“I have something to ask of you too.”
He stiffened and his voice was almost inaudible when he replied. “What?”
“Can we send a message to Riv and Lauren from up here? Just to let them know I’m all right. Lauren’s pregnant and I don’t want her to be stressing over me. It’s not good for the baby.”
Ka’Cit jerked his head and pressed something on the band on his arm.
For a few seconds, there was no sound and then the undeniable growl of Riv sounded in the cabin.
“Ka’Cit. I am glad you have contacted me. I… We need your help.”
Ka’Cit cleared his throat. “Help? Does it concern your mate’s…condition?”
Nia kept her eyes on him. The way he said those words came off almost…sad.
“No,” Riv said. “It’s…it’s Nee-ya. She’s…”
A jolt of happiness went through her. “Tell him I’m fine.”
“Nee-ya?” Riv sounded shocked.
“Nia’s there?! Let me talk to her!” There was some shuffling before Lauren came on the line. “Nia?”
Nia drew closer to Ka’Cit so they could hear her better. “Yes, it’s me. I’m fine.”
“Oh my God! It really is you!” She could hear Lauren sobbing.
“Hey, hey, don’t cry. I don’t want you to cry. I’m fine. I truly am.”
Lauren was full on sobbing now. “I—we don’t know what happened. We were looking at the cradles and I turned around to ask you what you thought and you weren’t there. Oh God, Nia, what happened? We searched everywhere!”
Water was starting to fill her own eyes and she forced them away. “I…it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it when I get back, but I just wanted you to know that I’m fine. I’m unharmed and I am well.”
“Where are you? We can come get you.”
Nia glanced at Ka’Cit. His eyes had gone emotionless, as if a wall was erected behind them.
“I’m…again, long story. But no worries. I’ll be back soon.”
There was some mumbling in the background and she barely made out Riv telling Lauren that Ka’Cit was a good guy, that she’d be safe with him.
“I’m safe,” she repeated. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. We’ll be waiting for you.” Lauren’s voice was a bit reluctant.
“See you.”
As the line went dead, Nia released a breath and leaned back in her seat.
She could head back to the Sanctuary now.
Logic said she should.
Why put herself in more danger?
But she’d already made up her mind and she hoped, if she was in trouble like it sounded the other humans were, there would be someone out there to do something to help her.
Kind of like how she was in trouble and Ka’Cit had been there for her.
“Ready?” she asked.
For a few moments, he said nothing, then she heard him release a breath.
As he reactivated the shuttle, the hum of the engines vibrated the little vessel.
Nia gripped the seat beneath her.
She was really going to do this.
Anticipation and trepidation filled her as the ship hummed and moved forward for just a bit, but it didn’t get very far before it jerked and stopped.
A horrible sound, one that gave her the image of a spanner being thrown into a blender, filled the vessel.
“What the hell was that?”
Ka’Cit didn’t answer. Instead, he closed his eyes and slammed a fist on the control panel.
“Phek!”
There was another loud creak in the cabin and for a second, it sounded like the ship was breaking in two.
It wasn’t exactly the sound you wanted to hear when you were in the middle of space.
“Ka’Cit?”
“It’s Herza,” he said.
“Shit.” Nia’s eyes flew to the view screen, her heart in her throat.
She knew it had been weird how that woman had just watched them leave.
“Something’s wrong with the ship. It’s why she didn’t try to stop us when we got to the loading bay. My guess is that this vessel isn’t fit to get us any farther.” Ka’Cit punched a few buttons. “Computer. Relay diagnostics.”
For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, “Diagnostics check. Complete. Main engine one is compromised.”
“Phek.” He said it under his breath this time and when he looked her way, she could see the rage in his gaze.
Shit. Was this her fault?
“Was this because you stopped to help me? With the language thing? The ship was going fine before that.”
Ka’Cit blinked at her and then, as if realizing what she was asking, his gaze softened.
“No, ta’ii. As a matter of fact, I’m glad we stopped. If the engine had blown while we were descending to the planet, it would have been…”
He left the rest unsaid.
Right…they’d have become dust upon reentry.
“What do we do now?”
Ka’Cit turned back toward the view screen and his shoulders slumped a little.
“We have to stop at one of the service satellites. Have someone fix it. There’s no other option.”
He seemed put off by it and she couldn’t help but wonder why.
“That will be okay. Won’t it?”
Ka’Cit made a sound in his throat before he looked her way.
She couldn’t read the look in his eyes and with his mask back on, she had no idea what he was thinking.
“It will be okay, ta’ii.”
Why did it feel as if he’d just told her a lie?
Ka’Cit tried to bite back the groan in his throat.
As the shuttle chugged along with its one good engine, he tried to focus on the satellite they were approaching instead of at the female across from him.
Phek him if it wasn’t one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do in all of his existence.
His cock was throbbing in his trousers, the end of his tail was stiff, and his life organ was struggling in his chest, and all because he could feel her lips on his as if she was still pressed against him.
This had never happened to him before.
He’d never had another soul affect him in the way this little human was affecting him now.
As the ship approached the service satellite, Nee-ya glanced in his direction.
He could see her through his peripheral vision and
