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“Nothing that will bring the wealth my family expects. Besides, after the loss of my arm, no one would hire me. Not even for manual labor.”
“Let me guess. They considered you defective.” Kendra picked over the food, her appetite gone. Faron’s life on his home planet sounded terrible. She’d always considered herself hard done by being shoved into foster care, but it was a walk in the park compared to what he’d endured.
He nodded. “I am not whole.”
“You look whole to me.” She leaned closer. “Do you miss it?”
Faron tensed. “I miss my home planet. I miss the work.”
“Grubbing around underground in dangerous conditions? What’s to miss?”
“That’s an incorrect description of our mines. They’re ventilated, and the temperature is controlled. The majority of hard labor is done by machinery. We go in and assess the discoveries of the machines. It takes a trained eye to determine if a seam will be profitable or should be abandoned.”
“Oh, I’m thinking of mines on Earth. They weren’t so great.”
“You worked in a mine?”
She snorted a laugh. “Not likely. They’ve all been closed for years.”
Faron touched her hand, and she felt a spark jump between them. “No, your skin is too soft to have been exposed to such labor.”
Kendra pulled her hand away. She’d done her share of hard graft when growing up. Some of her placements had expected her to clean the house and do the laundry as part of the agreement to stay. She’d learned to be adaptable to survive.
She traced a finger over a long, thin scar on Faron’s arm. “Even if what happened to you is considered normal, that doesn’t mean it’s right. It shouldn’t have happened.”
“It is our way.”
Kendra shook her head. She needed Faron to know she cared about what happened to him, that somebody cared and saw it was wrong. Beneath that rough exterior he held onto so tightly, he must have the same feelings and desires as her. They’d both been hurt when young. Although she hated to admit it, she hid her feelings. She hid the way she felt when she saw happy couples, couples doting over their children and showing their love without condition. Kendra longed for that but would never admit to it.
She’d felt lonely for a long time.
“People can change,” Kendra said. “I know it’s tough, but we don’t have to let what happened in the past hold us back from doing what we want now.”
His gaze grew molten, and her stomach flipped over. “What is it you want to do?”
A hot flush crept up her neck and across her cheeks. “Since we’re here, why don’t we really get to know each other? The more I learn about you, the more I realize we’re not so different.”
Faron straightened in his seat. “We are very different.”
“Different but the same in some respects. I’d like to explore those similarities.”
Faron nodded, a smile playing across his lips. “As you desire.” He reached across the table, yanked her off her seat by the collar of her jumpsuit, and kissed her.
Kendra squeaked in surprise as his tongue found its way into her mouth. Oh stars, this guy knew how to kiss.
As much as she knew she should, she didn’t resist. The camera bot would be recording this. Kendra could imagine Ivy jumping up and down in delight. More footage to feed to the fans.
Faron’s hungry growl shoved all thoughts of Ivy from Kendra’s head. In that second, all she wanted was to experience this mind-blowing kiss. She’d face the consequences later.
Chapter 10
Her taste in his mouth was like warm honey. Faron could kiss this human for hours. She was wrong for him, and what she said made no sense about his upbringing, but he didn’t care. He would never get bored with this taste and the way her lips melded against his.
Faron felt Kendra stiffen and squirm in his grip, her tongue sliding away from his. Something was wrong. Reluctantly, he dropped his hold on her collar.
Her lips were swollen, and her breath shot out in short gasps as she straightened the collar of her jumpsuit and looked around the room. “This isn’t the best time to do that.”
“Why not?”
