t eat the fruit.”
“How about we find that ship of yours? I don’t want to catch what they have,” Violette answered. Her eyes turned to where they’d had sex moments before.
Dev nodded. Even though her comment made a small twinge in his gut, he knew she was right. Of course, he didn’t want to get her pregnant. That would be impractical given their circumstance, and he knew how hard it was to raise a baby on a spaceship. Then why was he feeling so…
“Thank you, stranger, thank you,” one of the cheery, little, bouncing beings said.
Dev frowned. “Time to go.”
Chapter 17
Well, Violette got what she wanted. She’d wanted to remain kidnapped so she would be brought onto Dev’s ship, and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, her “sister” wasn’t on board. The murderer couldn’t hide forever. She’d find Josselyn and the next time she wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done. The weakness she’d felt on Quazer could not happen again. She shouldn’t have let Josselyn walk away.
Apparently, fearing what might await them on the rescue mission to get Dev, the crew dropped off the captain, his wife, and their son, as well as Evan and Josselyn. Violette couldn’t imagine trying to raise a baby with her lifestyle. Maybe someday having children would be a possibility. She glanced at Dev. Would they even make good parents?
They? Violette turned her eyes away. She couldn’t think like that. They were not a “they”. The ache inside her grew stronger.
Violette desperately wished she could pick up a communicator and call her father. She wouldn’t tell him she was having relationship issues, but it would be great just to hear his voice. Now she was alone with no one to call when she was having a bad day. It’s not like Isaac would want to chat about her feelings.
“Are you hearing me?” Dev asked, studying her from across the small table in the common area. He’d been trying to justify what Josselyn had done. Violette was sure the woman had her reasons, but those reasons didn’t change the fact that a good man was dead. Sighing, he continued, “Do you not trust my word? If so, I will stop speaking.”
“I believe you believe her lies,” Violette stated. “I do not.”
He crossed his arms over