another, had she?
Keryn could imagine Yen holding Iana in his arms. She would cradle her head in his chest as she pressed her small, curvy body against his. Iana’s fingers would trace the outline of his stomach muscles as her hands sank lower. He would purr in pleasure as her hands caressed him…
“I thought I might find you here,” a familiar male voice called from just behind her. In her daydreaming, Keryn hadn’t even heard the door to the Frozen Nebula open. Turning, she frowned at the sight of Merric. His cocky smile was pasted across his face. Without an invitation, he sat in the stool next to her.
“Go away, Merric,” she muttered. “I just want to be alone right now.”
“I hear you say it, but I don’t believe you mean it,” he replied. Sliding closer, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek as he spoke. “I think you are just afraid.”
Keryn leaned away and gave him a confused look. “Afraid of what?”
“You’re afraid of what will happen if you give into temptation again like you did last night. You hurt Yen’s feelings and now he’s suffering through a strange sense of inadequacy. I feel his pain, I truly do. But he’ll just have to understand that you found a better man now.”
Rolling her eyes, Keryn responded. “You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
Merric shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I be? I was the one you slept with last night, not Yen. Anyways, it seems like he’s already found a replacement for you in that little blonde pilot. What’s her name? Ivana?”
“Leave it alone, Merric,” Keryn warned. “Don’t start getting into things that don’t involve you.”
“But it does involve me,” Merric replied. “I have to protect what’s mine.”
Keryn spun her chair so she was facing Merric. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means exactly what it sounds like. Down here, we’re all on shore leave. I’m just Merric. You’re just Keryn. But once we get back to the
“And you think that’s what I want?” Keryn asked indignantly. “You think I got close to you just so that I could use your position for revenge on Yen? How childish do you think I am? And what happened to the man that I met last night?”
“The man you met last night is still sitting in front of you,” Merric cooed. “And the one you had sex with all night is here, too, just waiting for an invitation.”
Keryn felt nauseas. All of his kind words and seeming understanding was melting away, being revealed, in its core, as just a ploy to get her to sleep with him. Merric truly was a despicable man.
“Last night was a mistake,” Keryn answered. “And it will never, ever happen again.”
Merric flashed his warm smile, the one she had assumed to be compassionate when she saw it last night. “Don’t be like that, Keryn. Why don’t we go back to my place and talk about it.”
“I don’t think so,” she replied flatly.
Reaching out, Merric grabbed a hold of her arm roughly. “There’s no reason to be rude. Come on, baby.”
“Let go of me,” Keryn said, trying to pull away, but his grip remained strong. She could feel his fingertips biting into the inside of her arm, bruising the skin beneath her shirt. “You’re hurting me.”
“The lady asked you to let her go, Merric,” Yen said from the doorway of the Nebula. The door was still open, allowing the warm air and chaotic sounds of the city to filter into the otherwise quiet bar. “I advise you to heed her advice.”
Merric didn’t bother to look at Yen, instead focusing all his attention on the cringing Keryn. “Mind your own business, Xiao. We were just talking, weren’t we, Keryn?”
“No, we were done talking,” Keryn said angrily. “Now let go of me!”
“Let go of her, now,” Yen said, his voice stern as he stepped out of the doorway and toward the pair sitting at the bar.
Merric flung Keryn’s arm aside, nearly knocking her from the stool. “I told you before, you little prick. Mind your own…”
Merric never got to finish his sentence. His eyes caught sight of the air shimmering and dancing angrily around Yen’s body moments before Yen’s power reached out and lifted Merric from his seat. Dangling like a rag doll a few feet above the bar, Merric struggled against the unsubstantial and invisible hands that gripped him firmly in place.
“You should have listened to me, Merric,” Yen said, his eyes pulsing with blue power. “Someday you’ll learn to listen to me when I speak.”
With a wave of his hand, Yen sent Merric flying through the air. Crashing into a table, Merric’s body shattered the dark wood table top before he came to rest against the next table in line. Chairs scattered and were left overturned by the commotion and the few patrons of the bar were paralyzed, frozen in mid-drink or mid-sentence by the psychic attack.
“Yen,” Keryn said with some relief.
Instantly, the shimmering faded away and Yen’s dark eyes reasserted themselves against the flickering blue power. He walked closer, but stopped just shy of arm’s reach away from her.
“I’m sorry,” he stammered quickly, a much changed man from the assertive attacker she had seen walk through the doorway. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you at the hotel.”
Keryn was keenly aware of the eyes that watched Yen cautiously and the groggy moaning of Merric who was just beginning to regain consciousness. “Would you like to walk with me? I think I’d rather talk about this some place else.”
Yen looked around at the destruction he had caused, surprised as though seeing his handiwork for the first time. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Downing her drink, Keryn turned and led Yen from the bar. When they were clear of the Frozen Nebula and lost among the sea of afternoon crowds, they slowed their pace and walked for some time in silence. Both took deep breaths as though trying to start a sentence, but neither spoke. Finally, Yen broke the silence.
“You didn’t deserve what I said,” he muttered, as though haphazardly asking for forgiveness. “I was just surprised and hurt to see you with Merric.”
“Merric was…” Keryn wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. Finally she settled on telling him what had been going through her head at the bar. “Merric was a stupid, stupid mistake. I was looking for comfort and he was there.”
Yen cringed at hearing Keryn so passively talk about her time with Merric. She immediately regretted the turn of the conversation, but couldn’t find a more polite way to explain herself.
Yen looked down at his feet as they walked and shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket. “Why did you have to turn to Merric at all? You’ve avoided me for so long; why couldn’t you just come to me?”
Keryn stopped, forcing Yen to stop and turn toward her. “I wanted to come to you, I truly did, but when I left the bar last night, I saw you. I saw you and Iana walking together. And now today you leave her hotel room. What was I to think?”
“Nothing happened between me and Iana,” Yen stated firmly.
“How can I believe that?”
Yen sighed. “Do you know what Iana and I did last night?”
Keryn shook her head and stepped away. “I don’t want to hear what you two did. I’d rather not know.”
“We talked about you,” Yen interjected.
Keryn froze in place, staring at him with great skepticism. Yen smiled softly at her, trying to put her at ease.
“I didn’t know that you and Iana were friends when I first met her. I’m not going to say that I went back to her place for an entirely platonic time, but once we were there, I couldn’t go through with it. All I kept thinking about was you. I looked at her, but I saw you. We spent all night long analyzing every single feeling I’ve ever had for you; every single time we’ve spent together. Iana told me I had to find you to tell you how I feel. That’s why I was coming to see you when we ran into each other in the hotel. I finally wanted to tell you that I love you.”
“You two really didn’t do anything together?” Keryn asked meekly.
“I promise. My entire evening last night, just like every night before for the past few months, was spent with thoughts of you filling my mind.”
“I’m such an idiot,” Keryn muttered. Stepping forward, she leaned heavily into Yen’s chest and let him wrap his arms around her comfortingly. He kissed her on top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair.
