Page 105 of Hyperspeed
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his chin. Then I covered his body with mine, mindful of his injured leg, hoping the weight would anchor him while he flayed himself open for me. I stroked his side, fingertips dancing over his ribs.
“Is that what you think this is? Just a casual fuck?”
He nodded, then shook his head, before nodding again. He settled on a weak shrug.
“I don’t know,” he whispered, wrapping his tail around my waist.
“Oh, Revvy.” My hand cupped his cheek, and his eyes fluttered closed when he leaned into the touch, ears twitching against the pillow. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m obsessed with you.”
The markings on his skin shimmered pink, and when he opened his eyes, I saw the beautiful galaxies I wanted to drown in. He pursed his lips, trying to fight a smile, but it broke through anyway, and it left me breathless.
“Like a stalker?” he teased.
I pinched his cheek. “I mean, I’m not gonna tap into your calls or climb through your window at night—”
“You’d have your work cut out for you, since I live on the fifth floor.”
“You don’t know what I do in my spare time,” I protested. “I have great upper-arm strength.”
Rev giggled, nuzzling my palm.
“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, you consume me, rookie.” His breath hitched. “After that very first scowl, you wriggled deep into my mind, like those giant sandworms on Ithara—”
“Are you calling me a worm?”
I groaned, dropping my face onto his chest. “You’re so difficult.”
“Sorry, starboy. I’ll be good,” Rev snickered, running his hand through my bedhead. “You were calling me a worm?”
I glared, but his teasing smile, a novelty he rarely shared with others, made my heart flutter. And I melted for him faster than an ice cube in the sun.
“I’m falling for you, Rev.”
His eyes widened, mouth forming a perfect circle. His skin glittered with pink and gold light. “You . . . y-you’re . . . what?”
“I’m falling for you,” I repeated. “I don’t know how we got here, because we didn’t hit it off in the beginning.”
Rev scoffed, because that was the understatement of the year.
“You mask yourself around others,” I continued. “Wielding indifference like a shield to keep them at a distance. But even when I thought you couldn’t stand me, you let little pieces of yourself slip through. I saw therealyou, Rev. The man behind the curtain.”
He swallowed, processing what I’d said. But unlike before, he didn’t interrupt, sensing I had more to get off my chest.
“Your interview was where I got to know you, even if you didn’t really want me there. I learned just how incredible you are, and since then, you’ve only proved me right. I wish the rest of the world could see it too, but I’m a selfish bastard at heart, and I’m glad you save that part of yourself for me.”
Brushing a hand through his hair, my fingertips grazed over his scalp. Rev’s eyes grew wet, glassy, and his tail squeezed my torso, urging me to continue. I knew he was overwhelmed, but he needed to understand my feelings before we could move forward.
“I want to be your safe space, rookie. The place you can rest when the shield gets too heavy. To be your quiet haven when the world gets too loud. And I want to see you glare at everyone else, sexy and broody, knowing you save the rare smiles for me.
“Somewhere along the way, you becameeverythingto me, little comet. And I’ll gladly feel the burn if I get to hold you close.”
Rev said nothing. Stars, was he even breathing? The silence dragged on, and I worried I’d read this all wrong. That I’d ruined whatever I thought was blooming between us by opening my big mouth.
We’d bared our hearts to one another, something that was obviously new to Rev. He spent ninety-nine percent of the time locked up tighter than a vault, but today he’d been cracked open. And I’d added my own feelings to the mix until the contents were overflowing.
So how would he react?
He had already run once before, and just because he was injured and we were inhisbedroom, I wouldn’t put it past him to do so again.
