Page 92 of Across The Stars
“Then what did you want?”
“I—I don’t know,” I huffed. “I would have liked choices, though. But you know what? It doesn’t matter because to me, you leaving me was your way of saying you were done with whatever the hell we had between us. So, if you’re done, then I guess I am, too.”
“I’m not…” He trailed off and my heart leapt at the thought of him saying it wasn’t what he wanted. I was starved for thosesimple words. But he didn’t finish the sentence. “I’ve been too busy to understand what was truly happening between us.”
“Great,” I said, crossing my arms. “So have I.”
Lies. In truth, I’d been intentionally doing everything in my power to overwork myself and learn everything I could so I didn’t have time to think about Vahko. None of it really worked because I knew exactly what I was feeling. I knew what my heart wanted and since I couldn’t get it, I chose to run.
“I’m actually busy right now, so…”
I pivoted once more, heading for the door again when another valerian walked up and almost ran right into me. We both backstepped with surprise and then moved from one side to the other doing that awkward dance trying to get out of each other’s way. We only succeeded in blocking each other again and again.
“Solukh,” Vahko said, drawing the man’s attention. He appeared at the wall beside me. “The cargo bay door is malfunctioning. Distract the humans for a bit while I get it fixed.”
The man I now knew was Solukh hesitated and then slowly nodded, backing away from the doors. I narrowed my eyes.
“Seriously?” I said.
Solukh shrugged like he was helpless against Vahko’s orders.
Traitor…
I faced Vahko, brows knitted with confusion when he pressed a hand to the door panel and shut the barrier. The flat look on his face said it all, though. When I got his meaning, I snarled and shoved him away from the panel, trying to figure out the controls.
“Open the door,” I said.
“I want to talk to you.”
“You don’t get to talk to me. I’m working and you’re holding me up. You should have talked to me before you dumped me here.”
Concentrating, I recognized a few of the words on the panel and saw one that I thought said “lower.” I pressed it and the hydraulics started to lower the ramp again.
Thank God for Solukh’s lessons.
I stepped toward the opening, but Vahko input the command to close the ramp again and grabbed my wrist to tug me back into the cargo bay as the door resealed. I just reacted. All the anger and emotion I’d been keeping bottled up over the past few weeks just overflowed and I turned, my palm slamming into his cheek.
A flare of color dashed through his face. When Vahko looked back at me, I saw a flicker of anger flash in his beautiful eyes. I’d never seen him lose control. Not like that. Anger was a new color on him. His jaw muscles pulsed and he pulled me in close, eyes wide.
“You want to try that again?” he rasped.
Yeah… my emotions were still burning up inside me. I definitely wasn’t done.
I pulled my hand back and swung again, but that time he caught my wrist. He spun me to face the wall and pushed me up against it, binding my hands behind my back like I was under arrest.
“Ugh!” I grunted. “I was having such a good day. I landed a ship on my own, I finally did a pullup, breakfast was delicious, and then you had to show up. What the hell are you doing here? This isn’t your job.”
“The usual ship is under repair,” he said in my ear.
His hot breath cascaded down my neck and made me shiver. Immediately, those familiar hot chills gathered in my stomach and plunged south. His body was so big and hard and with himpressed up against me like that, I couldn’t think rationally. It was so frustrating that it brought tears to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“Get off of me,” I demanded.
But I wasn’t sure I wanted him to.
“I didn’t come to torture you,” Vahko said.
“Seems like you did.”
