Page 46 of Stealing the Star Stone
When he placed the cup in her hand, her joy was unparalleled.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”She hummed on a sip.
Her expression, those lips, the flop of hair across her brow and the waterfall of it down her back added to the zing tightening his nipples.The urge to kiss her blazoned across his mind.She’d slap him for sure.And coming from a big hand, it would hurt.Drawing in a calming sigh, he said, as a distraction, “Let’s go over our strategy.”
She arched a brow.“When it’s as basic as you can get?”
He grinned.“True.Steal a shuttle.Check.Heading to Lethara.Check.Find a cave?”He yanked up the knapsack and took out their notes.“A cave system north of the equator.Dense forest; maybe they skipped it because it’s unnavigable?”
“Mm, instinct says we try it, but if we can’t land…” She changed the holographics overlaying the forescreens.“Here’s a basic map.”
He reached around her and tapped the general location of the cave.“I think it’s here.”
She hadn’t moved away in time, and the warmth of her breath across his cheek made him meet her gaze.Intense emotions swirled in the dark-green depths of her eyes.The tension thickened.His heart leaped into his throat, and he glanced at her lips.
“You’re dangerously close to kissing yourself,” she whispered.
“I’m not the one leaning in,” he breathed.
She ran her gaze over his face, her chest rising and fallen with every ragged breath.But when she shifted, instinct told him that kissing wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
She pulled back, and with a clench of his teeth, so did he.The sense of loss cinched his chest, strangling his throat.He struggled to focus on what they’d been doing.“You could…” he coughed to return his voice to normal, “drop down and machete a clearing.If it’s jungle.It would be a bitch and time consuming, but the trees might help to hide the shuttle.”
“From a distance, but above the shuttle, no,” she said.
Back and forth, he shifted his hand as if he stroked velvet.“If we drape the cuttings over the shuttle?”
“You’re assuming we’re being hunted.”She winced.“Which we should when Orien’s such an asshole.”
“This would only work if it’s a jungle.Sand dunes would be out in the open.He’d have chosen this location for its lack of hinderances.”
“Ice would be the worst.”She nudged her head at a book.“It described the location, right?”
“Yeah, as inaccessible.”
“Let’s check it out first before we plan a landing.”She zoomed out until the 3D map of the moon spun before them.“South is another location near a lake.The map says it’s called ‘Vael’Tir’”
He shook his head.“My guts with you on this one.I like the first spot.”He studied his hand and wrist, the blue flowery spirals were halfway down his forearm.Two ends had formed familiar symbols.His breath caught.“Um, Nova, does your arm look like this?”He shoved his in front of her face.
She lifted hers and held it against his.Identical.They hadn’t noticed that before.
“Huh,” she said.“Did we bring the book with the alphabet?”
He lunged for the bag and stacked the books they’d earmarked.Sprawled on the hard metal floor didn’t bother him as he flipped through and tossed aside book after book.The second-to-last one had him slumping.He rotated the page, trying to align the symbols to those on his arm.
“It’s…” He swallowed hard.“A countdown.That’s a number two?”He clambered to his feet and brought the book to Nova.
She studied it, comparing the alphabet to her tattoo.“Yes.One, two…” She met his gaze, her eyes widening.“I think you’re right, Thorne.”
“How long do we have?I mean, we’ve been stuck like this for two days.That’s not a coincidence.But does the countdown end when it reaches our shoulders…”
“Or our hearts?”She stroked the blue symbol for ‘two.’“Could be a toxin, killing us if we don’t switch back before an unknown number of days.”She raised her chin and offered him a sweet smile.“Well done for spotting this.It’s something even if it’s scary as hell.”
“We never considered there’d be a time limit.”
“No.”She squared her shoulders.“It just means we can’t afford to fail.”
The severity of this discovery settled on him like a solid weight.Gone was the excitement of earlier.Now, only dread remained, growing until it almost consumed him.
