Page 38 of The Dreamer and the Deep Space Warrior
There were too many unknown variables, and all of them led to Isobel Nott being in harm’s way.
Though his mind saw the logic in this, his body had other priorities. He couldn’t have their last interaction be that. Like all challenges, this one needed to be confronted head on.
He was out of his ship and pushing into a run before he knew it. The forest fell quiet around him, and the bright half-moon lit his path.
“Do you think this wise, Qon? A clean break—”Exxo cut himself off abruptly. “The probability of you listening to me is so minute, I will not waste my energy. Disregard.”
Isobel Nott’s dwelling was quiet when he arrived, and all the residents were abed. It took only a moment for him to pick the lock of the main door and squeeze inside. The last and only time he had been in her home was the night he’d brought her back after she fainted. Then, he hadn’t paid attention to the strange design and abstract furnishings. Now he moved slower, taking in her home as he peered into its spaces.
It was difficult for him to explain, but beyond his senses, he could tell exactly what was and wasn’t of her. In a more open room, he mostly sensed her brother and another male he remembered from when they played at hunting in the forest. But there was a cushioned seat with a view of their gardens. Even before he caught her soft fragrance, he knew it was hers—a throne she alone claimed.
Some rooms were behind locked doors, while others held nothing of Isobel Nott at all within them. As he quietly made his way up the stairs, he passed a likeness hanging on the wall he hadn’t noticed before. The male pictured looked like an older version of her brother. He had broad shoulders for their species, a thick neck, and anexpression that read as stern but fair. Isobel Nott had been correct; her father seemed like a male he would have liked.
Once on the second landing, Ved passed the other bedrooms without thought. Her door was at the end of the hall, and with as little noise as possible, he opened it.
The curtains were drawn back, and the light of the single moon spilled in, illuminating her form in her bed.
She sat upright the moment he closed the door behind him. Her hair was wrapped in soft purple fabric, and the garb she wore exposed her throat, collarbone, and a hint of her curves. He willed his body not to react to the vision that she was. And forced himself not to imagine they were on Runus and she was inhischamber.
Wiping at her eyes, she squinted into the darkness of the room. Trepidation tinged her scent. He uncloaked at once, not wanting to scare her more.
“Ved?” she gasped, her eyes going wide and her heart fluttering in a way that thrust heat into his body. For a brief moment, it seemed as though she were happy to see him.
“Isobel Nott,” he murmured. He hadn’t quite thought this through. Belatedly, something told him that midnight visits in her chamber by a male would be on that list of hers. The one of improper interactions.
Her mind must have gone to the same place, because she pulled the covers up around her.
“Why is she not angry? If the big mean warrior growled at me to go home after a near-death experience with a scary Kroid, I would be.”
“Exxo,” he warned, and Isobel Nott merely tilted her head. It became apparent after several heartbeats that she wasn’t going to offer him mercy by talking first. She may not be angry, but what she was, he couldn’t place fully. Hurt?
“Are you well?” he asked.
Her brows rose high, but she didn’t smile at him. “I’ve had better days,” she whispered.
Ved could do nothing but stare at her, his mind suddenly devoid of all strategy. Needing to form an attack plan or get himself out of a situation where he was severely outnumbered was simpler than this interaction. He’d never retreated from a battle in his life, but…
“You could start with an apology,” Exxo suggested.
Ved growled quietly at his neurolink before saying, “My world is dangerous.”
She crossed her arms over the blanket.
“Very dangerous,” Ved tried again.
“I receive enough lectures, Ved Qon Cleave. You already informed me that I’m not meant for your world. Was it necessary to do so again in the middle of the bloody night?”
Never had his name and title sounded so scathing.
“Oh,” Exxo said cheerily, “sheisangry.”
“I apologize,” Ved rumbled, and refused to shift his stance like a shamefaced youth. As qon, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d uttered those words. Even when he and Kravis disagreed, they settled it with their fists and quickly moved past it.
“For what?” she asked.
Perhaps he should beg the death gods to take him then and there. He didn’t regret telling her to go and gritted his teeth to keep himself from saying so. He’d needed to get her out of there quickly before the Blood Vultures decided to show up. And he’d meant to stay away, he really had, but—
“I actually appreciate what you did,” she said after his silence had gone on for toolong.
