nothing’s wrong, i’m just horny and want to get off, and vibrators aren’t working.
orin
you want me to come over?
lyn
yes. no strings.
orin
duh
lyn
asshole
He doesn’t respond right away…then another message comes through.
orin
be there in 20
I drop the comm face-down on the nightstand and press my palms over my eyes.
What the fuck am I doing.
This is not the responsible, professional, emotionally well-adjusted choice. This is not the kind of thing I should be doingwhen I’m already confused, raw, and running data on what might be the most sensitive neurological issue of my life. This is not a variable I should introduce into the study. This is?—
—just sex.
It’s just sex.
I slide out of bed, moving automatically. Strip the sheets. Replace them. Not because they’re dirty, but because I don’t want Orin to lie on sheets I’ve already writhed on trying to picture someone else. I don’t want Kaelion’s ghost in the bed with us. I don’t want to know whether Orin smells it on me.
I change my sleep shirt to one that feels neutral. Wipe under my eyes. Sweep up the rabbit where it’s still whirring pitifully on the floor and toss it back in the drawer without looking.
I don’t light candles. I don’t set the mood. I don’t give a damn about setting the mood.
When Orin shows up…we’ll try. I’ll run another test.
And if it doesn’t work?
If it doesn’t work, I have no fucking idea what I’m going to do.
CHAPTER 13
KAELION
I touched her.I shouldn’t have touched her…but I did.
Just a flick, but I need to be honest with myself about why I did that.
I think about lunch for hours afterward, as Solvi goes to her room to draw…as I sit down and try to go over some of the data from Lyn’s research station. I want to focus only on the analytics, on cross-referencing them with her report from the clinic.
But I flicked her.
And she…I saw it.
