Her arms wrapped around him like steel bands. “Don’t let go.”
“Jesus, I won’t.” He’d never, ever admit to her how afraid he’d been, seeing her drifting away from him.
Suddenly, one of the creature’s legs whipped around and smacked into his skimmer.
Shit. “Hold on!”
The blow sent them shooting forward. Justyn kept one hand on the controls and the other arm clamped around Nissa.
They were moving fast. Much faster than the top speed of the skimmer.
Ahead, he watched the creature reach the enemy cuttership. It opened its mouth—yep, it had huge, spiky teeth—and then spat something green at the ship’s hull.
The hull began to disintegrate. Eaten away by the green goo.
“Holy hell,” Nissa breathed.
The remaining ships rallied around the listing cuttership, but it was too late. The ship turned upside down and began a slow descent to the planet.
Justyn dragged his gaze away…just in time to see the hull of theSky Nomadappear in front of them.
“Brace!” Fuck, this was going to hurt. He moved Nissa between him and the skimmer. The hull raced up to meet them.
Just before they hit, they were jerked to a rapid halt.
“Nice to see you guys arrive with two minutes to spare.” Rynan’s voice came through their helmets.
Justyn looked over and saw his brother manning a large powered exosuit with massive mechanical arms. It was used to recover wreckage in deep space or for heavy lifting on asteroid mines. Rynan had their skimmer clamped in the suit’s large claws.
“Thought you might need a little help,” Rynan said.
“I am damn happy to see you, bro.”
Rynan gave one of his rare smiles. “Likewise. Shall we get inside before that space monster decides to snack on theNomad?”
“I vote yes,” Nissa said.
Rynan fired the thrusters on the exosuit and maneuvered them through the huma-field into the nearby bay.
As soon as they touched the metal flooring, Justyn tossed the cylinder off his shoulder and ripped the helmet off his head. Nissa had hers half off. He grabbed it and tore it away.
Then he hauled her up and kissed her.
She was as desperate as he was. She leaped up, wrapping her long legs around his waist. They devoured each other.
A not-so-discreet cough forced Justyn to tear his mouth from hers. He glared at Dare and Rynan. “Busy.”
“Yeah, I see.” Dare barely contained his smile. “But we need to strap in and get out of here.”
Damn, he was right. Justyn settled for snatching up the Constitution, tugging Nissa to his side, and keeping her there as they hustled to the bridge.
TheNomad’spilot had already moved away from the gas giant and the scene of destruction above it.
“Fuck.” Justyn watched the creature devouring one of the starships with a strange, horrified awe. It was pure carnage.
“Strap in,” Dare said.
They did, and seconds later, theNomadhit interstellar speed.
