‘But…but—‘
I ran my hand over my mother’s head, smoothing her hair. I slipped the oxygen back over her face. ‘I’m going to stay with Thorn, if he’ll have me.’
Her gaze slid to Thorn’s and then back to me. ‘You don’t love me?’ she asked yanking the mask off again.
‘Of course I love you. I love both of you. But I’ve known for a while that I didn’t need school to get me anywhere. I have smarts already. And as much as I admire you and what you do, I don’t want to go into the company and follow in your footsteps. You have Rae for that — Rae and Alwin, actually.’
Rae patted Mother’s hand and wiped a tear from her eye. We shared a look, Rae and I.
‘I’ll look after her,’ Rae said. Turning to Thorn, she said, ‘You better look after her or I’ll be coming for you.’
‘That’s a bit full on, Rae,’ I said, rather taken aback. ‘Like I said, I hadn’t even spoken to him yet. He’s only hinted that I’d be welcome, not the particulars.’
She turned and smiled at me. ‘I don’t want him abandoning you.’
She went all teary, not quite over the emotional journey of losing Al and getting him back again. I grabbed her to me. Opeia sat up and enveloped us both in her embrace.
‘Right,’ Rae said after a while and went back to the counter. ‘You need to lay still, Opi, so I can give you this shot. It will help with the bruises. We can’t have you turning up home looking a fright, can we?’
‘Darn, I took the IV out,’ I said. ‘It would have been able to deliver the dose, unless the shot is meant to be intramuscular.’
‘It is,’ Rae said and prepared the shot and jabbed it into Mother’s thigh. She took it like a trooper.
Opeia took Rae’s hand and lay back down. Thorn still loomed there. I needed to speak to him, but first I had to give something to my mother to help her sleep, and for the pain. Now that she had answers and could cut the pirate cancer out of her company, she was much more compliant. After the pain meds, Mother authorised the round-up order for the pirates Al had identified, then she dosed off.
Slick had taken some food to Vee and reported back that she was fine. Rae had curled up on one of the mess chairs, her hand on Alwin’s knee as he sent through the instructions. As Alwin hit the console decisively, Rae’s head jerked up. Alwin swung around, tugged over to him and settled her in his lap. Rae’s smile was wide and they started kissing.
I sighed. I couldn’t believe it turned out so well. I left them alone so they could have some privacy.
Thorn followed me to my quarters. He stood with his arms crossed by the door after the hatch closed.
‘We could have both spoken to your mother.’
I folded my arms. ‘There wasn’t time. We had to get her seen to and it just came up. I would have loved to talk to her together.’
‘When were you going to tell me about giving up your inheritance?’
‘Look, if you don’t want me for who I am, that’s fine. I can find a life of my own.’ I sniffed as my nose started to run and my eyes watered. ‘I thought you wanted me to join you.’
He was silent so I chanced a look at him. He cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes travelling all over me. ‘You’re pretty handy at breaking into security systems — and in a fight too.’
He changed position, as if his family jewels were hurting. My lips lifted in a smile at his joke. ‘And I thought you were an heiress.’
A laugh escaped me. ‘I’m not without means.’
‘Yes, I heard that too.’ There was a smile on his face. I was pretty sure money wasn’t what the issue was.
‘So is it because I’m a clone that you don’t want me?’ I lifted my eyes to his.
He shook his head and then had me in his arms within two strides. ‘I’m just sassing you. I want you with me so bad it hurts.’ He kissed my forehead and held me at arm’s length. ‘I want you to be sure, though, because I don’t think I could deal with a broken heart on top of everything else I’ve been through. And living on a ship like this is not the life you are used to. And you’re used to the best. Are you sure you could take slumming it with me and Slick?’
‘I’m as sure as I can be, Thorn.’ I stepped in close to him and ran my fingers through his hair. ‘There are no certainties in the universe. We can only live in our moment and a moment can be just a minute or 100 years. You told me to be who I want to be, not who I am. Well, I want to be this person, the one who choses her own destiny, who flies away with the man she loves. If you can deal with that, deal with me on that basis. You have a new shipmate.’
‘Not shipmate.’
I paused, my mouth dropping. ‘What?’
‘Not shipmate, I was thinking maybe something a little bit more intimate.’
‘I like the sound of that.’
Thorn’s arms encircled me and he lifted me up so our faces were close together. ‘Kiss me,’ he said, his voice low and sexy.
And I did.
Thanks for reading Rae and Essa’s Space Adventure. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage http://donnamareehanson.wordpress.com or follow me on twitter @DonnaMHanson, or like my Facebook page facebook.com/DonnaMareeHanson
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ISBN: 9780857992543
Title: Rae and Essa’s Space Adventure
Copyright © 2015 by Donna Maree Hanson
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