Laila
They made their way through the public areas of the space station, Zac taking pains to show Laila the best places to get the best Taurean food, as well as good Earth coffee, which Laila found surprising. Apparently, there had been a roaring demand for coffee ever since the Taureans had discovered the drink. They had nothing quite like it on Taurus. There were synthetic substitutes, of course, but nothing that compared to the real thing.
Laila began to relax in his company. A slight touch of the hand against hers as they walked, a not-so-accidental brush against her in a crowded walkway, a glance that lingered. She was quickly finding herself more than a little hot and bothered.
Nursing a take-away latte—she would never get over being able to get a latte in space—they were now leaning against a railing on one of the near-empty upper mezzanine decks, watching as the station’s inhabitants bustled about below.
“Ok, so what do the different bands mean?” Laila was asking Zac about the people below, and pointed to a Taurean in uniform with a white band on his arm, similar to the one who had been controlling the queue in the area Laila thought of as space immigration.
“The bands are for different designations. White is security.” He pointed to a small group of Taureans, each wearing a different colored band. “See that group down there? Those wearing red are medical personnel, and the blue band is for infantry.”
“I was wondering what they all meant.” She said as he moved closer, lifting her head as he bent to drop a kiss to the side of her neck.
She shifted to expose her neck to him, loving the feel of his warm lips against her skin. Her eyes closed, and she relaxed against him.
“I’ve got a favorite spot no-one visits at this hour. I think you'd like it there.” He smiled wolfishly, and she shivered in response.
She had one night before she had to begin her mission. Why not?
“Alright,” she agreed.
Zac took Laila's much smaller hand in his and led her down the walkway. They stopped in front of a bank of elevators unlike any Laila had ever seen.
Zac leaned forward and swiped his wrist across the scanner pad, which beeped, causing a light to turn from red to amber. Amber meant to wait, just like on Earth.
The heat from Zac's palm burned into hers, and she imagined how hot his body would be, both literally and figuratively. He stiffened slightly, his hand tightening on hers.
Oh, no. What if Taureans were telepathic? Laila flushed with mortification. Eyes crinkling at the corners, he grinned at her and lowered his head, their destination momentarily forgotten.
“What are you thinking? Having second thoughts about being alone with me?” He asked.
She shook her head, rising onto her toes towards him, eyes closing as she lifted her chin. “No second thoughts. I want this.”
Their lips met, and Laila gasped in surprise at the softness. He was so broad and muscular, so solid, that his gentleness surprised her. Laila lifted her arms around his neck and pressed closer. She opened her mouth and gently nibbled on his bottom lip.
He groaned, arms tightening around her as he lifted her from her feet and deepened their kiss.
Ding!
Laila jerked in surprise, Zac pulling away more slowly with a soft laugh.
It didn't seem to matter if you were on Earth, Mars or on a space station, elevators arrived at exactly the wrong time.
Zac gestured for her to enter the empty elevator before following her, the doors closing behind them. A feeling of static electricity ran along her skin as the elevator ascended. Laila turned and watched as floors flashed past the glass doors. The elevator slowed and stopped, the doors opened, and he ushered her out and down the corridor of a much cleaner and quieter section of the station. She felt tiny next to him, barely reaching his shoulder, which was a strange feeling for Laila, who was taller than many human men.
Zac stopped midway along the corridor, again swiping his wrist against the wall scanner, and a door slid open. He stepped back to allow her to enter first, and she gasped, pausing just inside the doorway.
Spread before her was a room, the roof and walls glass to show the slowly spinning planet of Taurus below. She walked to the center, captivated by the enormity of the view that spread out across the domed ceiling. The room was large enough to hold half a dozen low couches, but not much else, and it was on one of these that she flopped, staring overhead at the impressive view.
“Do you like it?” He asked. “It’s a public space, but few people know about it. We shouldn’t be interrupted here.”
“It's... breathtaking! I usually find space claustrophobic, but this is beautiful.”
“Claustrophobic?” Zac sat down, stretching out next to her on his side and propping his head on his hand to watch her profile as she stared at the view.
“Yeah. Our shuttles are small and there are only a few windows, most of which are tiny. They're also really slow, compared to your technology, at least. So a long time spent in a tiny space with a lot of other people and no view... can be very claustrophobic.”
Zac nodded. “I can imagine.”
