Page 136 of Commander’s Mate

“Yes. But first I need to face Scarlet.”

“Is that dangerous?”

“Should I provide armor?”

I grinned despite myself. “Maybe for you.”

We walked to the office. Zared opened the door.

Scarlet, Zoe, and Nora stood in the corridor exactly as promised. Scarlet’s gaze swept over me once, cataloguing everything from damp hair to belted shirt to swollen mouth.

“Yes.”

“Safe?” Nora asked.

I looked at her and answered seriously. “Yes.”

Zoe’s eyes softened. “Okay?”

I swallowed. “No. But better than last night.”

Scarlet looked past me at Zared. “Commander.”

“You behave?”

“Scarlet,” I said.

Zared answered anyway. “Harper set rules. I agreed to them.”

All three women looked at me.

“Good ones,” I said.

Nora’s shoulders eased. “Then we want details.”

Scarlet looped her arm through mine. “Not all details. Some of us have imaginations and don’t need trauma.”

“You literally asked if I was too satisfied to answer.”

“Concern comes in many forms.”

Zared watched us, something unreadable passing across his face. I realized he was seeing it: I had people. Not many. Not enough to replace a planet. But enough to stand with me in a corridor on a stolen warship at the edge of everything.

I turned back to him. “I’ll find you later?”

“If you choose.”

Scarlet made a small approving sound.

I rose on my toes and kissed Zared’s cheek.

His eyes warmed in a way that made my pulse skip.

Then I let Scarlet pull me down the corridor with Zoe and Nora close around us.

“Start talking,” Scarlet said.

“No.”