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Olivia awoke feeling warm and happy.
She stretched and her hand slid across warm, naked muscle.
I’m at the Center. I’m with Stark.
She took a deep breath, his delicious scent surrounding her. She opened her eyes, trying not to move again. Now that she was awakening she could feel the weight of his leg flung across her hip and the heat of his chest under her cheek.
Now wonder she had woken up feeling warm and happy.
It was early still, the soft light in the room was the rosy glow of sunrise. She allowed herself one more minute to drink in the sensation of being in Stark’s arms, enveloped by his warmth and the heady spiciness of his scent.
Don’t you dare fall in love,a stern little voice in the back of her head instructed.
Of course she wouldn’t do that. She was just enjoyingbeing physically close with him. She had been so lonely for so long, and now it felt like they were almost sharing a single body.
But too soon her thoughts went to last night and the things he had done to her, what they had done together. She put her hand to her cheek, feeling it heat. She was different today than yesterday, more experienced.
He was so patient…
She slipped out from under him as carefully as she could, holding her breath as her bare feet landed on the cold floor. The big Maltaffian made a sad sound in his sleep, closed his arms around her pillow, and went still again. She smiled down at him. It was hard to believe the fierce green warrior with the massive horns was secretly as snuggly as a kitten.
As quickly as she could, she showered and dressed and slipped downstairs, wishing the whole time that she could just crawl back into bed with Stark.
But this might be her only chance to talk with Oberon alone, and she wasn’t going to miss out if she could help it.
“Good morning, Oberon,” she said softly, all too aware of the open nature of the main floor and the balcony above that joined to the room where Stark was sleeping.
“Good morning, Olivia,” Oberon replied immediately in his soft, pleasant voice. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Oh, I’m not much of a coffee person, first thing,” she told him. “I usually just have an energy drink in the morning.”
“We took the liberty of stocking the ice box with your favorite brand,” Oberon said.
“No way,” Olivia breathed, heading to the unit and swinging open the door.
Sure enough, there were rows and rows of the glass cells with the roadrunner logo.
“Cinnamon sunrise,” she said happily, grabbing her favorite flavor and tearing off the plug before gulping it down.
A cocktail of vitamins, glucose, and caffeine hit her bloodstream almost instantly, and in a matter of seconds, she felt completely awake.
It was time.
“Hey Oberon,” she said carefully. “I was curious about the center. Would it be okay to ask you some questions?”
“I would be happy to tell you anything not protected by protocol,” he replied immediately.
“Can you still talk with me if I go out on the balcony?” she asked. “I wanted to take in the view.”
She really wanted to get out of Stark’s earshot, just in case he woke up. He hadn’t asked her what she did for a living yet, and she hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible.
“Of course,” Oberon said. “I can speak with you in any location at the center.”
“Great,” she said, sliding one of the glass doors open and stepping out onto the wooden deck.
The deck overhung the waterfall, but she couldn’t help noticing that the crashing water wasn’t as loud as she would have expected when standing so close to it.She could still feel the mist gathering on her face and clothing.
“It’s so quiet,” she said.
