Kora clapped her hands. “Food. Finally.”
Nayli grinned. “Lead the way, personal bodyguard.”
Aelanna said nothing, but her gaze lingered on him as she moved to the door.
He followed them out, pulse still unsteady.
By flaming Yithir, he was in trouble.
The corridor outside the cabin hummed with the steady throb of the engines, the ship settling into its post–take-off rhythm. Darren stepped out first, scanning automatically. Clear. Quiet. The females followed, blinking against the rosy ambience after the near dark of Nayli’s purple and silver cabin.
Kora strode ahead like she owned the corridor. Nayli drifted beside him, curious and bright. Aelanna stayed close behind — close enough that he could feel her presence like a warm pulse at his back.
Blayze and Lero waited at the junction, both straightening when the women appeared.
Kora’s gaze locked onto Lero immediately.
Lero tensed even more, if that was possible.
Ah. So that was how it was going to be.
Kora planted her hands on her hips. “You look less grumpy now. Did someone feed you?”
Lero blinked, taken aback. “I am not grumpy.”
“You are absolutely grumpy,” she said, breezing past him. “It’s practically your aura.”
Blayze snorted. Lero shot him a murderous look.
Darren hid a smile. Barely. He hoped the friendships with the females would take the brothers’ minds off the loss of their planet, if only for a short time.
Nayli drifted toward Blayze, who straightened like a startled cadet. She reached out and brushed a bit of lint off his shoulder—absent, caring, instinctive.
“There,” she said. “You look more official now.”
Blayze froze; he went rigid. His ears flushed a deep purple.
“Th-thank you,” he managed.
Nayli grinned at him, oblivious to the effect she’d had.
Aelanna crept to Darren’s side. He forced himself to relax, adjusted his pace to match hers without thinking. He mustn’t show his powerful attraction to her, he felt, even more so, their grief over the loss of their planet. It would dampen the easy mood between these females and the brothers to tell them the tragedy of Planet Dhelta. It would serve no purpose, and he’d keep the focus on her for the time being.
“Are you feeling steady?” he asked quietly.
She nodded. “A little light-headed, but… better now.”
Better now. Because he was here? Or because the shiphad stabilized? He didn’t dare ask.
They reached the elevator.
Nayli looked around her. “Where are the others?
“The others?”
She frowned in confusion. “You said there were seven other women — females — aboard.”
Of course. How stupid of him.
