Eris nodded even though Red, on the bridge of the alien warship, couldn’t see her and dug deeper for more speed. The suit was an absolute dream, more responsive and powerful than she had ever dreamed of, but it still took its cues from her.
“Get that cargo bay door open for me!” She rounded the nose of the Sprite at a run, skidding a couple of steps before she got traction with her boots. A plume of air and lights gave her a fix on the door as she surged forward again.
“Doors open. Engines spooling up,” Red warned. “Get your ass inside now!”
Eris hurled herself forward, stretching full length and using her thrusters just as the ship started to lift off. Her hand caught the edge of the cargo bay doors and she swung herself up and in, sliding across the floor in a clatter of metal meeting armor. Red punched the engines. Eris groaned as the g-forces in the unshielded cargo bay pinned her against the floor. Her head fell to the side. In the strip she could see through the side view shield, the doors had already closed. She smiled and closed her eyes to ride out the rest of the liftoff.
They’d made it. That was all that mattered.
As soon as the thrust cut and Red announced on ship-wide they were safe from the blast zone, Eris levered herself up off the floor and clunked over to the suit’s charging cradle. Now the rush of adrenaline had drained from her system, her entire body felt heavy and her ears rang.
With a groan, she cracked the cockpit seals and clambered out, her movements slow. The cradle closed around the suit, a ladder swinging into place, and she sighed with relief. When she saw Red, she was going to damn well kiss that woman.
“Red!” Zero’s bellow brought her head around. “Tell me she got inside!”
Before she could yell out that she was okay, he appeared at the cargo bay door, almost shunting it from its moorings when it didn’t open fast enough for him.
It took him seconds to cross the distance between them and less time to pull her into his arms. The seconds after that were filled with his lips on hers and a kiss that had been far too long in the making. It felt like an eternity since he’d held her, and she melted in his arms, a soft catch of need and pleasure in the back of her throat.
He kissed her like she was the last woman in existence. Like a starving man given his last meal. Like she was the sun, moon and the stars all rolled into one. Like every cliché saying and description… and none of them would be enough. Mere words would never be enough to describe the feeling and emotion that bound them together or the way her heart ached until he was near.
He was the air she needed to breathe, the energy that kept her heart beating and the will she needed to keep going.
He was her everything. And, from the way he kissed her, she was his.
He broke away with a soft growl, his chest heaving and his lips a hairsbreadth from hers. Slowly he opened his eyes and she bit back a groan at the expression there. Heat and desire swirled in the sudden darkness of his eyes. She bit her lip, wanting nothing more than to forget everything and just haul him back to their quarters. Then not emerge for like… a week. Maybe two. Perhaps if she asked nicely, she could get the other crew to drop food off outside their door?
He brushed his lips against the tip of her nose in a tender gesture as he lowered her to her feet. “Much as I’d like to take this straight to our room,” he murmured in a low voice, “we have company.”
“Uh-huh,” she nodded, her arms still looped around his neck. “Hold that thought, though?”
“You betcha,” he grinned as he let her go and she stepped around him. Then froze.
Her brother stood a few steps off, his gaze flicking between them. “You’re a… you’re—”
“Couple? Together?” she said firmly. “Yes.”
She watched his expression, waiting for the explosion. Tension hung in the air, cloying and electric. Her shoulders were tight, the muscles in her back rigid. She could see no version of this where her brother didn’t give his high-handed opinion on her life and what he thought she should be doing with it. Which probably… definitely didn’t include a relationship with the alien cyborg standing behind her.
But the explosion never came. Instead, Eric smiled, flicking a glance over her shoulder at Zero. “I’m pleased for you. I mean… you did find the one man in the whole universe guaranteed to give mother kittens, so good on you. And thank you… for saving me.”
He opened his arms. There was no thought, no decision-making process. She just stepped forward and into his bear-hug, returning it like her life depended on it.
“You were awesome,” Eric muttered, his voice muffled against her neck. “My sister, the badass.”
“Okay,” Eris pushed away, dashing at her cheeks with the back of her hand. Neither man mentioned the tears, and they wouldn’t, not if they wanted to live anyway.
She smiled, turning around and waving Zero over. “Zero, this is Eric. Eric… Zero.”
She held her breath as she watched the two men face each other. They weren’t squaring off, not exactly. If they did and it got physical, her brother didn’t stand a chance. Not against Zero. Hell, she wasn’t sure he’d stand a chance even if he wore her suit. There was a lot more to being the kind of soldier they were than brute strength and armor.
For a moment, she didn’t think either of them were going to move. Then Eric stepped forward, his hand outstretched.
“Welcome to the family, Zero,” he said
