“That’s sleek.” Wyck clicked his tongue with appreciation, following me in.
The cabin was large enough to comfortably accommodate Val and me on our nearly two-month-long journey to this part of the Galaxy.
Unlike the main area, this room hadn’t been raided—all my things remained intact. Which must mean that neither the captain nor the crew knew about the cabins.
I promptly closed the doors behind Wyck. Here, we were safer than anywhere else on the ship, right now.
“This is where I lived on our way here.” I swept the place with my arm.
The entrance was right in the middle, with the room divided in two equal parts on each side. My area was on the left, Val’s on the right, with the common space in the middle. A narrow bunk bed folded out of the wall in each personal area. We each had a desk and a chair, too.
I walked over to Val’s part of the room and pressed the button on the wall. The grey, solid privacy partition lowered from the ceiling, hiding from view what used to be Val’s personal sleeping and working space.
“This is Val’s,” I muttered, rubbing my upper arms with my hands. “We shouldn’t go there.”
The sitting area in the middle of the cabin had a small breakfast table, a couple of chairs and a very comfy couch. Here, we used to have our meals on those days when we didn’t feel like going out into the common area to eat. The two of us would watch movies while sitting on this couch. When Val had to work elsewhere on the ship, I used to like reading here.
On the wall to the right of the entrance was a wall-mounted food station with a narrow counter below it and a small sink. To the left was the bathroom with a toilet and a shower.
“As I said, it’s self-contained.” I brushed my fingers over the food station screen with lit-up pictures. “There should still be enough supplies to create food for two human females for at least two more months—the duration of our journey home if we had managed to take off in the ship. Though, the escape capsule was considered to be our most likely means of return.”
There was another food station in the common area, but I had no idea how long the supplies there were supposed to last.
Wyck walked around the space, inspecting the equipment and the furniture.
“This will do for now.” He gave me a smile, visibly relieved. “You can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.” With a long exhale, he brushed his hand over his face, his slumping shoulders evidence of his exhaustion.
“Um...” I followed his gaze from the bunk bed to the floor next to it.
I’d spent way too many nights alone, listening to him breathing in the other room and wishing he were holding me while I slept.
Here, we were in relative safety. There was no need for us to sleep separately. Yet it didn’t feel entirely right for me to demand that we sleep together.
Wyck had been doing so much for me, and it’d cost him. The job of looking after me had damaged his relationship with the rest of the crew, including his family.
I’d been taking so much from him—his time, his attention, his support, and protection. Demanding his presence in my bed, now, would be like asking for more of all of that when I felt I had nothing to give him back.
Wyck deserved so much better. He deserved everything.
He noticed my hesitation. “Is something wrong?”
“No... It’s just that...” I clasped my hands in front of me. “I can sleep on the floor, too.”
He tilted his head, giving me an inquisitive look.
“With me? Or alone?”
Now that he’d asked me directly, I couldn’t pretend.
“With you.” I dropped my gaze down. “If you don’t mind, of course.”
He stepped closer. So close, I could feel the warmth of his body, but he wouldn’t touch me. Instead, he drew in a long inhale.
“You should take a shower, then.” He took a bar of soap out of his pant pocket.
“Okay.” The relief that he’d agreed to sleep together made me ridiculously happy. “Let’s just make the bed first,” I offered, not giving him a chance to change his mind.
I took the mattress pad off my bunk bed. The two of us then stretched it to more than double its original width.
“That’s amazing how you can simply change its size,” Wyck mused, pushing with both hands on the thick and comfy