“What?” Eleri asked. “Oh! I cut it off. It’s a liability working with patients.”
“It pleases me that you are taking your safety more seriously.” He removed the gloves and tossed them into the waste atomizer. Eleri nodded, not sure what to say. If S’samph were a human male, she’d assume he was flirting with her, but with S’samph, it was impossible to tell whether or not he intended half of the subtext in his words. Silence hung between them for a long moment, long enough to make Eleri ready to retreat.
“Well, I should get some sleep. You can use the shower if you like hot water. Otherwise, there’s a hygiene unit behind that curtain over there.”
“Sleep well, Eleri. I will be here.” S’samph’s tail brushed down the side of her arm, and Eleri took that as her cue to flee. Alone in her room, she pressed the button to drop down the darkness screen over her window and then burrowed under the thin blankets. Eleri closed her eyes but found herself replaying the afternoon again and again behind her eyes. Minio’s claw catching in her hair. The way he loomed over her. Scrabbling for help against the pharmaceutical cabinet. Her heart cartwheeled through her chest, leaving her sweating against her sheets.
Water. She’d get herself water and then try again. Work didn’t stop just because she was having a hard time. There would still be patients who needed care in the morning, regardless of how much sleep she’d gotten. Eleri slipped downstairs to the small kitchen, hoping she wouldn’t disturb S’samph.
She poured herself a small glass of water, hands trembling from the stress of everything. Eleri took severaltentative sips and regulated her breathing. She just needed to calm down and get to sleep. Things would be brighter in the morning after she’d rested. Eleri turned to set the mostly empty glass on the counter and ran smack into a solid form behind her. The water splashed up her face and his bare chest.
“S’samph?” she sputtered.
“You should be sleeping.”
“So should you,” she retorted.
“I was sleeping until you came down the stairs.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I am a very light sleeper. It is a habit I have never been able to shake.” He paused to take the cup from her. “Why are you still awake?”
“I can’t sleep. Some nights I have insomnia. It’s especially hard to be alone on nights like this.” Eleri realized what she had said, and the tips of her ears burned with regret.
“S’kasia told me of this sleep infliction you have. Then don’t be alone. I’ll come share your bed. The cot down here is too small for both of us.”
“I…” she trailed off, not sure how to finish her sentence.
“You will feel safer with me in your bed.” He said it as a statement rather than a question, and try as she might, Eleri couldn’t deny that he spoke the truth.
“I might,” she admitted.
“Then it is settled.” His tail curled around her waist again as it had earlier, and Eleri felt the back of her neck catch fire. “Show me to your sleeping nest.” He prodded her forward with his good arm. A shiver danced across her shoulder blades. S’samph came closer and draped a heavy arm around her. “Humans shake like that when they’re cold, according to the IA manual.”
“Not always because we’re cold,” Eleri corrected as she started the torturous path back up to her bedroom with S’samph’s presence increasingly difficult to ignore. They were at the door now, and she pushed it open, taking in the sparseness of the space. Since moving in, she hadn’t taken the time to apply any personal touches.
“It’s like a military barracks.” S’samph urged her forward. “Does the emptiness not sadden you? I lived in places like this for many years.”
“I don’t spend much time here. Most of the time I’m down in the clinic and busy with work. Besides, your nest isn’t much better.”
“We’ll decorate our nest together once you finally join me there.” S’samph urged her toward the bed. “But this is a conversation for another time. Now we should sleep.” For the second time in the span of a few hours, S’samph swooped her off her feet and into his arms. Hecarried her over to the bed, settling her among the pillows before sliding in beside her. Eleri had been wrong. Whatever trouble she had with sleeping before, this was going to be even worse.
S'samph’s scales were cool and smooth to the touch. His pale eyes were warm even in the darkness of the room. This close, she couldn’t deny the physical attraction between them. Eleri turned away from him, far too aware of the flush coursing across her skin. It didn’t shame her, but she’d spent so much of her life buried in training or dealing with her family’s chaos that all her romantic encounters were fleeting and never went anywhere. This left her unsure how to proceed. But if the IA manual was accurate, sexual activity was strictly initiated by latil’e females.
“Why are you not sleeping?” S’samph asked. “Are you still distressed from this afternoon?” His hand soothed over her hair.
“Yes.” She said and shivered again against his touch as her body betrayed her true intentions. S’samph moved closer until only a hairsbreadth separated their bodies on the narrow bed.
“If you’re still cold, I will warm you. Your scent has changed as well. Are you sure you are not unwell?”
Mortified, Eleri shook her head. Latil’e had particularly sensitive scent glands throughout their tongues. They could smell things well beyond the capacity of any human nose. “It’s just the stress, I think,” she managed to squeak out.
“I know what your stress hormones taste like. This is different.” S’samph shifted closer again. Now he was flush against her back. “The smell is stronger now.”
“Are you doing this on purpose?” She asked.
“Tell me what it is, Eleri. It will be impossible to sleep without a truthful answer.” There was a tone in his voice she could have sworn was teasing. It was possible. She’d heard him tease before when they were test-driving his levibike together. Even K’kaen had warned her not to always take S’samph’s words so literally. If she hadn’t heard him do so then, she would have thought the expression impossible from such a serious male.
