Page 31 of Legend

The words were almost on my lips when a head poked around the doorframe. “Dev—Captain Gorman?”

The officer with short, sandy-brown hair smiled broadly as he entered the room. “Why am I not surprised to see you working so early?”

I stood, not sure whether to salute him because he’d once been my superior office or hug him because I’d once seen him naked. He was in his Navy uniform, but not his dress blues, andit didn’t take much power of recollection to remember helping him quickly remove a similar pair of black pants and khaki shirt. I settled on walking around the desk and extending my hand. “You know what they say about the early bird.”

He took my hand and shook it without giving me any strange looks or without trying to pull me into a hug. “I hope that the worms are only metaphorical, even at an alien academy.”

“There are no worms served here, sir.”

The captain gave a wave of his hand. “Please, I’m not sir, just Devon…to you.”

Twinges of warmth teased my cheeks, but I assured myself that he was being friendly. Besides, before we’d ended up in bed together, we had been pretty solid colleagues. Almost verging on real friends. Of course, our drunken night together would have spoiled that if I hadn’t left, but since I had, maybe we got a do-over on the friends part.

I sat on the front edge of my desk as he swiveled in place and took in my office. “I was surprised to hear that you were the Earth envoy sent to assess the human integration here.”

He pulled his gaze away from the bare, black-stone walls and stacks of books and unrolled parchments scattered across my desk. “I did have involvement in the program before the first cadets and instructors were chosen. Did you know that at one point, I’d been considered for your position?”

My mouth fell open a bit. Devon had wanted to come to the Drexian Academy? He was such a fixture at the base on Earth that it never occurred to me that he had aspirations to leave it. “I had no idea.”

“I ended up turning it down.” He met my gaze and worked his black cap in his hands. “I guess I’m too fond of Earth.” He glanced around the office. “Do you miss it?”

I tried to ignore any subtext that might be lurking beneath the surface. “A bit, but I enjoy the challenge of a new place, Captain.”

He groaned. “You aren’t going to call me that for my entire visit, are you? Of anyone, you should call me Devon.”

I tried not to be bothered by the phrase “of anyone.” We had been friends, after all, so it was natural to use first names. Honestly, it would be odd if we didn’t. “And you should call me Fiona, of course.”

This made him grin and his shoulders visibly relax. “I have to say, you look just the same.”

I touched a hand to my hair, which I knew needed brushing, and then glanced at my rumpled clothes that had actually been slept in and my face heated. I might look just like he’d remembered me, but that was only because he’d last seen me sweaty and rolling around in bed. I wished with every fiber of my being that I didn’t look like a hot mess. It would have been so much better if I could have impressed the man by looking put together and rested.

“I normally don’t look this casual, but we’re between terms and there are no classes taking place.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest and eyed him. “I’m surprised this is when Earth wanted to send someone to inspect the program. You won’t see what the academy is like when it’s buzzing with cadets.”

Devon shrugged on shoulder. “That’s okay. This way I get to spend more time talking to the human instructors and cadets.” He leaned forward and winked at me. “I get to spend more time interrogating you.”

I laughed, since he was clearly teasing me. He’d always been one of the looser officers, so I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me like he would anyone, or if this was about that night. Part of me was glad he hadn’t mentioned it, but another part of me felt like it was the elephant in the room. Were we really going to pretend we hadn’t slept together? Were we going to act like the last time I’d seen him I hadn’t been tiptoeing from his bedroom while he still lay tangled in the sheets?

I spread my arms wide. “Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”

He cocked his head to one side. “The enigmatic Captain Douglas is an open book? Then you have changed.”

I inwardly flinched at this. Had I been difficult to get to know on Earth? I guessed it was true that I hadn’t shared tons of personal information, but that wasn’t unusual, especially with male colleagues. As one of the few female officers in any department in which I’d served, I had to maintain a tough exterior, or I’d be walked all over.

It wasn’t so different here. I was tough and stern with cadets and around the Drexian instructors. It was only with my fellow female officers—my new friends—that I could be myself.

“I’m still the same officer I was on Earth.” I sat up straighter. “But I will happily tell you anything you want to know about life and work at the Academy. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To gather information about how the human cadets and instructors are faring at the alien training school.”

Devon nodded, his gaze searching my face. “And how are you doing here?”

The way he phrased it made me believe that the question he was asking was much deeper and more personal. He wanted to know howIwas, not all the humans.

I gave him a bright smile and ignored the subtext of his question. “Coming into an all-male and all-Drexian academy has not been without its challenges, but I would say that every human here has integrated well. And as you are no doubt aware, no humans were lost during the trials, and all human cadets were chosen for schools. I would call that a success.”

The man nodded thoughtfully as he took a step closer to me. His legs almost brushed my knees as I perched on the edge of the desk, but there was nowhere for me to go unless I flopped backward on my desk, which seemed a bit dramatic.

“The adjustment hasn’t been difficult? No one has experienced bouts of homesickness or has expressed a desire to return to Earth before they graduate?”

“None.” I placed my hands behind me on the desk so I could lean away from him.

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