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he kissed her neck and gently untangled himself to climb out of bed. She didn’t move. Galen met Nikolai’s gaze over her body nestled against his chest.
    He could see the same turmoil in his lover’s eyes. He shook his head when Nikolai opened his mouth to speak. Right now wasn’t the time.
    He stumbled into the sonic shower. Clean and garbed in a fresh flight suit, he walked to the bridge. They needed to get underway as quickly as possible. Galen had a feeling the only way to keep Brooke on the Mercy would be to make sure they were in deep space, giving her no possibility of escape. It would take them two standard weeks to reach their destination. He needed the time to untangle the web they now found themselves in.
    At the bridge, Galen dropped into the pilot chair, started the engine and informed Teren Control of their departure. There was little traffic in orbit. He evaded it with ease using the scanner monitor beside him and the massive window at the front of the bridge. Within minutes he reached a position to jump into hyperspace. Once on the way and the autopilot engaged, Galen stood and found himself aimlessly staring at the colors of the hyperspace window surrounding the Mercy .
    He jerked when two strong arms embraced him from behind. Galen let the familiar warmth surround him. He pulled the arms around him like a security blanket. Nikolai tightened his grip.
    “You were right,” Nikolai said.
    Galen snorted. “I’m always right. What are you referring to?” Nikolai cuddled his chin between Galen’s neck and shoulder.
    “We should’ve asked our questions before we made love. Even putting her in the brig would have been better than abusing her trust.”
    “You felt it too?”
    24

     
    Now it was Nikolai’s turn to snort. “Pretty hard to miss. It’s my kind that comes with this added baggage. And we’ve both experienced it before.” Galen sighed and turned around, facing Nikolai. He rested his forehead against his partner’s. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll understand.” Nikolai kissed him. “Yeah, maybe.” His tone showed that he didn’t believe it. “We can always bind her to our bed, and keep her tied up and drowning in pleasure until she gives in.”
    Galen didn’t say anything, but gathered strength and comfort from Nikolai’s presence. He didn’t know how long they’d stood like this. It could have been minutes, or hours. The hug tightened when Brooke entered the bridge. Their hearing was good enough to know the moment she woke and used the facilities. She didn’t linger, but came and found them quickly.
    Nikolai tightened his arms one last time, and released Galen. They both turned to Brooke as she stood in the doorway of the bridge, wearing a shirt and pants too large for her. She must have grabbed them from their closet. Her gaze focused on the hyperspace window outside the main viewport of the Mercy .
    She didn’t say anything, but her body grew tense. Finally she looked at them. “Why the Jade are we in hyperspace?”

    Nikolai saw the storm brewing behind her eyes. She was not a happy Space Cadet.
    He stroked his hand down Galen’s shoulder and took a step toward the woman who had hit both of them in the heart.
    “Milaya, sit down and let us explain.”
    “I don’t want to sit, I want you to turn this rust bucket around and take me back to Teren.”
    “Easy, no maligning the Mercy .” Nikolai wanted to bite his tongue. His instinctive response to calling his beloved ship a rust bucket was not the best way to deal with her justifiable anger.
    “I’m more than happy to leave your stupid boat alone, as soon as you take me back.” She clenched her fists, her body stiff with tension.
    “We can’t.” Galen’s words stopped her in her tracks.
    Brooke studied them with a narrowed gaze. Their seriousness sunk in and some of her belligerence drained away. “Where are you taking me?”
    “The Hamil Quadrant,” Galen replied.
    Brooke turned deathly pale. For a