Page 26 of Secretly Abducted
"Ouch." He comes in, settling on the edge of my platform. The movement makes the ice cream bowl wobble, and I steady it. "That bad?"
"He literally had me shuttled away."
"Shit. What happened?"
"We woke up together—cuddling, you know? It was nice. Really nice. So I thought maybe we could take things further."
"And?"
"And he acted like I'd suggested we murder puppies." I take another bite of ice cream, the sweetness cloying now. "Said we hardly knew each other, that yesterday was too fast, that goodbye was for the best."
"Yesterday? I thought you've been with him since the storm?"
"That was yesterday."
"Oh." Finn blinks. "Alex, you tried to have sex with someone you've known for literally one day?"
"When you say it like that it sounds bad."
"It sounds fast."
"We had a connection!"
"You had one day."
Tev'ra appears with a tray of drinks—something blue and slightly glowing in delicate glasses. "I thought perhaps beverages would help."
"Alcohol?" I ask hopefully.
"It has similar properties for humans."
"Perfect." I take one and down half of it immediately. It burns pleasantly, tastes like something between vodka and fruit juice.
Tev'ra settles elegantly on the floor, somehow making it look graceful. "Perhaps you could explain the full situation?"
So I do. Starting with finding him at the platform, the zhik'ra forest tour, the storm shelter, the cuddling, sleeping together. By the time I'm done, my banana split is soup and I'm on my second drink.
"He panicked," Tev'ra says simply.
"You think?"
"Vel'aan has been in isolation for a decade. You represented significant change very quickly."
"But he was into it. He was literally glowing when I touched him."
"Involuntary responses don't always align with emotional readiness." Tev'ra sips his drink thoughtfully. "From what you describe, you were his first meaningful contact in ten years. That's overwhelming."
"So I scared him off."
"You moved faster than he could process."
I groan, sliding down to lie flat on the platform. "I fucked up."
"You moved too fast," Finn corrects, stealing my spoon to try the melted ice cream. "Jesus, this is sweet."
"It's sadness soup."
"It's diabetes in a bowl."
