Nokx (The Sraibur Crew #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,107
He exhaled a long breath and just looked at her, trying to memorize every bit of her he could see. He remembered a bleary conversation in a pale gray room with darker blurs that might have looked like birds, but not much else. Well, he remembered the pain.
It had faded enough he didn’t groan as he sat up, which was good since he didn’t want to wake EJ. The muscles in her face tightened as if she heard him anyway, but she didn’t open her eyes. Nokx could have sat there for hours watching her, admiring her. But his first duty as her mate was to protect her, shelter her, feed her. Care for her. Which he couldn’t do while they were on an unknown ship surrounded by strangers.
He studied his comms unit and carefully adjusted the settings for the farthest range, just in case the Sraibur could pick up even a faint signal. He triggered a ‘need assistance’ alert, which was short of a ‘about to get destroyed by a Fleet battleship’ emergency alarm. He’d save that last one until they needed it. If Faros received the highest alarm, chances were the Sraibur would attack with all weapons at the ready.
Nokx paused. If Faros decided to respond at all. There was no guarantee, not after Nokx chose EJ over the crew by running onto the Hollbrd to save her. The pirate captain may have taken that as a clear sign that Nokx no longer wanted to serve on the Sraibur.
Maybe he didn’t want to return to the Sraibur permanently. But it was better for him and EJ to have choices. He would choose the known over the unknown, and at least he knew how to handle Faros, Harzt, and Wyzak. There was no telling what he and EJ would have to sacrifice to stay on the ship that plucked them out of space in their escape pod.
EJ moved in the chair, like she meant to roll over, and made a disgruntled sound when she woke up enough to recognize she wasn’t in bed. Her eyelids fluttered and then found him as her jaw creaked in a massive yawn that made him smile. Her eyes widened — almost as much as her mouth — and she launched out of the chair to stand between his knees, wrapping her arms around him.
Nokx closed his eyes and held her tightly, and the universe clicked back into place. He’d felt unmoored and adrift since he set foot on the Hollbrd, but to have EJ come to him for affection and shelter... A knot formed in his throat. The world felt right again. “EJ,” he said, voice rough.
She leaned back and he saw the moisture on her cheeks. Her face flushed as she scowled and she landed a solid punch on his shoulder, though she winced and shook her hand out after meeting his scales. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
Nokx wanted to chuckle but held it back so she wouldn’t be tempted to hit him again. He didn’t want her to hurt herself. He picked up her hand and kissed her reddened knuckles. “Don’t do what ever again?”
“Try to die like that,” she said. She glared at him fiercely and smacked her free hand against his side for good measure. “Don’t you dare. You idiot. What’s wrong with you? Running right through the Slasu to get to the pod. You went in a straight line. Don’t you know to dodge? Zigzag? Einstein’s mustache, I can’t believe you —”
As much as he loved his fierce little marmox’s tirade, he couldn’t help himself and caught her face. Drew her closer. Pressed his lips to hers to cut off the torrent of words and to finally — finally — taste her again.
She made a soft sound, a small protest, then melted against him. EJ kissed him back, her palms flat on his chest. Her warmth and softness between his knees, pressed against his chest, sliding under his hands... Nokx groaned and pressed deeper as her lips parted. He squeezed her ass and lifted her into his lap, desperate to feel all of her against him.
EJ laughed breathlessly and wiggled around to get comfortable. “Don’t get too excited; you’re not supposed to exert yourself or your wounds might...”
“Don’t care,” he said, growling as he nipped her lower lip. Lust surged. It had been too long since he’d felt her. Too long since she’d been in his arms and he’d been inside her. Nokx turned so there was