Page 3 of Rebel
“Xavier? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I pushed up on my elbow. “People only say that shit when there’s a possibility of something bad happening.”
His eyes darkened. He reached up to caress my bottom lip with his thumb, and I lost my train of thought. We’d sparred several times, we’d been up close and personal on more occasions than I could count, but he hadn’t touched me like that since the asteroid when he’d helped me find release in the pool.
Heat trickled through my veins as he leaned in and our breath mingled, warm and tantalizing. Our mouths brushed, our tongues flicked out to taste each other, then we were sinking into a deep, satisfying kiss that dispelled all thought.
He rolled onto me, his hands combing through my hair, his mouth slanting across mine as he devoured me with unrestrained passion. I arched into him, hands skimming up his sides, reveling in the taut muscles below the tight shirt he was wearing. His hair was silk between my fingers, and his tongue was long, thick, and sweet in my mouth. Fuck Athions and their clever tongues. What would it feel like down there? Oh God, now I was pulsing with an eagerness to find out.
The kiss slowed and then softened until we were pecking at each other’s lips—teasing and gentle as we came up for gasps of air.
He leaned back, his breath erratic and his eyes bright. “I’d like to try that again soon. Maybe on a bed?”
My core heated at the thought of him in my bed, naked and inside me. What was wrong with me? I’d fallen for Vex. How could I have feelings for Xavier too? Is this what women who went to Athion experienced—this confusion at loving more than one male? Not that I’d ever have to worry about that. My infertility made me ineligible for such a path, and now the thoughts I’d been holding at bay surged to the surface.
Xavier would find someone fertile. He’d want kids. This, whatever it was, was fleeting, and it made my stomach hurt. What was I doing?
I pulled away and sat up. “I should go.”
He frowned. “Rogue?”
I swallowed hard and looked him straight in the eyes. “Look, Xavier. We should stay in the friend zone. It’s better that way, for both of us. You’re going to find a human female who’s fertile, probably to share with Tide and Lore. I’m going to be shipped back to Earth. I don’t … I don’t …”
“Want to care about me?” he said softly.
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath, offering him a small smile. “It’s too late forthat.But I need to protect my heart.”
“Does this go for Vex too?” There was an edge to his voice.
My heart ached. Vex’s distance made sense now. “I think Vex had this figured out weeks ago.”
Xavier sat up and stared at me, his gaze unfathomable. “You care about us both, don’t you?”
I more than cared.
“Rogue, look at me.”
Tears pricked my vision as I raised my eyes to his. I ran a hand over my face to dispel the weakness.
He sucked in a breath and reached for me, but I shied away and was on my feet and headed out of the observatory before he could stop me.
I needed to get off the ship and back to Earth. I needed to be away from them, to heal my heart, and it was only when I was halfway to my cabin that it hit me.
He hadn’t answered my question about Athion.
Instead, he’d deflected.
* * *
Lore was a cold bastard, but he was good for rediscovering emotional equilibrium. He exuded calm and order, the two things I needed right now. I found him in his lab, peering into a microscope. The muscles across his back tensed as I entered the room.
“What do you want, Rogue?” he asked tersely.
I leaned against the counter beside him. “Are you playing with my blood cells again?”
“I’m testing them, yes.”
“What kind of tests?”
“Ones you wouldn’t understand.”
