he leaned back against the wall on the other side of the bridge, well out of the way of any possible fights. “Should I get Harzt?”
“No need,” Faros said. The captain rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the tension that set his spikes on end, and leveled an even look at Nokx. “I trust my crew will follow orders.”
Nokx didn’t know if he could anymore. Not if Faros forced EJ off the ship.
Faros returned to his chair and shook the hair out of his face. “She’s not your mate, brother. It’s just an infatuation. You’ve known her a day, perhaps a little more, and you know nothing about her. Just because you haven’t had a female in a while and your cock needed a place to—”
“Don’t,” Nokx snapped. “It is not like that. She is not like that.”
“You really think she fucked you the same day she met you because she cares?” the captain demanded. His eyes narrowed. “She wants a place on the ship, Nokx. She’ll do whatever she needs to in order to stay. She’ll cooperate for long enough to make sure we can’t put her back on the Hollbrd.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Wyzak said mildly. He remained in range to tackle either Faros or Nokx, just in case they began to brawl. “Keep the girl on the Sraibur until we’re out of range of the Hollbrd, and if she stays with Nokx, she meant it. If her attention strays...” He shrugged.
“Not worth the risk,” Faros said. “She admitted to being in the Fleet and serving as an information officer. You can’t trust her on that alone. Besides, we need to get on that gen ship and figure out what we can take. The only way they’ll let us get close enough is if we hand the human over.”
Nokx rocked back on his heels. So that was the real reason Faros didn’t want EJ on the ship. It had nothing to do with her and nothing to do with Nokx’s happiness, and everything to do with raiding and pillaging. Getting more riches for himself and his ship at the expense of others. Nokx thought Faros had changed when he took Violet as a mate, but it seemed like the son of a sandsnake was the same as he’d been since Nokx joined the Sraibur.
He’d wished to never be in charge again, to never be a captain and responsible for the lives of others, but Nokx reconsidered following Faros for another day if the male decided sending a fragile Earther back into a dangerous situation was the solution to boarding a ship.
Wyzak glanced between them when Nokx didn’t respond or even growl at the captain’s statement. The second-in-command faced Faros. “And the girl does not have to stay on the gen ship. She is simply our excuse to approach. Right?”
Faros didn’t respond immediately, still watching Nokx, then shrugged. “Why not? Let the female return to my ship once we are done with the Hollbrd.”
Nokx didn’t believe him. He meant to leave EJ on the Hollbrd, or at least to not go out of the way to get her back. And Nokx couldn’t tolerate it. He didn’t want to tolerate it. Even without knowing as much about EJ as he probably should have, he wanted to be with her. Wherever that was, even if it meant a long trip on a mysterious gen ship and a lifetime of hard labor on a rocky planet.
The decision, the knowledge, helped settle the agitation and worry that had plagued him since the moment he saw her. Nokx always expected to spend his life on spaceships, regardless of the flag under which they flew, and never questioned any other options even after losing his ship. He’d never thought to live on a planet again. Perhaps to visit, but certainly not to stay.
But the knowledge that he was ready to change all of that for her, for EJ and her breathless rush of words, her intense emotions and bright eyes... “Fine. Then I will go with her to the Hollbrd. If she doesn’t return to the Sraibur, neither will I.”
The two males stared at him, and Faros’s jaw went slack. The captain leaned back in his chair. “You’re joking.”
“No,” Nokx said. And he didn’t care that Faros didn’t believe him. Let the captain question him and decide that Nokx bluffed. It wouldn’t matter until after Nokx decided to walk away with EJ, and by then he would be beyond where Faros