THEY MADE IT DOWNSTAIRS. Eventually. And Tessa tried her damnedest not to blush when Jacinta sent her a smirk and a wink, but her cheeks fired and she grabbed for a glass of water and took a deep drink, as if that would erase the knowing look from the older woman’s face.

“It’s important to keep hydrated,” Jacinta said when Tessa put the glass down.

Tessa sputtered and blushed even harder. Kayleb was a rock beside her. He placed a hand on the small of her back and traced his thumb over her spine. Oh, what the hell. She burrowed into his side and leaned her cheek against his hard chest. He belonged to her now and none of Jacinta’s remarks could weaken the bond between them.

Though Jacinta had an entire compound populated by mercenaries and enough firepower to take over a small country, they’d arranged themselves in the kitchen of her house. A picture of two young girls and a woman about Tessa’s age was hanging on the wall beside the door and Tessa could easily see the resemblance of all of those girls to the warrior in front of her. The oldest must have been Penny, Krayter’s mate and a woman Tessa was now looking forward to meeting. A week ago, she would have run from the thought.

But a week ago she’d been acting very stupid.

She and Kayleb sat down beside one another at the kitchen table that was laden with enough food to feed the small army that Jacinta was hiding somewhere. But it was only the three of them in the kitchen at the moment. Whether that was because Jacinta didn’t trust their story or because everyone else was busy, Tessa didn’t know.

“Thank you for letting us stay here,” Tessa said once the worst of her embarrassment abated. Ships were small places and it was almost impossible to hide when and with whom a person had sex, but on a ship, everyone else knew not to mention anything. At least not without invitation. Strangers didn’t tease one another, and the whole thing with Kayleb was new and something she still needed to figure out completely. It wasn’t fragile, no, the bond between them was a strong as steel now, but that didn’t mean she wanted to share every aspect of it with someone she’d only just met.

“Penny explained part of the situation,” Jacinta replied as she fixed herself a plate from the various bowls. Tessa waited until she was done and then did the same, not wanting to appear rude. Besides, her stomach hadn’t stopped growling since the scent of grilled meat had first hit her nostrils. As soon as she’d served herself, Kayleb followed her lead.

“Which part?” Kayleb asked. “It has been... an eventful week.” He smiled over at Tessa and her heart flipped, a silly grin painting itself on her lips.

“She stayed here the night you were supposed to die.” Jacinta said it as calmly as if she were relaying the weather and Tessa’s heart clenched. She reached her hand under the table and squeezed Kayleb’s thigh, assuring herself that he was still there and healthy right beside her. “And while I’m sure she hasn’t given me every piece of information,” frustration tickled her words and there was a story there, Tessa was sure, “she explained about the incident at the police station, as well as she knew it. It appears she and Krayter were informed of your kidnapping a few hours after it happened, though they’d surmised that something had gone wrong based on the media reports.”

“I need to call my brother,” said Kayleb.

“Of course, the communications room will be made ready for you.”

“And I need to call my sister,” Tessa added, “unless you’ve already contacted the authorities?” She wasn’t at all surprised when Jacinta shook her head. The woman didn’t seem like the type to invite law enforcement into her business.

“I would be happy to send you both back to the city once my people have dealt with the nuisance you’ve alerted us to,” she offered, as if an alien ship were no more bothersome than a wasp’s nest. “We can have you safe in your own home by tomorrow night at the latest, I’m sure.” Tessa made a note to talk to Kayleb about what home was going to mean to the two of them. It was part of the growing list of things they’d need to deal with once they returned to civilization.

Then the rest of what Jacinta said sunk in. “What do you mean you’re dealing with the pirates? That’s my—our—problem, we can’t just ask you to risk your lives because we brought danger to your door.” Beside her, Kayleb nodded. Something warm expanded in her chest, despite the danger. She’d never had a partner before, and the thought that he’d stand beside her, no matter the danger, made Tessa feel like she could face anything and come out stronger.

Jacinta was unmoved. “I’m not taking two untrained civilians into unfamiliar territory to fight dangerous criminals.” She held up a hand to cut either of them off before they could object. “Believe it or not, I know how this feels. I’ve had to sit out on fights that I was dying to take on. But that’s how you’d end up if you went out there. Dead. From the sounds of what I’ve heard, you’ve used up all of your luck and then some in your various scrapes with these assholes. We’re not going out to fight them on your behalf. They landed in my territory and that makes them a threat to my people. The best help you could be is to give us all of the information you know and let us do the heavy lifting. It’s not cowardice to know when to back down.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tessa spotted a tic in Kayleb’s jaw and she was pretty sure he was trying hard not to say anything he’d regret. Something a little like disappointment churned in her guts. They’d made it this far and were supposed to just sit out the fight? She’d survived for days with them right on her ass! She could take them. But... Tessa sighed. “Jacinta’s right,” she told her mate. “We’re not soldiers.”

Kayleb nodded. “If staying back keeps you from danger,” he told her, “then we stay back.”

She might have called him out for doing the macho protector thing, but she’d just spent days with him and never once had he doubted her capabilities. She’d held his life in her hands back on the Kella when she healed him and again when she shot that blaster at the pirates. “I don’t want you in danger either.” There’d been enough of that for both of them. “I think we could use a vacation.” Between the stress of her capture and escape and his journey to certain death on his birthday, the two of them were balls of anxiety running on adrenaline and not much else.

“Save your plans for later,” Jacinta interrupted before they could do anything more than think and agree with her. “I have one of my guys coming over. You’ll need to tell us everything and this will all be over soon.”

Tessa nodded and leaned against Kayleb. She couldn’t wait to get home.

***

AN EERIE CALM SETTLED over the compound. After briefing Jacinta and her lieutenant on what they’d encountered on the pirate ship, Kayleb and Tessa were left to their own devices, instructed not to leave the inner circle of houses that made up the central part of the compound but otherwise free to roam. Kayleb put in a call to his brother while Tessa used a secondary communications device to call her sister.

When the screen resolved and Krayter appeared, the look on his face would have been comical if not for the fact that Kayleb had suffered too many brushes with death in the last week.

“You’re not Jacinta,” was what his brother finally said after gaping at him for several long seconds.

Kayleb huffed out a small laugh. “No, I’m not. But apparently her compound is the best to call from when one is fleeing imminent danger.” Months ago Krayter had been standing in this same place, making a call to Kayleb after he disappeared deep into the upstate wilderness. Then, it had been humans with a distaste for aliens hot on his trail. Kayleb wasn’t certain which of them had faced the more dangerous foe.

“What happened?” Krayter demanded. He gestured wildly over his shoulder and Penny came into view in front of the screen as well. She waved hello instead of speaking.

Kayleb gave them the shortest recounting possible. Before his brother could offer help, Kayleb cut him off, explaining that Jacinta already had the matter in hand. This, at least, wasn’t as dire as last time. Neither he nor Tessa were being held any longer and people with a lot of training were handling the danger. Penny looked a bit worried at the mention of her mother going into battle, but she agreed that it was best that he and Tessa stayed behind.

“Tessa and I should be home tomorrow, if things go to plan,” he said, unable and unwilling to stop the smile that bloomed when he said his mate’s name. She’d chosen him, chosen the life they could have together, despite the pain they’d already endured. She believed that they were stronger than that hurt and he’d spend the rest of forever showing her that she’d made the right choice.

“Home?” Both Penny and Krayter were smiling the conspiratorial grins they smiled whenever they started to get ideas about him.

But today Kayleb didn’t have any room in his heart for even the mildest irritation. He nodded. “I can’t wait for you to meet her. She’s...” He stumbled over his thoughts, a dozen words for everything that Tessa was and meant to him vying for supremacy. “She’s amazing,” he finally said, though even that wasn’t quite right. He knew that Krayter and Tessa had met before, but this time it was different. This time there was no holding back, only honesty and love.

“I’m happy for you, brother. Now stay safe and get back here. I think it’s time we relay a call back home to tell our family the good news.”

Kayleb agreed, though he was trying not to think of the danger that lurked in the woods outside the compound. He disconnected from Krayter and Penny and left the communications room in search of his mate, who he found standing in the hall studying a piece of art hanging on one of the walls.

She smiled when she saw him and his heart squeezed with joy. “All good?”

He nodded and took her hand. “And you?”

Tessa shook her head and sighed. “I think Tam is happy I’m alive. It means she can kill me herself.” She grinned so he could tell she was joking, but he understood the impulse. No one wanted their younger siblings to put themselves in danger. “I need some air.” She nodded her head towards the stairs. “Walk with me?”

Kayleb took her hand. “Anywhere.”

The silence outside was even heavier than the one indoors. After a moment Kayleb realized that Jacinta and her crew of mercenaries must have already left on their mission. He could see a few people patrolling the edge of the settlement, but there was no hint of anyone else. “I guess they didn’t want to delay.”

“Hmm?” Tessa’s mind seemed to be wandering. She came back to herself with a slight jolt and looked around. “Oh. They’re already gone?”

“It appears so.” Though Kayleb wasn’t a fighter in the same way of Jacinta and her mercenaries, it rankled a bit to be dismissed. He’d been part of the fight to defend his brother. His cousin Ruwen’s ship had been instrumental in turning the tide of that skirmish. But here he could offer nothing.

“Waiting like this feels wrong, doesn’t it?” Tessa asked, reading his thoughts. She tugged on his hand and led him between two of the houses circling the inner courtyard to a picnic table hidden by a grouping of trees. Jacinta had told them to stick to the inner courtyard, but Kayleb thought they were close enough to remain safe, so long as they were in shouting distance of the guards. “I mean, every time that I’ve thought it was over, the pirates seem to one up me. That’s probably all this is, right? Nerves?” She sat down on the wooden bench and laid her free arm on the table.

Kayleb slid in beside her and tugged her close, holding her against his side as if he could shield her from any harm. “Jacinta does not strike me as the type to leave survivors behind.” There was nothing of a doting mother in her, she was solid warrior, except for when she mentioned her daughters. If he had to rely on any human general, he thought that she was not a bad choice.

Tessa laid her head on his shoulder. Their thighs pressed together, but this wasn’t sexual. Now his mate needed comfort. Of course, if she wanted anything else, he’d be happy to give it.

“Do you think we should have locked ourselves in our room and waited until the coast was clear?” Tessa muttered.

“Might have been boring.”

Her hand dropped to his thigh and Kayleb’s cock twitched. “I think we could find a way to entertain ourselves.”

“That’s certainly safer than charging into battle.” His voice had gone a little ragged as her fingers danced up his thigh, teasing him, just out of reach of his cock.

Wood snapped in the distance and a bird took off from its perch with an angry squawk. Both Kayleb and Tessa jumped in their seats before turning to each other and dissolving in a fit of laughter.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to relax again,” Tessa muttered. “How does a desert isle sound?” She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes, a grin tugging at her mouth. “Just you, me, and the coconuts. No pirates, no explosions.”

“And we’ll sleep all day in those...” He trailed off, trying to find the right word, his translator struggling. “Hammocks?”

“We wouldn’t want sand to get anywhere unpleasant,” she agreed.

“Sand’ll be the least of your worries when we’re done with you.” Kayleb heard the click of a blaster as the shot ripped through him, and then everything went black.