“Well, yeah,” Lucy said with a wiggle of the itchy nose in question. “Wait—did you say he just knocked out our escort?”
“Yup,” Rue said, squinting as she leaned even more. “I can’t hear what they’re saying now, but it looks tense. Real tense.”
“Oh my God, are we being kidnapped?” one of the volunteers cried from her seat close to the cockpit.
Lucy rolled her eyes, prepared to calm down the drama queen, when Rue’s snort broke through the mild hysteria that the woman’s question had sparked.
“Of course, we’re not getting kidnapped,” Rue drawled with an exaggerated eye roll. “We signed up for this, remember? Plus, if I heard him right, he deserved what he had coming.”
Lucy frowned, unsure what her friend meant by that last statement. Rue had the best view of them all, so she’d be the one to know what was happening outside between their Phaeton escorts and the Djaromir who were meeting them, but it still didn’t make sense.
“What’s going on?” she mouthed to Rue when her friend glanced back at her, but she didn’t get an answer.
“They’re coming,” Rue announced as she jerked back from the door and flopped into her seat as if she’d been sitting there the whole time.
Lucy licked her dry lips anxiously. Twitching her nose, she tried to ignore the tickle teasing her. Scanning the other seats, she checked out the other ladies in her group. Everyone—even Tabitha—seemed to be in the same tense state as they waited for someone to poke their head into the door.
When the person who leaned in turned out to be Bonner, there seemed to be a simultaneous sigh of disappointment from them all.
“Don’t move,” he told her specifically. “I will help you out once the others have cleared the space.”
Lucy frowned at the idea of having to wait until last, but she understood why. The interior was already cramped with the women and their puffy spacesuits. There was simply not enough space for him to climb in and then help her out.
For a brief second, she debated piggy-backing off on Rue but shook that thought out as quickly as it slipped in. She could see that disaster coming from a mile away before she’d even had a chance to suggest it out loud.
When Tabitha moved as if she were going to shoulder her way to the front to be out the door first, Rue moved to block her.
“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise, turning and hip-checking Tabitha at the same time. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
Lucy bit her lip to stop the smile that threatened.
“Luce? Are you sure I can’t help you down?” Rue stayed planted where she was blocking the exit with Tabitha fuming behind her. “It may take a hot minute, but we could totally shimmy you outta here, no problem.”
It was hella hard to do, but Lucy managed to maintain a serious face as she answered Rue. “You know…” She stretched out her leg a bit and gave her ankle a small wiggle, unable to help the wince that followed. “I think it’s best if I wait for Bonner. I don’t want to lean on you too much and have us both fall face first out the door.”
“Positive?” Rue asked again. The pleasure she was getting from messing with Tabitha was clear on her face. “I have no problem waiting to help you down.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tabitha snarled, stomping her boot. “Can you just move out of the way?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rue said, turning and ramming her shoulder into Tabitha with the move in the cramped space. “I forgot you were there. Just a minute though, okay, sweetie? I need to make sure my friend doesn’t need help.”
“Go on, Rue.” Lucy coughed, trying to hide the laughter that was busting to break free the redder Tabitha’s face got. “I’ll be out in a jiffy.”
“Gotcha.” Shooting her a pair of finger guns—or at least that’s what Lucy assumed she was trying to do, regardless of the oversized gloves on her hands—Rue winked and maneuvered out the door.
“Stupid cow,” Tabitha muttered somewhat under her breath as she stomped behind her.
Lucy sat there shaking her head. If that woman thought Rue was about to forgive and forget, she was delusional. Even though they were best friends and had more things than you could count in common, there was one large difference between Lucy and Rue. Where Lucy was forgiving and apologetic—even when she didn’t need to be—Rue held a grudge until death and prying any type of sorry from her mouth was a goddamned miracle. Considering all the shit that Tabitha had given not only Rue, but Lucy as well…there was no way that Rue was done tormenting the woman yet.
Especially when she seemed unable to learn her lesson.
She blew out a deep breath as the last of the volunteers climbed out. Now that it was her turn, she felt hot and cold all at once. A strange sensation, considering she knew the suit she was wearing was temperature controlled.
“This is it,” she said to herself, as she began to scoot forward in the seat to stand up.
Except she didn’t scoot like she expected.
“What the—” Lucy looked down to see her suit tangled with the buckle she’d had around her waist. Pawing at the strap with puffy glove-covered fingers did absolutely nothing to help the situation. “Cooperate, you fu—”
“Need help?”
Lucy froze at the question. Slowly tilting her head up, she stared at the new man braced half in, half out of the door.
Covered in furs, his hulking figure should have been threatening in the cramped cabin, yet all she felt was a spark of interest. His voice had been the first thing she’d noticed, but she’d be lying if she said the rest of him wasn’t just as attention grabbing.
A big, calloused hand reached out to help her with the strap. His large fingers smoothly unwinding the restraint until she was free of the tether.
“Ugh,” she gurgled, unable to
