Kaspar nods. Doesn’t even argue about it. “Alice says she’s happy to go with me wherever, but our quarters are cramped. I don’t know what we’re going to do with Sterre’s offspring and I know Alice wants her to have the freedom to roam and right now she can’t exactly roam in the ship. It’s something that’s been on my mind for a while. We’re okay for now, but what about a year from now? What about when Jade and Adi’s kid arrives? We need room to breathe, but I don’t want to leave you guys, either.” His mouth quirks up in a half smile. “And I learned while we were planet-side and stranded that I like being in one place for a while. It’s nice to just relax and kick up your feet. I wouldn’t mind that again.”
I stare at my brother. I thought Kaspar would be the difficult one to convince, and here he’s been thinking about this the entire time? It makes me feel so much better. “Helen and I were stranded on an old abandoned mining station,” I remind him. “And while it wasn’t beautiful, I think we could fix it—or something like it—up into a home for all of us. We’d still have to defend it, of course. But maybe we could take the odd job, or trade for parts like Jerrok does.”
He nods. “I’m down. You need me to go talk Adi into it? Because right now he’s a little upset that we’re attacking Jerrok’s station.”
Biting back a groan, I remind him, “For the thousandth time, no one is attacking anyone.”
CHAPTER 110
MATHIRAS
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as delighted (and impatient) as Adiron is the moment we dock onto Jerrok’s station. He waits, shifting on his feet, by the Little Sister’s door. I’m on the bridge, shutting down the last few systems and watching my brother on the vid-screen with amusement. The ramp slowly extends down to the floor, but before it connects, Adi is off of it and racing forward to greet his mate, a wrapped present in his big hand. I change vid monitors, watching the docking bay instead. Adiron races at full speed toward where Jade waits for him, stopping short a breath away from her, and then slowly, tenderly moves in to give her a careful hug, resting his head atop her fluffy curls.
A look of pure contentment is on his face as he holds her tight, and I know Adiron is not going to be hard to convince about moving to station life instead of corsairing. I’ve never seen Adiron so devoted like this, but Jade comes first in his world now. I couldn’t be happier for him.
I know what it’s like to have someone in your life that, when you hug them, it feels like coming home.
Thinking about Helen makes me flick through the vid feeds on the ship, searching for my mate. Well, not officially my mate yet, seeing as how we haven’t had sex yet, but I’m not letting her go and she doesn’t want me to. I really need to amend that situation, too. I’m just waiting for the right moment. Helen needs to have her first time be special, and I keep waiting for that perfect time. We touch each other constantly and I make sure she comes every night (and most mornings) and she does the same for me. At this point, I’ve stalled for so long that I feel like I need a momentous occasion to claim Helen as mine…but maybe I’m being a keffing idiot.
I frequently am when it comes to her.
The Little Sister feels strangely empty now as I pan through the vids. We stopped by the abandoned grain satellite and dropped Bethiah and Dora off at Bethiah’s ship late last night, along with a couple of spare fuel cells so they could be on their way. Zebah left with the Scarlet Gaze. Even though Kaspar, Alice and Sterre are on board again, it feels different to check the feeds and not expect anything bizarre to crop up in them.
Kas and Alice are heading down the ramp, following after Adiron. Sterre is closed up in their quarters, since she’s broody and might not get along with Sophie’s pet, Sleipnir. Helen’s not with them, though, and I check the feeds again, confused. A moment later, I see her crawl out from under my bunk.
That’s…new.
The Sister goes quiet, the shutdown complete, and I turn the screens off, heading for the quarters I share with Helen. I run into her just as she’s exiting our room, and her eyes widen at the sight of me and she hides something behind her back. “Oh. Matty! Hello, love.”
I study her too-innocent expression. “Do I even want to know what you’ve got?”
Helen gives me a shy look and pulls the item out from behind her back. It’s her rolling pin.