Page 69 of Across The Stars
“Take a walk in the gardens,” she said. “It might clear your head.”
I stared as she turned and left again, confused by the randomness of that statement until Innifer appeared at the entrance to the overlook in her place. She looked a little confused like she’d been wandering for a bit. Her hair was loose and hanging in subtle waves over her shoulders. She was wearing the same clothes from the previous day, which reminded me that I should check on the clothing that was supposed to be sent to the room. Not that she didn’t look good in what she was wearing. The leggings hugged her tight legs perfectly. I tried not to stare as she walked toward me, but it was hard not to.
She didn’t look particularly happy to see me and I could understand that. She held her head high like she was posturing,making sure she looked confident, but I could see the unease in her steps. She couldn’t hide that from me. She joined me near the railing like she had some speech prepared, but as soon as she looked at the landscape stretched out before us, her words were lost. Her lips parted and she stared, awe-struck.
“Wow,” she said. “This view is just as good as the last one.” She took a deep breath, savoring the scents in the air.
“Yes,” I said. “I heard you went up the Ascension Spiral.”
“Solukh told me about it. I wanted to get a feel for the air here, so I took a jog. It sucked,” she chuckled. “But only until I got to the top. Then it was all worth it.”
“That is a long way. Many recruits must sprint it in a time limit as a final test.”
“Oh, I didn’t run the whole way. There was a lot of walking. I’m definitely not acclimated yet. Speaking of acclimating, am I going to have time to do that? No one has really said how long I’ll be here.”
Her tone was a little broken. I looked down at her and immediately those eyes pulled me in.
“Right now, the Nexus is more concerned about the gek’tal,” I said. “So, for a while, you’ll be staying here. With me.”
She hesitated, slowly raising her chin and nodding once like it was taking a while for those words to sink in.
“Here,” she repeated. “With you.”
“Yes.”
Our eyes locked again and I could feel the heat of the surge teasing my nerves. My pulse quickened and my head felt light. I didn’t like that she could do that to me, but I also craved it. I craved all of it. Placing my hands on the railing, I squeezed the metal tight, clearing my throat and tearing my eyes away.
“Um,” Innifer said. “Look. About yesterday. Or last night… or whatever you call it here. I—”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
She drew back like I’d slapped her. “Me? What? No… if anyone should apologize, it should be you. You came to my room—with no shirt, by the way—and seduced me.”
“I didn’t seduce you. And I came to your room because you could not stop tormenting me with your need.”
“What? You think I can just turn that of?”
“Can you not?”
“Can you?” she shot back. Then she rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ok, look…” she stepped in close, lowering her voice like she was trying not to be heard, but there was no one else around. “We had sex. I wasn’t dreaming that, right?” Her hands waved back and forth between us. “You and me… we hadsex. Dismissing whoever is at fault, we boned.”
I looked around wondering if I’d missed other people on the landing, but we were alone and she had no reason to speak softly.
“We did,” I said, matching her tone. Perhaps it made her more comfortable.
“And then you left. No cuddling. No ‘thanks, let’s do it again sometime.’ You just left.”
“I did.” Shame stung me deep.
“You know, on Earth, that’s the most disrespectful thing a man can do to a woman. It’s a shitty thing to do through a simulator let alone when it’s the real thing. I gave my body to you. I… you wereinsideme.” Her voice kept getting lower, her cheeks turning red. “And then you left me feeling like trash.”
“Trash?”
“Garbage. Like I didn’t matter. I’m not trying to bethatgirl, but that was really shitty of you.”
“That girl?”
She scrubbed her hands over her face and groaned. “The girl who gets clingy and whiny after one night with a guy. Maybeyou’re that guy who just sleeps with any woman and doesn’t give it a second thought, but—”
