Page 31 of Radiant Exception
Hearing my first name from Lark’s lips had thrown me into a haze of anger. I hadn’t meant to drag her well across the bridge into the office, but I didn’t want to have a screaming match with her in front of the others. It was bad enough they’d seen what they had, and no doubt the rest of the crew already knew a version of what had happened, via Cassidy.
She’d slapped me and I’d been angry, but I’d also known I’d deserved it, and then I saw the blood.
Truth be told, her injuries could have been so much worse, but that didn’t make me feel like any less of an asshole for being the one responsible for them in the first place. I was thankful I kept first aid supplies in my desk and even more so that she allowed me to dress her wounds.
I’d intentionally gotten on the floor to show her, with actions as well as words, how sorry I was, and that I understood I was not above her. Perhaps in rank, but not in that room, not in that moment.
I hadn’t expected her to kiss me—couldn’t even imagine she’d open up to me again after everything I’d put her through, but she’d pulled me in. Like gravity, I suddenly found myself in her orbit, helpless to pull away. Ethan joked about Cassidy having a crush on Lark, but it was me he should have been worrying about.
Years of repressed desire came forth. I’d never wanted any woman the way I wanted Lark Sterling. I wanted her so much it scared me. The way she’d rolled her hips against me still had me half hard, and thanks to Cassidy, I hadn’t even gotten the chance to do much elsethan allow her to dry hump me, while I took the opportunity to let my mouth explore the expanse of her creamy skin.
I recalled Lark the night before in those innocent white panties and tank top and thought of all the other places I needed to explore. Would she be able to forgive me for making a bad call and putting her in danger?
My head was spinning. This woman had me completely discombobulated. There was a storm of thoughts coursing through my consciousness.
Was there even still a chance she’d want to work with me on the mission? I hadn’t gotten the chance to tell her I’d changed my mind, everything happened so fast. I hoped she wouldn’t think what unfolded in my office swayed things.
She was right that I’d let Sully have the run of the place when it came to maintenance, and I should have done a better job of monitoring the situation. I needed to have a serious conversation with her about her recommendations for part replacements so we would be more prepared for the next thing that failed.
Lark was also right that I had been shortsighted to chase schedule bonuses because I was responsible for buying those parts, not Starlane, since I was just a contractor. And even on the secondhand market, ship components weren’t cheap.
Why hadn’t I listened to her? All of this could have been avoided. My regret was manifesting through another headache, suffusing through every muscle in my body.
I didn’t have long left on my shift and then I would see her again, and my eagerness to be in that small room, alone, with her, wearing next to nothing, was palpable.
If I was smart, I’d keep things professional. We had a high-profile mission to work together.
Butshe’dkissed me. She’d made it very clear that she wanted me. So why wasn’t I allowed to want her back? I had never been one to be selfish, like the good soldier I’d been trained to be. But where had that gotten me?
Alone.
If things had gone differently, I could have lost her, due to my own stupidity and poor leadership. I’d been avoiding her for too long, in a shitty attempt to ignore what was building inside, this desire I’d never felt the likes of, that was turning me inside out. I’d tried to ignore her and how she made me feel, but after kissing her again, I knew that would be impossible going forward.
I didn’t want to come on too strong, or scare her off, but in that moment, I decided to tell Lark I wanted to give this thing—whatever it was—a real shot, and see where it went and see what she had to say on the matter.
The only problem was that when I finally made it down to my quarters, Lark was nowhere to be found.
I’d dismissed Chadwick when I left to confront Vaughn, asking him to clean up the mess he’d made on the floor before he left, with a soft “please.” I was appreciative to see that he’d acquiesced to my request, despite the state of him.
Other than the steady hum of the engine, my office was quiet, leaving me alone with my thoughts…such a dangerous place to be after how I’d left things up on the bridge.
I stared at my blank comm screen for an indeterminate amount of time while I replayed that fucking kiss over and over and over again.
This attraction to Vaughn was becoming a problem.
I hadn’t meant to dry hump him like a dog in heat, but his hands were everywhere, and the way he kissed me absolutely lit me on fire. At certain points, it almost felt like an out-of-body experience, surrendering to how he made my body physically respond to him. I was completely out of control of my actions.
I should have been embarrassed, but oddly, I couldn’t find it in me to feel any sort of shame. I wanted to kiss him, and so I had.
A knock on the doorframe pulled me from my reverie.
I looked up to find Cassidy’s bottle-green eyes darkened, his brow pinched in concern. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, taking slow strides into my office before sitting in the chair across from me.
“Yeah.” I nodded, my voice not coming out as loud as I had wanted it to.
He held out his hand expectantly across the desk.
I glanced down at it and then back up at him in confusion.
