Page 67 of Starfighter’s Salvation

A startled laugh escaped him. Then he kissed me gently. The first gentle thing either of us had done in several minutes.

“Mine,” he murmured.

I kissed the scar through his eyebrow.

“Stay alive,” he whispered into my hair. "I didn't want to love you, Gina. But I do. I fucking do. So much it hurts. You can't get hurt. Do you understand me?"

I lifted my head. “That’s romantic.”

“I'm serious.”

“So am I. You stay alive, too. You aren't the only one with your heart on the line, here. You aren't the only one taking a risk.”

“Agreed. We shall both live forever.”

“And we shall eat cake after every mission.”

“Every mission?”

“Non-negotiable.”

He chuckled. “Agreed.”

He lifted me off his lap and settled me into the bedding and a pile of pillows. He laid down beside me and pulled me close. I rested my cheek over his heart, counted the steady drumming of his pulse out of pure professional habit, and let his steady breathing lull me to sleep.

17

Corvan

* * *

The distress call arrived at dawn. Gina slept on my chest. Naked. Warm. One leg thrown between mine, her breath slow against my throat. For the length of a heartbeat, I let myself enjoy the moment — the weight of her, the trust she showed in the way she slept against me. I considered ignoring the alert. I actually considered it. Then I read it. The Dark Fleet had launched an attack on Dome Erys.

An attack there made no sense, but then, nothing they did of late seemed to. I pulled up the mission brief on the wall panel next to the bed and frowned as I read. They were evacuating, but there were already fourteen critically wounded patients who needed evac as well as six medical staff who'd stayed behind to take care of them. Now, all twenty were trapped inside while the Dark Fleet continued their assault.

We had to get them out of there.

Aryk’s ten-day stand-down and rest order had lasted exactly one night — the general had already lifted it, the order stamped with his command code. Dawn had barely reached the window, and the room appeared serene and still around us with the illusion of peace. Where she pressed against me, her skin held the heat of sleep.

I resented the distress call on principle. We were supposed to have ten days of rest. Gina was still sore, still healing. One morning. Give me one morning that belongs only to us.

I had never in my life wanted to be a selfish man more than I did with her mouth soft against my collarbone. But twenty people were going to die if we didn't get there in time. Fuck. “Gina.”

She woke immediately. “What happened?”

“Distress call. We have to go.”

She was out of bed before I finished explaining, and I felt the loss of her warmth like something torn from my flesh.

I caught her around the waist and pulled her back against my bare chest, skin on skin, because I needed one more touch before the day took her out of my arms. "Do not forget your promise. You will not get hurt."

"And you are going to owe me cake." She kissed me, quick and certain, the way she did everything. “Better put on some pants.”

The deck crew had worked through the night to make the Salvation whole again, and the ship’s port thruster was back to one hundred percent.

We flew with two squadrons of fighters and Dome Erys was under attack when we arrived. The Valor and two large escort ships full of both ground units and more fighters attacked the enemies' positions in the sky and on the ground outside the dome.

While they joined the battle, we flew in low toward the landing bay closest to the evacuation target. Arturri had been in contact with the medical team in the Dome, told them where to be, and when. All we had to do was land, load, and get the fuck out. We weren't here to fight.