Page 35 of Radiant Exception
While she puttered around behind the door, I took a seat on the edge of the bed to consider if this was the right time to discuss what I’d been hoping to talk to her about. Although the right thing to do would be to wait until she was sober, I also knew I’d get a more honest response from her in her current state.
How was I even going to broach the topic? I’d never been in this situation. Because what I’d cut Ethan off from revealing to Lark was that I’d never been in a relationship before.
I’d never wanted one before.
I was a soldier.
I wasn’t supposed to survive.
But now I had, and all the things I’d pretended I didn’t want were possible, and I wanted her. More than that, I wanted her to want only me. I didn’t desire something casual. I’d done that before, with one-night hookups, or brief flings in temporary stations, where both parties knew it had a finite ending. They’d always left me feeling hollow and worthless. That was why I’d refused to pursue anything, until now.
Lark was different.
Iwas different.
She made my chest feel tight, and let’s be honest, made my dick hard. I wanted to study her and listen to her complain and wax poetic about everything. I wanted to fight with her and make up with her. She’d intrigued me from the moment I’d first met her, and I wanted to learn everything about her.
I wanted the real thing with her.
I just needed to convince her to give things a real shot with me, while we were stuck on this ship, with nowhere to go but each other’s arms, for another two months.
The bathroom door slid open, revealing Lark in the same thin tank and white cotton panties she’d worn to bed the night before. She held her boots in one hand and had her uniform slung over thesame arm. I didn’t think I’d ever get over how gorgeous she looked, so dressed down.
Those tall, lean legs, and the freckles dusting her cheeks just killed me. Even the bits of hair that refused to stay tied up with the rest at the crown of her head, gently framing her face and cute little button nose, endeared her to me.
I had it bad.
Did she know?
I couldn’t take my eyes off the sway of her hips as she made her way to the panel where she stored her clothes, clicking it open, bending at the waist and giving me an intentionally lascivious view of her pert, round ass, in those damn panties, as she set her boots at the bottom of the storage unit, before straightening to hang her uniform on the hook inside.
Once closed, she engaged the in-unit sterilization process, then she turned around to face me. Her gaze locked with mine as she sauntered over to me, hitching one leg up, with the intention of straddling me again, but I stopped her. She lowered her leg to the ground.
“Hold on, Trouble,” I said softly, running my palms along her arm.
Her gaze narrowed, readying for a fight.
“You’ve been drinking,” I reasoned, despite the growing bulge in my pants.
Lark’s lips pushed out in a pout as she leaned toward me, standing between my splayed legs. “So?” She brought her fingers to the top of my uniform and slowly dragged the zipper down, exposingthe undershirt beneath. Her fingertip traced along the hem of the undershirt, at the base of my neck. “I don’t mind.”
“I mind.” I captured her hand to stop her fiddling. I met her bright blue eyes, filled with determination.
“I would have wanted to finish what we started in your office earlier, whether or not I’d had the starshine,” she admitted. I noted her rubbing her thighs together. The thought of what lay under those panties, and how she was trying to ease an incessant ache between her legs with the friction of her movement, was a tantalizing challenge.
“And we will,” I told her. Unable to help myself, I reached out and grazed the soft skin at her hip with my fingers, causing a ripple of goosebumps to materialize and a shiver to rack her frame. “But I want you completely aware of what I’m doing to you when that happens.”
Her eyes darkened at the insinuation, a soft groan escaping her lips as she squirmed against me.
“Why can’t we just do that now?” she pleaded.
And I almost gave in to her—heaven knows I wanted to—but my gut said to stand by my convictions. “What’s the rush?” I stroked her hip again, relishing another full-body shiver.
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Why does it matter?” she whined. “This is just for fun, while we’re on the mission. No harm, no foul. Who cares if I’m a little tipsy?”
“I care.” I clenched my jaw.
That was not what I wanted to hear. That was the opposite of what I’d hoped for. I didn’t want to be another temporary body forsome woman to use and discard. I wanted to matter to someone…I wanted to matter to her.
