Vi woke a short time later. She glanced over at the other cot, but Saetyria was still sleeping. Vi wondered if Saetyria had slept very well in many years. Vi sat up as quietly as she could, but Saetyria startled awake anyway. It was probably hard to relax in such an unknown place.

Vi whispered, "You can keep sleeping. I can let you know once we’re there.”

Saetyria stared at Vi, before comprehension flitted across her face. She smiled through a yawn, her tail clutched between her hands. “Thank you.” She tucked her tail under her head and settled more comfortably.

“I feel like this is all a dream," she mumbled. "I can’t even believe it’s happened. You really think this is real though?”

“Don’t worry," Vi said. "It’s completely real.”

It’d only been one day of hell for Vi, but she felt the worrisome truth gnaw at her too: Perhaps it was all a dream and they were really back at that boss’s slave camp.

Nerves flitted through her, but Vi hid them as best she could. “I’ll check how things are going,” she whispered and climbed out of bed.

The girl nodded and closed her eyes.

As Vi made her way to the front, letting the divider curtain fall back into place, Haze turned in his chair to glance back. “How’d you sleep?” he asked, softly.

She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a little cramped, but much preferred to what I almost had to deal with,” she admitted. “Are we almost back?”

“Maybe thirty minutes.” He reached a hand back to her, a soft smile lighting his face.

She took it, and he pulled her hand to his face, kissing it.

“You all right?” he asked.

“I think so. My first outing into space was completely horrible, I’ll just say. Maybe we could try less of a dive for next time?”

Haze’s smile covered his face, and his tattoos glowed slightly. “How about somewhere warm and tropical? Maybe some water? Do you swim?”

Vi smiled. “Sounds perfect.”

He pulled her toward him, and she sat on his lap. “Maybe we could figure a few things out, too.” She picked at his shirt, adjusting it and feeling possessive.

He leaned forward a bit, his hand on her leg, squeezing gently. “…Like what?”

Her stomach dropped at his cute expression, and she felt the overwhelming need rush through her to kiss him.

It raced through her, and she tipped forward, kissing him fast, her hands moving about his face to hold him close.

He groaned slightly, a male, dark, needy sound, and his hands wrapped around her back and slid up into her hair.

As they broke apart, one of his hands glided up to caress her ear and send a shiver through her.

“Well, I was thinking. Maybe…” She shrugged. “The Xeo Tarlith isn’t that big of a ship and with Saetyria there too… Perhaps, we ought to think about doubling up. Just to conserve space.”

Another trickle of desire went through her as she looked at him, at the thought of waking up next to him again. Even if there was somewhere else to sleep, she really didn’t want to go back to an empty room or, more specifically, one without him in it.

He gave her a little grin, his mouth curling up in a way that pulled at her belly. His tail wrapped around her waist, flicking gently against her leg.

“You think you could handle more Haze, huh?”

“I’m not saying it would be easy, but sacrifices sometimes have to be made.”

She paused, pulling back. “What will happen on that planet? Is there anything that can be done to keep it from happening again, to keep that evil woman from taking more slaves?”

Haze took a deep breath. “The woman’s dead. She won’t be taking any more slaves. Those men that helped us, some of them cleared out her files. They’re going to use the files to infiltrate further. They’ll probably even hide her death for a bit.”

Vi nodded her head, letting the truth wash over her: The lady was dead. She wouldn’t be tracking any of them down. “I didn’t know. I’m glad though; some people are just evil. Do you really think they can hide what’s happened?”

“Merchant Yarda has connections already within her organization. It should be possible, especially to keep it from her off-planet connections.” A chime sounded out. Haze leaned forward to inspect the console, his tail still wrapped around her. “That’s the warning. We’ll be on approach soon.”

“Good,” Vi said. “I can’t wait to get out of these clothes.” Her words hung in the air.

He stared at her, and it was like his eyes melted through to her soul, and the heat rose between them. His tattoos flared brightly. “You’ll let me know if you need any help with that?”

Vi grinned and arched her back, pretending to have trouble looking over her shoulder. She looked back to wink at him. “I was thinking the fastenings were a bit troublesome.”

In response, he half-lunged forward and pulled her into another heated embrace. His lips traveled along her mouth and neck, while his hands clutched her sides. The world faded away again, and she existed just in the moment between them.

She wished it could spin out forever.