Gemma cleared her throat. “So, there’s, uh, something I need to tell you, if that’s okay.” She grimaced when she heard the tremble in her voice.
Christian faced her, narrowing his eyes. “Of course. What’s on your mind?”
Gemma’s palms began to sweat, and the zipper of her uniform felt way too high on her throat; she could barely breathe. “Um...I don’t really know how to say this...I really like you, and I’m sure you already figured that out when I kissed you yesterday, but...I don’t know how to word it.”
She swallowed, her hands shaking, then continued before anxiety held her tongue. “I had built this...wall around my heart. But every time I’m with you, it completely crumbles. I hadn’t smiled or laughed in years until I met you, and being around you has felt so good. But you also make me feel so vulnerable, and it terrifies me to grow close to someone when it means my heart can be broken again.”
Christian’s stare bore into hers, his body completely rigid. She swallowed again, louder this time.
This was a moment that would alter everything for her. Pushing people away was easy; letting them into her heart was brutal. But if there wasanyone in any of the galaxies she wanted to tear down her walls for, to fill the dark void her sister’s death left behind, it was Christian.
“But I have to confess...” Gemma closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. “I’m falling for you, and I’m not sure if I want to stop. I don’t know quite how you really feel, but if it’s the same, maybe you can help me feel alive again.”
Christian’s eyes brightened as a slow smile crossed his face. He reached up to tuck Gemma’s hair behind her ear, his fingertips lingering in their strands. His gaze moved to watch his fingers glide through her hair before he dragged his eyes back to her stare.
“I do feel the same about you, Gemma. I have ever since I connected the dots about you being the same girl who gave me her food rations when I stayed in her mother’s hospital.”
Gemma narrowed her gaze.What is he talking about?
He chuckled. “Your mom set my leg when I was seven. I broke it falling from a roof, trying to help my sister. You figured I needed your rations more than you did.”
The flush in Gemma’s cheeks was hot and all-consuming as the memory slowly crawled back into her mind. She always had been her mother’s little helper until the day she’d died.
Christian’s eyes were soft and warm as he scanned her face. “I don’t know what all you’ve been through since then, but I told you that you weren’t alone, and I meant it. My feelings for you are strong in ways I never imagined. I hope you trust me when I promise that I’ll never break your heart.”
“I do trust you,” Gemma whispered, barely audible.
Christian stepped forward, sliding an arm around her waist. His palm pressed firmly against the small of her back, and he drew her against him. “Then we’re good?”
Gemma’s stomach flailed in her chest. She let a smile spread across her cheeks. “Definitely.”
His other palm gripped the side of her neck, and he gently pulled her face closer. He pressed their foreheads together, brushing his nose softly against hers, and she nearly melted onto the floor.
With one hand, she held onto the strong arm he’d wrapped around her waist; the other she pressed against his side. Her knees weakened at the feel of his taut muscles beneath her palm. She longed to unzip his uniform, to run her fingertips along the muscles that rippled beneath her touch.
Christian kissed her firmly, and each of Gemma’s hairs stood on end; the feeling of feathers tickled down her spine.
He was warmth and moonlight, happiness and home.
He parted her lips with his own as he pulled her closer than Gemma thought possible, her back naturally arching into him. Her mind swam as if she floated amongst the stars.
Christian deepened his kiss, gently stroking her tongue with his, and a soft moan escaped her before she could stifle it. The sound seemed to spur him on.
His mouth trailed down her cheek to her chin and throat. The warm, rich smell of his shampoo still lingered on his hair, and Gemma breathed it in, clutching the fabric that brushed against his side.
She wanted to memorize his scent, a musk of tranquility.
“Stop me if I go too far,” he mumbled against her cheek, his breath tickling her ear. A shiver ran from the top of her head into her toes.
Christian’s lips found hers again, and the hand that had held her neck wandered down her chest to the zipper at the top of her jumpsuit. He unzipped her uniform at a painstakingly slow pace, until it stopped right above her navel, his mouth never relenting against hers.
His fingertips bared one of her shoulders. Cool air brushed her skin, and fleshbumps rose to meet it.
Gemma’s head rolled back when his lips left hers to plant fleeting kisses against her collarbone. They were soft like the finest thread brought in from off-world, molding against her skin. She clenched the arm that still clung to her, strands of her hair falling over her shoulder.
Christian slipped his free hand into her jumpsuit, grazing his palm against her bare waist. Soft calluses met her delicate skin, every sense narrowing in on the subtle scratching. He slid the fabric of her jumpsuit further over, revealing more of her body and exposing her breast.
Gemma’s heartbeat quickened. She’d never bared this much of herself to a man in her entire life.
