Page 24 of Silver Slayer

Whether she chose me or not, I would ensure her safety on this dangerous planet and spend the rest of my suns-rises provingmyself worthy of the female my spirit had already claimed as its own.

I turned back to the viewport, the analyzer warm in my grip, and kept watch over the darkness.

Chapter Eight

QUIN

Iwoke slowly, drifting up through layers of unfamiliar comfort. Warmth surrounded me. Not the brittle heat of fear that had become my constant companion on this world, but substantial and safe. For a precious moment, I lingered in that perfect half-aware state where nothing existed but the simple pleasure of rest. No danger. No void weavers. No planet trying to kill us. Just peaceful, quiet, and the gentle pressure of steady breathing against me.

A sound, or not quite a sound, but more a low and rhythmic vibration like a purr. It resonated within me in a way that made every anxious, coiled thing inside me go loose and soft. I didn't know what it was. I only knew it made me feel safe in a way I hadn't since before the nebula swallowed our ship whole.

Full awareness returned in fragments as my lids lifted only a fraction. A spicy musk enveloped me, and the rhythmic sound of two heartbeats was beneath my ear. Pale light filtered through the broken viewport, confirming what my body already knew. Dawn had come. I considered keeping my eyes closed, holdingonto this impossible moment a little longer, but reality had other plans.

My arms tightened against something warm and solid, and I froze. I wasn't lying on the cold floor of the crashed ship. I was curled against a wall of living heat, head tucked into the hollow of a throat, cheek pressed against flesh like suede. My fingers had wound themselves into the silken fall of hair where it spilled over a massive shoulder, clinging without my permission, as if I never intended to let go.

Vennox.

I'd fallen asleep while the silver-tongued devil had kept first watch. Now I was cradled in his lap, my side against his chest, his arms, massive and impossibly strong, curled around me with careful restraint. One hand rested at my hip, the other at my shoulder, both positioned to shield rather than claim. His grip had the perfect tension, secure enough to anchor me but gentle enough that I could break free if I wanted to.

But I didn't want to. And that was a real problem.

The low vibration in his chest eased as I stirred. "You're awake," Vennox's deep voice rumbled beneath my ear, the sound rolling through me like thunder. "You slept well."

I nodded without looking up, still processing how I'd gone from sitting next to him to being cradled in his arms. "How long was I out?"

"The entire suns-fall," he said. "I was beginning to wonder if you would wake before it was time to leave."

The entire night. My stomach dropped. "You didn't sleep at all, did you?"

His arms tightened almost imperceptibly around me. "No."

I pulled back just enough to look up into his face. His silver gaze met mine without flinching, showing no sign of fatigue despite a full night without rest. "Any unwelcome guests?"

He shook his head. "Nothing significant. Several small predators, but nothing approached the ship directly." His expression remained controlled, but I caught a flash of something in his steady gaze. Pride, perhaps. "I made sure you were never in danger."

"Because you stayed awake the entire night,” I said, unable to keep the concern from my voice. "And you're recovering from recent injuries."

"A few lost hurs are a small sacrifice if they allowed you to get the rest you needed."

I stared at him, at a loss for how to respond. The simple statement hung between us, loaded with meaning I wasn't ready to examine too closely.

The casual confidence with which he'd handled my most valuable tool should have bothered me more than it did. Instead, I found myself impressed with how he'd known which readings to trust.

"I should get up," I said, reluctantly pulling myself from his lap. My body protested the move, already missing his warmth and the solid reality of his presence. I placed a careful hand on his shoulder to steady myself as I stood, pointedly ignoring the ripple of color emanating from where my palm rested.

"Thank you for keeping me safe while I slept," I said, meaning the words more than I wanted to admit. "You didn't have to do that."

"It is my honor to keep you safe," he said simply, without further explanation.

I stepped away, putting necessary distance between us. All around, the others were already awake and preparing to move out. Mara crouched beside Brunnex, helping him sit up, her long dark curls falling forward over her shoulder as she leaned in to check the dressing on his head wound.

Brooke chatted quietly with Truxxet, her blonde bob tucked behind her ears, her movements animated despite the tension evident in her shoulders. Vala and Ruze spoke in low tones near the shattered viewport, while Tyrk donned a well-worn pack that settled against his back.

Tyrk's pack stopped me cold. Worn canvas, straps darkened with use, the kind of bag that had been everywhere and survived all of it. I'd had one like it at the University of Arizona. Carried it every semester until the seams gave out, convinced in the irrational way of a chronically sleep-deprived student that abandoning it would tank my GPA. As if six years of straight A's, four undergrad, two for the masters I'd nearly lost my mind finishing, had anything to do with the bag and not the caffeine.

I checked the bio-analyzer Vennox had handed back to me and brought up the sweep, watching the screen populate with data. I needed something concrete, quantifiable, something that had nothing to do with the warmth still lingering on my skin where his arms had been. I focused on the readout and ignored the tide of tender feelings blooming in the region of my heart.

"The immediate area is clear," I reported to no one in particular. "No unusual movement for at least a mile in any direction."