A noise outside her window drew her gaze to the night sky.
A light went on somewhere down below, and Lucy narrowed her eyes. The cleaning bots didn’t need light to work properly. Why would one be on now?
She grumbled expletives at her house as she moved to see what it was up to now. “I am going to wipe you back to factory settings in the morning.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
The window opened as she neared, making her pause before peering out. Lucy leaned over the edge and gasped.
“Moss? What are you doing here?”
Standing two stories below her, he held a hose in one hand and a net in the other. “Finishing my job.”
Her breath left her lungs as her mind uselessly tried to catch up to what was happening. “But I drove you to your ship. I thought we were done?”
“We’ll never be done, Lucy.”
Her mind went blank. “Wait a moment! I’ll be right down,” Lucy called out as she rushed from her room, taking two steps at a time.
Why is he back?
“Moss,” she gasped again, scurrying up to him out of breath. “Did something happen? Is the monster flower back?” Her eyes widened as she reached out and touched his chest, but pulled her hand away just as quickly.
“Are those…” He coughed and raked his hand through his light hair. “Are those porpoise unicorns on your sleep attire?”
Lucy stopped and looked down at herself. “They’re narwhals. Is that a problem? I like what I like.”
“I never expected someone like you to—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” she warned. “Why are you back?”
“Wow, the heiress of Larkswest Industries is defensive of her sleepwear. Does your brother know?”
“How dare you!” she sputtered but never managed to finish. Two powerfully built arms closed around her and tugged her into an even more heavily built body. A prison of heat and steel took her captive and lifted her bare feet off the ground. Her body tensed abruptly in surprise before going languid. Her hair was pulled away from her face and her head was tugged back.
Their eyes met.
“I’m back for you.” His words filled her ears.
“Really?” she asked, breathless.
“I have to kiss you.”
Oh.
“Then why haven’t you?”
“I think it might be the one thing in this world that could destroy me.” His eyes dropped to her mouth.
“I’m brave enough to try if you are,” she encouraged.Please, please kiss me.
“Lucy Larkswest. I’m a being that can withstand gamma radiation. I can survive in the vacuous quiet of space. My species has lived for hundreds of millions of years and will live for hundreds more. And I don’t mean that part of me that is a machine.”
Her throat tightened. “What you are…”
“What I am.”
She shook her head. His hold on her tightened and pulled her hair. “I don’t care. I’m sure if I could shift too, I’d look exactly the same on the inside. I’d probably have twice as many legs though and still have an aversion for space travel.”
