Chapter Twelve #2
Poetry in action, she moved with elegance and an economy of motion.
She took no extra moves but executed them with a dancer’s grace.
He watched her with desire thrumming through his veins while the analytical part of his brain remained focused on the exorbitant expenses.
In his gut, he didn’t think GAL Friday was an outlier.
And after Michaela vouched for the agency, he didn’t believe they had overcharged.
He trusted her instincts more than he trusted his brother’s.
Korsan’s heart was in the right place, but his head was often elsewhere.
But he had been there for him in the darkest night of his despair.
He had pulled him out of the pit, set him on his feet, and given him a reason to get up in the morning.
Forever grateful, he owed him. If Korsan was making bad decisions, he had to save him from himself.
But before he approached him, he needed ironclad proof of the overages.
“How would you feel about going on a brief working vacation?” he asked.
She chuckled and returned to sit beside him. “Isn’t working vacation an oxymoron?”
“Would you prefer clandestine reconnaissance at a tourist resort?”
“Now that sounds exciting. What kind of reconnaissance?”
“The kind my brother doesn’t need to know about yet.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’d probably order me not to go.”
“And what will we be reconnoitering?”
“How renovations are proceeding. You’ve heard of SIH?”
“Starlight Interplanetary Hotels?”
“That’s the one. Its flagship hotel is located on Elyxis 4.
SIH is a subsidiary of Korsan Enterprises.
The hotel has been undergoing renovations.
Reno costs have skyrocketed. Time is money, but the delays don’t explain all the cost overruns.
I want to see with my own eyes where the money is going.
As my bodyguard, I figured you’d like to tag along. ”
“I’m game. When do we leave?” she asked.
“As soon as we can arrange a flight.”
“As your assistant, I can book the flight—and hotel reservation?”
He nodded. “Good idea. It’s better if you book it, and we travel under your name. I prefer to be incognito as a vacationing guest. If Starlight Interplanetary recognizes my name on the booking, they might question Korsan or put their very best foot forward. I want to see how things really are.”
“How long will we be gone?”
“Figure for three days. One travel day. One day to nose around. Then back the next. So, two nights at the hotel.”
“How will we explain our absence? We can’t just disappear.”
“I’ll tell him I need a little R & R, and I’m going to stay a few days at a resort.”
“Technically not a lie.”
“Technically.”
“What if he asks which resort?”
“Then I’ll lie.” The last time he’d brought up Elyxis 4, Korsan had discouraged him from going. He didn’t doubt that had been a deliberate misdirect. He eyed her data tab. “How are we on time?”
She squinted at the device. “A little over an hour and a half has passed.”
That much? The time had flown by.
“I’m down to 15 percent power. My device wasn’t at full power when we boarded, and the light is using up the battery.”
“Turn it off. It’s time. The storm should be hitting soon. We don’t need the light anyway.”
The light went out.
He could see nothing, but other senses sharpened. Although they weren’t touching, he could feel Michaela next to him, hear her soft breath and his own heartbeat, and smell her unique enticing scent.
“If the buildings protect people from the radiation, why aren’t devices protected?” she whispered.
“Different type of radiation,” he murmured. “One form is used to communicate—another disrupts communication. If a building isolated us from all electromagnetic energy, we wouldn’t be able to get a signal in or out.”
Conversation ceased. The silent darkness felt like a caress, the warm water flowing over his skin. His breathing quickened.
“It sure is dark,” she whispered some minutes later. “I can’t see anything. Can you see?”
“Not a thing.” He chuckled. “You think my vision is better than yours? That we can see better than humans? We can’t.”
“But you’re a badass with superpowers.”
“I was never that much of a badass.” He paused. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” he teased.
“No. Not that.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Well, dying tops the list.” She paused. “And I guess letting people down. Screwing up and having someone get hurt.”
He read between the lines. “You’re not going to screw up.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know you. You will always do your absolute best, and that is not a screwup.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.”
“I mean it.”
“What are you afraid of?” she asked.
He had anticipated the question. “Well, dying, but it’s not at the top of the list because there are worse things.”
“Like what?”
“Being less than.” The cover of darkness pulled the truth out of him.
A man did not go around admitting his deepest fears and failings, but here in the darkness, where he didn’t have to look her in the eye, confessions felt anonymous, and the admission tumbled out as if it had been waiting for release.
“You are not less than! Do you hear me? You are one badass motherfucker.”
Her surprising vehemence convinced him of her sincerity, and his heart stuttered in his chest. But while she saw him as badass, he was pretty sure others did not.
He didn’t see himself that way. He didn’t wish to mislead her as to what he’d become.
If she built him up to be some kind of hero, she’d soon realize he wasn’t.
No one forgave an idol who fell from the pedestal they’d put him on.
“You don’t see me the way others do.” The way I see myself.
He felt her moving, and then he jerked and inhaled when she cupped his cheeks. Her hands were soft, but beneath the softness lay the strength of steel. He couldn’t see phuk, but she was so close, her alcohol-scented breath wafted across his face.
“This is what I see!” She kissed him.
He froze, stunned beyond all reason, but her lips were moving on his, and all the suppressed yearning burst out of him. With a groan, he sought entrance to her mouth, and she gave it, parting her lips.
He was drowning in pure sensation, in the touch, taste, smell, and feel of her. Her heated breath and warm, avid mouth stoked his smoldering, aching desire. Tongues met in a sensual dance of need too long denied.
He pulled her onto his lap, the better to hold her close, and her little hitch of pleasure sent hot electric pulses coursing through him. How long? How long has she been feeling what I’ve been feeling?
“This…this…is crazy,” he murmured. The darkness, the alcohol, her proximity, and pent-up desire undermined willpower and common sense. They had to work together. She would be leaving. Her time on Luturna served as a means to an end. And it would end.
“Crazy-good or crazy-bad?” She brushed her lips against his.
They-should-stop crazy, but how could he not hold her and kiss her when every cell of his being craved it? “The light will come on.” When lust subsided, she’d see him for what he really was.
“All the better,” she said.
“I didn’t mean it literally.”
“I know what you meant. I’ve never gotten involved with a client before—or a boss. But I like you, and I’m crazy-attracted to you. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to pretend I’m not. But life is short. Time is fleeting. Do you want to waste it?”
I don’t want to be a pity phuk. As soon as he thought it, he was ashamed and angered by his insecurity. Michaela wouldn’t do that. There were few things about which he held certainty anymore, but he was certain of her.
“What if it’s awkward?” he asked.
She laughed. “It won’t be any more awkward than the first couple of days when you didn’t want me here.”
“You would remind me.” He slipped his hand under her hair to her nape. Her skin was soft and warm. “You make formidable arguments.”
“As long as they’re convincing—or maybe you’re not attracted to me?”
“You’re sitting on my hard-on.”
“So I am.” She wiggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, and their lips met in another searing kiss.
Light exploded as the booster lit up, and the doors slid open.
The building ward stood there. “Are you Ruyn and Michaela Perine?”
She lifted off his lap. “Yes, we are.” Her face had turned a charming pink.
“I’m glad I found you, and you’re okay.”
“How did you find us?” Stiff and achy, he struggled to his feet.
“A notice went out to all the apartments, asking the residents to report in. You two didn’t respond.”
“How did you know we were in here?” she asked, picking up their trash.