Page 81 of Shattered Silence

“Layla.” His low voice penetrated deep into her thoughts. “The past is exactly that.”

“Are you a mind reader?”

“No. The question is written on your face.”

“I can’t help but wonder,” she murmured. “It’s because I care.”

He took her face into his hands, caressing her cheeks, her jaw, his touch both roughly possessive and reverent, turning into to pure tenderness as he studied her closely, his intense, searching gaze roaming across her face like a gentle caress. “Huh,” he said, as if he’d just stumbled across the most unbelievable thing. “Huh.”

“Why does that surprise you?” Layla drew strength from his intense scrutiny, feeling adored. For a woman who was used to being stared at by billions of people across Earth’s networks, this was strangely humbling.

“Not surprised. Simply appreciating my good fortune.” He didn’t say anything more after that, instead choosing to capture her lips with his own, running his fingers through her long hair and down the nape of her neck. The way he touched her was a statement in itself—she was unequivocally his, and his alone.

“I’ll be back,” she said softly as she disentangled herself from his arms. It was difficult beyond belief. “And then we can appreciate our good fortune together.”

“Indeed,” he rumbled, his lingering gaze holding the heat of a thousand suns. “And I will do a lot more than just appreciate…” He gently swatted her ass.

Emboldened by his teasing, Layla raised a sly eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Really.”

And that was that.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The doors to Enki’s quarters unravelled, and Layla stepped inside, feeling a little bit deflated. She’d returned to Alexis’s pod only to find Enki gone. Another warrior had been standing guard in his stead, and she recognized him as one of the three who had been in the labs earlier—the guy who looked like a bruiser—huge and solidly muscled, with a broad-featured face and a good-natured smile, although Layla was certain that smile could turn into pure thunder in a heartbeat.

“Enki told me to tell you that he’s sorry,” he’d said with an apologetic shrug. “He was summoned. You know how it is. Can’t keep the boss waiting. He’ll be back as soon as he can. Says his pod is probably the best place for the two of you to meet. Don’t worry, we’ll look after Alexis.”

After delivering a tray laden with a few of the most delicious offerings from the kitchen-bot—a bowl of steaming ramen, fried chicken wings, cinnamon croissants, and a banana smoothie—Layla had sat with Alexis as the frightened woman devoured the food, her unease and paranoia melting away with each bite.

Good food tended to have that effect on humans. Layla knew all about that.

Then Abbey had appeared, and introductions were made, and Alexis really seemed to calm down a lot after that, although Layla thought she’d caught a slightly paranoid glint in her eyes from time to time.

Well, the woman had just come back from the fucking dead, so she was entitled to be a little paranoid.

Layla had left Alexis in Abbey’s practical hands, and that had been fine, because the diminutive woman had a way of disarming just about anyone.

In a twist that made perfect sense, it turned out that Abbey was married—married, as in Earth-style married!—to the red-eyed boss-mercenary with the semi-permanent scowl. To Layla, that made perfect sense, because he needed someone like Abbey.

Seriously.

And she needed Enki, right now.

She sighed as she flopped down on Enki’s pod, closing her eyes and spreading her arms wide, trying to lessen the ferocity of the sudden need that coursed through her.

A slow-motion sequence of events played through her mind—leaving Earth, traveling on the Malachi, the devastation of the asteroid storm, the sheer torture of waiting for death in the escape-pod, the horrors onboard that nightmare Kordolian warship—and she wondered how she was still sane.

“Layla.” And just like that, the answer to all her questions loomed over her, materializing out of her very own thoughts.

“Enki.” Her eyes fluttered open. Her heart hammered. A tender ache spread between her legs. “When did you…”

Seriously, the man was a fucking ghost.

She stared at him, taking in his formidable appearance. He’d discarded his casual robes in favor of the sleek black armor that perfectly encased every contour, every hard plane, and every chiseled line of his body. As per usual, his face was impossible to read, laced with a hint of darkness… and lust.

Layla didn’t know why, but she sensed that he’d just been… fighting. He had that look about him again, the one she’d seen when he was in warrior-mode on the Kordolian nightmare ship. Controlled savagery. That was it.

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