Page 55 of The Duke and the Disciple

“Coitus.” He nearly spat the word trying to avoid it. But if he could not even say it around her, he had no business making the proposal. In the end, the word would be the easiest part of it all. “You and I. Partners.”

“You...” Aesylt’s red lips turned to a confused pout. “You wantus...”

“It’s a matter of practicality, not want.” Perhaps if he repeated the lie enough, he’d believe it and be set free of his torture. “The war with the Barynovs has set us back, and we either move forward with a plan or accept that we never will.”

She bristled. “This isourwork, and I will not let the Reliquary take it from us.”

“Nor will I.” Rahn dug his hands to the pleats of the bench. “And I see no other way forward than for us to proceed with your idea of the two of us handling the curricula ourselves. But only if you are still fully, and I meanfully,prepared for what that means.”

Aesylt’s eyes flitted around as a series of emotions played out across her tired, peaked face. “You’re serious? You’re no longer concerned for my chastity or honor or whatever it was holding you back?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t concerned,” Rahn stated firmly. “But you made a point I can’t refute. If this is your way of challenging yourself, of embracing not just a passion but a life in science, then standing in your way would be to betray my own principles of neutrality in research. And... If I believe I have more authority to choose for you than you do for yourself, then it betrays my values as a man.”

Her mouth parted in a slow grin. “I see. And you’re prepared to go through everything on the list? With me?”

Rahn swallowed. “Yes,” he croaked.

“This time without your voice breaking.”

“Yes,Aesylt. I’m prepared to go through everything on the list with you.” He wasn’t, not even a little, but it was his challenge to overcome, not hers.

“And it will change nothing between us?”

It would change everything, and she knew it. They both did. “We will have rules, of course. To protect us both and the research. The most important being we perform these acts only in the celestial realm, where our actions have less consequence.” He almost saidno consequence,but that would have been untrue. Their memories followed them across worlds. He would know her, feel her, in both. “I won’t rely on your vedhma’s grimizhna tea to keep us out of trouble.”

Aesylt’s face flushed deep red. “Ahh. Yes, fair... fair point. And how will we... How will we take credit for the work? Drazhan canneverfind out.” Her laugh was dark. “But neither can Imryll. I won’t put her in that position.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Rahn said. He wanted to peel back the curtain once more, take another glimpse outside to cut the tension in the small carriage. “Elara and Niklaus have not officially been removed from the cohort, not in the Reliquary’s records. We can put their names on the work when we submit it. I’ll... offer to submit the work to the Reliquary myself, and if it comes down to it, I’ll find a way to explain things to Imryll.”

Aesylt nodded to herself. “The Reliquary won’t be the problem. Imryll is going to want to know exactly who conducted these experiments.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“And us?”

Rahn cocked his head.

“Can we agree that... no matter how, ah,intenseour studies get, we’ll still be friends when it’s done?”

Rahn’s heart fluttered. “Aesylt, it would break my heart if this resulted in the end of our friendship. It’s the very thing I hope to avoid.”

“I want us to shake on it.” She sat forward, the ruffles of her dress sliding along the bench in a soft chorus. “I want us to swear on it.”

He leaned forward, stretching his hand toward her. “I promise.”

She slipped hers into his with a firm shake. “As do I. If thingseverget too difficult...”

“We stop.”

Aesylt nodded. “We stop.”

Rahn released her with a hidden sigh of relief. It was done. It was said. It was over. The only thing left to do was begin. “We’ll start as soon as we’re settled.”

Fucking for Science

Chapter14

Somewhere She Can See the Stars

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