That got her a frown and another admission. “The Colonel suggested I romance you if necessary to get information about your mission. If someone reports we’re holding hands, it’ll get chalked up to my following orders.”
She tried to jump to her feet, wounded by his words, but Troll snagged her wrist and held on.
“Listen to me,” he said, turning towards her to meet her gaze. “I wouldn’t have told you this if I planned to do it. I informed Sullivan I wouldn’t prostitute myself for the Alliance. You can ask him the next time you see him. What’s between us . . . it feels right. You sense it, too, Lia.”
Yes, she did, but . . . “We just met. We don’t know each other.”
“I’m aware of that, but it doesn’t seem to matter.”
It didn’t. “I don’t want this,” she said, but Lia couldn’t stop staring into his eyes, couldn’t stop thinking about pressing her lips to his, as long as his mouth was this near anyway.
“Me either, but some things are too powerful to fight.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed you were a fatalist.” She couldn’t kiss him out here on the street. Could she?
Troll shook his head. “I’m not. We have free will, but I do believe in destiny and you’re mine.”
Heat built low in her belly. One quick peck, just to find out what it was like. “It’s too soon.” But he was right, it didn’t seem to matter. Damn, she wanted to taste him.
“I’ll back off.”
He stood and she did as well. The hell with it, she decided. Lia dropped her bag and put her free hand on his nape to keep him close. “This is a mistake,” she murmured.
And, leaning into him, she brushed her lips over his.
Desire slammed into her with breath-stealing strength and she needed more of him. Wrapping both arms around his neck, she went back for a second, longer kiss. Still not enough. She ran her tongue over his lips and Troll opened for her as his hands went to her waist, pulling her tightly against his body. Good. He felt so damn good.
So damn perfect.
Destiny. That thought frightened her enough to break the kiss and quickly put distance between them. One glance at his darkened eyes, the desire on his face, almost had her tossing aside common sense and going back for more, but Troll banked his heat before she gave in to the urge.
“Come on,” he said thickly. “We might still make lunch.”
She retrieved her bag and fell into step beside him. This time he didn’t hold her hand and Lia had to curl her fingers to keep from reaching for him. Itwastoo soon and she didn’t fit in here. Did she? Of course not. Just because she felt in sync with this one man, it didn’t mean she belonged.
If it wasn’t for that damn vortex, she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this crap. Maybe the Einstein-Rosen Bridge closed instantly, but her wormhole was the Troll Bridge, and it seemed it had been open for business.
“Here we are,” he said, pointing towards a house.
It was small – well, small compared to some of the buildings here, but certainly not tiny by normal standards – and made of cream-coloured stone. There were two wide slate steps leading up to a welcoming front porch, but before she could appreciate much more than that, they were at the entry.
“Just drop your bag inside.” He opened the door for her. “We don’t have time to go in.”
Lia did what he said. Troll closed the door again, took her hand, and hurried them off. “You really are hungry,” she said.
“I missed breakfast helping the Z Man put together a trike for his kid. Who knew it would be that hard and take that many hours?”
“The Z Man?” She was slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with his long strides, but she didn’t ask him to slow.
“One of my buddies.” They reached another metal building and Troll pulled the door open. “Made it.” His smile gave way to a soft groan. “A long line this late isn’t a good sign,” he explained when she looked at him.
They stood in it anyway. He asked the group in front of them if they knew what was going on, but they didn’t. A few minutes later, Troll spotted someone. “Sasha,” he called. A pretty blonde woman came over holding a tray and Lia felt her heart jam in her throat when Troll leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“The team’s back?” Sasha asked and she sounded hopeful.
Troll shook his head. “No, I was pulled for another assignment. Sorry. What’s going on with the line?”
“All the ovens, stoves, and anything else that could heat food crashed. Another of the infamous J. Nine tech glitches. It’s a chicken sandwich or nothing.” She nodded towards her plate and then looked at Lia. “Hi, I’m Sasha Cantore and you’re . . .?”
