Page 149 of Tamed By Her Touch

Soon they would find the cure, go back to the Mother Ship, return to their laboratory, and presumably resume arguing about where she stored her equipment and whether coffee counted as an acceptable laboratory beverage. So there was absolutely no reason for her chest to ache because the big grouch hadn’t been beside her when she woke. Absolutely none.

Right?

Clair sat up and immediately noticed that her clothes had been laid neatly across the chair near the bed. Kaelus had probably selected them before he left.

She smiled despite herself. He might have left for the day without saying goodbye, but at least he’d been thinking of her.

She showered quickly, dressed in the soft green dress he had apparently chosen for her, and ran her fingers through her curls until they looked reasonably presentable. Then she made her way toward the kitchen, following the faint hum of equipment and the sweet floral scent she now recognized immediately as veloria.

Maera stood at a curved counter wearing a flowing blue-green dress, pouring thick pale-lavender nectar into two tall crystal glasses. The silver flecks suspended in the liquid caught the morning light and shimmered like tiny stars.

“Good morning, my dear!” she exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder if you would sleep until midday.”

Clair yawned.

“I might have if my husband hadn’t abandoned me.” The words slipped out before she could stop them.

Maera gave her a knowing smile.

“He did not abandon you. Kaelus was up very early this morning. He asked me to tell you that he wanted to get an early start at the Blood Archive and would return as soon as he could.”

Clair paused halfway to the counter.

“He went already? With Sendar?”

“No.” Maera handed her one of the veloria shakes. “He specifically said he preferred to work alone today.”

Clair took the glass and immediately understood.

“Hmm, all right,” she murmured.

Maera lifted an eyebrow. “That sounds significant.”

“It might be.”

Clair took a sip of the sweet floral nectar. She was already becoming accustomed to the flavor, which worried her slightly because at this rate she was going to miss the stuff when they left.

“Sendar was blocking him from certain records yesterday,” she said. “Especially the old Savage Period samples. Kaelus probably figured he’d have better luck getting into the restricted sections without him hanging over his shoulder.”

Maera nodded.

“Ah, I see. I didn’t know Sendar was blocking him—he was told to give you both full access to the samples as long as you were learning our ways.” She gave Clair a significant look. “And after last night, I’d definitely say you are.”

“Er, thank you. Kaelus is a fast learner.” Clair ducked her head and took another sip of her lavender nectar drink.

“It must be a miscommunication—next time I talk to Sendar I’ll let him know to give Kaelus access to all the samples,” Maera said.

“Thank you.” Clair nodded and her eyes drifted toward the doorway despite herself. She wished Kaelus had awakened her before he left.

Which was stupid—he had probably let her sleep because he knew she was exhausted. In fact, knowing Kaelus, he had probably spent several minutes debating whether waking her would interfere with her recovery and then decided her need for sleep outweighed her possible desire to know where he was going.

The thought should have made her feel better. Instead, she wished he had kissed her goodbye.

Oh, Lord, I’m in trouble, she thought. I have a big, fat crush on my fake husband. What am I going to do when we leave Titus Four and I don’t have any excuse to touch him other anymore?

She had no answer for that, so she consoled herself by drinking more veloria nectar. Maybe if she drank enough, she could chemically alter her brain until it stopped thinking idiotic things like how much she wished she and Kaelus were really a couple.

“Well,” she said briskly, doing her best to push the big Hybrid out of her thoughts with only limited success. “If my husband has decided to get a jump on the science, then I refuse to be outdone.”