“Oh look, the sun is setting.”
“It’s not the actual sun, it’s a projection.”
She glared at him. “I know that but let me have the illusion.”
He said nothing else. She hoped she didn’t offend him. Moving to sit right beside him, she leaned against him as she stared up at the images of the sun setting. A display of colored lights projected the most beautiful sunset.
Logan kissed the top of her head. “It is lovely, but not as lovely as you.”
Faith looked up at him. He was so terribly beautiful to her. When he lowered his head toward hers, it was slow enough that she could have pulled away, but she didn’t. She wanted him to kiss her. She thought about it, dreamed about it.
“With your permission,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she whispered back.
His lips claimed hers, soft and tentative at first. Then she opened to him and the kiss intensified. She was startled to feel his tongue against hers, but she quickly took his lead. Boy, did he know how to kiss. Just as she was getting comfortable, popping sounds startled them apart.
“Are we under attack? Get behind me. I will protect you,” Logan moved to stand over her, reaching for his weapon.
She got to her feet too and touched his arm. “It’s fireworks. Not real ones, but a projection of it. Look.” She pointed up at the fake sky. They projected beautiful sparklers displays against the darkened sky, with twinkling lights resembling the stars.
“What purpose is it for?” he asked, putting away his weapon.
“It’s pretty and romantic.”
“Romantic?” he asked, looking down at her with confusion.
She hugged him. “Romantic. It gives an environment that promotes loving or sexual feelings.”
He tightened his hold on her. “I don’t need things exploding around me to cause that feeling. Just looking at you does that.”
Faith cupped his face and smiled. “I feel the same about you.”
She never wanted that moment to end, but all good things had to end at some point. The fireworks show ended. They walked back to their quarters with no sign of the other warriors. Standing at the doorway to her bedroom, they shared several more kisses, caresses, and whispered words of need. He gently pushed her into her room.
“You are still recovering. Sleep well, my love.”
“Logan,” she pouted.
He chuckled. “You are such a temptation.” Kissing her one more time, he closed the door as he left.
Her whole body needed something that only he could give. It wasn’t fair. How was she supposed to go asleep now? After a steamy shower, she lay down and soon dreamed of a certain sexy alien and his amazing kisses.
*****
Three Days Later
Faith had developed a routine. Every morning, she had breakfast with the guys. Logan would kiss her and go out to perform his investigation. Two of the warriors escorted her to the medical facility to get her treatments. Then she would take a nap, have lunch and take a walk in the park. Logan would return to have dinner with her. The other warriors would give them privacy and she would kiss him goodnight, only to have a heavy make out session on her bed. He always left before things got too serious. He worried the treatments would tire her too much.
Truth was this fifth round of treatments was tiring, but not as bad as the first two. She was currently leaning against a shelf in the second store they stopped at. She was in search of shoes. The guys didn’t question her picking multiple shirts and jeans of different sizes. She was hoping to get one full outfit for each of her tribe members—including shoes.
She also complained about cutting herself shaving and needing bandages. The nurses were happy to give her a small first aid kit. The kit had over-the-counter pain medicine. This was worth gold in the tunnels.
One of her first purchases was a large backpack. Everything she purchased, she simply put inside and did not bother with store paper bags. The warrior, Powers, offered to carry it for her, but she refused. No way would she let all this stuff out of her sight.
She fingered a dress, something she never thought to see again. Growing up, she loved wearing pretty dresses, painting her nails, and doing her hair. It made her feel feminine and pretty. As a curly-haired, slightly overweight pubescent and tween, she longed to be the exact opposite. She looked at the magazines with the skinny and beautiful models. No matter what diet she tried, she could never keep the weight off. Who knew all it took was to set off nuclear weapons and nearly starve for years to get most of the hated extra pounds to melt away? Funny, she wouldn’t mind being that self-conscious, heavy, pretty girl again because it would mean she was healthy and safe. Two things she hadn’t truly felt in years.
“Would you like to try that on before you purchase it?”
