Page 33 of Star-Born Anomaly
“Then they’re still bastards,” she muttered.
With a touch of her hand, she ordered a packet of spices from the dispensary, added it to the boiling water, then continued with her vegetables.
Chop. Chop. Chop.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
She didn’t stop adding ingredients until she noticed Iax’s bowl was empty.
“Are you full?”
He met her gaze. “Full of what?”
A stilted laugh erupted from her lips. She smothered it quickly.
Foster would have followed that withfull of shit, but she shook her head at herself as said, “Did you get enough to eat?”
A silent beat passed before he replied. “It will sustain me.”
Didn’t really answer the question, but she wouldn’t quibble over word choice.
But as soon as she refocused on her repetitive chopping, her mind obsessed over what he’d told her. His parents may have been trying to save him, but not going with him? Of sending him out to Sector Ten without knowing what would happen to him? A little boy completely alone?
Cowards.
Her temperature rose, and it had nothing to do with the boiling soup.
She scooped up the pieces of the carrot and dropped them in the pot before grabbing the last potato. Her knife came down with a little more vigor than before.Chop. It split the oval root vegetable in half, and she turned it sideways.
Chop. Chop. Chop. Thud.
“Shit.” She dropped the knife as stinging pain shot through her hand. Her knuckle burned where the knife nicked her.Stupid. Stupid.Howdumb to get so caught in her head that she stopped paying attention to what she was doing.
She reached for the towel hanging against the counter, then jerked backward when Iax stood in front of her, inside her personal space. A startled noise emerged from her throat.
“You are hurt,” he said, a frown furrowing his brow as he stared at the towel covering the wound.
“Just nicked myself.” She stepped backward, but he followed.
Wynn swallowed at the way his eyes narrowed, like he could eradicate the injury with a thought. She kept walking backward until her ass hit the counter that ran the length of the back wall.
“Allow me to see. I can help.”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I can grab a regenerator.”
The frown on his face intensified. “I want to help you.”
A disbelieving laugh erupted while her hand throbbed where she clutched it against her chest. She’d told him it had been okay to touch her earlier because he was trying to help. Now he wanted to justify another touch?
The longer he stared, the more shivers crawled up the back of her neck and over her head. Fizzy anticipation bubbled in her stomach. That brief contact in the greenhouse was burned into her skin, and she wanted to know if it would feel the same if he touched her again.
The tips of his boots stopped a fraction away from her bare toes, but he didn’t reach out. Her skin buzzed with awareness while her thumb throbbed in pain. She had to tend to it, or it would scar.
Another laugh wanted to surface at the irony, but she swallowed it down.
He didn’t back off, and she found she didn’t want him to—as much as she should. Tentatively, she lifted her towel-covered hand off her chest and extended it to him.
His shoulders lowered as he took her hand in his, carefully unwrapping it. A bright red smear stained the white towel. Her knucklethrobbed in time with her heartbeat, but she’d never been averse to a little pain. A surge of blood rose when he removed the pressure. He cradled the towel beneath her wrist, a barrier between their skin that she frowned at.
