air around them. “It’s on.”
They went back and forth, calling on each other’s power and obliterating the targets. Once they had the hang of that, they tried to get fancy. Solan sent his spark out in waves, slowly incinerating a paper target with the kind of control that took years to master. Lena took a more aggressive approach, calling on a burst of his power to take out all the targets at once.
After an hour of practice, they were both exhausted, but for the first time they ended the day with smiles. Success. They’d actually been successful.
“I’ll report on our progress,” he said as he took a drink from his water and watched Lena stretch. He shouldn’t have been staring at the curve of her muscle or watching as her shirt rode up to expose one of her sides, but his eyes wouldn’t look away.
“And what about the failures before that?” She switched sides and her shirt moved with her.
His mouth watered. He wanted to taste her skin. He had to clench his fists tight to keep his cock under control, but he doubted it would work for long if he kept looking at her like this. So why couldn’t he look away? “No one needs to know about the failures.” He managed to turn and pick up a towel to wipe off his sweat. It was an abrasive fabric, almost like it was punishing him for daring to perspire.
Lena sprang to her feet. “I still owe you that beer. Why don’t we head out and get it? Celebrate a hard day’s work?”
A yes was on the tip of his tongue. He could imagine Lena beside him in a dark booth at his favorite bar, the privacy curtains pulled as they sat close and shared secrets. And more. But he didn’t trust himself outside of their training. They had to keep things professional. “Not today.”
Her shoulders sank and a look flashed across her face too quickly for him to read. “Colleagues can get beer together,” she offered.
“I can’t.” He wanted to be convinced. He wanted her to tell him that his rules were ridiculous. He wanted to kiss her and see where things led. But he had to control his passions. He left and tried not to look at Lena as he passed her.
He was beginning to think they should have never bonded.
CHAPTER NINE
SOLAN DIDN’T WANT TO be friends. Lena needed to get that fact through her thick skull. He didn’t want to shoot the shit or get a beer after work. They were supposed to show up, do the job, and then go their separate ways.
Why was that so hard for her to understand?
Whatever relationship they had off the job, they needed to find a way to make it mesh. Things had started going so well at their last training session that she hoped they could build on it. Progress was progress, but she wanted to be moving faster. She wanted real assignments. Real ways to stretch her wings. Literally.
When she arrived at the training facility she was confused when the door attendant directed her away from the dressing rooms and down a hallway she’d never ventured before. But maybe Solan had different ideas for the day. She wasn’t in charge. It hadn’t chafed yet, but she was sure it would when she had control over her powers. That was a problem for future Lena.
She found Solan sitting on a bench in a large office and took a seat beside him. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure.”
They didn’t have to wait for long. A few minutes later a Zulir woman walked in and closed the door behind her. “You’re looking good, Solan. Matching suits you.”
“Major Ozar.” He smiled. “I was hoping it was you who called us in.”
Ozar. Was this woman related to Oz? Lena looked closely. She supposed there could be a resemblance, but she wasn’t sure.
The major took a seat on a bench of her own. “Command is accelerating the training schedules. You’ve been cleared for your first field mission.”
Lena grinned. Yes. This was what she wanted. Her excitement caught the major’s attention.
“Neither of you are ready, if I’m interpreting Zadra’s reports correctly. If it were up to me I’d keep you here for another month.” It wasn’t exactly a rebuke; she didn’t look at Lena harshly. But Lena still wanted to sink into the floor.
“I won’t disappoint you,” she promised. She’d never met this woman in her life, but with just a few sentences she already didn’t want