Page 29 of Across The Stars
“Um,” I hesitated. “Same one… I think.”
Iknew.I justknewit somehow.
“Really?” she squeaked as if we were about to have a good gossip session about my big new crush. I pressed a finger over my lips, giving her a look. “Sorry,” she said, lowering her voice. “But seriously. Twice? Did you guys talk? What happened?”
“No, no,” I said. “We’re not having this conversation. He’s an alien, Sam.”
“Come on. I saw him touch your hand. What did it feel like? Was he cold? Slimy?”
Warm, actually. Warm and smooth and… dammit.
I shook my head, walking to one of the walls to hold onto something. He was an alien. I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know what he looked like. There was no way he was making my nether regions tingle. I clearly was feeling the effects of space or something. Or maybe I was justthatdesperate. My brain was mixed up and I was starved for physical touch. Any physical touch. Not his, specifically. My body was just being a little slut.
At least, that was what I wanted to think.
“Ugh, you’re no fun,” Sam complained.
“Hey,” another voice said. A deeper one. One with less of an energetic hype to it. I glanced over my shoulder to see Quinn walking up with her hands hanging on her jumpsuit’s belt loops. “What was that?”
“What?” I said with a shrug.
Did everyone see me brush skin with the alien?
“The thing with Vahko,” Quinn said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Vahko.” She motioned with her finger, drawing lines down her arms. “He captains the Irlos and that just happens to the be the Irlos out there. You looked a little cozy with him.”
A little turbulence said we were on our way back to the Nexus and I braced myself until the craft leveled again.
“Hold up,” Sam said. “You know that guy? Err… alien?”
“Everyone on the Nexus knowsofhim. Vahko was captain of a battalion before our time. Really good pilot. I’d love to pick his brain, but he’s not very talkative. None of them are.”
I nodded, pretending to be interested purely on a professional level. The truth was far more than that. If Vahko wasn’t talkative, why the hell was he brushing his bare hand on my palm? And he spoke to me and I understood him. Did they allspeak our language? Ugh, I would know all of that information already if I’d actually taken the courses to study aliens like new recruits were required to. Knowing there was still more info to find on my Buddy made me eager to get back to the Nexus so I could do some research.
It was a short FTL ride to the wormhole and I anxiously bit at my lip thinking about Vahko for that little stretch of time. Every once in a while, I’d brush my hands together softly, recalling what he felt like when he slid his fingers across mine. I’d been craving contact almost my whole life. Not sex—although that would be great—but just contact.Realcontact. A real connection.
I wasn’t saying I liked the alien or anything. My heart pumping a million miles a second was just because of space and my excitement over it. Definitely not because I was pining over some humanoid creature in a black suit.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Sam said, nudging me with her elbow.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Thinking about your alien boyfriend?”
“Stop,” I chuckled.
“What? The past couple weeks have been interesting, but I miss drama. I need a little spice, you know? And being on the Nexus has made me a little, you know, randy,” she whispered.
“Sam,” I snapped.
“What? They don’t even have VR systems here.”
I held up my hand and wriggled my fingers. “That’s what this is for.”
“Wow,” Sam laughed. “You know we don’t get enough privacy here. I mean, what do you do with your free time?”
