A Royal Christmas in Space

Book 1: Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - break it! break another little bit of my heart, now, beybay

Pluckie didn't know where she was. She wasn't sure she could breathe.

There'd been an eruption of unbearable noise and light. That had been bad, real bad, but it was nowhere near as bad as the sudden descent into cold, silent darkness. This felt like death. This felt like a burial at sea.

Somewhere, very far away, someone was calling her name. The voice sounded familiar, like someone she had met in a dream.

"Pluckie," he said again. He was floating closer. "Pluckie, are you hurt?"

She took a deep, gasping breath, filling her lungs with precious air. There was a faint taste of smoke.

"Plucky," the man ordered, "open your eyes."

It seemed to take all her strength to lift her eyelids. When she did, she saw Prince Drak's concerned mask only inches from her face. She wasn't aware, until that moment, that he was holding her in his powerful arms. Her average size body was pressed against his big, solid form, so much so, that her feet didn't touch the ground.

The last thing she remembered, they had been arguing about Christmas. No, something else came after that, but she wasn't sure what. And she had no idea how she ended up in Drak's arms.

She gave her head a slight shake, trying to clear the confusion from her mind. "Where are we?"

"A utility closet," he said. "We're safe for now."

"The Ralfies." It was starting to come back to her.

"I breached the yacht's hull," Drak said. "It was the only way to kill the insurgents and escape. The closet is airtight. We're not in any immediate danger."

There may have been no immediate danger, but there also wasn't a whole lot of room. Drak held her close to his body, not because he wanted to, but because it was impossible not to.

"Where did the Ralfies come from?" she asked. "Are Nova and Bubby safe?"

"I'm about to find that out," he said. "But first I need to free my left arm. If you could just..."

"Oh sure." She propped her left foot up on the shelf behind him and used her leg as a lever so she could squirm to her right, all the while very aware of how her body rubbed against his.

"Actually, the opposite direction," he said. "And be careful not to hit the door release. If the door opens, it would kill us instantly."

"Of course. Sorry." She placed her right foot on a shelf on the other side of him and carefully squirmed to her left. The more she moved the more their bodies were squeezed together. "It's tight in here."

"It's very tight," he agreed. "If you didn't wiggle so much, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure." She held perfectly still. It was only then that she became aware of how she'd sandwiched the prince between her thighs.

"Except, I do need you to move," he said, "so I can reach the intercom."

"Right." She let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry... again."

It took them several tries, but eventually Drak was able to free his hand. He leaned forward, pressing their bodies even closer together, and activated the intercom located on the wall behind Pluckie's head.

"Wheldon," he called into the microphone, "report."

It took a moment for the personal secretary to respond. In that time Drak and Pluckie remained in their tight embrace. She used the opportunity to close her eyes and sniff his helmet. She had no idea what his hair looked like, but it sure smelled nice.