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Being attracted to Taryn wasn’t part of the plan.
The door slid behind her as she sunk into the plushest, softest seat of her life. Whatever the fabric was, it cradled her worn back.
Her lumpy futon at home could never hope to be this comfortable. Actually, no mattress or blanket she’d ever slept on had been this cozy.
A moan passed her lips just as the other side of the ship opened and Taryn sat down in his own seat.
Leah’s cheeks were on fire.
Had he heard that? Those big, pointed ears of his could be just for show, right?
“Ready?” he asked, swiping his large hand in front of him.
Leah nodded. Any word she could have mustered right now would have come out as a squeak.
Taryn instructed the ship in a fast, mostly-Quillon dialect. Her translator couldn’t make sense of most words–military jargon maybe?–but it understood enough.
Go fast, avoid the storm.
“What storm, exactly?” And what language was that?
“One that’s forcing us to go around it,” he said. “A small detour, but it’s safer.”
A detour sounded kind of great–no storm and seeing more of this alien planet Leah was starting to find absolutely amazing? Yes, please.
But she had to sit very close to Taryn throughout the trip. Big, beautiful, enticing Taryn.
And she had to stay away from him. While stuck in a small, comfy space? Alone?
She couldn't say that, though. So she went for the safest route. “Cool. I get to see more of your planet.”
His jaw ticked, but he didn’t say anything.
The metal screen in front of them turned transparent, revealing the vast Quillon Capital. The buildings were tall. Imposing. The city had a weird, striking tranquility, like a cathedral.
The ship flashed forward.
The glossy, neverending buildings that pierced the red-tinted sky melted away in a blink, faster than how the stars had disappeared from view on the trip to Quillon. The garden turned into a speck as the silver bullet soared higher and higher.
Leah braced her hands on the sides of the seat, as gravity shoved her back. But through all the pressure and speed, she was still very much aware ofhim.
Taryn’s right hand was so very close to hers. He radiated warmth. If she moved her pinkie half an inch to the left–
“Are you alright?” he asked, slitted pupils trained on her face.
“Yes.”I just want to kind of snuggle up to you. “How long until we get there?”
“Less than half a honnen.”
So thirty minutes. She could definitely ignore the hot guy beside her for thirty goddamn minutes. But for a month? While trying to find information about him?
It seemed impossible.
She had to find a way.
She focused on the spectacular scenery flashing before her. The sky dissolved from red to purple to a dark orange hue, as mountains and valleys stretched underneath. Sharp cliffs jutted out before them, sharp and menacing. The ship glided to the right, avoiding them with ease and without Taryn having to direct it.
Leah had never been taken with tech–smart, flashy tools that made her life easier when they worked and almost impossible when they didn’t–unlike Sara, for example, but the Quillon devices definitely piqued her interest.
