High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,9
harder for a relationship with you?”
Her instinct was to brush off the question with a flippant reply, but she forced herself to consider it. He was putting his cards on the table, waiting patiently for her to respond.
“I don't know. Right at the beginning, when I was new to the job, I'd probably have left. I had turned down three other job offers before I came to work for you, so while I wouldn't have liked leaving, it would have been relatively easy to. But after you stopped taking partners to the dinners . . .” She lifted her shoulders. “I'd have stayed, and worked my way through it with you.” She hesitated. “Probably like we're doing now.”
He leaned forward, just a little, and brushed his lips where his fingers had just been. “I can deal with that.” His voice sounded a little hoarse.
She stepped back, her gaze going to the tent again before she faced the stream, and began walking toward it to clean her teeth and wash her face.
“I can sleep outside, if it worries you.” He was suddenly beside her, shoulders brushing hers again.
She was embarrassed that he had read her nerves over sharing such a small space with him, could feel the heat on her cheeks. “I feel like an idiot, and no, I don't want you to sleep outside.”
She knelt at the river bank and splashed water on her face, rubbed in some cleanser and then rinsed it off.
He was staring at her in the darkness, but she wondered how much of her expression he could see.
As the magfield wasn't too close to the surface here, her own night vision was enhanced. She could see clearly on his face he was concerned about her.
She was glad of the cool water, because her cheeks felt even hotter.
She held out the toothpaste and he took it from her with a quirk of his lips. They brushed their teeth together in companionable silence, with nothing but the cries of the night birds and the gurgle of the stream around them.
It was quite domestic.
By the time they were snuggled into the tent, Hana had managed to let go of her nerves, grateful to be warm and comfortable. The top of the tent was transparent, so the aurora that still played and danced above them was visible.
“All right?” Iver's voice was a rumble against her ear.
She gave a nod, snuggled in closer to his chest, and unbelievably, fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 5
As soon as Hana moved, Iver woke up.
She wriggled under the arm he'd slung over her sometime in the night and crouched at the entrance to the tent. “Someone's coming.”
Her voice was low and flat, unlike he'd ever heard her, and then she shook herself, as if coming out of a trance. “I can hear a runner.”
Iver moved, sliding out after her and collapsing the tent in seconds.
“Which direction?” He couldn't hear a thing.
She pointed, and at last he heard the faintest of rumbles.
He set aside his interest in her astonishing hearing and put the tiny square the tent had folded into in her pack.
They moved toward the river, leaving nothing behind them.
They'd buried the remains of their fire under sand and rocks before they'd gone to sleep and Lancaster would have to be unusually lucky to find where they'd camped.
They'd already discussed what they'd do if they needed to hide, so there was no talking as Iver slid into the river. Hana slipped in next to him, barely making a sound.
It was freezing. And deeper than he'd expected.
They'd chosen to camp in this spot because the river had a high bank on one side, including another scooped-out cave like the one they'd used before.
This one was narrower and deeper, though.
They barely fit in together, and both of them took the time to go in feet first, so they faced the river. Iver had his SAL out, and Hana took it from him, checking it out.
“You've shot one before?” he asked.
She nodded. “I had to do basic training, like everyone else. I carried one, as standard battle gear, but I never had to use it.” She slid the cartridge out, looked at the neat line of tranquilizer cartridges. “I heard they're thinking about using these more broadly within the VSC, because they can't be set to kill, unlike a laz.”
Iver hadn't heard that, but it made sense. The SAL had been a necessary alternative to the laz given the dangers the magnetic fields of Faldine posed. Laz fire