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He caught her glance and looked deep into her eyes. Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her into a kiss that was unlike the others.
It wasn’t full of need or burning passion. It was something else.
It was as if he was saying everything he felt toward her in that kiss. It acted as a mental link between them, connecting their thoughts, minds, and souls, not just bodies.
Tinsley knew because she felt the exact same way.
Chapter 20
Dante knew that after risking more than enough on the pirate ship to get what they needed, plus a little extra, it was time to go.
Tinsley must have seen the look in his eyes because she intuited his thoughts—something he loved about her.
“Let’s get out of here?” she guessed.
Dante smiled and nodded, cracking open the door back into the hallway.
It appeared empty, and he gestured for Tinsley to follow behind him. As quietly as they could, they snuck down the hall in the direction of the ship’s exit. But soon, the silence was broken by a couple of Jorvlen voices.
Dante’s heart caught in his throat, but he managed to think quickly and pushed Tinsley and himself into an adjoining room. Thankfully it was empty, with only a disused bunk by the looks of it, and Dante held Tinsley’s hand tightly as they waited for the voices to pass.
“Then she said she didn’t know where the bathroom was!” Dante heard the Jorvlen shout. The pirate and a comrade of his burst into peals of rotten laughter that passed right outside their door.
The laughter continued all the way down the hallway, and Dante rolled his eyes a little. Jorvlens were brutal, but they were also crass, stupid, and blatantly obnoxious—some of the other reasons Kozien dodged a bullet in not marrying their princess.
“Let’s go,” Dante whispered to Tinsley, who squeezed his hand in acknowledgment.
No sooner had they crept out of the room, though, than they had to jump right back in. Another set of pirates had come loping down the hallway, this time yammering on about a Motley shipment. Dante thought back to their findings in the storage room.
He was beginning to think he and Tinsley might never make it out of there. At least not without getting caught.
“There might be a service shaft,” Tinsley suddenly suggested. “Some of the larger ships have them. This one might be more or less the right size.”
Dante smiled. Not only was Tinsley beautiful, sexy, compassionate, and skilled, but she was also incredibly intelligent. He could hardly have imagined a more perfect mate.
Dante didn’t have time to think about that now, though.
“Good idea,” he said. “Lead the way.”
Tinsley used her comm to light up the room.
“There should be heating in a bunk room like this,” she muttered, heading toward the back wall and feeling around. Soon enough, she came to a small grate and pulled it off to reveal a shaft entrance.
“Bingo,” she said, satisfied.
But Dante wasn’t feeling so optimistic. “Except there’s no way I’m fitting in there.”
He watched as Tinsley’s face fell, and for once he wasn’t proud of his size.
“Right,” she said. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Usually the shafts are bigger, but this must be a nonstandard ship.”
They were back to where they started.
“It’s okay. It was a great idea. It’s just, these muscles, you know?” he added, hoping to bring some levity to the situation.
To his relief, Tinsley grinned. “Damn that incredible physique,” she joked.
“That just means we’ll have to keep trying with the hallway,” he said. “And hope for the best.”
