“Done.”
He didn’t bother relaying the message. He simply sent a recording of that snippet of their conversation.
“Tell her it was my honor.”
“He says it was his honor to do it. Which is Mace-speak for ‘anything for you, Tix.’”
She laughed. “That sounds right.”
He let go of her hand, but only so he could place his hand against the small of her back. It was a small gesture, but the declaration was clear. She was withhim.
It didn’t take long to get back to theTrue. Mace had arrived only a few minutes ahead of them, and he sent the all-clear message Xaber had been waiting for.
“Why don’t you open the door?” he suggested.
“It’s not my ship,” she pointed out, but she raised her hand to the scanner, anyway.
It scanned her handprint and turned green as the hatch slid open. Mace stood on the other side, grinning.
“You gave me access?” she asked.
“We did,” Mace said. “We talked while I was off getting your things. We’ve got plenty of room on board.”
“And we wanted to offer you a place here. With us,” Xaber finished the offer. They’d agreed that they wanted it to come from both of them.
“Whatever room you like, it’s yours,” Mace added as he moved back to give them space to come inside.
“Me. Here. With you two.” Tix looked at Mace and then back at him. “You’re sure?”
“We’re sure,” they both said at the same time.
Several expressions flickered across her features so rapidly that only a cyborg could see them. Relief, uncertainty, and finally, acceptance. She said something so softly that he barely caught it. Something about target acquired? He wasn’t sure, but it was not the time to ask questions.
“Yes,” she said a second later, her smile bright enough to rival a star. “My answer is yes.”
Mace whooped and grabbed her by the hand. “The cabins are on this deck. This way.”
Xaber was only a few steps behind them. Tonight was the start of something special, and he had no intention of missing a moment of it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tish’s mindraced even faster than her feet as she did her best to keep up with Mace’s long strides. Arousal blended with anticipation made it difficult to think, but she needed to make one more decision before she switched off her brain and let her libido take over.
“The previous owners of this ship made some changes to the cabin configuration,” Mace said as he hit the button that opened the first door. “The two on this side are slightly larger.”
She peeked inside. “There were originally three cabins per side. They knocked out a bulkhead and rearranged the partitions? That had to be expensive.”
“I imagine it was. The other cabin is the mirror image of this one. You can have your choice.”
She nodded. “You two have claimed the cabins on the other side?”
“We did. Those had even more changes made. The captain and most of the crew were Torskis in a family unit. Their sleeping arrangements were, uh, complicated.”
Without a word, she squeezed past him and made for the door closest to the flight deck.
“Where are you going?” Xaber asked, his voice thick with amusement.
“You said I could have any cabin.” She tapped the button to open the door. Once she could, she looked inside. The space was large, even massive by shipboard standards. Where there had once been three cabins, there was now only one. A narrow slot on the floor marked the place where a partition had been. It must extend up out of the floor when needed.
