Page 63 of Smuggler's Beauty

Evelyn followed Aiden down the hallway toward the kitchen, but before they reached the end of the hall, they made a left through a door she hadn’t noticed before. The door lead to another hallway, lined with three doors on either side. Aiden opened the last door on the left and gestured for her to precede him into the room.

His room.

The fluttery feeling in her stomach returned at full force as she gazed around Aiden’s quarters. The walls were paneled with thin wooden planks stained a rich, walnut brown. The floor was tiled in faux terrazzo hexagons. To the left of the door were two armchairs in a rich, honey-brown leather, with teal throw pillows that popped against the upholstery. A small round table sat between the chairs, holding a stack of books that Evelyn noticed had to have been borrowed from her stash. A small, possessive part of her she hadn’t known existed liked the look of her books on his table.

The other side of the room held Aiden’s bed and a walnut brown dresser set. Framed pictures were scattered on the dresser’s surface, interspersed with the clutter that accumulates in bedrooms, and above it hung a viewing screen. His headboard was the same bright jewel teal of the throw pillows and reminded Evelyn of an inviting overstuffed chair. Crisp white sheets were tucked precisely under a soft white linen duvet. She realized she was squeezing her thighs together in anticipation and gave herself a silent rebuke.

Nightstands in the same walnut as the rest of the furniture flanked the bed.

Aiden gestured to the chairs. “Have a seat.”

Evelyn walked to the closest chair and curled up in it, hugging the pillow to her chest. Giving it a quick sniff while his back was turned, she detected the cedar and rosemary scent she was becoming addicted to.

He sat in the other chair, elbows on his knees, as if he wanted to be as close to her as he could get while still in his own chair. He cleared his throat.

“I’ve done some research,” he began, “into your, um, situation.” The tips of his ears turned red. “The sleeplessness. The energy.” He didn’t know where to start. Evelyn was loath to bail him out; he was entirely too adorable when he didn’t know what to say.

“That was quick. Did L.I.N.D.A. help you?” Evelyn wondered if she could get the entirety of his ears to go red. For science.

“I was not consulted. I had no such information in my database until a few hours ago.”

Aiden cringed. “Thanks, L.I.N.D.A. Engage privacy mode. Emergency notification protocol.”

There was a soft beep, and Evelyn felt a faint sense of pressure in her ears. She swallowed to clear them.

“The room is now completely soundproofed and computer intelligence proofed,” Aiden said, rubbing his own ear.

“Did you just get busted by the ship?”

She saw the tips of his ears flush darker red. “Yup.”

She grinned. “How embarrassing.”

“Tell no one. I don’t know how my reputation will ever recover.”

“Your secret’s safe with me. So, research?”

“Less research and more I called Vinnie and freaked out on her for not giving you more detailed instructions. Or any safety protocol whatsoever.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened at that. She didn’t think she’d ever heard anyone yell at Corvinia. And that Aiden had berated the most intimidating woman Evelyn knew onherbehalf was doing nothing for the infernal fluttering that was happening in her abdomen.

“Was she helpful?”

“She said something that gave me an idea.”

“Alright, I’m listening.”

“She suggested we try to essentially reboot your senses.”

Evelyn blinked. “You made a wormhole comm call to an unhelpful near stranger who suggested you reset me like a router? And this was helpful?”

The blush had started to creep up his cheeks. He picked at a nonexistent piece of lint on his pants. “It got me thinking. You’ve spent so long suppressing the ability to borrow energy, I suspect some part of you is still fighting the instinctual ability to release that energy that’s been stored,” he said. Evelyn appreciated he avoided using the dreaded “siphon.” “You’ve also spent most of your life using your psychic abilities to power up other people’s skills. Did it wipe you out when you first started to Amplify?”

Evelyn nodded. She was constantly passing out on convenient surfaces when learning to Amplify. “It did. I needed lots of snacks and naps. It still does if I do it for a long enough time or pull too much power from the universe at once.”

“I have a theory. I’m the only person on the ship right now you can Amplify. Why not try and work off the energy you’ve got pent up by using psychic energy? Maybe if you Amplify me enough, that might exhaust you to the point where your body will start to use the borrowed energy inside you to balance it.”

She fiddled with the zipper of the pillow and tilted her head to the side as she followed his train of thought. The idea made sense. Physical activity may have burned off a little of the siphoned energy raging through her body, but it had definitely not put any sort of meaningful dent in the supply she’d taken from the practice electronics.