the long, lean arc of his body. He didn’t even need a stepstool to reach everything in this lab, and it wasn’t like the ceilings here were squat.
He didn’t turn toward me when he said, “He thinks it’s amusing that on our first night, I must share you.”
There wasn’t any hurt in his tone, but I couldn't see his face to be sure.
“Yeah, I thought of that,” I said. “But I wasn’t going to complain, even though I have been over here admiring your ass for roughly the last ten minutes and would like nothing better than to lock the door and strip you bare for a closer inspection.”
He got very, very still, but kept his back to me.
“Bianca,” he said in a deceptively soft voice, “are you propositioning me?”
I bit my lip, released it. My heart thudded. “You said we wouldn’t be heading to the Reamer settlement until nightfall, right? We have time, a little anyway.”
He set the canister on a table and prowled toward me. There wasn’t really any other word for it. He moved like a predator. Eat me, indeed. When he stopped inches from me, touching no part of me, I almost whimpered. Kiss me, damnit.
“It pains me to say this, but I must decline,” he drawled, tracing my mouth with his gaze. “I’m afraid I will need more than a little time for all I want to do to you, my love.”
What did he just call me? And all he wanted to… Oh my. My mouth opened, but no words came out.
And then he was moving again, passing me and fetching something for our knapsacks. I let myself breathe.
“Besides,” he said over his shoulder, “we have a girl to rescue, hmm? Focus.”
He was right. Someone from my world was out there, potentially hurt and needing us. And I was some kind of sex maniac. How had that happened? I was hardly recognizable, even to myself. My brother would have me locked away if he were here. Yes, we needed to focus.
“What can I do?”
“Go collect us some food.” He winked at me. “And don’t think that I’m not going to be hard all day, thinking about what you just said.”
I blushed, my cheeks so hot I could feel my pulse in them. Everyone was going about their business, totally unaware that we were about to go sneaking off into the wild to rescue a woman. Sure, Torrin had told us to make a plan, but he hadn’t meant this. All three of us were aware we were being less than truthful right now.
But I wanted to save lives, and so did Astor. No more unnecessary deaths. If we could do this stealthily, that was the way to do it.
Dreama nodded at me when I walked past her; she was focused on something, and I left her alone. That was easier than the next person it was. Nox.
He smiled and rushed over. “What are you doing out here?”
I’d just grabbed food from Mattis’ bar and was heading out for where I thought there were supplies for water when I saw him. I hefted my haul and said, “Running some errands.”
Although I’d never been much of a liar, being there with Nox right that second and saying nothing caused a physical ache in my chest. I rubbed the spot. This was different than my physical heart pain, even though I suspected this hurt involved the same part of my body being activated. I’d fallen for Nox, and now I was lying to him.
“Astor must have some kind of experiment going on, and he sent you out for supplies.” He laughed. “His brain never stops working. Not even when he has instructions from Torrin and his wife to make love to.” Nox narrowed his eyes. “Sure you’re okay?”
I swallowed and forced myself to smile, but I could tell he wasn’t buying my whole ‘I’m fine’ line. “I really am. I guess I just have a lot of things on my mind.”
He nodded. “A lot has happened lately, that’s for sure.”
The wind blew, causing dust to hit my eyes. At least I could blame the dust on why my eyes might start tearing up. I set my pile of supplies down, threw my arms around him, and held on. Despite the constant dirt, there was never a time that Nox didn’t smell clean. He did like his shower. “Thank you for rescuing me and giving me this life.”
His arms came around me. “Thank you for living through that crash