Because.
Oh.
Stars.
She cleared her throat and forced a smile on her face. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I was just, well, I was teasing you a bit.”
“I have been thinking about you. A great deal. You seem to be on my mind most of my moments, whatever I do. I oversaw the preparations for your suites and made sure everything was ready for your arrival.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I wanted to be certain it was as close to perfect as possible.”
“Thank you.”
“I wanted you to have no worries when you arrived because I wanted to see you again and spend time with you.”
She smiled. “I wanted to spend time with you too.” She waved her arm. “Not on an icy world, of course, but this will do.”
“Good.”
He leaned into her.
His lips met hers.
She sighed, and when she opened her mouth a bit, the kiss deepened. He wrapped his arm around her and guided her back down into the pallet they laid in. She curled into him, and they kept kissing. His body was so warm. She traced the lines along his back where the muscles were defined. Her fingers looped around the circular pods on his back—the places where she imagined he connected to his system.
He wrapped his arm around her and held her tight to him as they kissed.
She’d never been a huge fan of weight on her, especially not in bed. Intimately or otherwise. Yet his body on top of hers seemed so right and so perfect and so—
He jerked up.
Turned toward the cave entrance.
Pushed her down into the pallet.
He threw a blanket over her and leaped up. She pushed it up, so she had a small peephole to see what was going on.
As he headed toward the entrance, she saw him hold out his arms, and blasters materialized in each hand from the gauntlets. He pressed against the wall, and he seemed to blend into the stone coloring of the wall. Even though she knew where he was, he blended in so well. If she blinked, she might miss him.
Her impulse was to ask what was going on, but she didn’t dare speak. She curled up under the blanket, hoping she would stay invisible. That’s what she assumed he wanted, putting her under the blanket.
If he was hiding her from someone, it was likely the attacker was against the peace accord. While she didn’t know about the Rhimodians, she did know there were a few Terrans who were very much opposed to the treaty.
The Emperor being one of them.
12
As quietly as he could, Harbin crept to the entrance point of the cave.
The silent alarm he’d placed outside the cave structure had been tripped, warning that someone approached.
Scanning.
He watched the white tundra, looking for movement coming up the hill, but didn’t see anything. It did not mean more adversaries were out there.
Scan complete. Movement located.
