Chan’s gaze flew to mine, surely findingwhat the actual fuck? written in my expression.
“I mean, yourfeet,” he amended, wincing at Freddie. “Yourfeetare big, not you. Not to imply that you’re small…”
Bright-red patches exploded across Tig’s cheeks. Rax and Morgath turned even redder as they tried not to laugh. Freddie stared industriously at his uneaten cake, as if it held all the secrets of the Known Universe. And I prayed to all the stars in all the skies that I would somehow get through this without blowing up my entire life, a life I was barely holding together as it was.
5
Pretendingmy world wasn’t overturned by the sudden appearance of the only man who had ever made me drool was harder than I’d anticipated. And I’d anticipated it to be plenty hard. When I sent the ultra-demanding young Martian celebrity power couple who’d monopolized my every waking moment over the last week on their way back across the wormhole, I should have been ready to pop a bottle of champagne. Instead, I was mildly relieved at best. I was too preoccupied with Freddie’s smiles, his gaze catching mine across the staff room table, the eyes I remembered far too clearly staring up at me from between my legs.Fuck.
As I meandered back to the elevators, a cleaning drone whirred along the carpet, bumping gently against the wall, and I wondered,did I recharge my vibrator this morning?
I commed, stepping onto the elevator and pushing the button for twelve.
she responded warily.
I raised my eyes to the ceiling.
she said, meaning it about as much as I’d meant it when I told those Martian brats I couldn’t wait until they stayed with us again.
I commed, exiting the elevator on deck twelve, wanting nothing more than to hide out in my pod for the rest of the day. I placed my hand over my pod’s security panel, staggering inside when the door slid open.
I plopped down on the edge of my bed.
she commed.
I laughed, but then I caught my reflection in the mirror. I looked a lot like I felt. Sapped. While I pressed my fingers into my pale cheeks, Elanie commed,
Because he’s invading my dreams. I lied.
she said slowly, not buying it.
she repeated.
I reiterated.
Shocking me to my core, Elanie let her laughter ring through the comm.
I commed, ignoring the icy dread trickling down my spine and resisting the urge to ask Chan to assign someone else to the Ramesh detail. Someone whose hands didn’t shake at the thought of being around a child.
After clicking off the comm, I stared at my dresser, where my favorite shirt to sleep in—an oversized dark-blue tee with faded glow-in-the-dark constellations as seen from Lathinaes, the mountain town on Tranquis’s southern hemisphere where I’d grown up—called to me. I’d run myself ragged over the last week, working eighteen-hour days babysitting the Martians, catering to our other guests, reuniting with the only lover who’d ever given me seven orgasms in one night… A nap seemed necessary.
I jumped up off my bed.Speak of the seven-orgasm devil.
Freddie commed while my heart battered my ribcage.
It was the first time he’d accessed my VC, and the intimacy of his voice in my mind sent goose bumps flickering across my neck and racing down my arms.
I replied, trying to sound normal while I brushed the raised hairs on my arms flat.
