Page 54 of Honor Bound

“Julia…” His voice was rough, barely a whisper.

Her eyes fluttered open, a soft smile playing on her lips. “If you’re about to say something about this being a bad idea, don’t.”

He chuckled softly, his tension easing. “I wasn’t.”

“Good.”

They stood like that for a moment longer, lost in the connection they had forged. But reality was never far behind.

Roan stepped back reluctantly, his fingers trailing down her arm before intertwining with her fingers. The mission was still there, waiting, demanding their attention, but he wanted time where it was just the two of them.

“Sergi reminded me that life is short. That I should live it to the fullest while I can,” she said, her voice quiet.

Roan’s eyes widened as the meaning behind her words sank in. His breath hissed when she lifted her free hand and caressed his cheek. There was a question—a subtle challenge—in her eyes that dared him to deny what was going on between them. He lifted her hand to his lips, pressed a kiss to her knuckles, and accepted what she was offering—a chance for just a little while for the world to be normal.

“Are you sure? There will be no going back. Once you are mine, I won’t let you go,” he murmured, drawing her back into his arms.

“Who said I would let you?” she retorted, tangling her hand in his hair and pulling his lips down to meet hers.

* * *

The familiar sounds of the ship were a soothing constant, vibrating softly beneath the mattress of the bed. Julia nuzzled in the curve of Roan’s arm, her cheek resting against his bare chest, her fingers playing with the hair on his chest. The warmth of his body and the thin sheet covering kept the chill in the room from being uncomfortable and made her reluctant to move.

Her eyelids drooped as she breathed in his familiar scent. The steady rise and fall of his breathing and the rhythm of his heartbeat soothed her chaotic thoughts—anchoring her to the present when her thoughts kept drifting back to the past.

She could feel his hand moving gently along her back and down along her hip, a slow, comforting caress compared to their heated lovemaking a short while ago. Even his soothing touch couldn’t chase away the heaviness pressing on her chest.

“You’re thinking too hard again. I hope you aren’t having second thoughts because I’m not,” Roan murmured, his voice a quiet rumble against her ear.

Julia exhaled, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “I’ve had second thoughts before, but not this time,” she replied, her voice low.

She felt him tense, his body stiffening slightly beneath her. When he started to pull away, Julia instinctively tightened her grip on him, pressing her cheek harder against his chest.

“No… stay,” she said softly. “It’s not what you think.”

He didn’t move, his hand stilling on her back as he waited. The silence stretched between them, warm and patient, giving her the space she needed.

Her throat tightened. Where did she even begin? Sharing this part of her life was like peeling back scar tissue—painful and raw.

She took a deep breath, her fingers curling into his shirt. “Before the mission… before all of this… my father and I worked for four years trying to secure funding for the Gliese 581g project. It was ambitious—far bigger than anything we’d ever done before. The costs were astronomical.” She let out a dry laugh. “We needed both public and private funding from more than one country just to make it a reality.”

Roan stayed silent, his hand resuming its slow circles on her back. That small gesture gave her the strength to continue.

“One of the companies I approached belonged to Markus Landborne. A billionaire tech mogul. Charming, brilliant… dangerous in ways I didn’t see at the time.”

Her voice faltered, but she pushed on. “At first, it was business—strictly professional. But the meetings got longer, more personal. One night, we had dinner. Then another. Eventually, we started dating.” She paused, swallowing hard. “He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. I never set a date… I was always too busy. Part of me knew something wasn’t right, but I ignored it.”

Her breath hitched, and she forced herself to sit up, wrapping the top sheet around her body like a shield. She couldn’t look at Roan, not yet. The memories were pressing in too fast and vivid now.

“With Markus’s influence, we secured funding from several countries and a group of private investors. They insisted the mission remain secret. My father hated that. He believed the discovery of alien life—or the technology to reach it—belonged to everyone. He was adamant that it couldn’t be owned by a single person or nation. He only agreed because they promised the information would be shared once we confirmed something truly alien existed.”

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the sheet. “That’s when Markus changed, or maybe I should say revealed his true identity.”

Roan shifted beside her, his focus riveted on her. She didn’t dare meet his eyes. Not yet.

“He started pushing for more access—for insider information about the technology we were developing. I refused. I wouldn’t betray my father’s trust. It… didn’t sit well with Markus.”

Her voice cracked, and she took a shuddering breath. “I was going to break off the engagement. I’d made up my mind. But, before I could… the accident happened.”

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