“What choice?” I breathe.
He leans in, pressing a soft kiss to my lips like a confession. “Tonothate you.”
There are more words there, words I desperately crave, but as he opens his mouth, I pull him tighter and kiss him deeper. His groan is sweet, and he melts into my arms. My hands slide lower to grip his ass, and he smiles against my lips.
Footsteps echo in the hallway and snap us back to reality.
“This conversation isn’t done,” he whispers, stealing one last kiss.
“So we’ll talk more about the whole first-date fuck when I get back?” I tease as I nip his bottom lip.
“Xeni!” he gasps, barking a startled laugh as he shoves at my chest.
The shy innocence in his wide eyes takes me back in time, dragging me straight to the old Bash.
I can’t help it as I scoop him into another hug, burying my face in his neck just to feel him shiver. “Gods, I missed making you blush like that,” I tease.
“Ready?” Ego shouts as she barges in, then freezes mid-step. “Oh, okay, wow, we’ve moved straight to PDA. I’ll just… give you two a moment… or ten.”
Bash clears his throat, stepping back with that flush still burning hot, and rubbing the back of his neck like he’s trying to hide the evidence.
I grin, and it feels natural for the first time in years.
“It’s alright,” I say to Ego, though my eye is locked on Bash. “We have a schedule to keep, and I’m looking forward to getting back tonight.”
“Oh, my gods, Xeni,” Bash mutters as he shoots me a glare that’s half mortified, half amused.
I smile wider.
My fingers graze Bash’s forearm as I pass, and he grabs my hand to stop me. My smile fades as I turn, and he yanks me down for another kiss, audience be damned.
“Be careful?” he whispers.
“Always,” I promise, squeezing his hand once more before joining the group in the hall.
Xeni
Theenginepurrsbeneathme as I glance at Leuce, the Anunian female driving the delivery truck. She’s indifferent to the point of boredom, which only makes me more suspicious.
The fates are either blessing me or setting me up for the ultimate letdown, because everything has gone far too smoothly.
The guards at the distribution center didn’t bat an eye at my ID. Since my old fake name was compromised, Ego created a new persona for me as Alexise and even swapped the four rows on my uniform to two so people wouldn’t expect much from me. The eyepatch is the only standout identifier left, but there’s little to be done about that.
My new ID was suspiciously identical to my old one, and when I questioned Ego about it, she cackled. Apparently, she made my original.
Andseverelyripped me off.
She found it endlessly hilarious that she’d overcharged the guy who sourced it for me, and insisted on digging through her records to show me the receipt.
Ass.
The rest of the plan went without a hitch. The second soldier assigned to delivery duty was easily convinced the scheduling office had made a mistake. I didn’t even have to use my powers to send him off to take advantage of a free afternoon.
Leuce arrived to drive the truck and shrugged me off when I tried to explain the change in her partner for the day. She didn’t care, so I didn’t out myself by over-explaining.
The trip to the prison is only twelve blocks, so within a few minutes we arrive at the gates. After they take a quick glance at our IDs, Leuce drives around the building and backs into the loading dock. We tour the kitchen then head to the prisoner quarters, and once we’re inside the cell block, my attention goes on high alert.
Sweat builds under my uniform as soon as we step through. There isn't as much airflow here, and everything is muggy. They don’t want to waste power on prisoner comfort, it would seem.
