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‘I’ll get you to Eden II safe and sound,Excellency.’ His voice rumbled low and soft, which sent a ripple of powerful energy through her small frame.
Little did he know it was not so much the safety of the flight but his presence setting off all her senses.
She forced herself to hold his gaze. In some part, to contain the energy that seemed to emanate from him. Which was somehow flowing over her again. It overwhelmed her, and she quickly reined herself in.
‘Please don’t call meExcellency,’ she said quietly, not wanting to create any distinction between her and the pilot.
His gaze intensified, and he leaned back into his chair like he owned the place, his long hair settling on his shoulders in silken ropes. ‘Then what should I call you? If I’m to be your pilot, it’s probably best I know your name.’
She studied him momentarily, noting the fine lines running from his eyes and the silvery grey flecks in the thick hair at his temples.
This was not a young, unsophisticated man.
He was a fully-fledged creature in his utterly beautiful, wild prime.
She needed to be on her A-Game.
After a beat, she replied. ‘Selene.’
‘Selene,’ he repeated slowly as if committing it to a cherished memory.
Her heart lurched at the sensuous treatment of her name.
He leaned forward, and suddenly the spacious cabin was all too small.
His scent wafted into her nostrils. Clean, windswept, yet smoky with an unexpected hint of forest pine and musk. Enticing.
His eyes dropped momentarily to the crux of her neck, where her pulse hammered against its apex.
He abruptly turned his oversized maleness away from her.
Silence filled the deck.
Moments later, he spoke again, in a low inflection. ‘Call me Kainan.’
His words slid over her like warm, thick, dark honey.Who was this man, and why was he affecting her so much?
She’d served in Dunia’s nascent military force and dealt with senators, leaders and representatives from far-flung words. She’d handled the most iron-hearted manipulators and firmly put them in place. She’d even met a few lawless barons in her time and holo-film celebrities with faces that entranced entire planets. Yet no one had ever affected her as much as the man at the controls did.
She glanced again at him, unable to keep her eyes off him. His big body inhabited the space. It crowded her senses and did strange things to her core. He was dangerous, but just how exactly, she wasn’t sure.
Stop it!she chastised herself, turning her head away to look out of the viewport.
This was no time to indulge her fantasies. Instead, she needed to mentally block the devastatingly large and beautiful specimen of a man at the controls.
Like she’d done for the many meetings, negotiations and parliamentary sittings she’d fronted with her father, she focused on the task ahead of her. She stepped into her role as a politician and diplomat. She had a mission to complete, and mooning over a mere pilot would not help retake Dunia.
The three-hour flight went faster than she’d expected.
Kainan coolly piloted the ship while Mirage, in complete stealth mode, managed to evade all of Dunia’s planetary security drones and satellites and The Technocracy’s three-ship blockade.
At first, Selene had been a mass of nerves, glancing warily at the holo screen’s external view as they ghosted quietly between the drones and ships, the Edenite craft nimbly moving past the dragnet using thrusters. She felt relief when they pulled away from the blockade, and soon they were speeding away towards their destination, far from detection. The burn from then on was hardcore, and Selene felt moulded to her crash couch as the ship headed towards the lunar rock.
Lulled by the quiet engines, Selene allowed herself to lean back into the deep confines of her chair, watching as Dunia receded from view, its green forests lit up by its twin suns to glow like a jade jewel in space. Its north and south poles resembled the soft creamy icing on a velvet jabusi cake, Selene’s favourite.
For the first time in many days, she relaxed slightly, the thought of a mere baked treat reminding her that she’d not let her guard down at all during that time nor allowed herself to indulge in any other ideas other than retaking Dunia.
She’d tried to control every aspect of her experience of recent events, feeling that if she didn’t, she would shatter. She’d also been so on edge that she deeply, almost painfully realised how much she missed her father’s calm, take-charge demeanour.
