Gemma kept her face impassive, knowing he was right, though her gut didn’t believe him yet.
Christian squeezed her hand before rising to his feet. “I’m going to tell the doctor you’re awake. See if they’ll let you get out of here.”
She nodded. A hot shower and a long sleep in her own bedwouldbe amazing.
Christian paused at the door, his back toward her. “At the outpost...I never did tell you I loved you back. I’m sorry.”
Gemma flinched. She hadn’t thought anything of it until now. Colton had dragged her from the outpost so fast that Christian barely even had the chance. “It’s fine. You were emotional.”
His shoulders drooped. “So much so that I’d forgotten how to breathe.”
The moment the doctor cleared Gemma to leave the infirmary, she was out of her bed and racing for the door. Christian followed, his hand on her lower back, as if he feared she might need the extra support.
But she felt great, better than she had since before they’d left Zion. Even the wound the Kaizen had given her was gone. If nanobots weren’t so blasted expensive, Gemma would keep them on hand constantly.
A message from Imara popped up on her eyepiece as she reached for her door’s lockpad.
Glad to hear you’re okay. Hawk and I were worried. The moment either of us see Colton, we’ll cut off his balls.
Smiling, Gemma held her fibroglass ring to be scanned. The square, black lockpad flashed green, and the door to her room swished open. Her bed was still unmade from the last time she’d slept in it, and the soft blankets seduced her.
“You want me to stay?” Christian asked.
Gemma faced him. “Of course I do.”
His shoulders relaxed. Had he really thought she would say no?
Gemma took his hand and led him inside. “You don’t have to ask, you know. Mycacais yourcaca, or whatever they used to say.”
A bellow of laughter roared out of Christian. “It’scasa, Gemma. Notcaca. I do not want to share your poop.”
Her face turned as hot as Reva’s sun as he tugged her into his arms. Still laughing, he planted a firm kiss on her lips—the first one they’d shared since Colton ripped her away from him.
Gemma’s embarrassment waned as her spirit filled with calm at his tender touch. She was with him. She was home. She was safe.
Leaning into him, Gemma opened his mouth with hers, but he gently pulled away.
“As much as I would love forthatto be the first thing we do, I think we need to talk instead.” He brushed her jawline with his thumb.
Gemma groaned, stepping away from him. “I don’t want to share what happened with Colton. I don’t even want to think about it.”
“That’s...I don’t want to hear about that either. I already want to slit his throat.” His hands balled at his sides, and she grimaced at the anger in his deep, gravelly voice.
His expression softened. “It’s all right. You didn’t know what I was going to say.” He held out a hand to her. “Come sit with me.”
Gemma found a spot on the two-person sofa and angled herself to face him.
He braced an arm on the top of the sofa, digging his fingers into his hair. “So, Colton’s disappeared.”
Gemma sighed. “I’m not surprised.”
“The Kaizen led everyone in the building on a massive sweep of Zion, even inside the maintenance shafts like the one we found. No one’s spotted him. Rami says even his comm is off, which is supposedly impossible.None of their messages to him have gone through. He’s turned into a ghost.”
She frowned, unable to hold eye contact any longer. She’d had an opportunity to kill Colton, and she’d failed miserably.
Christian placed his hand on her knee, stroking the inside of her thigh with his thumb. The tension in Gemma’s shoulders released at his gentle touch.
“Now, I don’t want to know what happened when you were with him,” Christian said. “But Ramidoesneed to know if he shared anything about the Dissent’s plan for Zion.”
