Vidar reached out for my hair and ran his hands through it. There was the touch I’d been expecting. Except I didn’t shudder and pull away from him. I kept my back pressed against the wall, listening to the next words coming out of his mouth.
“What do your people consider erotic?”
“I-I don’t think I want to help you with that.”
Vidar grinned.
“You don’tthink.But don’t forget I also know what you feel.”
He tapped the sides of his temple and despite my scowling, Vidar continued.
“My implant can read your hormone levels. Dopamine and adrenaline are rushing through you right now. Not only are you not afraid but you’re also curious… I suspect you’ve imagined a moment like this for a very long time…”
Instinctively my hands shot out and I pushed Vidar away from me.
“Get away from me!”
He chuckled.
“Is this how it works on your world? We play a game of cat and mouse?”
“I don’t know what you think you know about me, but you’re wrong!”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I protested with all my might but a part of me worried that he was onto something and that he knew something about me that I wasn’t yet willing to admit to myself.
“Please, Vidar just…”
“Don’t be afraid, Minerva. I want my questions answered and you want yours…”
“I don’t want you to come near me!”
I shifted away from him again and in a blink, Vidar was before me.
“Why won’t you admit to me what your hormones are telling me? Is there something you are ashamed of?”
“What? So you can note it in your study like I’m some kind of experiment?”
As soon as I said the words, I realized just how rich it sounded. How could I accuse him of treating me like an experiment after what I’d done with Dr. Trout and the others?
“I amyourexperiment, Minerva.”
His deep, alien voice shouldn’t have soothed me the way it did. I inhaled sharply and pressed my hands to his muscles, intending to push him away. I didn’t. My hands lingered and then Vidar smiled. My heart fluttered in my chest.
“Your implant,” I whispered, “What does it say now?”
“It doesn’t matter what it says. What do you say?”
I pursed my lips, not wanting the words to escape. My common sense wasn’t as strong as my desire for him.
“Yes…I say yes…”
I closed my eyes, waiting for my skin to burn up as he touched me, waiting for something horrible to happen, although I didn’t know what that horrible thing could possibly be. He was gentle when he first touched me. His palms rested on the shoulders of my lab coat and then he eased my coat off.
I’d worn a form-fitting gray wool dress that clung to my pale skin. Vidar ogled me in the dress and seemed to be taking it all in.
“Females dress very differently in your culture from the men.”
“Is it not the same where you’re from?”
