Though gods, there was certainly that.
But emotionally, too.
I wanted inside the walls he kept around himself.
Wanted the truths he guarded.
Wanted the version of him no one else got to see.
And maybe that was foolish.
Maybe it was pathetic to hope for something more from a man like him.
But for the first time in years—hope existed anyway.
I held my breath, hand outstretched—and Sten stepped back instantly.
Pain sliced through me before I could stop it.
“Shit,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disgust you?—”
“Disgust me?”
The raw disbelief in his voice startled me.
“No, Luna,” he growled harshly. “You do not disgust me. That is not the problem.”
He ran his hands over his face and I felt power rolling off him in waves.
“Then what is?”
His eyes locked on my hand—the one that had reached for him moments ago.
“Why did you try to touch me?”
The answer escaped before pride could stop it.
“Because I wanted to.”
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
“I wanted to know what you felt like. If your skin would be warm or cool beneath my fingers.”
His growl vibrated through the night air.
Then he turned abruptly and stalked ahead.
I hurried after him toward the nearly empty courtyard behind the cafeteria, thighs chafing painfully beneath my shorts.
“Sten! Look, I’m sorry!”
He spun suddenly.
His eyes glowed silver-blue beneath the aurora-lit sky.
Inhuman.
