‘Oh my!’ she whispered, with a slow smile.
‘What is it?’ Idan drawled, setting his mug down.
‘The board finalized the decision. They’ve appointed me Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the hospital network spanning both Eden II and Dunia.’
She let out a joyous scream that echoed off the alloy bulkheads.
The sound drew Mirage into the room, her nanites glimmering as she materialized before them.
‘Is anything the matter?’ she clipped, her eyes darting around on alert.
‘Nada, it’s freakin’ awesome,’ Sheba cried out, her face glowing. ‘I got the job I interviewed for, despite having a foyer collapse over me.’
Idan pulled her into a brief, fierce kiss.
‘Congratulations, Sheba. It seems we need to celebrate,’ Mirage murmured, as she reached into a galley cupboard and produced a bottle of vintage, gold-flecked champagne.
She popped the cork, sending a plume of carbonated mist into the air, filling two crystal flutes at an angle to compensate for the artificial gravity.
‘Sante,’ Sheba beamed, clinking glasses with her man.
Idan kissed her again, the heat of his mouth a promise before they both drank to her success.
‘I’ll leave you two lovebirds to your merrymaking,’ Mirage said, her form dissolving as she glimmered back into the ship’s primary console. ‘Enjoy.’
Sheba, still sipping from her flute, went through the agreement on her comm tab.
‘Better still, my love,’ she murmured, highlighting a specific paragraph. ‘The contract grants me flexible office hours. I can work from any hub on Dunia or within Eden II.’
‘So does this mean I have your blessing to buy a farm for us?’
Sheba faked a sigh of profound annoyance before she succumbed to a laugh.
‘Naam, my warrior-god-farmer. Go for it. Secure your freakin’ estate for your scary six-eyed bull and your sheep.’
‘I intend to go for more than just the land and animals,’ he growled, his hand snaking out to grip her nape. ‘I plan to tend to the most gorgeous creature of them all.’
He pulled her to him, his mouth claiming hers with a hunger that spoke of ancient, unyielding claims.
Minutes later, he moved her into the captain’s quarters, where he proceeded to ravish her.
She moaned into his neck as he thrust inside her, their sensual rhythm synchronized as the corvette tore through the fabric of the universe toward their new beginning.
30
Epilogue
The narrow strait between the islands of Carpe and Evera was a showpiece of granite and ocean surges.
New Malindi’s wild southern coast was where the sea didn’t just meet the land; it attacked it.
Idan and Sheba hiked along the precipice of the cliffs, the wind whipping their hair around.
Idan stopped at the brink, his boots inches from a three-hundred-meter drop into the churning froth.
He took a deep breath of the air, his chest expanding.
‘I like this place,’ he declared, his voice cutting through the gale. ‘It’s wild, passionate, and savage.’
