“Shit…” he said when she didn’t reach for the screen right away. “Do you want to be alone to view them?”
“No… no, it’s fine.” She grabbed his hand when he made to move her out of his lap. “There’s not going to be anything I don’t want you to hear.”
Tapping the screen, she opened Eric’s message first. Rather than her brother’s face as she expected, it was a notification from a message holding service that they had an encrypted data pack for her.
“Huh. Odd,” she murmured. “We’re heading to Praxis-Four. Aren’t we? To pick up your other crew member?”
“Uh-huh.” Zero had wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in a cuddle she was really rather enjoying. Settled in his lap like this, warm and comfortable, she could easily forget there was a bounty on her head. Or that, miraculously, alien medicine had repaired the damage to her legs. A long, slow shudder escaped her as something, the smallest feeling, expanded in the center of her chest. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, in case it was a dream she’d wake up from, but… here and now, it sank in.
“You okay?” Zero asked softly as her head dropped back to his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she nodded, her throat too thick at present to speak. Without saying a word, he held her for a few minutes, letting her absorb her new reality.
Sitting up, she shook herself and reached for the screen again.
This time, she wasn’t as lucky with the message. Her mother’s angry face appeared on screen, and they both winced as Catherine Archer-Russell screeched.
“Eris! What the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at? Getting a price on your head? Dealing with terrorists? Do you know how much trouble you’re going to cause your father—”
“He’s my fucking stepfather!” Eris hissed under her breath, even though the recording couldn’t help her.
“You’ve disgraced the family, and if you think you’re getting away with it, you’ve got another think coming!” Her mother wagged her finger at the screen like Eris was five years old. “In fact, young lady, if you don’t get your backside back to Earth to explain yourself to your father and me, there will be hell to pay, you mark my wor—”
“Yeah, so done with that already.” Eris reached out and cut her mother off mid-screech. Looking over her shoulder, she caught Zero’s eye. “I do believe someone mentioned something about breakfast?”
11
Eris hadn’t seen much of the ship last night, just the medbay and his quarters, so her eyes were wide on the short walk to the galley.
“Whoa, I didn’t realize how big this thing was,” she said as he led her down the corridor, keeping a close eye on her until he was sure she was stable walking. The last thing he wanted to do was compromise her recovery. Not only because he didn’t want Talent yelling at him, but also because he couldn’t bear the thought of her in pain. Ever.
“It’s actually a small warship,” he explained, waving his hand over the door plate to the galley. It opened with a soft whoosh and she stepped past him. The delicate scent rising from her skin, the shower gel from his cabin and a smell that was uniquely hers, wrapped around him, holding him prisoner for a moment. Heat rolled lazily through his body, stirring a reaction south of the border he only just managed to stifle. Cyborg control for the win.
“Yeah… I meant that literally everything is bigger.”
She waved at the tables and benches bolted to the walls and floor and he realized what she meant. The Lathar were built on a larger scale than humanity so she was tiny in comparison.
“Look, my feet don’t even touch the floor.” She chuckled when she sat down, swinging her legs. “I feel like a kid again.”
He smiled and headed for the food prep counter, asking over his shoulder. “In that case, what do human kids like to eat for breakfast?”
“Usually anything that’s as unhealthy as possible. Like… ice cream and pancakes?”
He paused for a moment and then a wicked little grin spread over his lips. “Pancakes I can do. Hang tight.”
The door to the galley opened again, Tal and his little mate Lizzie, appearing in the doorway. Lizzie’s face lit up when she spotted Eris, and she was through the door before Talent could take a step.
“Hey! You must be Eris,” she said, plunking herself down opposite and extending her hand. “I’m Lizzie. Tal is my mate.”
“Hey, Eris,” Tal slid into the seat next to Lizzie. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m good.” She smiled. “No aches or pains. Whatever you did, it was definitely magic.”
“Okay, good.” The medic wrapped his arm around his mate, pulling her close. It was an entirely subconscious act, and Lizzie smiled up at him. “Take it easy for the next couple of days, and then all being well, I can sign you off as fit and healthy.”
Zero listened in on the conversation as he prepared the mixture and set the plate to heat up. Hearing Eris chat away comfortably with his crewmates, the two human women talking ten to the dozen, eased some of the tension he’d been carrying. He wanted the rest of the crew to like Eris. If they did, and she liked them, hopefully he could persuade her to stay longer.
The thought made him pause for a moment, coffee pot in hand. When they’d first met, he hadn’t had any plans other than wanting to get to know her, but things had gone way beyond that. He didn’t want her to leave when this was all over.
Placing the coffeepot in the middle of the table, he caught her eye. He smiled, reassured by the way her heart rate increased fractionally when she looked at him. Oh yeah, she was into him. She’d want to stay anyway. With him.
“Gods, what is that gorgeous smell?”
