“What about your injuries? They are not minor,” she countered. “I can help you treat them.”
“I can take care of them. For now, bathe,” he commanded over his shoulder. “And you can change into this.” He held up the folded material he had grabbed earlier.
Something of his.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she rubbed a finger over her newly healed skin. She didn’t know why she felt so vulnerable, but she did. Something was happening between them that she didn’t understand.
“I’ll be at the controls. Can you find your way there when you’re finished?”
Isobel nodded, still struck by his manner—detached, bordering on cold.
“Take as long as you need.” And then he was gone, the door sliding shut securely behind him.
She stared at the closed door for a long time, but the steaming water called to her. Catching a whiff of herself finally propelled her into action. Perhaps Ved was merely offended by her smell.
Determined to figure out this inventive way of bathing, she quickly took off her dirty gown.
By the time she was clean and out of the bathing chamber, her fingertips were wrinkled. The hem of Ved’s tunic dropped far past her knees, which was comfortable, but she was forced to roll the sleeves up several times just to free her hands. The best part was it smelled like him. She breathed his scent in—metal and midnight, salt and spice. With the translator safely back in her ear, she took several deep breaths before opening the door and heading to find Ved.
As she padded barefoot down the hallway, she braced herself for what was sure to be a difficult conversation.
She was hismate.
Had he known? And if so, for how long?
He was at the controls when she approached, and tilted his head slightly, acknowledging he had sensed her. As she rounded the pilot’s chair and his large frame, he looked at her. She wondered what expression he wore as he scanned her appearance. It only took a brief assessment of her own to realize he had bathed and changed as well—there was not a single trace of the bloodshed that had occurred just a short while ago.
But her attention was caught by the view beyond them. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen.
Purple and blue swirling lights danced in the otherwise black realm as they flew,flew, through the cosmic expanse. The profound depth, the endlessness of it all, made her feel both significant and infinitesimally small.
She’d dreamed of it since first meeting Ved, but nothing could have truly prepared her for it.
“This,” Ved rumbled, “should have been your first experience sailing the stars.”
“It still is,” Isobel said, stepping closer to him. “I didn’t get to see anything when I was taken. So, I’m experiencing it for the first time with you. Just how it should be.”
They sat in a weighty silence before a yawn overtook her. Her body shook with the force of it. Exhaustion sat deep in her bones even as currents of anticipation coursed through her veins.
“To bed,” Ved ordered. “You should rest and—”
“No,” she interrupted.
“Isobel Nott—”
She crossed her arms. “It’s Isobel,” she corrected. “Tell me what’s happened, Ved. You are distant all of a sudden, and I don’t understand why.” She’d meant to ease them into the topic, but perhaps he would respond to Xaal tactics better—swift and exacting.
“It’s nothing. You’re tired and you should go—”
“I will do no such thing until I’m satisfied with your explanation. Have I done something to upset you? Has something else happened?”
“Isobel, I will not—”
“Ved,” she snapped.
Without warning, he lifted his hands and stood, a snarl ripping from his throat. She stepped back only so he had room for the explosive energy. “You almost died!” he bellowed, his tone a wreckage of its former calm. “They took you and hurt you. And it’s my fault.Mine.I should never have allowed us to go as far as we did. I was weak and put you in harm’s way.”
He ripped a plasma dirk from its sheath and fell heavily to one knee. Seeing him like this made her heart twist. Isobel was certainthat Ved Qon Cleave had never been on his knees a day in his life, and now she’d witnessed it twice in one day.
