Page 19 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
When Makir slipped his fingers from beneath mine, he stole my heat with it. I hadn’t realized I’d been brushing my thumb through his soft fur until my hand was empty. If I snatched his back, would I seem desperate?
“Sisip, I’m so glad to see you!” Makir stood from where he’d been sitting cross-legged at the end of my sleeping bag. I could hear him explaining about the melted starter, the attack of the beavers and my fall. He played it up.
“It was terrifying. Out of nowhere, sharp teeth sank into my ankle, and Geo rushed to my rescue.”
If by rushed, he meant I’d fallen off a cliff. Why was he making me out to be a hero instead of an idiot? Whatever the reason, I could have kissed him for it.
Hmmm. How would those blue lips feel? Soft and buttery? Would they melt against mine and taste of the ginger cookies my mom baked at Christmas? Or would they be the kind of firm that gave with just the right amount of pressure? Either way, they would yield to mine somewhere in the very near future. That knowledge resonated in my bones.
D’irk, one of the enforcers, climbed the tower of debris where I’d set up my tent last night and brought it down for me. With my supplies gathered, I packed them into my duffel bag while mentally thanking JayJay for his foresight in throwing in my tent and sleeping bag. Then I pinched myself. There would be no thank-yous for JayJay. He was responsible for this forced wilderness adventure. I would never have signed up for an impromptu camping trip on a planet where no one really knew what had survived the Fires That Cleanse.
Makir’s soft purr echoed in my memory, along with whispers of a remembered touch. “Nah,” I muttered. I pressed my fingers to the bump above my eye. That couldn’t have happened, but Makir’s eyeshadchanged from silver to lavender—that was real. Something had changed during the night.
My name in his soft purr had been real too. I would focus on that. If anything good had come from this unplanned adventure, it was Makir finally calling me by my name. No more archbuilder.
Makir rushed to my aid as I limped toward the hover trailer. The vibrations turning me inside out in Makir’s presence had disappeared entirely and been replaced by a cozy blanket of contentment.
“How’s your ankle?” Makir purred, a soft question, as the tip of his tail gently brushed over my boot right at the tenderest spot.
With the slightest hitch, I clambered up to where the enforcers were gathered and leaned against Makir. My head throbbed and my ankle ached, but when I paused and strained my eyes to look up, my heart stuttered. That was a long fucking way down.
“Way better than it should be.”
His purr drew me closer, his body warm and solid against me.
“Thanks for last night, Makir.” My voice rumbled. Fuck, he smelled good.
His eyes met mine and held. The silver and lavender swirled and drew me so close I could’ve unzipped his jumpsuit with my teeth.
Sisip cleared her throat and adjusted the high collar of her uniform, and I forced myself to step away from Makir’s delicious pull. Then, with an amused twist to her split-lip cat’s mouth, she looked between Makir and me, then at the stacks of lamar on the hover trailer. “I need to put in a request to your building crew, Geo. I wish for an opening to allow light into my dwelling now that you and Makir have sourced all this lamar.”
I scanned the horizon, and inventoried the scene around me. The wastelands were shockingly beautiful in the morning light. Sun refracted light in a kaleidoscope over stacks of lamar, casting sunrise-peach prisms where it touched.
“How did you find us?” Makir twisted his hair into a braid. It was extra unruly this morning, and as soon as he bound it, I wanted to unravel it and run my fingers through it until it was messy again. Plus, his ears were exposed. They were for my eyes only.
Sisip logged a note on her wristport. “Your neighbor, Raz, filed a missing person report.”
Makir immediately tensed and his eyes turned a solid silver. He grabbed his tail. “That was…kind.”
What was going on with Makir’s neighbor?
Sisip’s tawny ears twitched as her gaze scanned the wastelands, constantly on alert. “Let’s get you back to Yurstille and over to the medic. Makir said you took quite the tumble.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need to see the medic.”
“It’s Intergalactic Federation policy. You must seek medical attention if you’re injured on the job.” Her no-nonsense voice brooked no further discussion.
It only took moments for Makir to repair his hoverbike with their wealth of spare parts, and just like that, I was back on the trailer behind Makir’s hoverbike, heading toward Yurstille with an entourage of enforcers guiding our way.
“For the tenth time, I’m fine.” I brushed away JayJay’s concern.
When he wouldn’t stop his mothering I showed him the report, trying to convince him the doctor had given me the all clear. We’d both questioned Dr. Ten’s notation about “unusually accelerated healing.”
I spent the afternoon blissfully alone while JayJay checked in with the crews. I reviewed the progress report from yesterday, and everything was on track. A few emails for extra projects had come in. Sully, my only married crew member, saved every penny for his elaborate house plans. His family was expected on the supply ship due in three months. He would be up for a side project, so I scheduled him for a few weekend jobs.
I typed out a quick email to Ginger. Pretty please, more pictures of Pika and Charz. As much as I hated to admit it, my head hurt. Though not as much as it should have. Fingertips massaging my scalp ghosted through my memories. “I think I overdid it,” I muttered, shaking my muggy head and resting on my bunk.
A couple of hours later, I woke to a rumbling chorus of “Boss man.” My crew, finished for the day, lazily gathered fresh clothes and shower gear from their bunks.
