“No, Ka’Cit. You didn’t hurt me. I told you that you won’t hurt me.”
He stiffened a little, enough for her to notice, but he didn’t reply.
She was suddenly tired enough to fall asleep again and as they lay there in silence, simply enjoying the aftermath of their lovemaking, Nia’s eyes slowly began to close.
She was almost off to sleep when his words floated to her ear.
“That’s what I’m afraid of most, ta’ii. I don’t want to hurt you. It terrifies me that I will.”
She would have reassured him again, but sleep was already claiming her consciousness.
So, instead, she took his hand in hers and pulled his arm around her.
Sleep.
When they woke, he’d realize he’d been worried about nothing.
32
Nia’s eyes opened to movement within the room.
She’d slept much more soundly than she’d expected, being that she was in a strange place and all, but Ka’Cit’s hard, warm body tucked against hers had been comforting.
He was getting dressed now, his mask was already on and his trousers too. He caught her gaze as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Dropping what he was doing, he moved toward her, his tail waving lazily behind him.
Everything about the day before came rushing back and Nia felt a deep warmth spread through her at the sight of him.
With one hand, he brushed a finger against the side of her cheek and memory of everything they’d shared came flooding back.
“You’re awake,” he whispered.
Nia nodded. “What time is it? You should have woken me up.”
His eyes studied her through the slit in his mask and she got the impression he was smiling underneath it.
“I think you needed the rest.”
Nia smiled, her cheeks warming a little. “You’re getting dressed.”
“Our ship is fixed.”
That woke her up.
“What? So soon?” A pang of disappointment she hadn’t expected to feel followed those words.
“The Torian did not sleep till he was done. It almost feels like he wanted to get rid of me.”
Nia chuckled and pulled the bedding up around her. Then a thought hit her. “What about the job? The package? Those humans that need our help? Could we still make it now that the ship is fixed much sooner than we thought it would be?”
“You are very concerned about the rest of your kind, aren’t you?”
“I am.” She was hopping off the bed now and heading toward the shower stall. “Even though I don’t know them, they’re all I have in this new universe. We’re together in this.”
Ka’Cit’s gaze tracked her as she reached the shower stall and when she turned to glance back at him she couldn’t read the look in his eyes.
“It’s nice,” he said.
“Nice? What is?”
“To belong.”
His words felt deeper than their surface value and she paused, not sure of what to think of those words.
“We’re too late.” He broke her train of thought. “I got word the deal is already done. The package has already been smuggled. It would be impossible to find it now.”
Something fell and died within her and she leaned against the door to the shower.
For a few moments, she just stared at the sleeping slab as a sick feeling developed in her stomach. She’d still been hoping there was something they could do to help the humans.
“Do you really believe that group, the Restitution, will find a way to help them?”
Ka’Cit took a deep breath as he slipped his tunic over his shoulders.
“They always do.”
Nia nodded.
If one thing was clear, she trusted him.
She’d have to take his word for it.
“I should shower,” she murmured.
As she stepped behind the transparent barrier and got the water going, Ka’Cit sat on the edge of the sleeping slab, watching her.
It felt intimate, the way his gaze followed the movements of her hands across her skin and she was surprised there was no self-consciousness in her movements.
His attention made the nerve endings across her skin become alert and it was almost as if his hands were the ones moving across her skin.
He looked at her like he was memorizing every detail of her body.
The only sound being the water falling against the floor, even the silence between them felt intimate.
As she brushed the drops of water off herself, shaking as much as she could to get dry, Ka’Cit stood with her cloak in hand, his gaze not leaving hers as she stepped out of the bathing area.
The way he was looking at her, as if he was ravenous, only brought back memory of what they’d done together and the thought made her body react.
No one had ever looked at her like that before. Ever.
When Ka’Cit looked at her, it made her feel like the sexiest, most beautiful woman alive.
He made a sound in his throat as he outstretched her cloak toward her, but he didn’t let it go.
Instead, he moved even closer and began to help her get dressed.
“Come. We eat in the lounge then leave.” He paused and let out a breath. “Time for me to take you home.”
Home.
It felt like an eon had passed since she’d left the Sanctuary.
As the cloak settled over her shoulders and she put her underwear back on, Nia slipped into her shoes and took hold of what was now her blaster.
She hid the weapon underneath her cloak once more and with the hood over her head, she stepped with Ka’Cit into the lift.
“So this is it, huh?” she said. “Life goes back to normal after this.”
They’d spent time together, shared a lot, and it even felt like…like she didn’t want it to end. But she knew that regardless of what they’d shared, it didn’t mean that life changed for either of them now.
She wasn’t about to demand anything from him—just as he wasn’t demanding anything from her.
She could admit though…there was a sense of loss when she thought of hardly ever seeing him again and that was something she had to think about.
He never visited the Sanctuary.
As the lift opened to the lounge, Nia expected the room to go silent this time and she wasn’t disappointed.
She
