Page 51 of Phoenix's Last Heist
“Evie’s only letting us land because she wants to scope you out,” I say, chuckling. “She’s lonely out here on that pathetic bucket of bolts and I’m sure she’s hoping you’ll be amenable to her attentions, if you get my drift.”
A soft pink blush blooms on Orion’s cheeks and makes his synesfores pulse purple. The barest thread of anxiety weaves through my veins, knotting firmly in my stomach. Will things be any different between us now that we’ve had sex? Will he beclingy? Distant? Disappointed? Reality starts to press in on me from all sides. I was so ready to give up everything for him—all my secrets—stars, even my freedom. What came over me? Orion is a decent sort and, sure, the sex was mind blowing, but this little adventure has already cost me too much, and if he goes back to Xylothia with the idol, it will potentially cost me even more.
No.If there’s one thing I know, it’s that I can’t stomach another year under Brill. I have to believe my patron will finally terminate our contract if I bring him the idol because the alternative is unthinkable. Maybe Orion will come to understand that…in time.
I clear my throat, but before I can say anything, he speaks up.
“Listen, Lyra…” He starts, folding and unfolding his arms across his chest in an awkward, distracting way.Why do those muscles have to be so…muscley?
“I already know what you’re going to say,” I say, holding up my hand to stop him. I’ve heard some variation of it a hundred times before…have even delivered the speech myself.This was fun, but it’s over. Different wants and needs, darling. Two ships, passing in the night.Something painful prickles in my chest—regret? Disappointment? Nothing a liter of moonshine can’t drown.
“No, you don’t,” he says, shaking his head. “We need to talk about something important.”
Sighing, I twist my wince into a falsely cheerful grin.
“I get it. We both got carried away. There wasvelliainvolved, and I got shot, and mortal injuries make me really horny, and we’ve been cooped up on my ship for weeks. It doesn’t have to mean anything, okay? Itdoesn’tmean anything. It’s like I told you before—whatever you think you feel for me, don’t trust it. Let’s just get some clothes on and get ready to deal with Evie, all right?” My embarrassment makes me feel more nakedthan my conspicuous lack of pants. I tug my shirt down over the waistband of my underwear as unfamiliar pressure starts to build behind my eyes.Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Dammit, Lyra, why are you crying?I turn my attention to the console and pray he won’t notice.
Orion is quiet, something shuttering in his gaze before I can make sense of it. “Is that what you want?”
No.“Yeah, sure. I mean, not much chance of anything else, is there?”
More silence. It stretches for long enough that I think he’s left the cockpit, but when I finally look up, I see he’s come to stand right behind me.
“That wasn’t what I was going to say, but I’ll respect your decision if it’s what you really want,” he says, his low voice thrumming through me. I peer up into his bottle green eyes and promptly forget to exhale. He’s so handsome, standing there staring at me with so much unguarded emotion in his gaze.Kiss me, you dummy. Just take it. Take it all.
“We should get dressed,” I hear myself saying.
A ghost of disappointment flits across his face, but he offers me a wan smile and nods. Watching him turn and leave the cockpit feels like being gutted with a dull blade. When he’s almost out of earshot, he pauses.
“For the record, Lyra, it meant something to me.”
With that, he leaves—taking all of the air out of the room with him.
After showeringand dressing in a long-sleeved gray jumpsuit, I meet Orion back in the hallway in front of the ship’s bay doors. He obviously showered after me, his damp hairshimmering green in the soft light of the cabin. He’s wearing his ranger uniform and for the first time since we met, I find the dull khaki rather charming. Comforting, in a way. This is normal. We can get back to normal.
So why does that feel so…wrong?
“Anything you want to tell me about what I should expect down here?” he asks. His expression is pleasant—neutral—but the disappointment that still lingers in his eyes makes me feel ten kinds of rotten.
“Evie is a Strythian from Terrin-4. She was always a bit of a wild child, so when she hit puberty, her parents shipped her off to the Federation Military Academy. She was doing pretty well until she knocked out her instructor for, shall we say,mixed signals.After they kicked her out, she found a job as a salvage rat on a barge that brought her to Velusia right around the time my dad died, and—as my mom used to say, ‘Trouble sticks to trouble.’ She left when I got contracted to Brill, finding other salvage work around the sector, and has presumably worked her way up to site manager here. She’s smart as hell, tough as nails, and happens to be one of the only people in my life who hasn’t tried to kill me, sleep with me, or steal from me,” I admit.
“Considering the warm welcome she gave you, I’m assuming you didn’t pay her the same courtesy?” Orion asks with a raised brow.
I frown and, stars help me, actually blush under the weight of his disapproval.What is happening to me? This is ridiculous.
“Well, I won’t go into a lot of the dirty details, but the last time I hunted her down, I may have accidentally run off with something important to her,” I say.
“A ship? A chip full of credits? Precious metals, gemstones, or other valuables?” he wonders, shaking his head.
Actually, it was one of the better performing salvage workers from theHephaestus. Lyra became sexually intimatewith the Dreller and brought him onboard with her, then left the station without permission or approval for his leave.
“Thank you, Ada, for that very helpful contribution,” I grumble.
You’re welcome. Please give Ms. Redfern and theHephaestuscomputer my regards.
“I will not! The two of you are the worst sort of gossips when you get together,” I say, shaking my head.
“So, you did actually move to kidnapping,” Orion accuses, folding his delicious arms across his even more delicious chest.
