The door opened two hours and seventeen minutes after Becsul left.
She was on her feet before she was fully awake, her body responding to the sound before her mind caught up. Wei-Lin appeared in the doorway behind her, the pipe raised and ready.
But it was Becsul who stepped through, and the relief that flooded through her was so intense it made her knees weak.
“You came back.”
“I told you I would.” He crossed to her in two strides, his arms wrapping around her—careful of Robbie, always careful of Robbie—and for a long moment she just stood there, breathing him in, feeling the solid warmth of his body against hers.
“The captain?” Wei-Lin asked, lowering her pipe.
“Contacted. He’s willing to help.” Becsul pulled back slightly, his eyes meeting hers. “We leave at nightfall. Four hours from now. He’ll smuggle us aboard as cargo, get us past the orbital checkpoints, and drop us at a neutral station in the Outer Colonies.”
“And then?”
“And then we figure out the next step.” His tail wound around her waist, holding her close. “But we’ll figure it out together. All of us.”
Together. The word settled into Melissa’s chest and made itself at home.
She looked at this alien male, this unexpected gift, and thought about all the ways her life had gone wrong in the past few months. The abduction. The captivity. The terror and the humiliation and the moments when she’d been certain she was going to die.
And she thought about all the ways it had somehow, impossibly, gone right. Finding Becsul. Finding these women. Finding hope in the darkest place she’d ever been.
Four hours,she thought. Four hours until they’re airborne. Four hours until they begin the next part of their journey, whatever that looks like.
Four hours.
She looked at Sarah, reading to Katie in the corner. At Wei-Lin, already checking supplies and planning logistics. At Becsul, watching her with those deep black eyes that somehow saw everything she tried to hide.
Four hours was a long time.
A lot could happen in four hours.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Melissa’s hand closed around his wrist. Becsul looked down at her fingers—small and brown against his green skin—and felt his entire body go still. She was watching him with an expression he couldn’t quite read, something intense and deliberate that made his heart stutter in his chest.
“Sarah,” she said, not breaking eye contact with him. “Can you watch Robbie for a while?”
The pale woman looked up from where she sat with Katie, surprise flickering across her features. Then understanding dawned, and a small smile curved her lips. “Of course. Take your time.”
His mind was moving too slowly. He watched Melissa transfer Robbie—sleeping peacefully, his tiny fists curled against his chest—into Sarah’s waiting arms. He watched her smooth a hand over the baby’s dark hair, a gesture of tenderness so natural it made something ache deep in his core.
And then she was turning back to him, her dark eyes bright with determination, and her fingers were intertwining with his, and she was pulling him towards the third room.
“Melissa—”
“Not here.”
The third room was smaller than the others, little more than a storage space converted into sleeping quarters. A narrow bed occupied most of the floor. The emergency exit Becsul had mentioned earlier was barely visible in the dim light—a panel in the wall that would open onto the maintenance tunnels if needed.
She closed the door behind them with a soft click.
And then they were alone.
His tail was already reaching for her, responding to her presence with an instinct he’d long since stopped trying to control. It curled around her waist, drawing her closer, and she came willingly—stepping into his space and pressing her palms flat against his chest.
“I want to celebrate,” she said.
