She nodded and turned to kiss the hand that caressed her. He kissed her once more, whispering against her lips. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. My heart can’t take it.” She returned the kiss. “I’ll try not to—I promise.”
Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, Wulf turned his attention to the men who’d gone back to work cleaning up after the EVI. “Good job all. I’ll be recommending you, both individually and as a unit, for commendations. Huw, make a note of that.”
“That’s a good captain,” Melina mumbled into his chest as her eyes closed and she drifted off into sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Eight Standard Hours later
Well-rested after a solid seven hours of sleep, Mel entered the Captain’s conference room in search of Wulf.
He sat alone. Beyond him the expansive port window framed a fiery red, blue, white and peach display of a star cluster in a nebula thousands of light-years behind the Galanti.
How many times had he sat in the observation area, watching as the galaxy whizzed by? How many times had he sat in that chair, attempting to figure a way out of a tight corner? How many times had he questioned his place in the grand scheme of things, wondering when his number might come up and if he would live to see another mission?
“Too many times to count, gemate. Too many damn times.” Wulf turned and smiled at her. What had put that smile on his face? With a light mental touch, she read his emotions. Happiness. Love. Both emotions were tied to her—
only her.
A sense of well-being swept over her. This was right; they were right.
He held out a hand, beckoning her to join him. “I now have more to fight for. To live for. I have you and our future together. So, I expect that I will find myself in this chair, watching the galaxy whizz by many more times.”
Mel walked over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “But no longer alone.”
“Yes,” he whispered against her mouth. “No longer alone. Forgive me for my loss of control earlier?”
Mel pulled away from the luscious warmth of his mouth then leaned against the arm of his chair. “Nothing to forgive. We still have much to learn of each other. We are both used to being in control, to acting as we see fit. It’s a learning curve, this battle-mate relationship.”
She stroked the back of his sinewy hand with one finger. “More like a learning cliff.
The biological connection is there and has been ever since that moment we first met in the maintenance tunnel. For me, the emotional connection has been there also, almost from the beginning—though I tried to deny it.” She shook her head, laughing at herself.
“I didn’t trust it, at first. It’s the psychological connection, the learned trust, that I have trouble dealing with. Sharing command decisions goes against all my training and experience. But, I know that it, too, will come.”
Wulf reversed the grip she had on his hand and brought hers to his lips. “Thank you.
I’m not sure I deserve your understanding, but I’m grateful for it.” He rubbed his cheek against her hand. “For me, it is the emotional connection that is overwhelming.
Intellectually, I know you are strong and capable, but my fears for your safety override my brain and I react emotionally. I’ve never had that happen before. I will try to overcome that issue, but it might take time. Prime males have deeply rooted protective instincts when it comes to their mates, even strong battle-mates. Have patience with me?”
“Always. You’re worth the trouble,” she teased. Pulling her hand away, she cupped his jaw and stole another kiss.
His eyes glowed with love as he reached for her face and took control of the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth and claimed every single millimeter like the conquering warrior he was. It was a kiss that promised hot nights on cool sheets. And even hotter, sultry afternoons of tangled sweaty limbs.
Mel moaned, returning the kiss, trying to get closer to the promise of passion.
The quarter-hour reminder of yellow alert status sounded, startling them both.
Groaning, Wulf pulled away and whispered, “Later, gemate.” Sitting back in his chair, his molten gaze traveled over her, setting her nerves ablaze.
One look from Wulf was worth more than all the foreplay any other male of her acquaintance had ever attempted.
“You are rested?” His voice was husky with restrained heat.
Taking a calming breath, Mel walked to his other side and sat down. “Yes.” Answering his unspoken question, she added, “My cuts and bruises were minor. I’m fine.”
Another of his heated searching glances and, now, a light mental touch had her pulling up the maintenance report on the status of the weapons systems to distract him from his intimate examination of her wellbeing. “I’m fine, Wulf. How’s the weapons’
recharge going?”
A disbelieving grunt was his only response.
Obviously, she hadn’t masked the lingering pain from the injuries she’d obtained during her EVI walk. If she could have, she would’ve denied all injury. But he’d seen the evidence in the EVI staging area and, later, after he’d escorted her back to their quarters.
Once there, the doctor quickly examined her, efficiently wielding the ice gun on her bruises and lasering her lacerations and abrasions.
Wulf had stood over them both, alternately cursing each hurt as it was revealed, then lecturing her on the prime importance of her safety for his mental health and the ultimate well-being of every single crew member—for every living being in the galaxy. Then he’d dismissed the doctor and tucked her in bed. As he kissed her, he had pressure-injected her with a sleeping agent that had put her under for over six and a half standard hours.
The sneaky bastard.
She would’ve done the same for him. They really did think alike. She grinned.
Still working on shifting Wulf’s attention back to work and from her physical status, she commented, “Looks like we’re still at least five standard hours away from full power on the two forward weapons and two standard hours on the aft.”
“They are making progress.” Wulf caressed her left hand as it hovered over the keypad. “When we get to Tooh 10, let’s take some time, visit Maren at the embassy on Tooh 2. Maybe stay at the resort for some rest and relaxation, and what the Terrans call a honeymoon.”
She smiled and turned her hand up to clasp his. “That sounds like a plan.” Wulf smiled. “Good.” He pulled his hand from hers and swept an errant lock of hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “Why don’t you pull up the nav screen? Let’s see where the unknown ships are currently.”
Wulf’s affectionate touch was distracting, but Mel sensed his need to handle her.
And, if the truth be told, she needed the contact. Something about their bond demanded that they reach out to each other often. If not mentally, then physically. Damn, this would never work on an Alliance vessel. Military protocol required decorum at all times while on duty. Married personnel were required to keep their affection under control and save it for the privacy of their quarters.
“Then, I will touch you mind-to-mind in front of the non-Prime crew. Our Prime crew members understand the need to touch—and what we do here, in private, is not against protocol. We are mated.”
“I can work with that. But if I snap at you from time to time, be patient. I’m not used to being touched all the time.”
“I will be as patient with you as you are with me.”
“Well, that could make life interesting.” Wulf chuckled, stroking a finger down her cheek. “Life with you is all that I want.”
“You’re an awfully smooth talker for not dating much. Did the sex surrogates teach you that?” Waving her hand, she said, “No, never mind. They are in the past.”
“Yes. In the past. They have nothing to do with us.” In a low, husky voice, he added,
“They meant nothing to me, Melina.”
“That’s good to know.”
A quick touch of his mind and she found that he told the truth—in his mind the sex surrogates had been a means to an end, nothing else. If they had, she might have had to hunt them up and bitch-slap them. Any of them approaching him on Cejuru Prime in the future would find out quickly that this battle-mate did not share. God, this was so not like her. Jealousy over a man. Of course, she’d never cared for anyone before. So maybe it was just a female thing.
Mel turned her attention back to the nav screen.
“Uh, the bogies are about a light-year away,” she said as she keyed in another set of numbers. “Gold Squadron has closed the gap and is now only about one and a half light-years away from intercepting the Galanti. It’ll be close. But, figuring the Gold’s better speed, Royce might get here around the same time as the bad guys.” Mel keyed in a few more variables to confirm her conclusion. “The enemy has to know that Gold is on its way. Do you think that will scare them off?”
“What do you think?” Wulf turned his chair at an angle to face her.
“No. They’ll attack us,” she said. “Because, if the rebels hired them, they don’t get paid unless they do the job. And, if, as I think, the bogies are allies of the Antareans, they’ll attack or the Antareans will make them wish they were dead.” Wulf smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”