“Thank you.” Persima hugged Katrina.

Katrina settled into her quarters on the Javelin, plopping onto the bunk next to the one Persima had wanted. They’d decided to room together. Mostly because Persima seemed ill at ease on the vessel—she’d said she hated flying. “You’re welcome. But for what?”

“For looking out for me,” Persima said. “For not leaving me behind.”

“You looked out for me. You risked for me. I could do no less.”

Persima smiled.

“Plus, I like you. And you can never have too many friends.”

“True. So, what will you do about…?” She fiddled with the linen on her bunk. “What about Rush and your feelings for him?”

Katrina kept a straight face. “What feelings?”

Persima sucked her lip in, an infusion of color darkening her already dusky cheeks. “Really? You can say that aloud without blinking? As if it’s not obvious you’re in love with him?”

“You think I have the opportunity to yield to emotions? I have a sister and a mother to look out for. I have a mission that, as far as I know, I still have to follow through with. I have no choices. I’m simply an instrument and at the disposal of the ones making the calls.”

“What if your mother and sister are brought by those two Caayn talked of—Razor and Branson? What then? You’ll have your mother and your sister. You can throw the locket into the nearest ditch. Then—”

“Quit. You’re talking pipe dreams here. Even if that works out, which, by the way, I’m not holding any hope for, then I still have a contract I’m bound to. Bound. You understand? I’ll have to…” Katrina threw her hands upward in frustration. “I don’t even know what the terms are. I don’t know what the repercussions are for not meeting the terms.”

“Quite a predicament.”

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s nothing compared to getting my family to safety.”

“Say they make it here and they’re safe, and the whole locket thing goes away without any problems because, let’s face it, if what you’re carrying is not legal and you get into trouble for it, then you’ll be back in hot water, and it might be worse than any of the alternatives we could have thought of—”

“Gee thanks. You just made everything seem a whole hell of a lot worse than I even thought it was.”

“I’m just… How was it you said earlier? Keeping it real?”

“I can do without the dose of reality right about now.”

Persima walked to the porthole window and looked about. “I don’t do well with being airborne.” She hugged herself. “I lost my family in a launch that didn’t go so well. We were in different ships. I didn’t make it to theirs. We were evacuating. We took off. I was watching their ship from a window not unlike this one.”

She tapped on it with one hand while her other three hands were placed about the window, holding it gently. “They lifted off the ground, and, less than a few heartbeats later, there was a large explosion, a flash of light, and their vessel was no more.” Anguish filled her voice.

Katrina rose and hurried to her friend, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and placing her face against Persima’s back. “I’m so very sorry. And here I’m… God, I’m such a selfish bitch.”

Persima turned, cupped Katrina’s face with two hands and held her shoulders with the other two. She locked gazes with her. “You are not. And you have every reason to be concerned. I completely understand your fears about losing your family.”

A knock at the door interrupted them.

Knocks at doors worried Katrina now. She had no clue if they’d be the harbinger of good news or bad.

She swiped at her eyes. “You’re okay?”

Persima nodded then wiped at her moist cheeks.

“Come in.”

Rush stuck his head in the doorway. “Do you have a minute? A couple of things I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Is my mother…? Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Just wanted to cover something with you.”

Katrina squeezed Persima’s hand. “I’ll be back soon.”

* * *

Katrina stared at Rush. “You’re suggesting you offer yourself as a sacrificial lamb and handfast me?”

“Yes. No.” His face reddened. “No. That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity, it’s—”

“I’m out of here.” She fought the tears threatening to blind her.

Steel bands locked around Katrina. Rush’s fingers encircled her arms, turning her around, pinning her to the wall.

In front of her, he was a solid barrier of man, sexy, undeniably all male.

And she was undeniably pissed. She wanted him to want her.

To. Want. Her.

She didn’t need a damned knight in shining armor. She wanted a man who loved her.

The way I love him.

Yes, she acknowledged it, at least to herself, even if she wouldn’t say it out loud.

She kept her gaze locked on his chest. She didn’t want to look into his eyes. She couldn’t do it, not right now. He’d see the pain.

A finger beneath her chin, gentle but with firm pressure on her jaw, raised her head, until her only options were to look into his eyes or close hers.

Rush stepped closer, his thighs pressing against hers, his body melding with hers.

“No pity. At all.”

That was all he said, his breath so close to her face she had to breathe it in, as if she were breathing in a part of his soul.

Katrina held her breath, knowing she held a part of him deep within her, unwilling to let it go, as unwilling as she’d been to let him go.

“Rush.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, highlighting fully her feelings for him.

“Look at me. Still think it’s pity?” His gaze pierced her to the very core. He lowered his head until she could feel the heat of his lips against hers, though she wasn’t even sure if his lips had touched hers yet. “Is it?”

She choked back a sob. She wasn’t going to cry. No, he couldn’t drive her to tears.

He lowered his head, and his mouth claimed hers in an eternal struggle. His lips parted hers, trespassing just as he had intruded into her heart in such a way that she still couldn’t release the hold he had on her emotions.

His tongue drove into her mouth as if he were searching for more of her—for all of her. Their tongues twined, an all-encompassing blend of desire and love.

She raised her hands, traveling them up his abdomen, over his broad chest.

He groaned into her mouth, echoing the very emotions rampaging through her. She tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him lower, raking nails through flesh.

Emotions rammed into her heart with the force of a tidal wave.

She shoved at his chest, but he was immobile. She shoved again, and he moved back a half step.

Katrina slipped past him, running out of the room, tears blinding her, and right into a knee-high cart.

Where did that come from?

She tumbled headfirst over the cart.

A jarring pain in her ribs reminded her she had no business doing acrobatics. Not that she’d intended to.

“Damn.”

She struggled to right herself.

Those arms grabbed her again. Rush picked her up in a bride-over-the-threshold carry and stepped back into the cafeteria.

He pressed a few buttons on the panel.

“You are not leaving this room until you understand what you mean to me.”

“Fuck you.” How dare he manhandle her.

Though in truth…

He raised a brow. “Is that an offer?”

“You… y—”

But really, wasn’t he doing and being everything she’d ever wanted in a man? Taking charge. Taking care of her. Taking care of business.

She grabbed his collar, pulled him closer, and locked her lips to his.

He pulled away, appraising her. “That’s the woman I love.”

“Love?” she whispered.

“Why would you have thought differently?”

He claimed her mouth again, and she wasn’t sure anymore if what she felt was her ribs or her heart.

“So that’s a yes?”

“Yes, I’ll handfast with you. To you. How do you even say it?”

He laughed.

“I’ll do it for the year. A trial period,” she said.

He smacked her on the hip, his fingers against her derriere. “No trials. You’re either in, or you’re out.”

She frowned at him.

His kiss pushed that frown away.