Page 67 of Meteor Storm

I stood with her, a part of me wanting to tell her to stay. It would make looking out for her easier if she was housed in the crew wing, but her room had been outfitted with a more suitable amount of heat. It made sense for her to go back. But…I craved her presence. When there was no more danger, I still wanted to know where she was. What she was doing. What she was thinking.

“There’s something I want to try first,” Penny said, hoisting herself up on the bench beside me.

I was looking up at her now, my gaze level with her neck, a part of her I’d never really taken the time to admire before. In that fleeting moment, an ache of temptation swept through me, and I found myself wanting to trace my tongue along the smooth curve of her skin.

I opened my mouth to ask what she was doing when she took my face between her hands and pressed her mouth to mine. Her lips were soft. Pliant. Cool against the heat of my own. I rested my hands against her waist to keep her steady on the narrow bench, but the moment I touched her, I wanted to sweep her off her feet and hold her against me. She was still so cold. So unaccustomed to low temperatures.

When she slowly pulled her lips from mine, I felt robbed. I hadn’t even noticed that I closed my eyes until I was opening them again to see those vivid, brown pools looking back at me.

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips and I watched it, taken by the delicate movement.

“It’s called a kiss,” she whispered. “I don’t know if it’s something you do where you’re from. Humans barely do it anymore, if I’m being honest.”

“We do it from time to time. It’s an old custom. Usually very intimate.”

“Um…” she said, her cheeks brightening with color. “Yeah, it’s meant to be intimate on Earth, too.”

I blinked, noticing her hands were still against my cheeks.

“Then why would you—”

She dropped her hands. “Sorry. I guess I just got a little carried away. It’s just, when a guy saves a girl over and over and holds her hand while she’s scared for her life on an operating table, she can get a little attached.” She moved down from the bench and put a step of distance between us. “It’ll pass. Us humans are fickle. And, um, I got that out of my system, so…”

No one’s words affected me quite like hers did. It was crushing to hear her dismiss what we’d just done like it was a mistake, but I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t reciprocate. I was caught off guard by the tenderness of it. By the closeness.

By my desire for more.

And hanging over my head was the idea that my spending time with her at all should have been analytical, not because I wanted to. After all, I had a judgement to prepare for. My actions on Mekah Prime were going to be investigated and my relationship with Penny was certainly going to be scrutinized. Whether that would help my case or not, I couldn’t be sure. Any other monrian would separate desire from duty with ease.

I was not any other monrian. Not anymore. I sought vengeance for personal reasons. I killed for personal reasons. And I was yearning for Penny as if she was mine.

The arena and my solitude among miscreants, criminals, and manipulation had changed me. It shouldn’t have. My upbringing should have shielded me against all of it. It should have kept me on track even around distractions and temptation.

“What are you thinking?” Penny asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about. Have I offended you?”

She smiled. It was an empty expression. One she would have had on Mekah when there was nothing good to cling to.

“It takes a lot more to offend me. I’ve got a thicker skin that you think.”

“Your skin is incredibly thin in comparison to—”

“It’s an expression. I just mean that I’m not offended. I probably shouldn’t have kissed you without asking.”

The fact that she regretted it hurt more than anything. The games came to mind and the fact that neither of us were able to give consent when it came to the affairs on Mekah. Now she was apologizing for pressing her lips to mine when I had done far more.

“Don’t,” she said. “I can tell you’re thinking about the arena. I don’t know how many times we have to go through this. That was different. And whatever is going on with your people, they have to realize that.”

“We are raised to honor codes and laws. I’ll be evaluated soon for not only the things I did to you, but the way I conducted myself during and after my time on Mekah.”

“What would you do after that would come into question?”

“I am only speculating.”

“Ok, well speculate about the fact that I asked you to help me train and that’s all.”

“I have considered that. It is just… being alone with you causes my mind and my body to stray.”