Page 144 of Vengeance of the Gods

Vega wanted Bridger. Her body needed him… but not like this.

She was on overdrive and couldn’t get her emotions under control. Vega turned her head, breaking their kiss. Bridger kissed down her neck, biting intently on the places he knew would drive Vega wild.

And they did. She gasped, rolling her body against his mouth. “Bridger, I…”

He felt the urgency in her tone, his lips leaving her skin to search the meaning behind whatever look she was giving him.

“What do you need?” he asked, releasing his hold from the back of her head. “Tell me and I’ll do it.” So much hunger burned behind his dark eyes.

Vega rested her arms on his shoulders and looked up at him when he stood to his full height, stepping between her spread legs on the counter. “I want you.” She put her hand on his chest. “But not like this. Not with my head like this.”

His grip on her hips loosened, his hunger settling to understanding, and he smiled a small, sweet smile just for her.

The left side of his lip pulled slightly higher than the other, and the tiniest dimple formed. Vega leaned up and placed a kiss over it, her hands holding Bridger’s exposed hips.

Bridger moved, and Vega saw him reach for her blood-soaked black sweater. “Put this on. I know the perfect distraction.” Bridger stepped back, adjusted himself—which Vega would have been a fool not to notice—and held his hand out for her to take.

Vega threw the sweater over her head, grabbed Bridger’s hand, and felt the shield he’d been holding up around them fall as they stepped through the doorway back into the hall.

Before they turned the corner, Vega paused. “I don’t want them to know about…” Her voice trailed off.

“It can be our little secret for now,” Bridger promised. “We’ll tell them when we’re sure.”

Vega was sure… She nodded her head anyway, happy to avoid it until she couldn’t anymore.

Arlet and Khort stood outside the open door of Khort’s room, Nora peeking out as they approached. Vega let his hand go and flexed her fingers while Bridger spoke.

“Assuming none of you are going back to sleep, we should probably utilize all the free time we have to train.”

“I’m awake,” Khort said, staring down at Vega like she was lost at sea. He longed for a person who no longer existed, and it was written on every worry line etched across his face.

Arlet nodded. “Nora could use some hand-to-hand training too.”

Khort opened his mouth to object, but Nora spoke for herself. “Tav has taught me some. Since I haven’t manifested yet, we’ve kept most of my training to a minimum.” She pushed her dark curls behind one ear.

“At this point, everyone needs to be trained to fight. Being weak and underestimating the battles to come are how you get killed.” Bridger nodded towards the elevator at the end of the hall. “I have the perfect opponent for her.”

Twenty minutes later, everyone was suited up in fresh, brand-new training gear, and they stood in the middle of the most insane gym Vega had ever seen in her life.

This was it. This was Bridger’s dream.

Everything he’d told Vega he wanted to do when his father finally stepped down.

She looked around in awe at the well-lit, multi-level facility circling around in a big dome. On the top floor was something similar to what Vega would have seen on Earth with all the complicated equipment regular people had to Google how to use before going in, hoping they wouldn’t embarrass themselves.

The middle level had a track where soldiers jogged or sprinted, more cardio equipment in the center.

While the bottom floor, which was the biggest, was covered in training rings of different sizes. The largest ring sat in the center, a cylinder with a barely visible shield around it.

Halo yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Commander, no disrespect, but what was I dragged out of bed for again?”

“Because you’re a string bean and I’ve seen ten-year-olds fight better than you,” he blurted, coming to stand next to Vega.

Arlet filled her cheeks with a puff of air and slapped her hand over her mouth.

Vega side-eyed her, rolling her lips between her teeth and biting down to hide the laugh threatening to spill out.

“Noted.” Halo blushed, crossing his arms and doing what he could to make himself small and slink behind everyone.