Nick leaned back against the pillow.

After the adventure he and Raina had just had, even this simple cot felt luxurious.

A few feet away in the tiny bathroom the motor for the tiny chemical shower turned off.

Raina was coming.

He shivered with anticipation.

Though they had been safe on the Stargazer within an hour of being found by Leo and Anna, there had been so much more to do.

First, he had been given clothing. Then he was thoroughly vetted by “Mama” the ferocious captain of the vessel. She interrogated him with such abandon that he was stunned when she suddenly slapped him on the back so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.

“Yeah, you check out okay,” the tiny woman had said, winking at him.

At least, he assumed she was winking. She wore an eyepatch that made it hard to tell.

“Let’s eat,” she’d added, gesturing to the door.

He wasn’t going to argue with that. Especially when he saw Raina holding Tesla at a table in the Stargazer’s small mess hall.

Anna was next to her, holding a golden-haired baby.

“This is Tolstoy,” Raina said, indicating Anna’s baby.

“We’ll catch you up over a hot meal,” Anna said.

Then Leo had joined them with a tray of steaming mugs. The hideous brew that passed for a meal on the Stargazer was disgusting, yet nourishing. Even the babies didn’t seem to mind it.

And the conversation was fantastic.

As the four caught up, exchanging tales of the adventures aboard the abandoned cruisers, Mama navigated the ship around the whole web to the far side, where Angel and Peter were trapped on the third ship.

“It’s going to be about seven hours,” she told them before heading to the bridge. “Eat, catch up, but also sleep. You’re going to have a full day tomorrow.”

When their meal was done, Anna and Leo showed them to their cabin. It was small with a single cot, a tiny bathroom, and a makeshift crib in a nook for Tesla.

“Do you want us to keep him tonight, so you can have some alone time?” Anna asked Raina.

No.

“That’s really sweet of you, Anna, but we’ll be fine,” Raina said immediately.

Nick loved her for it. Loved her even more for the way she glanced up at him half-apologetically, like he might have felt differently.

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to reassure her and their connection shot through him all over again.

“Sleep well, brother.” Leo had winked at him over Anna’s shoulder.

“And you,” Nick said, not winking back.

Whatever happened tonight, even if all he and Raina did was hold the baby and each other, it would be special.

“I think I’ll take a quick shower,” he told Raina when the others left.

She grinned and nodded.

When he reached the little bathroom, he saw the reason for her smile.

He was absolutely covered in ceramic powder and grime.

A few minutes later he emerged to find his mate cradling Tesla, who held a fistful of her golden hair tight in his chubby fist.

“My turn,” she said, with an uncharacteristically shy smile.

He scooped up his sleepy son and Raina scurried off into the bathroom as the little one snuggled into his neck.

Nick lowered his nose to inhale the baby’s delicious scent.

He closed his eyes and a melody came to him, old as time, in his grandmother’s throaty contralto.

The next thing he knew he was singing to his boy. The words were in the forgotten language of his people, but their meaning was universal. He sang of joy and sorrow, of cold nights and happy mornings, of starlight and darkness.

Tesla’s warm weight relaxed completely after a few verses.

But Nick held him for a long time anyway, treasuring the quiet moment.

At last he lowered the tiny form into the crib.

Tesla whimpered, and Nick covered his little belly with a big hand.

Tesla’s lashes fluttered once and he stilled, his little mouth moving slightly in his sleep as if he were trying to remember his great-grandmother’s song.

And then Nick was alone with his thoughts.

He paced the room, trying not to think about the sounds of the shower running just a few feet away, running down the naked, glistening body of his beautiful mate.

Soon she would emerge, and he would ask her the question again, the one that had burned in his heart since the moment he’d sensed her in that control room back on the trapped cruiser.

And if she said yes, they would have only five hours to surrender themselves to the mating thrall.

If the baby stayed asleep…