Page 12 of The Price of Peace
He shrugged. “They’re good?”
“Yeah, they’re good.” Relaxing, I popped another of the crunchy cylinders in my mouth, sighing as I chewed. My lips curling up in pleasure despite myself.
“You’re pretty when you smile. You should do it more often.”
Immediately, I swallowed and frowned. “You don’t need to worry about what I look like, fugitive. Just eat.”
Xyrox smirked but placed the plate in front of me as we sat. Part of me didn’t like the intimate familiarity of eating together like this, especially after he commented about my looks. But after those two little bites of heaven, I decided to let it go and to focus on eating. I was so hungry, I could eat the ass of a Cretarian rhino.
“Do you know what this is?” I asked around a mouthful.
He swallowed his food and took a drink from the hydration pack before responding. “I’m not sure, but maybe something from a place called Earth? Possibly a hamburger’? This whole place looks like something from there. We studied the planetat the academy believe Jökull is kidnapping females from there. The intelligent life there is called human, and they look like primitive Pleiadians. They’re so primitive, they don’t have knowing contact with any other species yet, and humans are on the IGF’s protected list.”
I didn’t respond because I had no interest in humans. It must be nice to be a primitive species unbothered by the problems of the galaxy. Unlike me. I had an entire ice planet full of problems.
9
XYROX
The human meal was unexpectedly satisfying. Each bite of the mysterious “hamburger” seemed to thaw another piece of my frozen insides, as did sharing it with this confounding female. I couldn’t help but relish the warmth seeping through me, despite the disquiet it left in my chest.
Peace seemed just as appreciative, her full mouth and usually sharp tongue making quick work of the meal. It was strange, sharing a table with her like this—almost domestic in a way I hadn’t experienced since I left my family’s home. I shook the thought away. This was nothing but survival.
“So, what’s the plan, Agent?” I asked, pulling myself back to the present. I leaned back, crossing my arms over the absurd shirt, the fabric uncomfortably pulling across my chest and arms. Part of me wanted to rip it off, but when I saw Peace’s violet eyes roaming over the way the bright material strained against my muscles, I decided the relic was growing on me.
“We need to find a way off this planet,” she finally replied, clearing her throat and dragging her eyes up to mine.
I leaned back in the small chair. “And go where exactly? I’m not interested in going back to prison. And if we head back to Rykantos, we’ll have to deal with those fekking goons Jökull sent after you.” When she frowned, I pushed my advantage. “If you haven’t noticed, we have a common enemy, Agent.”
Her beautiful violet eyes slowly lifted to meet mine and I saw the war going on behind them. I stayed perfectly still waiting for her to work it out. Did she believe my story? It was the truth, but I had no way to prove it. I was sure my bounty was high, and she needed a new ship. I tried to listen to her thoughts on purpose this time, in case I could hear what she was thinking. But, of course, now that I was trying, there was only silence.
Finally, she blew out a long breath. “I don’t know. My gut tells me you’re telling me the truth, but …” She shook her head as if clearing out the doubts. “Let’s just see what we can find and go from there, okay?”
She was coming around. I fought back the satisfied smirk that wanted to break out on my face. “Right. There’s no communication equipment in here. We’ll need to explore further into the complex.” Stretching, I spoke around a yawn. “But, honestly, we could both use some good sleep first. In the warmth. In a bed.”
Peace chewed her bottom lip as she thought over my words. She had to see the wisdom in them. Last night we’d practically frozen to death sleeping in that cave. Before that, we’d spent three days trekking across the desert with her hunting me. Neither of us had slept more than a couple of hours for days. Lack of sleep did not make for good decisions.
She stretched, leaning back in the avocado green chair, her shirt riding up to show the taunt muscles of her abdomen. Ilicked my lips as she relaxed, and the swath of skin disappeared from view.
“You’re right. We need sleep. We’re exhausted and we need our strength and wits so we can come up with a plan.” She scooted back from the table. “You use the cleansing room first, and we’ll get you settled.”
I wasn’t sure what “getting me settled” entailed, but I wasn’t turning down first dibs. I needed a shower in the worst way. Throwing Peace a little salute, I obeyed and made my way down the small hall past the heating unit.
Stripping out of my clothes quickly, I shivered while I tried to figure out the metal knobs of the antiquated shower apparatus. I gave one a spin, and pipes groaned. “By the bloody sun!” I yelped when cold water hit the back of my neck. Jerking backwards, I crashed against the door in the cramped space.
“Hey, are you okay?” came a worried voice from the other side of the door a second later. Peace rattled the old-fashioned doorknob, but my body blocked her entry.
“I’m fine! Just a minor disagreement with the cleansing apparatus.”
Peace huffed. “Well, hurry up. I want to get in there, too, and I’m tired.”
I didn’t bother answering, instead hauling myself off the floor and moving back to the cleansing box. Playing with the metal knobs some more, I finally got hot water and stepped under the spray with a sigh. Heaven! Pure heaven.
After using the gel labeled “body wash” with a sweet smell I didn’t recognize, I rinsed off and used a small square of fabric I found on a hook to dry myself. Not wanting to put my dirty clothes back on so soon, I tucked the drying cloth around my hips and opened the door to the hall.
Peace’s fascinating eyes glowed in the dim hallway, where she leaned against the wall, waiting for her turn in the shower. Ifroze as we stared at each other for a long breath, then two. I couldn’t resist flicking my tongue out to catch her scent. Although the cloying fragrance coming off my own skin muffled her aroma, I could still perceive her musky desire. I bit back a groan.
“Where are your pants?”
