We hadn’t known each other very long, but the girl could read me like a book.
I grinned across the table at her, but it was a sad smile. She’d become a surrogate sister, a kindred spirit in this strange new world, and as much as I tried not to, I felt a pang of guilt for the comfort I drew from our growing friendship. It seemed unfair to find such a bond when I had no idea what had happened to my twin.
“Maybe it’s time to move into your room inside the palace,” Gia gently suggested. “All the other girls are there, and with all the goings-on, you won’t have time to be lonely.”
I considered her idea for all of half a second. “No. I like it here.”
“Here being this hut, or the proximity to the hut next door?” She popped a ruhis in her mouth and chewed around a sly grin.
“We're just friends,” I said, though even to my own ears the words rang hollow.
Gia raised a perfectly arched brow at me and sipped her tea.
“What? He's been nothing but kind to me.” I shrugged. “Besides, he’s the only Valosian I feel comfortable around, and I’m not alone with him so close by. I mean, just last night he me took to the cliffs behind the palace for a picnic.”
“A picnic at night?” Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“I missed the sea since we left the island, is all.” I toyed with the food on my plate, attempting to feign indifference.
“You could have walked there with me.” Gia sipped her tea, undeterred.
“I could have, but Z offered to take me.”
“Z, huh?” Gia mused. “So, you’ve given your Valosianfrienda pet name?”
“It was just a picnic.” I dismiss her teasing with a shake of my head.
“Under the three moons’ light with a scenic view of the sea, and behind the palace where no one else would venture,” Gia persisted. “Sounds romantic.”
“It was just a picnic.”
“You said that already.” Gia leaned forward, her interest piqued. “Tell me everything and you had better not leave out a single detail.”
The cliffs had been breathtaking overlooking the tumultuous waves below while the sky painted a canvas of silvers and blues as the twin suns dipped below the horizon. Zikkar and I had sat together with no awkwardness between us, only a deep sense of camaraderie and something else I wasn’t ready to put a name to.
“Let’s see,” I hemmed and hawed, not wanting Gia to know how fond I was of the tech or the attachment I had always felt toward him. Or maybe it was that I didn’t want to admit it to myself and if I voiced my feelings aloud, they would become too real. “Z laid out a blanket and we shared a chiksin casserole with those little vegetables that taste like potatoes. We talked about his work strengthening the dome with the other techs, and then he offered to take me on a jungle excursion to collect seeds and plants for a garden.”
After I was through talking, Gia just blinked at me for a few moments before asking, “Did he kiss you?”
“No…no. Oh my god, no. We just talked and ate,” I sputtered, blushing flames that licked up my cheeks.
The truth was, the intimacy of that moment on the cliffs had been undeniable. The connection between us growing stronger as he cradled me in his powerful embrace and purred up a storm while I wept.
“Z is like no other man I’ve ever met,” I added softly, more to myself than to her.
There was a gravity to him, a sense of purpose that resonated with my own longing for meaning amid the absence of memory about my abduction and arrival on this alien planet. Despite my growing desire for his touch, he refrained from kissing or pushing me for something more intimate. But with each caress, the pulsing heat between my legs was becoming harder to resist.
Gia nodded, and the understanding reflected in her whiskey eyes conveyed acknowledgment of the complex emotions swirling within me. The gratitude for her companionship mingled with the sorrow of my loss, the budding joy of new connections tempered by the shadows of the past.
We sat there sipping our tea in silence. I suspected Gia sensed I needed time to digest the emotions coursing through me. The morning light spilled across the room, and I found myself subconsciously rubbing a circle over my sternum through the fabric of my tunic-style night dress, a gesture that seemed to have become a reflex whenever Zikkar consumed my thoughts.
I let my hand fall to my lap, contemplating the impulse. Was it an attempt to quell the excitement surging through me at the thought of him? Or something more?
“He could be your spirit mate,” Gia said in a tone laced with wonder.
“Spirit mate?” The concept seemed too profound for the fragile beginnings of whatever was blossoming between Zikkar and me.
“Sure. Why not?” She shrugged. “Rose is mated to Wynnter, so she’s a nonissue. Some of the other girls have found their mates, so we know this soulmate thing is true. Maybe Zikkar is your other half and that’s why you’re so comfortable with him and not any of the other Valosians.”
