Chapter 6

Chapter Six

A t a certain point, Ro was going to have to admit defeat. Right now she was pretty sure the universe was laughing at her. She’d overcome the obstacle back home and met the hottest man she’d ever encountered to boot, but now they were within sight of her home planet and their ship couldn’t fly.

Had she angered someone with magic powers? Was she being punished?

She watched Dash hurry out of the dock and wondered what the hell she was supposed to do now. The rational part of her brain said she was wasting an hour by letting him try and find another ride off the moon, and it tried to pipe up that she’d wasted an entire night. But her body was still satisfied, even if her mind was in torment, and she couldn’t regret last night.

She followed Dash out of the dock at a more sedate pace, heading towards the terminal where passengers were arriving and getting ready to depart. She glanced at the ticketing machine but didn’t walk over to see if there were seats on any flights heading towards Earth. She’d promised him an hour, she wasn’t going to torture herself by looking for other alternatives until that time was up.

She really hoped he came up with something, she wasn’t ready for their time together to end. She had plans for that man, damn it, and one night wasn’t enough. She didn’t think a few more nights would be enough, either, but it was what she’d have to satisfy herself with.

Plonking herself down in a chair in the terminal, she tried not to think about all the things that had gone wrong. She tried not to worry that Dash wouldn’t be able to find them a way off the freaking moon. She was so close! She could literally see Earth if she looked out of one of the base’s windows, but it was still too far.

“Mama! Mama!” A child’s screeching voice cut through her thoughts, and Ro looked to see a little girl running at full bore down the central aisle to where a tall woman with bright pink hair was beaming. The woman opened her arms and the girl jumped into them.

“Auntie Ro! You’re here!” She could almost imagine Lee doing the same thing, running and bouncing towards her. But he would be bigger than the little girl now, and he might not even recognize her after all these years. They’d spoken by comm, but it was different seeing someone in person.

Her heart kicked at the thought. She was happy on Mars most of the time, well and truly happy, even if she spent a lot of those days alone. Until she’d met Dash and felt how it could be with someone who just got her, she hadn’t considered it a negative. She didn’t want to move back to Earth, find some guy, and pump out a dozen little ones, that wouldn’t make her complete. But seeing the happy families all around and knowing that she’d stayed away from hers for so long made her wonder what she was missing out on.

And it was like fate was punching her in the face, insisting that no matter how hard she tried, she’d keep screwing up. Her family had already given up on her. May didn’t believe she’d make it, and now with the broken ship it was looking less and less likely that she would.

Please come through again, Dash .

“LME Shuttles has five open seats on the 3PM flight to New York. See your nearest ticketing station to claim a ticket.” The speaker cut through, and if that wasn’t a sign from the heavens, Ro didn’t know what was. But a look at the time said Dash still had fourteen minutes to get them situated. In fourteen minutes those seats were bound to be gone. Would it be so bad to buy one? She could give the ticket up if Dash came through.

No.

Ro had given him a chance and she’d keep her end of the deal. But she’d feel a lot better if he was with her. Or if she had any idea of how he planned to get them off the moon.

Where was he?

Could she trust him?

Thirteen minutes left to see.

When did Lunar Base Alpha get so big? Dash sprinted down the hall and finally came to the cramped office he was looking for. He’d put all his hopes on the crew being here, and the light peeking out from under the door suggested that he might just be lucky.

The door slid open when he stepped in front of the sensor, and the dark-skinned woman with bright purple hair behind the desk smiled up at him. “I didn’t expect to see you, cousin. It’s a pleasure.”

Dash sucked in a breath. He could run dozens of kilometers without an issue, but he’d basically forgotten how to breathe in his desperate sprint. He hunched over and held up a finger, needing a moment to get himself back under control.

“Yes,” Ettie said, sarcasm dripping off her words, “I’ll wait here, I’m not busy at all this time of year.”

Dash pulled in one last shuddering breath and grinned. “I was hoping you’d be here.”

She leaned back and propped her legs up on the desk. “I gathered that, seeing as you set your lungs on fire to do it.”

“When are you shipping out and where are you going?” He didn’t have time to banter. It had taken far too long to cross the station, and he wasn’t sure Ro would actually give him every second that he’d asked for.

“Last I checked, you had a ship of your own. We all do.”

Cousin was, perhaps, not the correct term to refer to Dash and his relatives. His and Ettie’s mothers had been sisters, but they had other cousins spread throughout this part of the galaxy that had a much more nebulous connection to them. But they all had similar talents and a desire to spread cheer.

“Ship needs parts. And I’ve got an emergency passenger that needs to get to Earth. Was hoping that you’re on your way there.” He needed to do this for Ro, needed to prove he could be what she needed before she slipped through his fingers. Now that he’d had a taste of her, he didn’t know if he’d be able to let her go.

“So you want to pass this passenger over to me? I can manage a seat. Just so happens we’re leaving for Florida tonight.”

Dash had to tamp down on his urge to jump for joy. But it was music to his ears. “I’m going with. Can you manage two seats? She has to get to Minnesota by the end of the week, but we can take it from there.”

Ettie narrowed her eyes. “Why do you need to go with? And do you really think I have two spare cabins? I’m not flying a cruise liner.”

He didn’t blush, but it was a close thing. Would Ro care if Ettie knew about them being… together? Were they together? He didn’t sleep with people casually, and he was almost certain Rowan was his mate. As far as he was concerned, they were the real deal. But they probably needed to have a conversation about that before he went singing it from the rooftops. “We can share quarters,” he finally said, “and you know I can get a flight any time I need it.”

Ettie swept her legs off the desk and leaned forward. “What’s so special about this passenger? I know you go out of your way to get the job done, we all do, but this seems above and beyond.”

“I think she’s my mate.”

“You think? ”

Dash’s shoulders drew up. “I haven’t had a chance to shift, have I? You know how tiny my ship is. And I’m not going to risk discovery and freak out my passengers. I was bringing a kid here, do you know how bad that could have gone? No way I could risk it. But Ro’s not like any person I’ve ever met before. And when we’re together—” he wasn’t going to explain himself to Ettie. He knew what he felt. That was enough for him.

And his cousin grinned brightly, eyes sparkling. “I can feel the cheer rolling off you, Dash. You know how difficult it is for us to feel it from each other. Yeah, this person has to be special. What’s their name?”

“Her name is Ro. Rowan Lambert. She’s trying to get back to her sister’s place in time for the holidays. She lost her seat on a shuttle leaving Mars and I promised I’d get her there. I need to do this.” He couldn’t fail his mate, he wouldn’t.

“Does she know who she is to you?” Ettie raised an eyebrow.

Dash had to look away. “Not exactly. We haven’t had time to discuss it.” And he didn’t know how she’d react. She had her whole life back on Mars. Would she really want to link it to a shuttle pilot who occasionally grew antlers?

“It could go bad if you let that truth sit out to rot,” Ettie warned.

“I know .” There were dozens of stories of reilendeer who lost their mates because they spooked, or refused to share the truth until it was too late. Dash didn’t want to become one of them. He didn’t know how he’d be able to fulfill his calling if he lost Ro and all she made him feel.

“Meet us at Dock 13 in three hours. We leave at 1600 and we can’t afford to delay.”

“We’ll be there.”

The minutes ticked down as he ran back to find Ro. Only as he sprinted did he realize he didn’t have a way to contact her by communicator. This whole thing could have been a lot simpler if he did. That was a matter for another time.

With only a handful of minutes to spare, he burst into the terminal and found the woman sitting right where he’d left her, staring at the clock with a concerned look on her face. Then she seemed to sense him and her head turned, her gaze falling on him. She didn’t smile, but her shoulders lifted as if she were no longer being pulled down by the weight of the world.

“Did I?—”

“I got?—”

They spoke at the same time before pausing and smiled at each other. Dash answered the question he was pretty sure Ro was asking. “We’ve got a flight out in a few hours. My cousin operates out of an office here and she can fit us on her ship. She’s taking us to Florida, and we’ll figure out how to get you the rest of the way once we’re planetside.”

“You’re coming with.” It was halfway between a question and a statement.

“If you want me, I’m with you all the way.” All the way and beyond, as far as Dash was concerned. “But Ettie will get you there alone,” he forced himself to add. “If that’s what you want.”

“No,” she spoke over the end of his sentence, eager to get the denial out. “I’d like you to come with me. We’ve made it this far.”

Technically she didn’t need Dash anymore. He’d provided her ride to the moon, and he’d found her transport off of it, but it wasn’t his ship and they’d have to find their own ways off the planet once they made it there. But that didn’t matter.

They were together for now, and for now they were staying that way.