Page 8 of Stars At Dusk

‘You all done now?’ she shot at him.

‘Damn! It’s been a long couple of quantum-crazy weeks. Didn’t know that laugh was what I needed.’

‘Are you after my food or not?’

‘I’m starving, that’s for sure. But I won’t take your food, Harlow,’ he told her, barely controlling his chuckles.

Her brows rose. ‘You know my name?’

‘I do.’

‘Don’t know yours, and I still can’t see you,’ she said bluntly. ‘It’s getting rather silly talking to a somewhat empty wall.’

‘Your wish is my command, Miss Meridien,’ Kage drawled.

She rolled her eyes in his direction and crossed her hands over her generous chest.

He sent a quick command to his neural node and HUD. His suit glimmered, and he appeared, leaning against the entrance wall to her apartment.

To her credit, she didn’t break out into a scream.

Instead, he watched her eyes widen, her irises tracking the entire length of his tall and broad frame, from his helmet to his low-sheen, fitted meta suit and thick, anti-grav boots, taking note of his side piece and knife slots.

She leaned in, studying the suit closely.

‘I was right,’ she whispered, almost to herself, peering closer to look. ‘A meta-material fractal shield. Built into an armoured suit. No, wait, integrated under the skin. It’s bio-nano tech. Wild!’

‘Impressive deduction,’ he drawled, as his reflective visor helmet retracted away from his face and scalp.

Her eyes opened wide. ‘Well, hello!’ she said under her breath.

2

You just haven’t met the right man

Harlow

Forget his fractal shield and armoured suit.

The impressive specimen that required intense study was under that helmet and suit.

Harlow swallowed.

He was TALL. BROAD. THICK.

The armoured suit was straining against the mountain of muscle that was ALL of him. His shoulders were a wall unto themselves. His shredded arms crossed over a chest that was generous and bulky. Not exactly flat, but Harlow wouldn’t have dared run into it because it looked like he bounced boulders off it for fun. His hips were low and muscled. And his thighs!Mother, they kept on giving. The intertwined logs sculpted down to his massive booted feet, one of which was braced back against the wall.

But it was his face that threw her for six.

It was crowned with a mass of short jet-black hair with streaks of blue and silver.

Below a broad, powerful forehead were eyes in a storm of deep-set, silver grey. Further, a broken nose, chiselled and angular. Lips full and lush. Then there was the swathe of jagged scars down one side of his face. Framed by a bushy black beard shot with silver. Under which she could see a stubborn jaw.

She ran her eyes over his face again, noting the lines under and along his bloodshot eyes. He wasn’t some opportunistic food stalker. On the contrary, he was a dangerously potent and armed man.

Hot damn.

But first things first.

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