Page 42 of Synnr's Ride

Hanna flared out her wings and firmed her voice. "Take off your shirt and sit down."

Jori hesitated for another second before pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side. Hanna tried to think professional thoughts, not ogle Jori's body. But she couldn't help but appreciate his muscular chest and strong arms. Her heart tripped over itself, but a few deep breaths had it back under control.

He was her partner and he was hurt. That was all that could matter.

She pulled his arm toward hers and unwrapped the gauze from around the wound. His arm was shiny with med gel and it looked to be healing up well already. Zulir healed fast, especially from flesh wounds, but Hanna had to make sure.

She ran her thumb up his forearm and noted when his skin broke out in goosebumps. He didn't try and pull away. There was a nasty bruise on his shoulder, but that had most likely come from someone's spark. She swiped a bit of med gel over it, though it didn't do much for bruises. She needed to dosomething.

"How could you let someone cut you up?" It came out more accusatory than she meant, but Hanna was barely hanging on. Jori was beaten and bruised and her Match. They were in the middle of enemy territory with only one another to rely on. If she didn't cut him with her words, she might do something reckless, like kiss him.

"I didn't realize he had a shard of glass until he sliced me up." Jori handed her an adhesive bandage from the kit. "That was the only shot he got. I dropped him after that."

Hanna opened the bandage and stuck it to his arm, running her fingers over the smooth surface to make sure it stuck. "What was the mission?"

"Roughing up a rival. Some guy named Fally. I don't think anyone died, but watch out for Rexx. He likes hurting people." Jori switched his grip so that he held Hanna's hand palm up. He ran his hand over the bandage on her palm. "What happened here?"

Her bounty was in the other room, but Hanna made no move to go get it. "I got into the safe. And Kark's office."

His fingers tightened on hers, but he didn't chide her. "And what did you find?" There was a thread of something barely restrained in his voice.

They were both hanging onto professionalism by a quickly fraying string.

"Coded papers in the safe. And a hidden compartment in his office." She flexed her hand in his. "That's where I got the souvenir. I had to act quickly. Zilly nearly caught me. I cut myself sliding the panel back into place."

"Zilly caught you?" Now his grip was tight enough to hurt, but only for a second.

"I convinced her I'd snuck into the office to take a break on Kark's couch. She bought it. We're fine."

"Are we?" He wasn't talking about their cover.

"You tell me." Hanna had no idea where they stood. When the Match flared in the bar, she'd been overwhelmed. Jori had looked blank as stone. He was an ambitious man, a Synnr soldier determined to rise in the ranks. No way would he be happy with the disgraced Apsyn fate had thrown into his path.

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about it. A couple of weeks ago, they'd been nothing but sharp edges and anger. Now she craved the taste of his kiss and wanted to crawl into bed with him and never leave.

But she couldn't tell if that was real or just the intensity of the job getting to her. Hanna had trouble not letting her emotions get involved when she was playing a part.

On her last job as an Apsyn spy, that meant making friends with a young human woman and feeling like dung when it came time to hurt her. Luci had been an innocent bystander, someone Hanna meant to use to make her cover story stronger.

What she felt for Jori wasn't nearly as simple as the possibility of friendship. The chemistry between them was too strong to deny, but she wasn't sure what it meant out of the bed or off the job. What could it mean? She was wrong for him in every way.

And if she bonded with him, she could never go home.

"What is this?" Jori shifted his grip on her hand so that their fingers were laced together.

"You tell me," she repeated.

He squeezed her hand and made a sound of frustration. "Stop playing games! We have to pretend out there." He nodded toward the door. "That's our job, our lives are on the line. In here, I deserve your honesty. You owe me that." She heard desperation in the plea.

"I'm not lying to you. I haven't since we've been on the job." Before that? Well, she couldn't be sure. And she wasn't going to let Jori find some technicality to pick apart.

"You are a spy."

He always clung to that. Hanna pulled her hand out of his grip and started to sort through the med kit supplies and put them back in place. "I'm your partner, and you're just as undercover as I am. Stop pretending."

"You think this is pretend?" His voice was harsh.

Hanna spun towards him. "I don't know, Jori! You kiss me like you're a dying man and I'm offering you life. But when the Match bloomed between us, you were as blank as a starless sky."

---