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CHAPTER NINETEEN

Veyr

Wanting was a problem.

That was the conclusion I reached approximately four minutes after Talia disappeared into the bathing room.

I had wanted things before. Food when injured. Sleep after extended deployment. Better weapons. More time. Those wants were practical, temporary, easily ignored.

This was not.

I stood beside the window and checked the street for the third time. Nothing had changed. No unfamiliar transport. No one watching the building. No indication our location had been compromised.

I checked anyway.

Behind me, the water shut off.

Every muscle in my body tightened. I disliked that. More accurately, I disliked that I could not control it.

Talia had kissed me. I had kissed her. We had agreed not to repeat it.

That agreement had lasted less than an hour before I began thinking about doing exactly that.

My hand tightened around the edge of the window frame.

Weakness was not the correct word. Distraction was closer. Possibly compromised judgment. That explanation was familiar enough to be useful.

The bathing-room door opened.

I turned.

Talia stepped into the common room, the worn fabric of her flight-shirt hanging soft against her frame. It was ordinary. It should not have mattered.

It did.

Her hair was unbound, dark strands clinging damp to her neck and shoulders where they’d escaped the towel. The scent of cleanser and steam followed her into the dry, recycled air.

Every detail registered with invasive clarity. The way a drop of water traced a path along her collarbone. The slight shift of fabric as she breathed.

My own breath caught. I forced it even.

She stilled halfway across the room, her gaze lifting to mine. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

She had seen. Of course.

“You’re doing it again.” Her voice was quiet, almost a murmur in the recycled air.

I didn’t turn from the window. “What?”

“Staring.”

“I am looking.”

“Apparently very intensely.”

There was a smile in her tone. I heard the soft rustle of fabric as she shifted. I turned back toward the street, but it was too late—she’d seen me watching her. Behind me, she laughed softly, and the sound tightened something low in my stomach.

“I thought we agreed the kiss was a bad idea,” she said.