off this corrupt planet.
But he had enjoyed her company immensely.
“Something’s going to happen today,” she murmured.
“What?”
“You’re tired of waiting and are going to do something drastic, aren’t you?”
He tightened his hold on her. “How did you know that?”
She scooted away a bit and rolled over to face him, grimacing as she tried to get comfortable. “Don’t say it,” she warned, shooting him a dark look.
“Don’t say what?” he asked, all innocence.
“That I’m adorable,” she grumbled.
He smiled and adjusted the covers over her as she finally settled on her side with her knees drawn up again, this time resting against his abdomen. “You are adorable.”
“No, I’m not. And you’re trying to change the subject.”
He sighed. “Perhaps.”
She stroked one of his cheeks, now coated with a week’s worth of thick stubble. “Tell me what you’re thinking of doing, because I already know I’m not going to like it.”
“The Anomalous Cognition Research Institute was right about you. You do have prophetic abilities.”
“I’m not a prophet. I just make good guesses.”
“You underestimate yourself.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. So what are you thinking?”
“We need to leave.” He looked past her at the bedside table. “You’re almost out of currency. We need more so you can continue to consume the nutrition you and the baby need.”
“We could both use some clothes, too.”
They washed their clothing every night and slept naked while it dried. Taelon didn’t mind the latter at all. He loved having Lisa’s bare body pressed up against his, though the lust such inspired did make sleeping more difficult.
She nibbled her lower lip. “We need to get our hands on some cash. But I’m pretty sure the ACRI closed my bank account. Brad said they told everyone I died months ago. The apartment I was renting and all my possessions are long gone. The apartment manager probably sold my stuff to cover the rent I failed to pay after I was taken.”
“Our options are few.”
“We could call the number Brad gave me. It’s his ex-girlfriend’s. He said she helped him find me, so she may be someone we can trust.”
He considered it. “I think my plan will garner faster results.”
“What’s your plan?”
“To make the motel clerk—the one who was here when Agent Walker and his soldiers interrogated us—see a soldier in green arrive with a soldier in black held in restraints.”
She stared at him, her brown eyes boring into his. “You think Agent Walker might have left a contact number or something with the clerk?”
“It’s possible.” Unfortunately, he couldn’t read the clerk’s mind to retrieve it and a quick search had not uncovered it. “If they think a soldier from the destroyed base is holding one of their own captive—”
“They’ll burst in here, guns blazing.”
“And see only me.”
“Oh hell no,” she blurted, sitting up.
“Lisa—”
“If they see you, they see me.”
He sat up, too. When she struggled to untangle the covers enough to pull them up over her breasts, he paused a moment to help her. “Lisa,” he began in reasonable tones, “I won’t risk your—”
“This is nonnegotiable, Taelon. We’re in this together. No way in hell am I going to let them take you who-knows-where without me. Because you know that’s what they’ll do. They’ll take you somewhere more secure to interrogate you.”
“If they are willing to be reasonable…” He ignored her snort of disbelief. “Then I will let them see you. But I cannot risk them hurting you.”
“No. Let me call Brad’s ex first. At least let me try her. If she can’t or won’t help us, then we’ll revisit your idea.”
He only agreed because he neither wanted to leave her alone to fend for herself nor wished to see her held captive once more. The only other option was to steal what they needed to survive. But that wouldn’t aid them in obtaining medical care for her or in finding Amiriska. “All right.”
Brow furrowed, she scooted off the bed. “Let me get dressed first. Brush my teeth. Splash some water on my face.”
Anything to put off making the call? he wondered, not really blaming her. She had told him Brad and the woman had once been lovers, then had parted ways. The woman clearly still valued Brad though, otherwise she wouldn’t have risked so much to help him.
He watched Lisa cross the room and disappear into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
If he and Lisa became lovers, would she feel free to leave him the way this Kelly woman had left Brad? If he coaxed her into bonding with him, would she view that