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She looked at him, aghast.“How?”
Rhys quickly activated the controls that would bring the power grid online.Gears shifted and whined.Engines whirred.A faint vibration reverberated through his boots.The last one was a lever that would bring electricity back to New Eden.“Pull down.”
Hannah wrapped her hand around it and did so.A groan sounded from the wall before ceiling-mounted lights flickered to life, flooding the room with illumination.It dwarfed the light offered by battery cube-powered lanterns.
“Oh, my God!”Hannah bolted from the room to the corridor, where the lights blazed.“You really did it!”
“It was a group effort,” Rhys replied.He would have said more, except she threw her arms around him like she had the other night in her backyard.His heart and breath stuttered at the contact, but at least this time, he had the wherewithal to return her embrace.
The top of her head barely reached his chin.Wisps of curly brown hair that had escaped its braid tickled his skin, a curious sensation.But that was nothing compared to the feel of her against him, her arms twined around his neck.He hadn’t had that kind of contact with someone before.He hadn’t known until now that he wanted it.She felt good in his arms, like she belonged there.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek.“Thank you,” she whispered.
His whole body went on high alert, and he thought his programming might have gone offline for a moment.A strange heat raced through him, but his sensors said his core temperature was still normal.His heart rate increased again as it tended to do when he was around her, but he was starting to recognize that as a symptom induced by her presence.Nothing to worry about.
He returned the gesture, pressing his lips to her cheek in an imitation of hers.“You’re welcome.”
She looked at him in surprise, an unreadable expression on her face.Not that he was very good at reading human emotions.But she didn’t run away or rebuke him, or even pull away.Her pupils flared against her hazel irises, and her breath came a little faster, signs Rhys recognized as arousal.Why he knew that, he couldn’t say.
Perhaps that explained the thrum of unfamiliar energy and urges flooding him.
Neither of them spoke.Rhys was afraid to, not wanting to ruin the moment.His gloved hands remained firmly planted against her waist, holding her to him.
Hannah moved first.She closed her eyes and tilted her face toward him.An instinct Rhys didn’t know he had until now had him lowering his head until his lips brushed hers with the barest of movements.
His body’s processes and sensors lit up like the power grid just did.But before he could lean into her, taste her again, Brandon called out from the corridor.“Rhys?”
Hannah pulled away, putting a meter between them before Brandon stuck his head in the doorway.“The coupler that joins the westernmost part of the grid overheated,” the other cyborg announced, a little too cheerfully for Rhys’s liking.“The power failed in that part.”
It took a few seconds for Rhys to find his voice and resist the impulse to throttle Brandon for the interruption.“We knew that was a possibility, since it’s the oldest part of the grid.”
“The western part was connected to the old spaceport,” Hannah replied.Her voice sounded rougher than usual.“It won’t impact residential homes or the agri center.”
“We need the spaceport back online.”
“The spaceport has to be completely rebuilt, so it isn’t a huge loss if its power supply failed,” Hannah returned, a little more aggressively than Rhys expected from her.
Brandon’s gaze switched between her and Rhys.Rhys could almost see his enhanced brain trying to figure out the dynamic before him, what he was missing.What’s going on?he asked via their shared link.
Nothing, Rhys replied.
Your heart rates are elevated.
It’s been an exciting day.
Brandon pinned Rhys with a hard stare but didn’t comment further.“When should the spaceport repairs begin?”he asked Hannah.
“I’ll have to talk about that with everyone else,” she replied.“I know you’re all superheroes, but we still have a limited number of resources and labor.”
Brandon nodded, gave Rhys another questioning look, and left.
As his footfalls faded down the corridor, Rhys and Hannah stared at each other, both unsure what to do next.Rhys ached to take her back into his arms, but didn’t know how that would be received.
“Thank you for turning the power back on,” Hannah finally said.
“Technically, you did it.”
“You know what I mean.Thank you for repairing the grid and letting me turn on that lever.I appreciate the symbolism.”
