“Stay with me for a while?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He holds me close, and we spin in a slow circle. It’s so peaceful, I think I could fall asleep.
“Has Kita told you about osserates?” he asks, the words as sudden as they are soft.
I shake my head. “Not unless she’s used a different word.”
“I need you to know, you are my osserate, Cherry.”
“What does that mean?”
He exhales, eyes closing. “Before the stars existed,wedid. Our souls have always existed… and mine has always been coiled with yours.”
One of his tentacles wraps around my arm and pulls my hand to his lips.
“What does that mean for us?”
“It means I want to spend every spare moment I have with you.”
“I’ll never say no to that.”
CHAPTER 6
Sirin holds my hand as we leave and I catch the way the Trulavians watch us. They want him to be happy.
I do, too.
Outside, he kisses my hand and starts to say something, but the words are cut off by a chirping from his waist.
“It appears my spare moments are over. I have to go deal with this.”
“Don’t worry. I know what you do… I’m not mad when you have to run away from me.”
“Thank you.” He brushes his lips across mine. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
I don’t have any doubts.
He hurries away from me, talking with the person who called him, and I head back toward the lifts. I am going to go home, snuggle down in my comforter and wait for Kita to get off work.
My comm pings with an open booth slot, and I look at it for a moment before I decline.
I don’t know how long Phantom will keep me on “payroll” if I’m only seeing one client, but… we’re going to find out.
“Annika?”
I nearly flinch out of my skin when I look up and Agan is standing in front of me.
I’d forgotten I’d seen him before the bath.
“What the fuck are you doing down here?”
My hair is still damp, and I’ve never been more conscious of it in my life.
“Exploring,” I lie. “I’ve been on the station long enough, I figured I should have a better idea of what’s here outside of the levels I spend most of my time on.”
His eyes narrow, and he looks past me, then back. “Liar. You were prowling.”
