Page 11 of 3 Secrets to Love
I heard her deep breaths but was too afraid of her rejection to say anything.
“I..I don’t know if my brother would approve of me shacking up with one of his former teammates.”
I let out a chuckle of disappointment before I sighed. Getting turned down by her hurt more than I wanted to admit.
In my fantasy, she would have clenched the front of my suit and pulled herself up toward me with her warm breath tickling the hair on my neck. “But he is not here, and I can’t think of anything better to do while we wait.”
Lust coursed through my veins at the thought. Stars, why did I have to have it so bad for Xacalla? My yearning for her was far more intense than anything I’d ever felt for the fans who swarmed us after an event. The more I couldn’t have Xacalla, the more I wanted her.
Awkwardness hung in the air, the silence between us deafening. Not wanting to stand all night, I adjusted the bags with our gear so I could sit on them. “I’m taking a seat. You can sit on my lap if you want. I won’t try anything.” No matter how much I wanted to and hoped she craved the same thing.
She cleared her throat. “Um, okay.” Feeling around, she tried to find me and smacked me in the face. “Oh, sorry.”
As I winced, I reached out and clasped her hips. “I’m right here. Turn a bit and sit back.” Maybe I deserved that for thinking about her the way I did, but I couldn’t help myself. She was kind, dedicated, and had a delicious-looking body.
When she finally sat on my lap, I held in a moan, trying to avoid thinking about everything I wanted to do with her. But I longed for her trust and friendship more than anything. If I couldn’t be with her while we waited, maybe I could sometime in the future.
As she made herself comfortable, she rested her head on my shoulder. Her breath tickled my neck, making my desire and my cock harder to ignore.
Suddenly, I felt her lips on my cheek. “Thank you for all your help in finding these…Kalpierenes.”
I resisted the temptation to turn toward her, to catch her lips and take the kiss I yearned for. Because she’d said no. “Anything for you.”
Her head returned to my shoulder. When I heard her soft snores, I leaned back and hoped I would be able to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Xacalla
The warmth and comfort after waking up in Phalon’s arms seemed far away as we trudged out of the cargo bay doors of the shuttle we’d hitched a ride in to get to Arodin. I had no idea if the triplets had arrived before us, but we headed into the spaceport building to find out.
Though my eyes remained the only part of my body not covered, I immediately felt the sting and dryness from the cold. Hearing about the frigid temperatures on a planet was one thing but experiencing them proved quite different.
Phalon pulled open the door to the spaceport for me. “They are not automatic here. With the wind, they’d be opening all the time.”
I’d never thought about that, but it made sense to keep the cold and snow out. As we waited in the vestibule for the first door to close so the second set would open, hot air blasted down on us from a vent in the ceiling. Quite the change when I still wore my extreme-cold gear.
Phalon removed his hood then his mask. And when I saw his lips, my body heated up even more, forgetting the cold completely. We hadn’t kissed back on Yatak, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility and the way he’d held me so close while we slept in that shack. The kiss at the club had felt so magical, even if it wasn’t real. I worried any intimate moment in the shack would have ruined the enchantment I’d felt with the first press of his lips to mine, turned him into one of the many others I’d thought I was attracted to, only to learn we really had no connection between us. Though part of me wondered if we had started kissing again, whether it would have led to something much more passionate. I might never know, never getthe chance to feel his lips on mine again. But one look from him made my heart race. His simple touch ignited a desire I’d never felt with anyone before. Sure, my siblings had told me repeatedly to avoid hooking up with a space racer because it would never be permanent or about anything more than sex. Yet, Phalon wasn’t a racer anymore. And he hadn’t tried anything with me in that shack after I’d said no. I never expected someone like him to show any attraction to me anyway. I didn’t dress for attention like the racer groupies and always tried to blend into the background. Yet, he’d wanted to kiss me. A real one. Not just to blend in like the one in the club. It was the first time I’d regretted saying no to anyone.
“After you.”
I gasped, yanked from my thoughts of Phalon to see him holding open the second door. “Th-thank you.” I ducked inside, relieved I’d yet to remove my mask so he missed my flushed cheeks.
While I lowered my hood, removed my mask and mittens, and unzipped my parka, Phalon marched over to the desk. Only one counter in the entire building for arrivals and departures.
“Excuse me.” He glanced over the counter at the dark-frilled, dark-skinned woman on the other side. “We were supposed to meet another cargo ship here. Please tell me we’re not too late.”
“One arrived not long ago.” She glanced down at her clipboard. “Dropped off a large crate and sent it on behind a chantate to be taken to the people who live in the mining village. Said it was supplies, though not a shipment I had on my schedule. They left right after.”
“Coddleswap!” Phalon winced and turned away from the counter.
I took his place; sure I assumed the same as him about that crate. “Okay, we’re going to need something faster than a chantate to take us toward the same village.”
The woman shook her head. “No can do. There’s a storm coming in. It doesn’t matter how fast your ride is. You’ll never make it to the village.”
“We don’t have to make it to the village.” Phalon appeared beside me, his fists clenched, though his voice was pleading instead of angry. “We just have to make it to that crate.”
The woman stood. “I won’t allow you to steal the village’s supplies.”
