Page 16 of 3 Secrets to Love
“So, what are you going to do?” She seemed to love her job, and the whole situation was unfortunate. Though I would never tell her I was glad she’d been the one assigned to bring the Kalpierenes to meet me, even if it did cause us to nearly die and she did lose her job from it.
Xacalla shrugged. “I don’t think I have a choice. If I continue to work for them, I definitely won’t be allowed to help carry out any of the wishes. There is back-end administrative stuff, but it’s not as fulfilling.”
“You could work for me.” I didn’t have a chance to stop the words before I blurted them out. “I’m not sure what though. Maybe you could be my manager. Or my bodyguard.”
“Funny.” As she gave me a fake smile, she wrinkled her nose in the cutest way. Stars, this was why I never spent too much time with those I was attracted to. It led to me wanting to spend time with them in ways that involved more than getting naked and having sex. Sure, I’d known Xacalla for a long time, but I’d never thought about her as anything more than my teammate’s kid sister until a couple days ago. Now, the idea of not seeing her left my stomach queasy.
“Anyway…” She released a heavy sigh. “Minister Taleron of the Council of the Quadrants has asked me if I would look after the children for now, so that’s something to do. There are apparently two parties claiming to be the official caretakers for them, and no one on the council is sure which one is telling the truth.”
“That is a problem.” I worried if it was safe to go back to Eurebly with both parties there, waiting for the children. “Did she give you any idea on what each group is saying?”
“No.” She shook her head. “She said it was best if I didn’t know until the situation had been resolved. But I think the Kalpierene kids would be able to tell them if either or both groups are out to end their lives.”
“You would think.” The space ahead was clear for quite a distance, so I had a chance to turn to face Xacalla. “So, did you talk to anyone else while you left me all alone in the cockpit?”
She blushed as a warm smile spread across her lips. “I talked to my sister.”
“Oh, really?” I had seen her older sister in passing during previous “family and friends” events, but never really talked to her since becoming an aerobatics pilot. “And what did Brely have to say?”
“She told me I’m spending too much time with you.” Xacalla’s cheeks reddened even more, leaving me curious as to why her sister’s caution would make her blush.
“I don’t see a problem with that. Do you?”
With a soft laugh, she glanced away from me, instead, staring ahead into the emptiness of space. “I mean, it hasn’t been that bad unless you consider getting shot with a plazer, flying through space at speeds that wreak havoc on my body, and almost dying in a snowstorm.”
“True.” I reached over and ran my fingers under the palm of her hand to see how she would react. “But is any of that truly my fault?”
She closed her hand around mine, the simple gesture leaving my heart racing for reasons I didn’t understand. I’d had plenty of fans proposition me for sex, and I took many of them up on it, but this was a whole lot different. It meant something more.
“Maybe some of it, but there were parts I enjoyed, too.”
“Really? Which parts?” I had to know; my desire to learn everything about her on overdrive.
She smiled, biting her tongue between her teeth, but never released my hand. “I’ll tell you when this is all over. Right now, I need to stay focused on the kids behind us.”
“Okay, I will hold you to that.” While I didn’t want to pull my hand away from hers, I needed both of mine to get the spacecraft moving faster so I could get us to Eurebly as swiftly as possible.
Chapter Eleven
Xacalla
Standing on the balcony of my hotel room, I took in the sweet nighttime air of Isador, the capital city of Gaunb. We didn’t make it to Eurebly, instead getting a message from Minister Taleron to meet her on yet another planet in Quadrant Three after new developments about the Kalpierene children had emerged. Both Phalon and I had confirmed the authenticity of the message using separate sources before he changed course. Yet, when we arrived on Gaunb, the minister arrived on the runway to greet our jet and take over care for the triplets. We weren’t given any other details, but the council put us up in a hotel, each with our own room, for the night, and promised us transportation back to Eurebly once we had been debriefed. After having an ultrasonic shower, I ordered a proper meal from room service and read all my messages on my P-comm—though not allowed to respond to any of them. I ate and read, but even with all that had happened since I had last slept in the cave on Arodin, I couldn’t settle.
Glancing out into the city, I enjoyed the darkness, the night not marred by the neon lights of multiple levels of hover traffic like on Eurebly. Up in the sky, I could actually see the stars beyond the planet. Not the same as flying through space, but it held a different appeal, twinkling dots seeming magical rather than the ball of fire they were. While the view seemed beautiful, it also felt very lonely. Back on Eurebly, I didn’t have many friends, but when I wasn’t off on a wish mission, there was always someone around and something to do. People were everywhere. In the hotel on Gaunb, I was confined to my room, not allowed any form of communication until my debriefing the next day.
I sighed and considered going back inside to lie down and try to sleep, but I heard the balcony door open to the suite next to mine. Phalon walked out, wearing only a pair of night shorts, and his muscular and bare chest exposed. I’d spent a lot of time around the former racer, but not once did I see him with so little clothing. My heart raced in a way I didn’t understand. Part of me wanted to run back inside and pretend I hadn’t seen him, while another part urged me to hop over onto his balcony and see if I could get another kiss and a whole lot more of his attention.
“Xacalla?”
My cheeks warmed when I realized he must have seen me staring at him. “Um, hi.” I wanted to melt into the balcony or just disappear into the air.
“Couldn’t sleep, either?”
I swallowed down my embarrassment, trying not to act weird around him after we’d already spent so much time together. “No. It’s, ah, too quiet here. I’m not used to it.”
“Yeah.” He stepped closer and held onto the edge of the railing. “Me, too. Wanna come over?”
“I…uh…” As much as I tried to answer, my brain short-circuited and couldn’t come up with anything else to say.
