— Elaeya —
I got up in the afternoon.
The sky was still grey, and it was hard to tell the time of the day.
There was tension in the air I could not originate. I knew I would not be able to sleep much longer, so I got up. I could hear a voice booming from below, muffled by various walls
— Kaden — “What do you mean?” I asked.“I… My instincts are sharper than most. If I open my senses, I can get more. I don’t always control what I get or how much, but I can aim it a little,” Elaeya explained.“Is that how you saw my injuries?”“I didn’t see them, at least not with my eyes.”“What else did you see?”“I see…” She tilted her head slightly, her eyes getting out of focus again, her hand resting on my chest again. “I see that contact between us helps heal you faster.”“Does it?” I supposed it wasn’t a far-fetched idea if it was the distance that had caused it. “Does this help?” I pressed my lips on hers.Frankly, I could stop all life plans and just kiss her for the rest of my life. That sounded like an excellent retirement plan. I don’t remember being this obsessed with physical contact with a woman since puberty.She nodded, but didn’t break the kiss, so I slid my hands on either side of her hips and pulled her astride me. This was much better.The fact that half her back
— Elaeya —His phone rang again.He sighed as he looked at his screen.“Yeah,” he answered.‘You want me to leave?’ I mouthed silent
— Elaeya —When I turned around and looked at him, his eyes looked dark, his posture had changed, and I realized what this looked like. This is not what I intended. What did I intend?I didn’t think. I went on instincts. But why? There had to be a reason. In looking for that reason in my head, I got closer to him. It had to do with his situation. He needed to heal, and I suddenly knew that I both helped
— Mishka —I was sitting on a bench in a plane with a small battalion getting ready for battle. Alpha Devon—the other Alpha Devon—was in the office with the captains preparing for the take-over and occupation of Nubinero.I had my head against the wall of the cabin, with my eyes closed. It would be nice if I could get a nap, but we were so cramped up together that it would take a small miracle for
— Kaden —I never realized how terrible my dating game was.What do people do? Where do they go? What do they talk about?And she was not helping me. Not one bit. But again, she probably didn’t know more than I did.
— Kaden —She had been silent for a while now. All our plates were empty.I called the end of the evening, and everyone got up.Sam began piling plates and kicked Stellan, who got the gist of it, and the guys took everything back to the kitchen.
—Kaden —When the phone rang this time, I woke up.I took it from the nightstand and gave it straight to Elaeya without looking at it. I was lying on my side with her nested in my arms, her face pressed against my chest.I could have slept a few more hours, at least.
— Elaeya —I slept surprisingly well, though I found the landing a little jarring and my ears kept popping. I never expected air travel to be such a strange experience.I went inside the small bathroom once we landed and tried to straighten out, thinking of what Mariqueen told me.On t