More specifically, one woman in particular.
Chapter Twelve
“What the hell, Luce!” Rue snapped her fingers in front of Lucy’s helmet a few times before tapping on the glass like she would a fishbowl.
“Knock it off!” Lucy yelped, swatting at her friend.
“Are you okay? What’s going on with you?” Rue’s voice was more than worried; she was freaking out. “Why did he separate you from the rest of us? Did he hurt you?”
“Yes,” Lucy answered quickly, shaking her head to clear it a bit. “I mean, no. He didn’t hurt me.”
“What the fuck just happened?” Rue squatted down in front of her, her face almost as worried as the time that Lucy had tripped and started somersaulting down a steep hill last year.
“I don’t know,” she said with a slow blink.
And it was true. She had absolutely no idea what the hell had happened to her between the time that Sparx had introduced himself and now. Besides her soaked panties, she was only a flick or two away from an epic orgasm. Which was insane, considering he’d only carried her and said a few words.
“For a minute there I thought I was going to have—”
“To what?” Lucy interrupted with a laugh. “Come over and kick Sparx in the knees or something?”
“Hey now! Don’t make fun of me.” Rue bounced around on her toes a few times, punching at the air like a boxer—errr—at least that’s what Lucy assumed she was trying to do in the bulky space suit and boots she was wearing. “I coulda handled him fine. Those self-defense classes showed me where to hit to cause the most damage.”
Lucy shook her head at her crazy friend where she bopped around before casting a glance past her where Sparx was operating the large door they’d driven through. She wasn’t sure why she felt like she had to watch him, but she did. Every now and then she’d glance back at Rue, being her normal weird self, but then her eyes would go straight back to Sparx.
The shitty thing was that he hadn’t looked back at her. Not once. It was as if once he’d set her down, he’d forgotten about her. That thought dug its way into her chest a bit, leaving an ache she hadn’t experienced since she’d seen one of her favorite characters at comic-con.
“Just because he’s gigantic means nothing,” Rue said, still extoling her virtues as a fighter. “That just means I have a bigger target to aim for.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, taking them off the man she’d decided to stalk for a quick second. Then she flinched from the punch Rue delivered to her padded arm.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t ouch me,” her friend panted, breathless from the air boxing she’d been doing. “You know you didn’t feel that at all.”
Lucy shrugged and smiled. “Sorry. Habit.”
“I’m serious though, Luce. What did he say to you over there?” Rue looked around the women gathered waiting. “I heard Tabitha telling Bonner that they needed to take you back to the Phaeton ship because with your ankle messed up you were a liability. She spouted off a bunch of bullshit about it looking bad for the volunteer program. Jessie told Tabitha to shut the fuck up, but the way he’d separated you from the group worried me. For a second there, I thought he was going to shove you back on that train thing and send you back with our escorts.”
“A liability?” she repeated, the anger she’d felt towards Tabitha revving up once more. What the hell was this lady’s problem?
Looking around the gathered women, she scanned the group for the one in particular who seemed out to get her. Unable to figure out which space suit hid the witch, she let out a frustrated sigh.
“She’s over there,” Rue said, jerking her helmet in the direction that Tabitha seemed to be hiding.
Behind Rue.
Standing right next to Sparx.
With her hand on his fur-covered arm.
Stroking it.
“The minute she figured out who he was, she dropped the other Djaromir like a hot potato.”
“Grrrr,” Lucy growled, feeling an irrational wave of anger flow over her. “Help me.”
“What?” Rue asked, her expression one of confusion as she stood and watched Lucy struggle to rise all while keeping her foot from touching the ground. “Help you what?”
“Just help me!” she said through a locked jaw, her angry gaze fixed on Tabitha and Sparx across the cavern.
She was too far away to hear what Tabitha was saying, but if the amount of flutter her eyelashes had going on right now was any indication of her intentions, that woman had another think coming.
“Luce! Think of your ankle.” Rue huffed even as she helped Lucy stand. “What are you gonna do? Bust out the crane on her ass? You can barely stand on your own, and I know for damn sure you ain’t the karate kid!”
Standing on one foot, Lucy hopped a step in Sparx’s direction. The space suit she was wearing bopped with her as she painfully and slowly made her way, hop by hop, closer to her target.
“I got your back, Lucy,” Rue chimed in from under Lucy’s armpit where she was acting like a human crutch. “You’re a crazy bitch, and I have no idea what you’re thinking, but I got your back.”
“I’m just going to—” Hop. “Go over there—” Hop. Hop. “And tell Tabitha what’s what.”
Giving her some serious side-eye, her bestie smirked. “And what exactly is that?”
“That he’s mine,” she hissed, trying to hop faster when she saw Tabitha lean close to Sparx. “Personal space!” she snapped, even though she was still too far away from the pair to hear her.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Rue stopped, bring Lucy to a halt with her. “What the fuck do you mean he’s yours? Are you feeling okay, Luce?” Rue squinted at her. “Your cheeks are bright red and you have a little bit of the crazy eye going on. Did he drug you or something when he had you away from the
