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Sinead closed her eyes for a few seconds. It did feel right. When she was around Talyn, she didn’t feel like she needed to put on a performance. She could be herself. He never judged her or told her off for bringing down the mood when she was having worries.

She flinched as Talyn touched her. “You’re not playing fair. You know the effect you have on me. And I know what that kiss was all about.”

He slowly withdrew his fingers from her skin. “I don’t mean to manipulate you. It’s not intentional. I’ve never had such a dramatic effect on a human.”

“I guess you don’t know many humans.”

Talyn shrugged. “Not many, but they don’t respond to me the way you do. And I don’t respond to them the same way I do to you.”

She plucked at the bed cover. “You should try making out with them. It might help.”

“It wouldn’t be like this.”

Sinead shook her head. It was tempting to make believe this could be her reality. But she had a job, ambitions, and needed to move onto a new challenge and seek adventure. She couldn’t do that if she was with Talyn. There was no way he’d let her be a free agent to come and go as she pleased. She’d have to check-in with him and make sure he was okay with whatever she had planned. It would stifle her. She’d be unhappy.

Talyn’s expression grew concerned as he studied her face. “This is a lot to handle, but maybe we can do it together.”

Sinead’s wrist comm signaled an incoming message. She welcomed the distraction as she opened it and saw a message from Vegas.

Diadora’s on the war path. She wants to know what’s going on with our missing alien. As do I.

Sinead dropped her head into her hands and sighed. This was a mess. She hadn’t meant to stay with Talyn for so long, but it had felt so good sleeping next to him. She’d had no nightmares or worries, just peace. Peace she had missed for years. Maybe a peace she’d never had.

“Bad news?” Talyn went to touch her shoulder but then stopped, his hand hovering between them.

“I’m in trouble at work. I told my boss I’d only be an hour late. How long have we been here?”

Talyn grimaced. “About ten hours.”

Sinead stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh, crap! We slept all day?” She was so screwed. She’d let herself get distracted by Talyn and potentially ruined things at work. If Diadora discovered that she’d missed a whole day of work, that was all the ammunition she needed to get rid of her. She could lose her job over this.

“I’ll back you up if you need it,” Talyn said. “You were helping me. You can say there was a medical emergency. It’s not far from the truth.”

“If that was true, I should have taken you to the infirmary,” Sinead said. “I shouldn’t have cuddled up on your bed and slept with you the whole day.”

“You did the best thing for him,” Booby said.

“Try explaining that to my boss. She’s never going to believe that me getting naked with you is a good idea. All she’ll see is a lower profit margin because she’s lost a client.”

“I’ll reason with her,” Talyn said.

“She’ll still blame me for this. And she’d be right to do so,” Sinead said.

“I won’t see you get in trouble over this,” Talyn said. “This is my fault. I suppressed my ability and made myself unwell. If your boss hassles you, send her my way.”

“No one goes up against Diadora Hardwick and lives to tell the tale, but thanks for the offer.” Sinead glanced at Talyn. He looked better after his long sleep, but there was still weariness and tension around his eyes.

Sinead needed to find out more about what happened to a Lillip when he suppressed his ability for too long. When she hid problems and didn’t talk about them, it never did her any good. She ended up with tension headaches and a desire to binge eat too much candy. Those feelings must be magnified tenfold by someone who had empath abilities.

“I need to leave.” Sinead swung her legs over the side of the bed. She had to get out of here, cover up her mess, and pretend this never happened.

“I hate for you to leave when you’re in so much turmoil.” Talyn’s fingers skimmed down her bare back.

“Stop touching me.” Sinead stepped out of his reach. She needed to get away from Talyn’s influence and think things through. She couldn’t let the way his touch soothed her impact her decision. This couldn’t happen. There would be a way out of their mate contract, and she’d find a way to keep her job. But she couldn’t do any of that if she stayed secluded in this ship, blocking out the messed-up reality of her situation.

Sinead pulled on her jumpsuit and shoved her feet into her boots. She stopped as she reached the door and looked back at Talyn. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes but also a flicker of resignation. He could tell she was walking away.

She shouldn’t feel bad. They knew so little about each other, but the time they’d spent together made her feel she did know him. That scared her. Sinead couldn’t commit to one guy. It would never work, not the way she lived her life. She had to remember she was here for a good time and not a long time. So long as she stuck to that motto, everything would be fine.