Page 26 of Space for More

I sputter, unsure how to respond to her telling me I’m beautiful and that I’ve got a great rack.

She reaches up and twists one of my curls around her finger. “Hmm, I think you liked how it felt, too.” Her finger releases my hair and I stop breathing as she slides it down the side of my neck, down to my collarbone, and then traces the neckline of my top until her hand is hovering above the swell of my breasts.

Is this really happening?My nipples harden as I silently beg her to take things further.

She breaks eye contact, her gaze falling to her hand, and I catch her small, sharp inhale.

Please touch me. God, I want you to touch me.

But then she steps away and pushes her long silken hair over one shoulder with a casual smile, like she didn’t just have me panting for her at the slightest touch. The sting of embarrassment deflates my arousal. Between my failed flirting with Phelix and reading too much into Mezli’s casual flirting, I feel like I’m back on Artem’s doorstep the night he rejected me. When am I going to stop being such a clueless, inexperienced loser?

15

Poor sweet Eden looks like I kicked her pet flesstra.I shouldn’t have flirted with her. As soon as I felt her body against mine, all I wanted to do is feel our bare skin pressed together. If she’s so responsive from such a light touch, I can only imagine what she’d be like in bed. But for one of the rare moments in my life, sense returned to me before I took things too far. I’m not here to get Eden naked. No, I’m here to keep her safe.

Goddess, when did I get so mature and rational? It’s very annoying. Fina’s bad influence, I’m sure.

“So, uh, why are you here?” Eden asks, though she can’t quite meet myeyes.

I give her an easy smile, pushing aside further thoughts of her gorgeous breasts. “Oh, that! Right, so I think you should go home.”

Her mouth drops open. “What? Why?!”

I attempt to shrug casually, but it’s hard to keep a conversation like this lighthearted when something inside me keeps screaming that Eden’s in danger and I need to protect her. “You’re not safe here. I stopped by the human embassy to speak with a friend. He didn’t particularly want to talk with me since I was a no-show for our date, but I managed to make him listen—I’m very persuasive like that. Anyway, all of that is to say that there have been a handful of hate crimes across Spire since the official opening of the human embassy. Nothing fatal…at least not yet.”

From what Paul told me, this is an escalation from the previous vandalism and threats a few of the ambassadorial staff members have faced since their arrival. They’ve brought the crimes to station security and the Consortium council, but the attack on Eden is a sign that things are escalating.

I can’t stop myself from reaching out to grab her shoulders, worry clogging my throat. “Eden, lunch today was terrifying. You could havedied. And knowing it’s not an isolated incident, I can’t stand by and let you risk your safety again. I’ll tell the agents that I’m doing this mission on my own.”

Her shocked look turns to an indignant one. “No. No way! I’m not going to let a few hateful aliens ruin my one chance at experiencing Spire. This stupid mission already messed up my plans, but I still have time to?—”

“To what?” I interrupt, her rising frustrations kicking up my own temper. “To get yourself killed?”

“No! Tolive! To finally feel like I’m fucking alive, and experience something outside my mundane existence back home. I’ve spentmy whole life waiting for this. This is my chance. I’m not letting you or anyone else talk me out of staying.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the stomach, knocking away any arguments I was preparing. What she’s said is so damn familiar it makes me remember thexalaI shoved deep down inside me—the one I honestly thought I’d killed years ago. She was just as desperate for a chance to live outside the expectations pressed upon her. Eden says her parents love her, but so do my mothers. That doesn’t change the boxes they trap us in.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled.” Eden frowns apologetically, mistaking my reaction for being upset at her tone.

“Why are you apologizing when you’ve done nothing wrong? Goddess, you humans are cute, but so strange sometimes.” Fina apologizes for no reason too, but Eden seems to feel the need to apologize for everything. It’s an annoying habit unique to humans, especially women.

Eden winces. “Sorry.”

I shake my head at her apology for apologizing. “Eden. You’re allowed to say what you think. Despite what seems to be conditioned into you, you’re allowed to exist without apology. So stop.”

She smiles ruefully. “I’ve tried! But it’s easier said than done.”

“Well, you have me now, and I’m going to call you on your nonsense.”

She chuckles at my threat, small indents forming in her soft cheeks as the smile spreads across her face. “Thank you, Mezli. I’ve never met anyone quite like you…and I mean that in a good way!”

I preen a little at her compliment. “It’s true. I’m one of a kind. But getting back to our original conversation, I’m the one who needs to apologize.”

“You don’t have to?—”

“Yes, I do. I shouldn’t have told you what to do. Goddess, I’m the biggest hypocrite in the galaxy, telling you to go back to safety.”

Shame and memories from my first year on Spire flash through my mind. I wasn’t safe then either. I was a young, dumbxalawho’d never left home. It’s a miracle I didn’t end up robbed of all my credits during my first cycle on the station. No, that happened a couple of weeks into things.

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