Page 38 of Stealing the Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lords 3)

He pulled the mask away from his face and rasped, “Everyone okay?”

In quiet mumbles, each of his crew declared they were fine. Zeek patted his torso and checked his pockets. “Damn. I lost my favorite blade.”

Of course that was his concern, Aidan thought sardonically. “Zeek, Ash, get to the control room. We still can’t leave the atmosphere till our time’s up, but get us above the storm.”

The two hurried away to the sounds of the ship’s outer hull being battered.

“Onnika, how about you? You okay?” He was surprised to realize the depth of his concern.

She was kneeling in front of him, and he realized it was her mask he now wore. “I’m fine. How are you? Do you need anything?”

“Water,” he wheezed.

Priya rushed to comply. “I’ll get it.”

As Onnika brushed some of the sand from his face with the hem of her dress, Aidan noticed a small cut on her cheek. He couldn’t say when that had happened. Her hair was a wild nest of sand-caked locks, and her skin was layered in a fine dust but for the section around her nose and mouth where the mask had been.

None of it diminished her allure. He must have been delirious from lack of oxygen, because he found himself reaching up to rub his thumb along her cheek while resisting the wild urge to pull her into his embrace.

She cocked her head. “How could you still want me when you think so little of me?”

He retracted his hand. Sucking up the last of the oxygen in his unit, he tossed it aside. “What makes you think I still want you?”

He thought she might tease him over the unguarded admission that he had at one point, in fact, wanted her, but she only frowned down at him. “You came back for me.”

“Well, I’m not a total dick.”

“You gave me the only breathing unit.”

“Again, not a total dick.”

She stood, gazing down at him with a disturbing lack of emotion. “You have my gratitude for getting us to safety. We’ll be off your ship at the next stop.”

With that, she glanced at Caryn, who nodded as though the two had just exchanged an entire conversation in that one fleeting look. Caryn politely thanked Lear before they both strode away.

But before she left, Onnika shot Aidan a last devastated look and said, “I’m not as terrible as you’d like to believe.”

Lear stepped forward to take Onnika’s place, standing over him. “What the shit did you do?”

---