Page 76 of Sway's Peace
But their presence broke the moment and Sway with all obvious reluctance lowered her legs back to the ground. He kept hold of her hips though, making sure she could stand when he stepped back, letting her off the wall. She was immediately colder without his body pressing against hers. And yet somehow still burning up on the inside. But it wasn’t like they could do anything about it tonight. Not with the others either already in their rooms or about to return to them.
“Go inside,” Sway said, his voice low and rough and crooning to her like the most sensual of love songs. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She nodded, taking his hand. She kissed his knuckles, right over the rough, thickened skin, before smiling at him, face burning, lips tingling from his attention. “Promise you won’t go anywhere without me?”
“I wouldn’t want to. I need you to get in my way.”
She chuckled, bringing his hand to her cheek so she could nuzzle his palm. And he let her, smiling indulgently as he watched.
“You’re getting good,” she said happily.
“At kissing?” He smirked.
“That too. But I meant at accepting affection.” She beamed at him, still resting her head in his palm. “And giving it for that matter. You’re gettingreallygood at that.”
His gaze darkened, his fingers twitching against her cheek like he was resisting the urge to grab her again. “Go into your room, Grace.”
It was a threat. A delicious one that she dearly wanted him to follow through. But they couldn’t tonight.
However, the others would be leaving soon to give Sway the space he needed to talk. And when that happened, one room would be much cheaper and more economical than two.
“Goodnight, Sway,” she said, reluctantly releasing his hand.
“Sleep well,” he said, not moving at all, his burning eyes still solidly on her, right up until the door slid shut between them.
Grace sighed, turning into the room where, sure enough, Goldie was already there, sleeping on one of the two beds.
She was looking forward to the others leaving for completely selfish reasons.
Chapter 19
Sway
Since Sway and the others escaped Rik-Vane, they had only separated for short periods of time on rare occasions. Even if they went their own way on station leave, they would still be together as it wasn’t like they went to different stations or planets. They spent years trying to get off of void damned Rik-Vane, and their determination to escape had bonded them tighter than anything else would have allowed among their kind. The few times someone had separated from the group, it was never for long, and there was always an innate, inwardly driven urge to return.
Sway had never left the group. Usually, he tried not to leave the Humility at all. He wanted to keep busy working. He wanted to distract himself from the bad thoughts and memories that were constantly trying to hunt him down.
Maybe that’s why it was so hard to be the one left behind as he watched the others load up onto the landing shuttle. Why there was this odd sense of gnawing guilt as he stood apart from them, watching them get ready to leave.
Grace was to his left; Loyalty was to his right. The rest of the crew were loading up, saying goodbye to him. They already hadtheir next job picked out. It was a pretty standard job for them – a dangerous chemical delivery to a laboratory. The pickup and drop off locations were well trafficked enough that Tanin could request the subspace calculations from the locations themselves, so he didn’t need Sway. And he had learned enough from Sway that he and Alred could get back without help.
Still, Sway was oddly anxious watching them go. Navigation was his job among the crew. It was the only purpose he served. Yet here he was, giving it up, just to speak with a male he still wasn’t sure he even wanted to speak to.
They could handle one simple job without him. But it was still nerve wracking for him to let go and let them try. And that was probably a concern partially born from how careful they used to have to be when their crystals were nearly dead, but he knew that wasn’t all.
No, caution couldn’t explain this sense of guilt and worthlessness gnawing at his gut.
Grace took his hand in hers and squeezed gently, giving him a supportive smile. “They’ll be back in a tenday.”
Sway turned his gaze. The sight of her there, determinedly at his side, made everything seem better. Easier. He could handle this because she was with him. He’d get through this dreadful conversation with the male that was his father, then he could put this behind him for good.
And then only look forward to his future with her.
“I’m not worried,” he said, giving her a smile, and it wasn’t quite a lie. He wasn’t worried… just uneasy.
She cocked her head to the side, searching his face. “Have you been apart from them before?”
“No. Not since we joined together. But it’s not like it was back then. I don’t need them to survive any given day. I’ll be fine.”
