Zeb.
The real Zeb.
The one I met only briefly but wished for so much more of.
I think about him—dream about him—far more than is healthy.
The camera zooms in close, and his handsome face fills the screen.
“Damn, he’s hot,” somebody mutters.
“Shut up, idiot!” another omega hisses.
I feel Diana’s arm sliding around me, and I lean into her support.
Damn it all. Zeb,my Zeb. Only he’s not mine anymore, is he? I thought I’d never see his face again. Having it up there on the screen, right in front of me, is like a fresh form of grief.
The camera pans to Governor Brach, who is smiling, and he’s a man who rarely does. He seems pretty damn happy with the decision. Then the camera shifts back to Zeb, catching him mid-smile.
My breath catches.
Dammit, seeing him hurts.
The suit he wears does not disguise the dangerous man beneath. Something almost predatory lurks underneath his polished facade.
Yeah, I’ve seen that side too.
So self-assured.
He belongs up there, I realize bitterly. Standing amidst old money and societal elites. A war hero. The operation we shared was just the latest in a long list of undercover missions, only now coming to light because he has retired from active duty. Further, it probably supports the government rhetoric to emphasize his illustrious career fighting the Uncorrupted.
I can see why it’s made headlines now. Probably all part of the propaganda machine for the launch of his political career.
“Do you want to leave? Want us to switch it off?” Diana asks.
“No, leave it.” Looking at him hurts, but I know the moment his face disappears, it will hurt even more.
We’re on the same planet, but he might as well be star systems away.
I’m never going to see him again except on the news, never feel his touch… his kiss, him inside me…There’s a pull right in the center of my chest, drawing me in, luring me, closer to the screen and the only version of him I will ever get.
“Bastard cleans up nice,” Diana mutters beside me.
He really does.
I’m sure he was popular before he became a governor. Now women of all kinds will be vying for scraps of his attention. And all I can do is admire him from a distance… along with billions of other viewers.
Only the people watching on the screen don’t know him the way I do.
Don’t fool yourself that you had something special,I caution myself bitterly.
He looks commanding, powerful, a force to be reckoned with. What he doesn’t look like is someone who once held me, who whispered soft promises of punishment… and apologies between rough kisses.
He doesn’t look like a man who told me I was his… that he would never let me go.
Mine.
Well, that was a lie.
