bay, the stacks of crates, the shadows cast by the equipment used to move the crates all contributed to recreating the intense need to flee.
She took a shaky breath, imagining what it would be like to leave the Sraibur through the same ramp she’d entered. Whether she fled in secret or was turned over to the Hollbrd almost didn’t matter. The thought of either made her stomach turn over with unease. She wanted to stay. The only issue was how to tell Nokx without him thinking she used him as a safe port. Which was sort of true, so she couldn’t blame him.
It just made proving her value to the rest of the pirates all the more important. She needed to buy herself time on the Sraibur to prove she wasn’t using Nokx just to escape her exile. Maybe then they could start over or at least be totally upfront about what grew between them.
If there was anything between them.
EJ hid her trepidation behind another smile as she looked around the cargo bay. “Okay. What first?”
Nokx picked up a panel and scanned through it, then started listing out crate numbers that contained the inputs for the galley and food generation system. EJ found the hover platform and exo lifter, took a deep breath, and put all of her energy into doing everything Nokx told her to do. It would have been way more fun if his directions weren’t about moving crates, unpacking some of them, loading supplies into the various subsystems on the ship, and manual labor.
Even with the exo lifter and a hover ramp to help maneuver the incredibly heavy supplies, she still worked up a sweat. There was something surprisingly satisfactory about making clear progress in unloading and moving things. Tasks were completed, checked off the list, and she moved on to the next one. It was almost enough to convince her she could work for a living.
She smiled and glanced over in time to find Nokx watching her, a thoughtful look on his face, and her heart beat even faster. Maybe it was time to take that break she’d mentioned earlier.
Chapter 18
Nokx
He hadn’t expected EJ to do more than the bare minimum. He hoped that she would put all her effort into seducing him so they wouldn’t have to work. The conversation with Wyzak stayed with him, though, and ate away at his confidence that she was his mate and there to stay. He knew Wyzak spoke the truth: if EJ only used him and eventually turned her sights on another Xaravian, Nokx would lose his mind. He would not be able to tolerate another male near her, touching her, being with her...
A growl escaped before he could choke it back, and EJ glanced back from where she’d bent over a crate as she wrestled it toward a hover dolly. Nokx forced his attention back to the control panel instead of her luscious ass, since neither of them would be able to concentrate if he started down that road.
And it could have been another distraction meant to ensnare him further.
He swallowed an immediate denial. It wasn’t possible. She was genuine, what they’d shared the night before was genuine. He felt it. What he felt for her was real, more real than anything else he’d ever known.
He wouldn’t survive if EJ didn’t feel the same way.
Which was probably what Wyzak wanted to save him from. It was too late, though. EJ had stolen both of Nokx’s hearts. She became the star around which his universe spun.
But that didn’t mean the feeling sat easily. He knew Earthers didn’t have life-mates the same way Xaravians did. Nokx needed to know enough about EJ to have confidence she would stay, that she truly wanted to be with him.
He waited until they’d gotten a great deal of work done before he brought up his first question. “You still have not said precisely what bought your place on the gen ship. Why did they exile you?”
Her face, already red from exertion, darkened more as she looked at the panels on the exo lifter. “Oh, you know. It was all a misunderstanding.”
“What did they misunderstand, then?”
EJ sighed. “They accused me of all kinds of stuff on Cyaria, in the Dreomia system.”
“Dreomia system,” he said slowly. “Why do I know that name?”
“There was a bit of a... kerfuffle on Caihiri a little while ago. Something about Earthers and Xaravians stealing or destroying a bunch of other stuff. There was a lot of illegal stuff on