When he finally drew back at the loud sound of clanking from a very irate droid who was displeased with what was happening, Proteus touched his forehead to hers and breathed out a sigh.
"I do not?—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. "Don't ruin this moment with words, Proteus."
So he didn't. He just held her until he had to let her go.
Twenty
Ellie
Ellie was alone for the first time since waking in this strange new life.
Pilot had decommissioned all the extra droids he had made. They had no use now that this place was almost entirely cleaned up, and he claimed that he didn't want them sticking around when they were just copies of himself. She didn't really blame him for that. Ellie knew what it was like to have exact replicas of who she was all around. It was rather eerie, and she couldn't imagine how strange it was for the Original of all of them.
But once only Pilot remained, he had informed her he was heading to the other facilities to check over the squid’s work. They should all be online. The power seemed to be coming on in increments in this building, which meant clearly something was right. But Pilot had to make sure it was all perfect.
She'd watched him roll into the water and disappear, and a strange feeling overcame her.
This was... odd. Lonely, maybe. But also it was the first time in her life that she'd been able to stand in complete and utter silence, and not have someone else talking. Even in the distance.
At first, she wasn't sure what to do with herself. She'd gone through one of the few doors they'd left without the barricade against the sand. She'd poked her head out now that the storms had passed to see what the real world looked like.
Awe inspiring.
And terrifying.
Even standing in that doorway looking out at the vast, rolling dunes of sand, all she could think was that humans were doomed if they lived here. There wasn't life on this planet. Only the blistering sun, the intense heat that made her mouth feel dry just standing in it for a few minutes, and the endless wasteland.
From what she had read in the woman's diary, this place had once been green. Plants had dotted the land as far as the eye could see, and even more if they kept going. Trees had lived here. Ellie had only ever seen pictures of them.
But now, there was nothing. A few scraggly, skeletal remains of what might have once been trees were still standing in the distance, but even from here she could see they provided no shade.
This place couldn't host life. Not unless people went underground, which might have been the plan all along.
Maybe. She wasn't really sure. The diary hadn't given her more information other than what they were working on, which was a lot of impressive gene splicing and genetic alteration.
What a pity it hadn't worked. Maybe there would have been a very different story to tell if it had.
Ducking back into the cool facility, she shook off the feeling of heat that still clung to her arms. At least the sea was cold. She could always dunk herself in the water if she wanted to.
But as Ellie stood in the center of the room, strangely bored, all she could think about was that kiss. She'd call it a kiss, even if he didn't. They had brushed their mouths over each other, and maybe he had just been tasting her. It wouldn't be surprising for a creature like him to want to taste her one more time. He had, after all, nearly consumed her arm.
Her thoughts always ended up back at the kiss, though. No matter how many times she told herself it was foolish to think of him as anything other than a demonic creature who lived in the sea. He was more than that.
He was Proteus. A sea god who was kind to her, but also a man who had worked hard two centuries ago to try to find a way for them all to live together. He was a man who had seen all of this happen, and who was still here. Fighting for what was right.
Even if Ellie didn't know what was right.
Dropping down onto a chair they had found in the woman's chambers, she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. What would he think if he knew where her mind continually wandered?
Proteus had been the one to kiss her. She had kissed him back. Probably poorly, but that had been her first time. If he tried it again with her, she was certain she would kiss him better than before.
Ellie wanted to. She wanted to kiss him again because there was something about him that... She wasn't sure how to put it into words.
Lifting her hand, she ghosted the tips of her fingers over her lips. He had kissed her like a man possessed. No, a man frenzied. He'd wanted to kiss her for a long time, that's what that kiss said. He had been dying to kiss her for ages, and the fall had frightened him into realizing he didn't know if he would ever get the chance again.
The hunger in his touch had set her body on fire. Ellie wasn't ignorant of the idea of sex. She'd seen enough of it in Tau toknow how it worked, but only with human men. She didn't even know if he had a cock. So far she hadn't seen any hint of it whatsoever, and she assumed she would have seen it by now considering all the time they spent together.
