The shuttle sat several meters away, Z leaning against it. Niklas was also looking around, stopping every now and then to brush at the ground. Dathan broke off a piece of grass and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed and watched Eos kick up more sand. She stopped and scooped up a handful, watching the tiny grains trickle through her fingers.
It hurt to get so close to what you wanted and then realize it was out of your grasp. His teeth clicked together. Damn, Eoswas turning his brain to mush. Sexual frustration was riding him hard. He should have tumbled her when he had the chance.
But he’d wanted to look after her, not take advantage of her.
When he made love to Eos, he wanted her to be there because she wanted him. One hundred percent. Not because she was trying to chase away fear and bad memories.
She turned and climbed the dune. When she reached him, she shoved her hands on her hips. “It’s got to be here.”
He tugged the grass from his mouth. “Maybe the mining company sold you dud scans.”
She shook her head fiercely. “No. I know it’s here.”
“Where are your beloved facts, Dr. Rai?”
She huffed out a breath, her arms falling to her sides. “I don’t have any. Maybe I just want it too much.”
“Sit down.” He gripped her hand and pulled her down beside him. “Treasure hunts are never as easy or simple as you think. When you first start out, it’s with a bright burst of hope and excitement. But the journey takes its toll.”
“You don’t think it’s here.” She bent her legs and rested her wrists on her knees.
He studied the lovely profile of her face. “Oh, its here.”
Her head snapped around. “What?”
He chewed on the end of the grass a bit more. “Everyone has a talent. Some people are born to be pilots, some play Crossfire, others have a good hand at VelocityBall. You, Doc, have a lot of brains. Me, I can sense treasure at a stellar mile.”
She looked out at the dunes around them. “You think Star’s End is here?”
“Don’t know if it’s Star’s End, but there’s treasure. I can feel it, like a distant heartbeat. I can hear the wind whisper of rich secrets.” He shrugged, heat filling his cheeks. He sounded like some bad poet. “My father could sniff out treasure. Seems I have more of his genes than I’d like to admit.”
Dathan felt her looking at him now, but he kept his gaze firmly on the sand.
“You didn’t get along?” she asked.
“Once, he was my hero.” God, that was a long time ago. Before Dathan had learned that life rarely gave you what you wanted. “After my mother got sick of life on a crappy desert world and left…he turned bitter.”
“You lost your mother too.” Her tone softened.
He shrugged. “I don’t really remember her. We were young. Brocken Phoenix turned to drinking instead of being a father.” Dathan sucked in a breath. “Nothing I did ever seemed to make him happy. We worked together, so I was a convenient target for his frustration.”
Eos gasped. “He hit you?”
“No. A few drunken slaps, but by the time I was fifteen I was as big as him. He learned quickly that I could defend myself.”
“Your brothers?”
“Nik was away at school. He’d gotten a scholarship. Zayn joined the Galactic Strike Wing Academy at fifteen.” Damn, they’d made him proud.
“So it was just you and your father.” Her hand pressed to Dathan’s arm.
“Some days, usually after a successful hunt, he’d be the dad I’d once known. But most of the time, the hunts went bad. He’d be drunk, wouldn’t plan, he’d take stupid risks. He’d look at me with such bitterness.”
“You reminded him of what he could have been.”
Her words startled Dathan. He’d never thought of that. He looked into her golden eyes shimmering with sympathy. For him. “Maybe. I look like him.”
“You think you’re like him?”
