Tazia curled her fingers gently around his. “I think she would’ve been proud of the man you became.”
Looking into her face, Stefan could almost believe that. “I’m fractured inside, Tazi. The scars of childhood should’ve long healed, and yet they mark me still.”
Her eyes intent, she broke their handclasp to push up the sleeve of the soft blue blouse she’d bought from the market. “See this?” She pointed to a scar just below her elbow. “I got this when I fell onto a rock while playing with my brother.”
Rubbing his finger over the faded line, he said, “A physical scar is permitted. A mental one, never.”
“According to who?” Her fingers delicate against his jaw, the touch a fleeting one. “We’re all marked by life, Stefan. The only difference is that your people like to pretend they aren’t, that the Psy go through it coated in protective armor.” Breath soft against him as their faces drew closer. “You’re not fractured. You’re just like the rest of us, living life and getting a few knocks and bumps along the way.”
Her lips were so close, he could’ve bent his head, ended that distance, initiated a physical intimacy unlike any he’d ever experienced in his life. Even had the pain controls still been functioning, he wouldn’t have cared, would’ve done it. The thing that stopped him was the thought of harming Tazia.
“Tazi,” he said softly, and it was a question.
Skin flushing with color, a sparkle in her eye. “My friends in the village,” she whispered, her lips brushing his, “they stole kisses during the festivals.” Her fingers curved around his nape. “I was always too shy and too awkward to do so, but the elders looked the other way if things didn’t go further.”
His hand cupping her neck and the side of her jaw, he angled his head to deepen the contact. Her pulse stuttered under his hand, her skin hot as he closed his lips over her bottom one. Making a delicate sound in her throat, she held on tighter to his nape.
“Tazi.”
“Yes?” Her pupils were huge when she met his gaze.
“I’ve never done this before.”
A startled pause before her lips curved and she wrapped both arms around his neck. “Neither have I. Do you think we can figure it out?”
“You’re the engineer,” he murmured, enthralled by the vibrant life of her. “You’re very good at figuring things out.”
Eyes lit from within, she said, “Let me see.” A heartbeat later, she did the same thing to his lip that he’d done to hers, the caress a sweet courtship.
It was natural to respond to her touch by tasting her upper lip, and then . . . then there was no more thought, simply the furious thudding of their hearts and the damp heat of their kisses as they explored and learned together. Neither of them tutored in the skill, they simply did what felt good and everything felt good.
So good that his shields on the PsyNet would’ve come under critical strain had he not been bolstering them since the day Tazia walked onto the station and into his life. Layers and layers and layers, those shields kept these forbidden sensations from leaking out into the vast psychic network that connected all Psy on the planet but for the renegades. His telekinetic power was more difficult to control; it strained at the leash until the bed in the next room thumped up then down.
Tazia jerked, glanced over. “Did you do that?”
“Yes. I can’t control the Tk.” Not when she was cradled in his arms, her body almost on his lap. “My focus is too fractured.” That could prove catastrophic.
Tazia ran her finger over his lips. “As an engineer, I think you should focus your telekinesis into something that requires large amounts of energy but that is nondestructive.”
Thinking about it, he kissed her again. When they broke apart this time, the water in the jug was boiling so hard, steam puffed in the air, and Tazia was laughing. “Can you train yourself to do that automatically?”
“I should be able to.” It would work for a kiss, but anything deeper and he’d have to come up with other ways to safely discharge his telekinetic energy. On Alaris, it could be dangerous to . . . but he was thinking too far ahead, wanting too much. This was a moment out of time. Nothing Tazia had said gave him a reason to believe their relationship would continue on Alaris.