“We’ll figure it out.” His hand found hers, warm and solid. “This is your discovery, Cass. You’ll have a say in how it’s handled.”
Would she, though? The daughter who was never quite good enough, the scientist always pushing to prove herself—would anyone listen to her concerns about preserving this fragile ecosystem they’d stumbled upon?
For the first time in her life, she had discovered something truly groundbreaking. Something that could rewrite textbooks and change humanity’s understanding of what was possible.
And oddly enough, in this moment, all she wanted to do was keep it a secret.
“You won’t tell anyone will you? Not without talking to me first?”
“No. I have some concerns about revealing it as well.” He looked through the window at the swirling red darkness. “And I’m not sure we’ll be doing any communicating for a while.”
The storm’s fury had grown even more evident while they were underground. The reinforced walls of the station vibrated with each gust, and the sound of sand particles striking the exterior created a constant, eerie hissing.
“It’s gotten worse,” she agreed, following his gaze through the window. “Alina is going to worry about me. Do you think we could try and contact her?”
“I’ll try.”
She gave him a grateful smile as she began transferring the data from Roland’s sensors to the main computer and setting up the analysis algorithm.
He took a seat at the communications console, and tried to establish contact with the lab. Static filled the speakers. He adjusted frequencies and tried different channels, but the result was the same.
“The storm’s blocking all signals,” he said finally, shaking his head.
“Can you use your internal comms and send a message to one of the other rangers to relay to her?”
“They have limits too, but I could try the Judge?”
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. The Judge was the senior cyborg on Mars, and the original source of justice on the planet. He had stepped back from that position to spend more time with his brilliant scientist wife and their children. She respected his wife immensely, and suspected that meant she could trust her husband as well.
A cyborg husband. It would have been impossible when the planet first opened to settlers—Earth Government had stripped most of the cyborg’s rights away—but the new Mars government was less restrictive. She had a sudden vision of more days like this one, ones with Zach at her side. It felt… right, but was she simply reacting to the danger they had encountered?
His eyes turned silver as he accessed his internal communication network, his face expressionless, and she remembered the first day he’d come riding to her rescue.It’s not just the situation, she admitted to herself. She’d been attracted to him from the moment they’d met, and that attraction had only grown over the past year, even if he frustrated her sometimes. And now that he’d kissed her with such surprising passion…
I want more.
She found her cheeks heating when he refocused on her and shook his head.
“No luck,” he said, turning away from the console. “We’re on our own until this passes.”
“I understand. I sent her a quick message when I arrived so hopefully she won’t be too worried.” She stood abruptly, suddenly needing a chance to clear her head. “I’m going to clean up while the data is processing.”
“All right. Roland and I will keep watch.”
Roland chirped amiably and climbed up on Zach’s shoulder again. He reached up and scratched behind the armadillo’s ears, and her heart did an odd little skip before she hurried into the small hygiene unit. She stripped out of the filthy coverall and stepped under the shower.
The hot water felt amazing. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth wash over her. But instead of the tension draining away, it seemed to increase. Images flashed across her mind—Zach, fierce and protective, the kiss, his mouth hard and urgent. She shivered despite the heat, a strange restlessness stealing over her.
Perhaps it was the aftermath of the adrenaline from their encounter with the creature, or the fear that the discovery could be taken away from her before she had a chance to study it. She knew that she needed to get control of herself, but her heart continued to pound and her thoughts spun wildly.
Finally, she turned the water off, dried herself, and pulled on a loose shirt and pants. She told herself that the heat lingering in her body was from the warmth of the water, not the thought of Zach’s hands on her.
But her mind wouldn’t be silent. She imagined his touch, those strong hands moving over her skin, and heat pooled between her thighs.
Stop it, she ordered herself as she tied her damp hair back in a loose braid, and did her best to assume her usual calm expression as she emerged from the facility.
He looked up when she joined him at the console and the silver in his eyes seemed to brighten.
“How are the transfers coming?” she asked, grateful that her voice didn’t give away her turbulent thoughts.
