Grace Goodwin - The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set

The ship was built in four sections. The two outermost levels on top and bottom were filled with sensor arrays, weapons and shielding designed to protect its passengers from deep space radiation and flares. The inner two levels were private quarters and the navigation, cockpit and operations center. The neck of the ship was reserved for the captain and his flight crew. Since the ship was designed to house twenty crewmembers, we four had spread out with Thorn taking the quarters closest to the neck, Jace and Flynn the forward suites, and me, the rear, closest to the engines where the soft but steady hum helped me sleep at night.

I headed up the neck now. I needed to let Thorn and the others know we had arrived.

I settled Cassie in the copilot’s chair and sat in the pilot’s seat. Leaning forward, I watched Cassie peek up over the control panel to watch through the cockpit windows as our horses grazed just outside the ship. They had no idea as to the otherworldly object they stood beside as they nibbled grass. She frowned. “We forgot the horses. They still have their saddles on.” She turned to me. “Is there water nearby for them to drink?”

“Yes. I’ll see to the horses in a few minutes.” I entered my code and opened communication wit all three of my group and waited for them to report in, which took mere seconds.

“Thorn.”

“Flynn here. Jace is occupied at the moment.” I could just imagine what the wild brothers from the outer reaches were up to. Odds were it involved either fighting or fucking.

“This is Maddox. I’m back at the Aurora.”

Flynn cursed.

“What’s the problem?” Thorn asked.

“I bet Jace you’d get your man first, Thorn. Now you owe me a full casket of Nerellian wine.”

Thorn whistled, then laughed. “That will cost nearly as much as my ship, you idiot.”

Flynn chuckled. “Yeah, well, obviously I misplaced my confidence in you, Commander.”

Cassie leaned forward, hearing our conversation, but completely confused. I hadn’t realized they had answered me in our native tongue. Cassie hadn’t understood a word they’d said.

“We need to speak in English, so Cassie will understand.”

“Fine.” Thorn switched to the Earthen language immediately. “Greetings to you, Cassie. I am Commander Thorn.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” Cassie leaned forward as if she were speaking to the control panel itself. I hid my grin, as the receptors that carried her voice were actually located above her head in the cockpit’s ceiling.

“My, you do have a beautiful voice, Cassie. I’m Flynn. I offer greetings from myself and my brother, Jace. He’s busy right now, and couldn’t answer the call.”

“Umm, hello.” Cassie was blushing, her cheeks an enchanting shade of pink at Flynn’s compliment.

“So, you made it safely to the ship,” Thorn said. “Do you have an idea of Neron’s location?”

“No. I need to spend tonight here, with my mate—”

Flynn whistled and Thorn told him to be quiet. Cassie’s face turned a deeper shade of red as I continued. “I will leave Cassie safely on board the Aurora and resume my hunt tomorrow. How goes your hunting?”

Flynn chuckled. “He’s slipped through our fingers twice. Hit Jace in the ass with one of these metal bullets. He’s facedown on a pool table right now. The town doctor is digging the lead out of his ass.”

Cassie gasped, but I raised my eyebrows, shook my head and grinned at her so she’d know Jace’s injury wasn’t serious. Once the metal object was removed from his flesh, the ReGen wand would heal him completely in minutes. “And you, Thorn?”

My commander sighed, his frustration obvious. “I’ve scented him twice, but he disappears before I can close in. It’s like he knows I’m coming. Either that, or he’s a ghost.”

Cassie gasped at that. Now, understanding our words, she eagerly listened to the exchange and offered a reply. “Maybe he has one of those cloaks. Like Neron.”

“What is she talking about?” Thorn demanded.

I ran my hand through my hair before reaching for Cassie’s hand. This was taking too damn long and I needed to touch her. “Neron ambushed Cassie early this morning. I couldn’t see him and none of my scanners picked up anything. I think he has acquired a cloak. And if he has one—”

“It is likely the others do, too.” Flynn finished my sentence.

“Now we know what we’re up against,” Thorn added.

I relaxed a bit, confident that the other bounty hunters had helped to convince Cassie I was worthy of trust. We were the good guys.

I turned to her, expecting a smile, but she pulled her hand from mine. “You’re going to leave me here?” Her eyes widened as she looked about the cockpit, wary and unsure. Outside the window was her world. Within the ship’s walls, she might as well already be in space, for it was all so new and unfamiliar. All strange, foreign. Daunting.

“Alone?” She turned her head, this way and that, taking in everything. “On this ship?”

I could sense her panic, see it in her eyes, in the tense lines of her body, but I had no alternative. Outside of the ship, Neron could hurt her. The other criminals who’d escaped with him could find her. None were kind. All were cruel and I would not allow what had happened to her father-in-law to happen to her.

“Yes. Where I know you will be safe. I will stay in communication with you and you with me.”

“Can I… I can explore this ship? I don’t know where anything is. I don’t know how things work.”

I nodded, offering her a reassuring smile. “Of course. I will show you everything, Cassie. Trust me.”

No matter how much I wanted to, she did not need me coddling her. Allowing her to explore at her own pace, absorb her new life in her own way might make it easier. She walked out of the control room and down the hall toward the middle section of the ship. I let her go.

When the silence had stretched a bit too long, I turned back to the controls, spoke to the men who were somewhere out there. “I need to get my mate off this damn planet.” I looked through the window and out onto the rocky crags of the mountains.

Flynn grunted. “So, to confirm, you have not yet collected Neron’s head?”

“No.” And I wished I had. Then I could savor my mate, revel in our newly discovered connection without that asshole getting in the way.

“Then I can still win the bet.”

I laughed then, thankful for a moment’s reprieve from Neron’s looming threats.

“For fuck’s sake, Flynn. Is winning all you think about?” Thorn barked at him.

I could hear Flynn’s smile as he replied. “No. Fucking and hunting are our two favorite things, Thorn. But beating my brother is a close third.”

A grin spread on my face and I rolled my head on my neck to ease the tension there. Jace and Flynn were eerily close and I’d heard they shared everything, including their women. They were the complete opposite of Thorn, who was a true predator, a solitary hunter without patience for their games.

I sighed. “My mate is safe, for now.”

“Have you claimed her?” Thorn asked.

“No.” That would change. Soon.

Flynn’s voice sounded incredulous. “You really found a mate? Here? Thorn told us as much, but I thought that was some kind of joke.”

“You heard her speak,” I reminded him.

“Statistically, that’s almost impossible,” Flynn insisted. “How could you find a marked mate here?”

Thorn answered. “Our ancestors colonized many worlds. Earth must have been one of them.”

“My mission was to retrieve Neron. Now, I need to eliminate him so that I can be with Cassie. He is all that stands in my way.”

“Let us get him for you,” Flynn offered.