Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
ELAINA
The clinking of glass against the bartop accentuated the hum of quiet conversation all around her. Elaina traced the rim of her half-empty drink, condensation marking a trail down the sides of the glass. The neon sign outside flickered intermittently, casting a faint glow through the window as the sun dipped below the horizon.
She could’ve patched that.
Her date leaned back in his chair, watching Elaina with a casual smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“You back?” Konstantin asked once her attention returned to him.
Elaina nodded. “Yes. Sorry. Just thinking.”
“About?”
“Nothing important.”
Konstantin let the silence hang for a moment before taking a slow sip of his drink. “You’re lost, Fairan.”
Elaina looked down at her hands, her fingers idly picking at the edge of a napkin. They’d been sitting there for nearly an hour, talking in occasional bursts between bouts of distracted silence. The conversation was fine. The drink was fine. But she wasn’t there .
And he seemed to get it.
She glanced up at Konstantin and caught a flicker of guarded expectation in his eye. He liked her. She was pretty sure he did. But he wasn’t too eager, and a part of her liked that . It gave her permission to keep her own distance.
He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering. “If you were anyone else, this would be the time I ask if you want to get out of here.”
The directness was so brash, took her by such surprise, that Elaina couldn’t help but laugh.
“But you won’t?” she asked.
The corner of Konstantin’s mouth rose in a smirk. “You don’t seem like the type.”
Elaina glanced down at her barely touched drink. How did he know what type she was? He barely knew her.
“You’re right,” she admitted.
“I know. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
Elaina looked back at him, uncertain. It was dark, and she knew nothing about him. Konstantin seemed to read her mind.
“I already know where you live, Fairan. It’s not a big city.”
She sighed and slipped off her stool, grabbing her blackweed jacket from the bar. When Konstantin put an unabashed hand on the small of her back to guide her outside, she didn’t flinch away.
They walked the streets in silence, shadows stretching long as the last of the sunlight faded behind the dunes. The heat of the sol lingered in the air, thick and dry, but there was a coolness settling now. A breeze swept clouds of dust off the streets. The bar was just a few blocks from her place. It didn’t take long to get there.
At the bottom of the iron grill steps, Konstantin stood with his hands shoved casually into his jacket pockets, watching her carefully.
Elaina couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and she found herself drawn to that. The distance felt familiar. Safe.
“Not a bad date, considering I’m taking your job,” he said, his voice low and smooth. His eyes lingered on her just a little too long, but not enough to make her feel too much like prey.
Elaina raised an eyebrow. That morning was tough. Tuskin’s decision to enforce some time off was pragmatic, and she’d seen it coming. She was useless like this.
It was just the push she’d needed to make a decision of her own.
“Yeah.” Elaina smiled. “Not bad.”
Konstantin tilted his head, considering her. “I could be wrong,” he said, leaning just slightly closer, his tone more serious now. “But I think you enjoyed tonight more than you expected.”
“And what if I did?” she met his gaze with a challenge.
Konstantin’s smirk widened, and for the first time that night, his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Then I’d suggest we do it again.”
Elaina hesitated for a heartbeat, but something in his aloofness was magnetic. He wasn’t pressing or waiting on her, and that distance was exactly what she’d needed.
Lance, relegated firmly into the role of a friend since their last encounter, hadn’t done anything wrong.
He simply cared too much.
“All right,” Elaina said finally, keeping her tone light. “We can do it again.”
Konstantin gave a slow nod, his eyes flicking over her one last time.
“Good,” he said. “I’ll ping you.”
Elaina gave him a wry smile, having learned by now that follow-through was far from guaranteed. The nice thing was, with Konstantin, she didn’t have to care.
The tension from the evening buzzed in her veins as she entered her hab and shut the door behind her. Elaina was relieved to be alone again, in the comfort of her own space. It gave her room to breathe, and to feel.
Konstantin had been… something. She liked his sharp edges—the way he didn’t try to pry her open and let her guard stay in place.
Cyan hadn’t tried to pry her open either, but with him… it was like her soul came apart and let him slither into it all on its own.
She didn’t have to do that with Konstantin. And yet, even with his cool demeanor, there had been that undercurrent of mutual want between them.
Elaina sank onto her bed, the memory of Konstantin’s smirk playing at the edge of her mind. She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
She let her hand drift down, grazing the hem of her skirt, her breath catching as she allowed herself to give in to the pull of heated frustration. As her fingertips teased the waistband of her underwear, she let herself imagine what it might be like with Konstantin.
His eyes would linger on her, waiting for her to meet him without pushing for more than she could give. His hands, firm and knowing, would move over her skin. His touch would feel a little clinical, and she would like that.
At some point he would kiss her, if she let him, his lips demanding but controlled and noncommittal.
A soft moan escaped her lips as her fingers slipped beneath the fabric, the sensation sparking heat through her core. She pictured Konstantin’s hands, his calculated, unhurried movements—the way he might pin her wrists, hold her in place as he took his time, his smirk daring her to push back.
But just as the pleasant tension knotted tighter in her belly, another image slipped in. A different pair of hands, callused, more familiar. A voice warmer, deeper. The memory of his touch, the way he’d commanded her attention in that way he had, his intensity wrapping around her like a storm. The way he’d looked at her…
Look at me.
The thought sent a wave of heat through her, a sharp gasp catching in her throat as her body responded. Her mind’s eye tangled between Konstantin’s cool confidence and Cyan’s heated possession, blurring the lines between control and desire. Her fingers moved faster, the tension building until she couldn’t hold it any longer. Desire won. Cyan won. Cyan would always win.
The release came with a breathless moan, her back arching as she shivered, knees shaking. She trembled with the intensity of it even as tears blurred her vision and spilled to her cheeks.
Fuck.
When was this going to end?
Elaina lay there, eyes closed, her heart pounding as silent tears stained her cheeks. Her body was sated, but her heart was shredded.
Get yourself together.
Elaina wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stared up at the ceiling, forcing herself to calm down.
She barely had time to catch her breath before there was a knock at the door.
Elaina froze, her pulse spiking again, only this time with dread and a touch of instinctive revulsion. It must’ve been Konstantin. He must’ve decided to try his luck, after all. And there she was, thinking he could’ve been the perfect distraction before she left this place forever.
Elaina pushed herself up and smoothed her skirt, steadying herself. She’d just tell him she was tired and uninterested. He’d have ruined it, and she wouldn’t see him again—but she wouldn’t tell him all that. She would simply fade away.
The knocking came again—more insistent.
She padded barefoot to the door. She reached for the palm reader before remembering she’d disabled it. It had kept bugging out, like everything else around here. Elaina clicked the manual latch and hauled the heavy door open by hand.
For a moment they only stared at each other in silence.
Elaina spoke first, her voice a raw whisper.
“Cyan.”