“I’m fine.” The words were quiet, as was the laughter I realized she hid behind her hands.

“Cormac. Why aren’t you home? And what the fuck do you need? I’m a little busy here.”

“My apologies, brother. I am nearly halfway there. Sending our coordinates now.”

“And?”

“Abby discovered a Siren explosive device onboard the ship. It has Siren legion’s mark on the outside casing. I don’t know if it is theirs or if someone just wanted us to think Siren attacked us. I cannot disable it. I tried. I need you to send Dax to take it apart, and I need a team out here to evacuate us.”

“Fuck.”

“I can’t bring the ship in. The timer is set to go off soon after I would have been docked. It would have killed a lot of our people.”

“Proximity trigger?”

“I don’t know. I can’t get a reading on it. The device is impervious to my scans.”

“Fuck and fuck.” Styx ran his hand over his chest, then settled it along the back of his neck. “Dax, my explosive specialist, will be on his way in ten minutes with a full evac team. Please tell your mate that I owe her a favor and that is a promise I don’t make lightly. Don’t do anything to set the damn thing off. I’m going to be really fucking furious if you get yourself killed.”

The monitor went dark, and I turned as Abby burst into laughter. “Oh my god, how embarrassing. Is that what I sound like when you bite me?”

Not wanting to lie, I decided the truth was my only option. “No. Your cries have a higher pitch, and they make my cock hard as a rock.”

“Cormac! You weren’t actually supposed to answer that.” Abby’s hand covered her mouth, and she was hiding another fit of laughter.

“I told you, mate, I do not lie.” I could not look away from the sparkle in her eyes and the happiness I saw there. I had never been the one to make someone else laugh. I found I enjoyed the feeling immensely.

Abby held my gaze for a moment before her hand dropped to her lap, and she scowled at something behind me. “Cormac. What is the bomb doing?”

9

Cormac

I turned around to look at the image on the screen. The timer light had changed color from red to blue. “Fuck. Get out of your seat. Now!”

“What? Why? What’s happening?” Abby asked questions even as she worked to release herself from the harness holding her to the co-pilot seat. “Cormac?”