Chapter 42
As it turns out, we’re going on a date. And not just any date. A date that involves Gray helping me onto a hovercraft, one of the smaller models designed for only two people.
“Why do we need a hover?” I ask curiously.
“You’ll see.”
The aircraft powers up with a low hum, and as it slowly rises off the ground, I feel the quiet vibration in the soles of my feet. I rode in a few hovercraft when I was in Silver Elite, but it never gets old, that weightless sensation as you float in the air like a feather.
The night sky stretches all around us. It’s dark, but we must not be going far because Gray keeps the lights on to guide our way in tandem with the nearly full moon.
I peer at the dark outlines of the mountain peaks. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he teases again. Keeping one hand on the controls, he takes his other hand and rests it on my thigh.
My gaze shifts from his hand to his face. When I narrow my eyes, he gives me that trademark wink.
“What?” he says innocently.
The hovercraft is far more subtle than a chopper or jet.
It’s a constant drone, getting louder only when he pushes the throttle and the engine roars, sending us skimming forward in a smooth burst of power.
The fans on the underside hum, creating a cushion of air that keeps us gliding through the sky.
I can’t say I’m not enjoying the warmth of his palm on my thigh, the way he moves it in lazy caresses. My breathing comes out a bit faster, and I realize it’s turning me on.
I haven’t been with anyone since the night I met Cross at Haven, and those urges went dormant the moment we ended it in the quarry.
I didn’t expect to feel sexual arousal again for a long, long time, but my body is coming back to life.
It remembers the intoxicating feel of another body pressed up against it, while my heart remembers what it’s like to pound from breathless kisses.
As we soar over another ridge, a flash of brilliant purple light fills the hovercraft. We’re above the lagoon.
“Why is it glowing?” I exclaim.
“Magic,” he answers, an echo of what Evlynne said the day she stranded me down there. “I was flying drills out here one night and couldn’t believe it when I realized the lagoon glows in the dark. But that’s not the good part.”
“There’s something better than this?” I can’t take my eyes off the shimmering purple water.
“Trust me. Gets even better.”
He pulls a lever and flicks a couple of switches on the dashboard. With a soft mechanical noise, the hovercraft…stops. Right in the middle of the sky, hovering in one spot over the lagoon.
Gray unbuckles his harness and gestures for me to follow suit. As I unsnap mine, he’s already jumping into the back, shocking me by sliding open the rear door. A cool breeze wafts into the hovercraft.
“C’mere, cowgirl.” He beckons me toward him.
The cabin is just tall enough for me to walk at my full height, but Gray has to duck as he approaches the opening and plops down, dangling his legs over the edge. I sit beside him, and he reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together.
The moon hangs high above us tonight, but the stars…they look close enough to touch. Big, brilliant specks of light against the black sky.
As we hover over the glowing lagoon, I can’t deny that this is very, very romantic.
“This is a pretty good date, ace.”
His lips curve in a slight smile. “I like that.”
“What?”
“When you call me ace.”
“Are you blushing?”
“I’m not blushing. Fuck off.”
“Oh my God, you are. It’s cute.” I reach over and touch his cheek, unable to stop a grin. His face feels hot. He’s definitely flushed.
We go quiet for a long moment. I catch him stealing glances at me, but whenever I look over, he quickly looks away.
“You’re being weird,” I accuse.
Gray sighs. “I like you.”
“You do?” My own cheeks get hot. This feels so sweet and wholesome. Like my first crush in Ward Z.
A note of embarrassment creeps into his husky voice. “Yeah. I like you a lot.”
“Stop it,” I say, ducking my head. “You’re going to make me blush, too. We’re too old for that.”
He snickers. But there’s a pained look in his eyes. “I don’t like this.”
“What?”
“Having a crush.” He curses under his breath. “It’s pathetic. I’m Grayson Blake. I don’t get crushes on women. I fuck them. I make them come.”
“Oh, you poor baby.”
Laughing, I shift closer and rest my head on his shoulder. Ribbons of warmth unfurl inside me. The notion that he has a crush on me brings a lightness to my chest.
I tip my head at him, about to ask another question, when he groans, “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want me to kiss you.”
“I do want you to kiss me.”
Another strangled groan slips out. “Soon. I don’t want you to miss it.”
“Miss what?”
He gently moves my head back toward the lagoon. “Just keep watching. Trust me.”
I lean forward a little to get a better view of the water. It feels jarring to just be hanging there in the sky, as if kept in place by an invisible anchor. The hum of the hovercraft is so soft it doesn’t even feel like the engines are running.
Then I see it. It’s barely discernible at first. It starts as a flicker, a subtle shimmer beneath the water’s surface. I think it’s a trick of the light, but then I see it again.
And again.
And suddenly, the water comes alive.
Right in front of my wide eyes, thousands of white glowing orbs emerge from the water.
At first, I think they’re flying, like some alien species rising from the depths of the earth, but then I realize they’re jumping.
Shooting up like tiny fireworks exploding out of the water, flitting two, three, even five feet in the air, creating a cascading effect.
When I turn to Gray with my jaw agape, he smiles and says, “Moonfish. They come out every night. This is when they feed.”
“What are they feeding on?”
“Insects. Mosquitoes. Whatever’s down there. One of our scientists was telling me about it once. She said—”
“She?” I cut in.
“Yes. She. The sixty-six-year-old woman who researches animal species on the mountain. She’s hot.” He winks at me, and I punch him in the arm. “But it’s nice to see your jealous streak hasn’t died.”
I return my attention to the water to admire the dazzling display of…Fine, I’ll call it what it is.
Magic.
It’s fucking magical.
“Anyway, she said that moonfish spend all day deep underwater. Hidden in rocks, buried in dirt. They wait until the sun sets, and then, when it’s feeding time…” He sweeps his hand over the lagoon. “Then they dance.”
I’m utterly entranced by the swirls of light streaking over the water. The little fish arc through the air, their bioluminescent bodies trailing ribbons of white behind them before submerging into the water, then jumping out again seconds later.
Gray watches me. “Incredible, right?”
As the moonfish continue to leap, I can’t take my eyes off them. “Sometimes…when I see something like this…I think maybe the world isn’t a lost cause. That there must be a reason we’re all here.” I inhale a breath, lost in the moment. This one perfect moment suspended in time and space.
His thumb strokes the inside of my palm. “I thought you’d like it.”
My heart is fuller than it’s been in a long time. I brush my lips over his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
He turns his face so that our lips almost touch. “You’re welcome.”
With our mouths still a hairbreadth away, I try not to smile. “You wanna know a secret?” I whisper.
“Obviously.”
“Tonight is my birthday.”
“Are you fucking with me right now? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
I shrug. “Jim and I weren’t really birthday people.”
He stares at me for a second.
Then he bursts out laughing. “Only you, Wren Darlington.”
“Only me what?”
“Can make me want to laugh and throttle you at the same time. You should’ve told me. I would’ve—”
“What? Done something special?” I gesture to the gorgeous spectacle below us. “Mission accomplished, ace.”
“Fuck,” he marvels. “I’m the perfect man even when I’m not trying.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This was a nice way to turn twenty-one, but it’s not like you invented moonfish.”
“You don’t know that,” he taunts before tugging me close for a kiss.
I feel like I’m floating when we return to our quarters later.
At my door, he plants a soft peck on my lips but doesn’t take it any further, respecting my request we take things slow.
I’m glad he does, because I’m five seconds away from yanking him into my room and giving in to the reckless urges that have driven me my whole life. Jump first, think later.
As Gray bids me good night, I’m grateful that at least one of us is able to keep a clear head.
I’m still riding the giddy high as I slide under the covers and settle on my side, so when the high-pitched buzzing fills my ears, it scares the shit out of me.
Zzzzeeeee-eeeee-e. Zzzzzeeee. Zzzzzeeee.
I sit up, rubbing my temples. What in the ever-loving hellfuck is that—
“You sure you don’t want the numbing gel?”
The unfamiliar male voice is even more jarring than the incessant buzzing, which blessedly stops.
“It’s fine,” is the grunted response. “Make it hurt.”
All the oxygen escapes my lungs.
Cross.
It’s happening again. He’s in my head.
“It’s just us here, Captain,” the first voice says, chuckling. “You don’t have to put on the macho show. I know from experience that spine tats hurt like a godfucking bitch. Area’s bony, too many nerve endings—”
“I said make it fucking hurt.”
“If that’s what you—”
The voices drop out, flooding my mind with agonizing silence. Cross is getting another tattoo. At least that’s what I’m gathering from that exchange. The buzz was a tattooing gun.
Make it hurt.
I curl under the blanket again, wishing I could pretend I never heard that. Wishing I could go back to feeling that giddiness from my date with Gray.
Why is Cross getting inked tonight of all nights? Does he know it’s my—
Of course he knows. Wolf wished me a happy birthday every year since I was six.
Groaning, I slam my eyelids shut and banish all thoughts of Cross, but no matter how hard I try, I keep hearing that low, deadly voice in my head.
Make it hurt.
Over the next few days, I notice the Authority spending a lot of time in their war room, debating who knows what.
I’m curious as hell, but every time I bug Gray about it, he keeps his answers vague.
By the third day of briefings, my curiosity has transformed into a beast I simply cannot tame.
I’m so full of questions, it feels like my mind might explode.
That night, as Gray lets me into his quarters, I ambush him.
“What’s going on? I know you guys are planning something.”
For a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer. He runs a hand through his hair, pulling my attention to the delicious flexing of biceps. I force myself to focus, pouting at his silence.
With a faint smile, he relents. “We just voted to authorize an emissary mission to Tierra Fe.”
I gasp. “Really? When?”
“Three days from now. We’re going to brief everyone in the morning and assemble the team. We made contact with their commander last night, and this morning they dispatched their parley terms.” He frowns. “I don’t love them.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to brief everyone in the morning,” he repeats.
“Or”—I beam at him—“you can just brief me now and I’ll pretend to be surprised in the morning.”
Chuckling, Gray wanders over to his sofa and flops down.
I sit next to him, drawing my knees up. “What were the terms?”
“They’ll only speak to someone on the Authority. So that’s Adrienne or Kallister—”
“What about you? Or Teriq and Fiona?”
“Not our forte. Ade’s done more fieldwork than Kal, so it’ll likely be her, but…” He rubs his forehead. “I don’t like this mission. She’s only allowed to bring a pilot and one guard, and the Tierrans will sweep her for any tech, so that means no comms.”
I narrow my eyes. “And what are the parameters for them?”
“There are none. They can bring an army of guards and basically do whatever the fuck they want.”
“So it’ll be Adrienne and one guard, possibly facing off with the entire Tierran army.”
“Yep. Which is why we’re sending a secondary security team.”
“How many?”
“A sniper and a spotter.”
“Assign me to it,” I say instantly.
“I’m not sending you down there.”
“Why not?” I tip my head in challenge. “Look, I’ve worked with Evlynne and Mako and Orin, all of whom are considered to be your best sharpshooters, and you and I both know I can shoot circles around them. I’m the best sniper in this entire facility.”
“Also, the humblest.”
“Obviously.” I grin before going serious again. “There’s nobody who can cover Adrienne better than me, especially long range. Do you know what the position will be?”
“About a mile and a half out.” His features are creased with reluctance.
“You need me there. You know I’m the best option.”
Rather than answer, he tugs me onto his lap. I straddle him, my knees on either side of his firm thighs.
“What am I doing on your lap, ace?”
Gray blinks, the epitome of innocence. “Oh. How’d you get here?”
“I feel like you’re always looking for an excuse to kiss me.”
He leans in just a fraction, and I can feel the smile on his face as he whispers, “Maybe.”
My heart gives an unexpected flutter. “You’re impossible.”
“You love it.” He threads his fingers through my hair and brings my mouth to his.
Kissing him is different from kissing Cross.
Not better or worse, just…different. Gray likes to tease me.
His kisses always start off slow and tender, lingering, dragging it out.
With every press of his lips, I feel that mischievous smile, the playfulness, until the desire becomes too strong to play with and he groans against my lips, stealing my breath with deep, drugging kisses that drown out the rest of the world.
We’re both breathing heavily by the time the kiss ends.
“You should go.” His voice is hoarse. “We’re taking it slow, remember?”
“I feel like we should reconsider.”
He chuckles. “No.”
“Please?”
“Wren…” His lips move to my ear, eliciting a shiver. “I will fuck you.” The shiver turns into a moan, ripped involuntarily from my throat. “And when I do, I’m keeping you in bed for at least forty-eight hours. But…”
“No buts,” I beg.
“But it won’t be tonight,” he finishes. He pats my ass before easing me off his lap. “Time to go, cowgirl. You’re way too tempting.”
“Kiss good night?” I ask innocently.
He narrows his eyes. “One.”
I loop my arms around his neck and rise on my tiptoes to kiss him. I can’t stop myself from slipping him some tongue, and he groans against my mouth.
“Good night, Wren,” he says in a stern tone.
“Good night, Grayson,” I grumble.