Page 35 of Summer

“This is the course you’ve settled on?” I ask once we’re clear of the grounds.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Gennelle says, her face still pointed to the window.

“Not a thing?” I press. She squirms in her chair, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.

I think she means to ignore me the whole way until she lets out a frustrated sigh and turns to me. “I do not know what you want me to say to you. I find it…hard…to have a normal conversation after what transpired.”

“That’s normal,” I say with a shrug.

“Is it? You are so much more experienced at this than me,” she hisses.

“Was that your first kiss?” I ask. It’s been burning at the back of my mind. Her fingers were clumsy, exploring. Her tongue eager but unsure. Who else had she kissed besides me?

“No,” she says quickly.

“But the rest of it?” I press.

“Yes,” she answers quietly, then drags her gaze to mine. It is the one she uses in public, the unaffected gaze of a female in complete control of her emotions. There’s a defect in this mask, a tempest swirling behind it wanting to break free.

“What about…with a male?” I broach the subject carefully. Sexual orientation isn’t straightforward for aliens. Those that follow this strange regency tend to be races that operate on a binary. Same sex relationships aren’t unheard of, but they’re not common either. If this is her experimenting with someone safe, someone who will leave soon and not cause long-lasting problems for her, I want to know where I stand.

“No, absolutely not,” she coughs a laugh and shakes her head.

“Ah,” I say.

“What? What does ‘ah’ mean?”

“Nothing. I was just curious, that’s all.”

She resumes squirming, looking out the window, fidgeting her hands in her lap. I’ve never seen her so uncomfortable. Her normal composure slips and she’s raw in front of me, working through her emotions. I want to hear what she’s thinking. I want to crack her open and see what’s inside. I want to push her, just to see how she’ll react.

“I don’t know,” she says at long last, quiet.

“You don’t have to,” I tell her.

“But you want something from me – an answer,” she presses.

I shake my head and cross the carriage to sit next to her. She doesn’t shrink away from me, which is a start, especially since I want to lean into her. “I don’t want to distress you. If that night is a bad memory for you, I wish to put it behind us,” I tell her truthfully. She’s just a hook up, someone to amuse myself with until I leave. Right?

“It wasn’t a bad memory,” she says softly, meeting my eyes.

“Was it a good one?” I ask.

She starts to lean toward me, and this close, my suspicion about her lack of sleep is confirmed. This close, the veins under her eyes are dark, the skin thin and worn.

“Yes,” she breathes, just a whisper in the air.

It’s all it takes for me to close the distance, for my lips to crash against hers. My hands are in her hair, hers are fisted in my dress to pull me closer to her. Her kisses are hungry, devouring me. I am the oasis in the desert, she is the food at the end of a fast.

She pulls back to catch her breath, her forehead pressed to mine. I run my fingers along the base of her neck, and she shivers at my touch, leaning forward to kiss me once more. This one is soft, slow, her tongue exploring my mouth. I let her take her time, to learn every inch of my mouth. Meanwhile, my hands journey down her body, angry at the fabric between us.

I tug at the hem of her skirt, pulling it up, sliding my hand along her stockings. She groans into my mouth, and I move to the carriage floor, kneeling before her.

“What are you…” she begins, but the words die on her lips as I run my hands up her calves. I push the hem of her dress up with it, gathering the fabric around her hips. There’s so much of it, it’s ridiculous, and it’s blocking my view of her face.

I want to see her face as I do this. I’ll have to settle for the noises she makes.

I push her knees apart and she allows me, slowly, reluctantly. I wait for her to tell me to stop, to suddenly clasp her thighs together and tell me it’s all a mistake. When she doesn’t, I continue, leaning forward to place a kiss on her inner thigh. She jumps and giggles.