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“We’re not going anywhere,” Rexx said.

“Haven’t you got weapons to polish? Or hiding points to check? What about going over the location zone again?” Daisy asked.

“No. It’s all been done,” Rexx said.

“There must be something you need to do. Anything to get you out of our hair,” Daisy said.

Striker shook his head and flicked his chin up at Rexx. “We’re ready. We’re always ready for action.”

Eden chuckled. “Typical alpha Apexian response.”

Rexx continued to follow Daisy as she checked through her gear.

Striker caught hold of Wren’s hand and led her away from the group to the other side of the room. He ignored the irritation in her eyes and laced his fingers through hers. “I’ll do anything, say anything, just don’t go through with this.”

“Striker, let’s not go over this again. I’m not backing down. This is the right thing to do. I’m not letting the crew down at the last minute.”

“If you change your mind, they’ll understand.”

“No! I know what happens when you let people down. If you don’t do what you say, people get hurt. People die.” Her voice caught in her throat. “You lose people you love.”

His heart raced, and he drew her hand to his chest. “Is this about your family? You said it was your fault they died. I don’t believe that. I can’t see—”

“It was my fault. I promised them I’d find a cure. I promised them the sickness wouldn’t get them. It did. And then I pressed them into being test subjects for a vaccine. It was the only way I could see to make them better. I knew the virologist who was leading the program and got them in the first round of trials. I thought it would help. They died in agony because I messed up.” Her head dropped.

He cupped her face in his hands. His heart throbbed at the pain in her eyes. He couldn’t stop her from doing this, no matter what he said.

“This is the right thing to do. I’m saving those animals,” she said.

“Promise me you won’t do anything dumb. You have to come back to me.”

“I’ll come back. This will work. Everything is arranged. We’ve mapped out the meeting site so we know the weak points, and the Gente are transporting the animals to us first as soon as we leave the ship. Once we have the animals, you attack, and we escape. We’ve gone over this a dozen times.”

“We should go over the plan one more time, just to be on the safe side.”

“No! We all know what we need to do. No more stalling. My mind’s made up.”

He slid his arm around her waist, drinking her in. He needed every inch of her ingrained in his memory. His heart beat out an erratic rhythm. He should never have let Wren in, but she was wedged deep inside his heart, and nothing he could do would change the way he felt about her.

Her expression morphed from exasperation, softening as she stroked his cheek. “I will come back. Especially now I’ve got someone to come back to.”

He growled and yanked her close. “You’d better come back. I’ve got something I want to give you.”

She slid her hand down his back. “And what might that be?”

“As if you can’t guess. When I finally get you on your own, no distractions, no alerts, no freakin’ animals getting in the way, I’m going to sink inside you and ride you for hours. The only thing I want you to think about is me.”

Her fingers tensed against his back, and heat blazed in her eyes. “That’s quite an incentive to give a girl.”

“I promise you’ll have the ride of your life if you stick with me.”

“Will you two go get a room?” Eden slung one of her boots at them.

Striker shrugged, keeping Wren tight against his chest. “It’s important to look out for our partners. Isn’t that right, Rexx?”

Rexx was still glaring at Daisy and standing so close she must be able to smell what he had for lunch. “Sometimes, they don’t realize that’s what we’re doing for them.”

Daisy glared at him. “Sometimes, we don’t need so-called sense being yelled at us, and we don’t need to be interrogated about how good we are. We’re smart enough to figure things out on our own.”