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TWENTY-ONE
Rook excused himselffrom the room with the team to take Seraphina’s call. In the hall, he kept his voice down because he didn’t trust anyone in Jarad’s household. As he tried to calm her down, he clenched one hand on the comm he held and the other curled tight by his side until into his claws pricked his palm.
Watching her suffer and unable to do anything brought out a surge of helplessness he hadn’t felt since he was a young child. The brave smile she attempted quivered at the corners and she avoided his eyes. “That’s never happened before.”
Thus her embarrassment. She had no reason to feel ashamed. What she’d experienced happened to individuals all the time. “You had a panic attack.”
On the other end of the screen, her breath continued to rasp in and out but not the choppy, panicked sounds of earlier. Bright red splotches stained her cheeks. Her face still held a chalky cast and compared to what he now knew as her natural tanned skin, she was still recovering.
“Thank you,” she murmured, roughly rubbing at her eyebrows.
When she finally lifted her gaze to his again, he fell into their hazel depths. Remnants of the fear she’d experienced shadowed her eyes.
It was a shock to see Seraphina’s true face, a face he’d glimpsed for mere minutes when they’d sex shared in that room below the roof on Pi Vista.
He’d thought her mesmerizing before. Here, in this moment, he realized he’d underplayed her looks. She was gorgeous.
More gorgeous than the voluptuous blonde he’d met as Tempest. Her reddish brown hair had the slightest hint of waves in the ponytail she wore. Lines of strain bracketed her mouth, but the generous full curve enticed him. Rook wanted to kiss her again. Feel the real texture of her lips and learn her shape all over.
He longed to hold her, acquaint himself with a body she’d shown no one else. Rook didn’t doubt that was the reason she’d gone into full blown terror. When he’d asked to see her on the comm, he wasn’t sure what face she’d wear.
He hadn’t expected the real Seraphina from that night. Seraphina who’d tried to take his eyes out with a deadly swipe of her blade. His lips curled into a smile.
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“You are incredible,” he answered instead and meant it.
To his knowledge, he’d never met an Allagi or come in contact with one. Their numbers were diminished and the few who existed kept such a low profile, no one really knew who or where they were.
“Not so incredible. I almost died on a comm with you,” she said.
Rook chuckled. “You weren’t in danger of dying. Passing out, maybe.”
Her eyes went wide. “Like that’s any better!”
“Are you alone?” he suddenly asked. Was there someone close to take care of her if she’d fainted from hyperventilating? The thought sent a spear of worry through him.
Her gaze darkened and she nodded, ponytail swishing across the back of her shoulders. “I live alone. It’s better that way. No one to miss me if I disappeared doing this.”
Annoyance pierced his heart. It wasn’t better to him. The idea that she felt that way bothered him and the whisper slipped out. “I’d miss you.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Rook knew he meant them. Hewouldmiss her. There were things he wanted to know about her. Food she liked, food she hated. How she chose her various appearances and did she have any regrets.
It wasn’t mission related either. He wanted to know those things for himself. For personal, not professional reasons. He rubbed at the ache in his chest.
“You don’t really know me. We met less than a month ago,” she said.
The protest meant nothing to him. “I’ve had my cock buried in you, my tongue down your throat and my fingers in your—”
“Alright, alright,” she whisper screamed, face flaming.
Another smile crossed his face at her shocked expression. Her lips pursed and she balanced her chin on her propped up fist to glare at him.
If the look was suppose to scare him, it failed greatly and only added adorable to the list of things he was discovering about her. Humor a rare treat for him, he muffled a laugh and asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
Her eyes narrowed further. “You’re in a mood tonight.”
“Is it night time where you are?” he immediately asked.
