could affect him. “I have questioned staying on the Sraibur, and this makes clear that my place is elsewhere. I did not know where until I met EJ. So. I go with her, wherever that might be.”
He turned to leave but stopped as Wyzak caught his arm. “A moment, brother. Just breathe. Now is not the time for threats or dramatic declarations.”
Nokx looked at the second-in-command. “It’s not dramatic. It simply is.”
“Mate, it’s been a day since you met her, maybe an hour or so more...”
He fought back annoyance that neither of them believed him when he said he wanted to leave. Did time really make a difference? “When did you know you wanted your mate?”
“It took longer than a day,” Wyzak said, dark eyebrows raised.
“To be fair, you were unconscious or tied up that first day,” Faros muttered, never one to let an opportunity to poke someone’s ego pass him.
The second-in-command’s expression soured. “And you? It took you far too long to convince your mate to be with you. Longer than a day before she jumped into your bed, hm?”
Faros’s eyes narrowed and he gripped the arms of his chair. “Which is not relevant. Just that we knew each other longer than a day before I knew she was my mate.”
“And you kidnapped her,” Nokx said, irritated. “Against her will. How is that better than EJ choosing to be with me, even in the strange circumstances?”
Wyzak edged between them as the captain’s growl increased. “Let’s stop talking about each other’s females. Each of them is uniquely challenging and came to us in equally strange ways. The question is what to do with the third one.”
“She goes back to the gen ship,” Faros said. “At least for a short while.”
He pressed his hands together near his chin, contemplating Nokx, and Nokx didn’t believe the captain for a set of heartbeats. He knew Faros well enough to know the captain simply wanted him to comply and would say what he needed to in order to maintain good order on his ship.
Wyzak eyed them both, then sighed. He tilted his head at the door. “Go eat. It’s been a long morning and you got a lot accomplished. Keep an eye on your girl so she doesn’t cause any trouble. We believe we’ve got the Hollbrd on radar but they’re still outside hailing distance.”
“We’re lucky that the old junker moves slower than a fat nauwat,” Faros said. He turned his chair to face the viewing screens and scowled at those instead of Nokx.
Nokx had to take a deep, calming breath once he left the bridge. He wanted to charge through the halls until he could touch EJ again, to reassure himself that she was well. But he didn’t want to give her reason to fear him. Even if Faros was right and maybe EJ intended to end their relationship once she knew she was safe from the gen ship, Nokx had time to woo her. To convince her to stay, to fall in love with him. Obviously they were compatible in bed. It was just a matter of convincing her to stay, or at least continue on as a pair.
Wyzak strode after him, muttering some excuse about wanting to meet this other female, but Nokx knew the second-in-command was there to keep an eye on him. And EJ. Nokx couldn’t tell whether Wyzak would help if Nokx kept the girl on the ship in defiance of the captain’s orders. He took a deep breath as they neared the loading bay and heard the murmur of female voices.
Wyzak tensed, grumbling under his breath, “I told her to stay in our quarters, not go wandering around this ship,” and shoved through the door to find his mate conspiring with Violet and EJ.
Nokx ignored the annoyed sounds coming from the other male as he marked his mate with touch and kisses, and instead focused only on EJ. The tension around his hearts eased when he saw her, when her eyes found him, and he knew he didn’t imagine the relief in her expression. She didn’t look like a female who pretended to care about him, although there was a sudden hint of fear in her eyes and around her mouth. Just as he found relief, she found something to fear. It slowed his steps as he approached her, and he wondered what she feared. Him? A future with him? Sharing his quarters? Doing more work?
Before he could get too lost in his own thoughts, Violet said