Page 29 of Scars & Starlight
I’m not a fan of the fear that moves across his expression, but I need to find the courage to ask these things. I’m too old to accept not being liked for who I am, to only be wanted for what I can give.
“I was drawn to you from the moment I saw you fighting with everything you have to save your planet’s children,” he replies earnestly. His hand comes up to stroke my cheek. “The more I spoke with you, the more I wanted to learn about you.” The pad of his thumb swipes against my lower lip as his voice turns husky. “The more I looked at you, the more I wanted you.”
I groan inwardly.Would pinning him down and having my way with him make him think I’m a human hussy?
“Do you…” His words trail off.
“Do I what?” I ask, mourning that he moves his thumb to let me speak.
Kairen seems to struggle with something, his face running the gamut of confused and frustrated expressions. Finally, he continues talking. “Whenever I was with someone in the past, they proved to be more interested in my lineage than in being with me.” He hesitates again. “You’re not Avaren…”
I shake my head, tracing the path of his eyebrows with my index finger. “I don’t care that you’re a prince, Kairen.” My finger moves down the straight bridge of his nose. “I care that you’re a good person.” I return the favor by tracing his lower lip next, and feel a blush spreading down my neck as I open my mouth again. “It doesn’t hurt that you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”
His lips spread into a satisfied grin under my finger. “More beautiful than Orien?” he asks.
I shudder playfully. “He looks like he eats good girls for breakfast.” When he smiles at my answer, I tap his nose. “No,” I hum. “I prefer my oddly gentle commander.”
Kairen captures my hand and brings it to his lips for another peck. “Did you enjoy kissing your commander?” My lady parts take notice of how dark his voice turned, and I try to squeeze my thighs together. As our legs are still intertwined, he notices and gives me a shit-eating grin.
I pinch his side and scoot closer again. “I forgot already. Maybe you can remind me?”
He refreshes my memory for long minutes, until my eyes are too heavy to hold open, and I fall asleep with his taste on my tongue and his smell all around me.
“You know,I lived in London before I moved to the States.”
I yawn over the coffee mug I had the synth module conjure up for me. I woke up alone in bed, feeling refreshed and just downright happy. There hasn’t been much to be happy about since the worldended, but I spent the evening kissing a hottie, and I might see my parents and sisters soon, too. I’m going to seize the day.
“Is that so?” Kairen asks with a smile as he pores over whatever numbers and symbols his dashboard is showing him. “Did you enjoy it?”
I pull my feet up under me and nod, even though he doesn’t seem to be watching me right now. “I loved the people and the architecture. Not a huge fan of the weather,” I admit.
Kiko chirps from between our seats. “While the average temperatures in London and Ventura are not extremely dissimilar, London experiences one point five to two times more precipitation than Ventura.”
“What he said,” I murmur, watching the coast come closer.
Kairen pushed this bird faster over the ocean, claiming Ghorvek are less likely to patrol unpopulated areas. I only just used the little girl’s room and cleaned myself, ordered some coffee and toast, and already I can see the London Eye in the distance, surprisingly still intact.
“What’s that for?” Kairen asks, tilting his chin in the direction of the amusement ride.
“It’s what we affectionately call a tourist trap,” I answer with a giggle, putting away the now-empty coffee mug. “Something that became synonymous with a location, a must-do, so to speak, but costs too much money to experience.”
He snorts but doesn’t comment further. As the buildings grow larger, I wonder about the male who’s more compatible with me than anyone else in the universe.
“Tell me about your family,” I order him, surprising myself with the assertiveness in my tone. Maybe it’s knowing that he’s unlikely to change his mind about me and run away. The way he smirks at me lets me know he noticed the bossy tone.Oh well.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know and more about my mother and siblings once we’re done talking with Elmsleigh. We’re nearly there.” He gives me a wry smile. “Of course,” he adds. “You’llhave to tell me about your family too, especially as we’re meeting yours sooner than mine.”
“I hope we are,” I murmur.
Kairen’s hand finds mine in a gesture that’s beginning to feel very familiar. “I’ll be with you,” he vows.
I cough to clear my throat of the sudden tightness, then blink to clear my vision. “So, Elmsleigh built a bunker underneath Hampton Court Palace?” He quirks an eyebrow as if to sayI see through the bullshit. I wonder if Avaris has something similar to bulls? Do they have space sheep? I like sheep.
“That is what intel suggests,” Kairen confirms.
I hum, playing with his fingers. “Kairen?” I see him turn toward me in my peripheral vision. “Have you ever been so afraid of the truth that you’d rather cling to a false hope riddled with uncertainty than have it dashed? I’m terrified I don’t have a family anymore.”
“Kai,” he responds.
