fleet like arrayed on the screen. Faros would retreat to a safe distance and harry the slavers until they either destroyed him or he got lucky and disabled the damn thing.
And that still didn’t account for the Fleet battleship. Could the Alliance be actively supporting the Slasu? Or had the Alliance decided to come after Faros and his crew more aggressively? He wouldn’t put it past them.
Nokx stood by as EJ embraced Klee and headed to the door so she could peer into the corridor. “We need to get to the prisoners and the guard station before they know anything has gone wrong with the Slasu plan. Give us fifteen standard minutes before you play the first message, Klee.”
As the young one sat at the terminal, a determined look on his narrow, gentle face, Nokx hesitated. He did not like endangering the young or the innocent. And this one was particularly vulnerable, and would draw attention to his location the moment the messages broadcast. Nokx wouldn’t give the young one his knife—that still belonged to EJ—but he took the stunner out of his belt and stepped closer to the terminal. “Take this.”
Klee took it, eyes blinking rapidly, with a wonderment that Nokx hadn’t seen in quite a while. He quickly explained how to use the stunner, showing the young male the controls, and hoped that it would be enough to keep him safe and maybe allow him to defend his family if the Slasu got through the ship to the passengers.
Nokx nodded and put his fist over his hearts, offering the young one the respect of a fellow warrior. “Go with honor.”
He didn’t like leaving him, but Nokx had to save the rest of the ship if Klee and his family were to stand a chance of making it to their chosen planet. EJ waited in the hall, a faint smile on her face. “You gave him your stunner?”
“He needed something to defend himself,” Nokx said gruffly. He did not like being caught doing something like that, even by his mate. “He’s so small and weak, it wouldn’t be fair to leave him there unarmed.”
“It was kind of you,” she murmured, then abruptly pulled him into another alcove to avoid crew members running full speed toward the front of the ship.
EJ held her breath as they crammed together in the tiny closet, and it took Nokx a great deal of effort to make sure all of him folded out of sight.
Which left them nose-to-nose and all of EJ’s intoxicating, maddeningly perfect body pressed full-length against him. Nokx tried to keep his thoughts on the looming threat of death and slavery at the hands of the Slasu, but her scent curled into his thoughts and the soft give of her breasts against his chest distracted him from everything else in the universe.
And his body reacted precisely as it always had when she was near. EJ had been peering out of the cracked panel that partially concealed them, her palm resting on his chest, but slowly turned her head to look up at him as she noticed his growing arousal. Her eyebrows arched. “Really? Now?”
“You drive me wild,” he murmured, and maneuvered his arm so he could brush the hair out of her eyes. “I cannot control myself.”
The corner of her mouth twitched in what he hoped was amusement. “You need to focus on getting us out of here alive.”
“Us?” he murmured. Nokx couldn’t resist touching her cheek again. “You will come with me?”
EJ glanced away, looking troubled, but she didn’t pull back even though the sound of running crew members had faded into the eerie silence once more. Nokx held his breath, waiting for her to slide a dagger into his hearts. If she destroyed all hope of being with her...
“I am not... opposed,” she said softly. “I still need you to... prove to me that you won’t abandon me again. I need a lot of things from you before I can trust again.”
“That is enough for now,” Nokx said. He squeezed out of the alcove and brought her with him, though he kept her sheltered in case more crew arrived. Nokx leaned in to press his lips to hers, wanting to find a closed room so they could celebrate.
EJ pushed away after just a moment, saying, “We still have to survive this.”
“We will,” he said. Nokx shoved his lust down so he could focus on the next task. They had very little time until the Klonz broadcast the first message,