Page 60 of Avelina

“Yes,” she said, sounding mildly offended. “Although it won’t take me more than a second. When you’re done fragging this one, dump your bag out and look through it.” Then she was gone. Had she picked that word out of my head? That was unsettling. Maybe she came up with it on her own. And why the swift change in mood? I decided to set that aside to focus on the naked man stalking toward me.

“You’re going to pay for that,” he said as he crawled on top of me and pinned me down, beginning an encore of our previous performance, only more elaborate and diverse. It was a rather all-consuming activity, and I forgot about Spirit’s directive to go pack spelunking.

We emerged from our shared cocoon a few hours later when sunlight finally lit the room from above. I was nervous to leave the attic and talk to Ward after the obvious kind of night we’d had, but it had to be done.

“What are you worried about?” Aaron asked, sitting up. He watched as I slipped out of bed to pad over to my still-damp clothing.

Somehow, the tables had turned, and I was now the one embarrassed by my overt sexual activity. It was possible that, despite my posturing about not letting society tell me when or with whom to have sex, I was slightly self-conscious about how quickly I had jumped into bed with him.

With no condom. Jesus.

I face-palmed before I could stop myself. I worried the whole thing would blow up in my face and I’d be on my own, trying to get home. Or worse, alone in fighting a crazy, house-burning cult.

“I don’t want Ward to feel like he’s alone while we’re up here having the time of our lives,” I said, picking up my underwear. It was mostly dry. I decided that I could live with it. I felt strangely bashful as Aaron watched me get dressed.

My response to his question had been a bit misleading. It was true that I worried about Ward’s mental health, but I also worried about getting attached to Aaron and then being abandoned. What we’d experienced together the night before had been something extraordinary, but the memory of my déjà vu moment was already fading like a dream. I didn’t even know if Aaron had felt the same thing I had.

Don’t get me wrong; in theory, I’m fine with being alone. I made my peace with that probability a long time ago, or at least I vowed to make my peace with it, but even someone as independent as me is still vulnerable to the sting of rejection. I knew I could trust Aaron to be upfront and honest. I just didn’t know if I could trust myself not to care if he pulled a Drew and decided that I was a stepping stone to better things.

He got out of bed and walked toward me as I slipped my jog bra over my head and pulled it down. His hands brushed down my shoulders and he hugged me from behind, pulling me into a superficial Connection link. Apparently, he could do that now. He was still naked, and his heated skin felt good against my back. I groaned a little, letting my head fall forward. He kissed the back of my head.

“What are you actually worried about?” he asked. I narrowed my eyes and looked over my shoulder at him. He towered over me. I’m not short for an Earth woman. I’m five-eight but, next to him, I could represent the Lollipop Guild.

“Why are you so smart?” I asked. “Why can’t you be completely lacking in empathic talent like every other person I’ve ever . . .” I was about to say “slept with” but caught myself. The last thing I needed right now was to accidentally facilitate the old How many people have you slept with? discussion. My number was not small.

“Slept with?” he finished for me anyway.

Dammit.

“And how many of those would there be?” he asked.

Dammit! “I really have to go use the facilities,” I said. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Fine. Go water a tree,” he said, chuckling. “You’re off the hook.” He let go, turning to find his own clothes.

I shivered from the loss of his warmth but breathed a sigh of relief and pulled my shirt over my head. I just hung my pants over my shoulder. No time for that nonsense.

I managed to get the trapdoor unlocked, but before I opened it, I paused to regard Aaron.

“Aaron,” I said.

“Mm?” He turned back to face me. He’d found a black tunic and donned it. He looked uneasy. I wondered if he thought I was the one abandoning him.

“What we did last night . . . that was a first for me. I’ve never felt anything like that before. I want to do that with you a million more times.”

Aaron stilled, his eyes shining. “A million would take a very long time,” he said.

I nodded, a smile spreading over my face. “Yes, it would.”

Aaron’s eyes crinkled at the corners and his mouth twitched. He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Yes, I thought, quashing the tremendous joy that threatened to burst out of me like a confetti popper. It does. Shit. This truly is something real. I turned back to the trapdoor, carefully lowered the ladder, and gasped as it slid right out of my hand to bang down on the floor with a crack. Oops.

“Good morning, Ward,” I called. No response. “Ward?” There wasn’t enough light for me to see down into the closet.

I tested the stability of the ladder with my bare foot and crept down. I got down to the bottom of the ladder, stepped into the dark closet, and squinted around. I didn’t see or hear anything. Aaron came down the ladder after me. He could see just fine. Jerk.

“He’s not down here,” he said.

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