“Yes, but we could wait for a better time for revenge, whereas we need to get Alex now. I can feel her, and she’s hurting.”
“She’s a member of the crew,” Tannis said. “So we go after her; it’s a simple as that.”
They started discussing details, and Tannis let the conversation wash over her. It felt odd to think of them going on a mission without her. She didn’t think she’d ever been left behind before. If she wasn’t careful, she was in danger of becoming sad and pathetic.
She almost jumped when Callum reached across and rested his hand on her thigh. He squeezed gently. The touch was in no way sexual. She knew it was meant to comfort her, and the thought made her want to cry. She concentrated on keeping herself together. Finally, it was over.
“That’s it then—all we can do is wait until we intercept The Endeavor. And hope that we don’t just fly straight past her.”
…
Callum wanted nothing more than to just take Tannis to bed and hold her. She was being so brave, but occasionally he saw flashes of fear in her yellow eyes. He peered at her sideways, but she caught the look and scowled.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just concentrate on what you need to do.”
What he needed to do was work with Daisy to set up the search frequencies so they wouldn’t miss The Endeavor when she got within distance. He wanted to leave contacting Captain Harris until the last moment. While he presumed the Council had told Harris he was to pick Callum up, he also suspected they would have given him instructions to destroy El Cazador. The ship had been a pain in the Council’s butt for too long now. It was unlikely they’d let her sail happily on her way when they had a chance to blow her to pieces. So he’d prefer to take The Endeavor and her captain by surprise. Not easy with a virtually invisible ship.
Two hours later, the bridge was empty except for Tannis and him. Everyone else had gone to try and get some sleep. She was flopped in a chair, yawning.
“You want to go to bed?” he asked.
“Hell no, there’s—”
“Time enough to sleep when you’re dead. I know.”
He was trying hard not to think about the whole dying thing, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to function. There were times over the past few centuries when he’d regretted his immortality. He hadn’t wanted to die exactly, but living had seemed more of a chore than a good thing. Strangely though, even now he didn’t want to die. If Tannis died, the future was going to be bleak for a long time to come, but all the same, he wanted to live. He had to save Alex for her, then look after the crew, then maybe even go back and put the whole world to rights.
“What are you thinking?”
He glanced across at Tannis who, head cocked to one side, watched him.
“That you’ve taught me so much,” he said. “Given me a purpose in life again—thank you.”
She smiled. “Good, now finish your work.”
He turned to the console and did a scan, but there was nothing showing up, and he adjusted the sensors—still nothing. The trouble was The Endeavor was good. When he looked again, Tannis’s eyes were closed. He pressed his comm unit and got Daisy.
“Yes,” she said sleepily.
“Are you okay to come up and watch the scanners for a while?”
“Of course. I’ll be right there.
Five minutes later, she appeared in the doorway. As she glanced at Tannis, a frown flickered across her face. “Is she all right?” she whispered.
“Just sleeping.”
Callum picked Tannis up in his arms. She didn’t wake but snuggled close to him. Her skin was blue white with a fine sheen of sweat, and her lashes were dark against her pale cheeks. He hated to see her so vulnerable when she’d always been fiery and vibrantly alive.
“Shower,” she murmured as he lowered her to the bed.
He slowly peeled off her clothes, kissing her bare skin. He needed her, but was afraid she was too ill, and he should leave her alone. But as he cupped her breast, she moaned low in her throat.
“Don’t stop.” Covering his hand with hers, she held it against her.
After a few seconds, he pulled free, finished undressing her, then picked her up and carried her into the small bathroom. He turned on the water to hot, then stepped into the shower. It was a close fit with his wings, but he could hold her in the spray with one arm around her waist as he soaped her body with the other. He stroked over the softness of her breasts, lingering on the tips as her nipples tightened under the attention. Then down the flat plane of her stomach, almost concave now, her ribs clearly visible under the translucent skin, to the silky curls at the base. She opened her legs as his fingers drifted through the curls, sliding between the folds of her sex to find her warm and wet.