made it clear Nokx made his decision by fighting to get back on the gen ship. Nokx could have retreated to safety on the Sraibur when the shooting started, and instead he chose EJ.
It was the easiest decision of his life.
Nokx nearly ran into her as she paused, head cocked to listen, and she scowled over her shoulder as he steadied her waist with both hands. She didn’t pull away from him but she certainly didn’t lean back like she would have just a day earlier.
He kept her close, though, and rested his chin on her shoulder so he could murmur, “What is it?”
EJ gestured to the side of the narrow corridor as it split into four different directions ahead of them. “Engineering is that way, the cells are straight ahead, and the comms center is there.”
He held his breath, considering. Her plan sounded viable, if rather far-fetched, based on what he’d already seen of the ship. There was no telling what kind of prisoners actually ended up exiled on a gen ship. He would have insisted on going to the comms station first to make sure they understood the status of the gen ship and the threat that circled them out in space. But she needed to know he supported her, so he held on to patience and his opinion with both hands and waited for her to decide.
It did not sit easily with him, with the part of him that had been a captain and a warrior who led missions, but for EJ... The unending drive to conquer and win took a backseat to making sure his female felt supported and protected. Cherished.
EJ took a breath and gestured toward the comms center. “You go figure out whether your friends are still around and what kind of attack we’re actually facing. It’s a different fight if this crew is cooperating with the Slasu or if they actually plan to fight back. I’ll rally the prisoners and disengage the cell doors so they can get to other parts of the ship.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said. “Especially around a bunch of dangerous criminals.”
“I’m a dangerous criminal,” she said, tone steely. “Or did you forget?”
“I never believed it,” Nokx said. He tugged on the end of her ponytail. “And nothing you say will convince me otherwise.”
She huffed a strange noise under her breath, something that was perhaps meant to be a laugh but came out strangled and sad instead. She didn’t look at him. “Don’t lie to me. You thought I was using you just to stick around. You thought I was exactly as bad as everyone else did. Maybe worse, after you heard about what I’d done in the... the Fleet.”
He hesitated. He wanted to immediately deny it, even knowing that she spoke the truth. When he didn’t say anything, EJ’s shoulders tensed still more and she started down the narrow corridor toward the prison cells.
Nokx caught her and dragged her back, spinning her so she had to look at him. His hearts thumped out of time when he saw the look on her face: wounded. Disappointed. Alone. He grumbled with the dismay that he’d caused her distress. “EJ, listen to me.”
“We don’t have time for this,” she said fiercely. She glared, furious as a marmox denied its burrow, and pointed at the adjacent corridor. “Go find us a way out of here and I’ll try to convince the prisoners to help.”
“We aren’t splitting up,” he said, and lifted her off the floor so she couldn’t dodge away. “And you’re going to listen to at least one thing I have to say before we figure out how to get off this ship. You are correct: I questioned your motives, yes. But you propositioned me when I first caught you. Now, I know you. Now, I realize what I almost missed by not immediately making you mine. And I am not a warrior who makes a mistake twice, Earther.”
Her eyes narrowed, despite the moisture shining in them. He couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad sign. “Put. Me. Down.”
“Do you believe me?”
“No,” she said, grinding it out between her clenched teeth.
“Then I’m not putting you down.”
A stalemate. He resisted the urge to smile, despite that the ship shuddered and a new alarm joined the clangor.
EJ tried to kick him. “We don’t have time for this. You’re going to get us killed.”
“Then you know how serious I am,” he said. And he waited.