“Fine…”
I slammed on the purple button. I heard a loud whooshing sound and then behind me, I heard a voice… John’s voice…
“Minerva… Why are you naked?”
I turned around and screamed, one hand covering my boobs while the other raced between my thighs. That purple button brought back Vidar… with an injured John Billings slung over his shoulders.
Vidar’s clothes were ripped and he was covered in blood and bruises. His chest heaved with exhaustion from vigorous activity, something I’d never seen even when he worked himself to the bone getting us free before.
“You got us out just in the nick of time,” Vidar breathed without a hint of surprise that I was naked.
“Ummm!!”
“You figured it out just like I thought you would,” Vidar replied, “I thought it might take you a while but I needed to keep you busy. I told you, I wouldn’t be long.”
“You didn’t tell me you’d only be gone an hour!”
“I told you to trust me.”
John cleared his throat.
“Right. Close your eyes, Earthling!” Vidar roared in a monstrously protective voice.
“Youplannedall of this!” I chided Vidar.
“Yes. I predicted your every move. That last one came just in time. I didn’t think I’d stand much of a chance against their grenades.”
“They threw grenades?”
My voice dropped to a whisper. He really could have died down there and he would have let me stay here when I should have been at his side, helping him.
“I am fine,” he replied, lowering his voice and then saying, “You look incredible, by the way.”
His cheeky grin set heat rushing to my face. John yowled, “I’m still here you know, can you two maybe tone it down?”
“Tone what down?” I replied, feigning innocence.
“Oh come on, Minnie. I know you better than that. I know you’re into him,” John whined.
“I’m not!”
“Vidar already confessed,” John replied.
“Oh.”
“It’s fine. I just… I’ve been through a lot. I want to settle down and sleep it off.”
“He doesn’t look half as bad as I was.”
Vidar grimaced and replied, “We’ll discuss this later, Minerva. Right now I’ve got to get John to bed.”
When Vidar turned around, I saw what he was referring to. The reason he had John slung over his back like that. They’d removed one of John’s legs from the knee down. While it was clearly healing, he’d been through his fair share of torture. My stomach churned. Had that been my fault?
Vidar carried him to the sick bay and then returned.
“I never thought I’d get to see you naked in my cockpit so soon,” he teased, now that we were alone.
“You are not as funny as you think you are,” I replied, crossing my arms over my breasts but leaving my mound uncovered.
