Page 19 of Starfighter’s Salvation

She noticed. Of course she did. Her gaze dropped to where my hard cock was trying to force its way out of my uniform, paused, and returned to my face. “Your ship has excellent medical care and very tight pants.”

“The uniform is standard issue.”

“I should thank whoever issued it.”

I stared at her in shock. She smiled and gazed out at the new life waiting for her. A new life with me.

It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to pay attention to inbound flight protocols with her sitting next to me. Her presence already consumed my thoughts and my senses. I had made a serious error when I believed keeping my distance would protect me from this woman.

No. Distance had protected her from me. Now that buffer was gone, and—selfish bastard that I was—I wasn't sure I wanted it back.

6

Corvan

* * *

The ramp hadn’t fully lowered before Gina saw Priya waiting for us in the landing bay. I felt her go up on her toes beside me, every line of her straining toward the friend she’d crossed a galaxy to see. A friend she'd been afraid she might have lost. The docking bay rang with loading alarms, rolling carts, and shouted clearances. Cool processed air smelled faintly of machine lubricants and fresh sealant.

“PRIYA!” Gina's screech of joy turned several heads in our direction.

She ran. Priya ran too. They collided in the middle of the docking bay hard enough that I winced. Gina lifted her friend off the deck as if the woman weighed nothing. I followed her movement before I followed anything else in that bay — before the loadmasters, before my own scout. Pure happiness changed her whole face, unguarded and radiant, and the sight of it cut through me like a dagger sliding into my aching heart.

I'd stolen that joy from her and she had yet to recover fully. I was an asshole.

An asshole just trying to keep her alive. That was true, but small consolation.

“You’re alive!” Gina squeezed hard enough to make Priya grunt, then laugh.

“I’m alive.”

“You disappeared. Your phone died. The police think you ran off with a man you met online.”

Priya looked over Gina’s shoulder toward Vesh as he approached. “Technically, I did.”

I stayed close without a conscious decision. Leaving Gina's side was simply not an option.

“That is so not funny.” Gina protested, but she was laughing.

“It’ll be funny later.”

“The police questioned me twice. Alisha nicknamed one of them Detective Mustache. He looks like some weird porn producer from the seventies. Oh, and Alisha made one of those crime solver conspiracy boards for you with the red lines and everything.”

Priya winced. “A real board?”

“Digital, but color-coded. You’re red. Jamie Miller is blue. Did you know you were actually the seventh woman to go missing after beating the game?"

"I found out after I arrived."

"So, it's all true? All of it?" Gina looked between Priya and Vesh, the stared at her friend with an unblinking intensity I didn't understand. "All. Of. It?"

Priya's warm brown skin turned a bit pink. "Ummm. Yeah. All of it."

Both women burst into hysterical laughter as Vesh and I made eye contact. He looked as confused as I felt.

When they were done hugging and giggling like children, Priya introduced her best friend to Vesh. I stepped closer, close enough to smell Gina's soft skin and glared as he gave her a respectful nod and said all the right things. Respect. Good, I wouldn't have to kill him.

Gina wrapped her arms around her waist and grimaced. "Alisha really is going to kill you. Don’t they have communications here? You could have sent an email or something.”