Page 57 of Star Bringer
It’s beautiful here and so different from anything I’ve ever known. There are no lakes or seas on Serati. In fact, there’s very little water at all. Some days it’s so hot that it’s hard to breathe outside, each painful inhalation searing your windpipe and blistering your lungs if you don’t have something to use as a filter.
A faction within the Sisterhood wants to relocate to one of the outer planets, but Serati was the main home of the Ancients, and most of the conclave doesn’t believe that anything too bad will happen. They believe that we’ll save the world before we burn and that relocating will send out the wrong message to our followers.
I’m more of the mind that a worse message would be to let our followers die, but it’s not up to me to make law. I am but an instrument of faith for the Sisterhood, even though some days it’s hard for me to have any kind of faith myself.
When I was younger, it used to bother me that I had questions. But then one of the sisters—Sister Luz, who died in her sleep soon after our talk—told me that it’s okay to question. That a high priestess must have faith, but she also has a duty to her people to question the Sisterhood’s beliefs to make sure that the path they are on remains the true one.
A movement off to the left catches my eye. I know right away that it’s Beckett—I’ve spent enough time studying her over the last couple of days to recognize the way she moves, even from the corner of my eye.
As she gets closer, I immediately have a flashback to the feel of her lips on mine. I shouldn’t have let her kiss me—but I wanted her to.
Lately, I seem to be wanting a whole lot of things I shouldn’t even be thinking about. Like the fact that I want her to kiss me again.
She comes to a halt beside me, then sits down, and I turn so I can see her face; she’s staring at my hair. “Beautiful,” she murmurs. “Like sunshine and starlight.”
No one has ever said anything like that to me before, and warmth steals through me. For a moment, I imagine what it would be like if I didn’t wait for her to touch me. If I reached out for her instead.
I’d take her shoulders in my hands, stroking my fingers over the sharpness of her collarbone that’s in such dichotomy to the softness of her skin. Then I’d lean forward and trail my lips along the edge of her jaw, being careful not to brush against the painful-looking scar beneath her ear. The last thing I want is to cause her pain, especially not when I’m dying to drown her in pleasure.
She’ll arch into my touch, her body quivering with the same need that will be running through mine. And when our lips meet, she’ll—
“Whatever you’re thinking about looks good on you,” she says.
Her words—and the slightly teasing voice she uses to deliver them—bring me back to reality with a thud. I don’t know how to respond, so I just stare at her, eyes wide and heart thumping hard in my chest.
“Nothing to say?” she asks softly.
I shake my head, then immediately feel bad for lying. Because the truth is, it’s not that I have nothing to say. It’s that I haveso muchto say that I don’t know where to start.
Nobody’s ever wanted to listen before.
“What were you thinking about?” she asks as she reaches out to run her fingers through my hair.
“You.” I blurt it out, because it’s true. And because I don’t want to hide it. It’s not the same as reaching out and kissing her, but as her yellow eyes gleam, I can’t help but think it’s a start.
“Oh yeah?” Her fingers dig deeper until they’re skating against my skull and my whole body goes tight. And then she starts to rub, and the tenseness just oozes from my body.
“That feels so good,” I murmur. “I don’t think anyone has ever touched my hair before you.” I frown, trying to remember back. “I suppose they probably did when I was little, but I can’t remember.”
She considers me, head cocked to one side. “What about Merrick?” she asks. “Isn’t he your lady’s maid?”
I giggle. “I think you’re mistaking me for Kali. She had a companion-in-waiting to help her dress.” I frown. “But then, her dress was way more complicated than my robe is.” I pluck at the ugly thing and sigh.
“So, you and Merrick,” she asks after a second. “Lovers?”
I gasp and turn to stare at her. “Oh, no! Merrick would never… Even if he wanted to—which I’m sure he doesn’t—he takes his duties way too seriously. I think he’d believe a personal relationship would compromise his ability to do his job.”
“Which is?”
“To keep me safe.”
She smiles. “Except here you are. All alone.”
“No, I’m not. I’m with you. Merrick actually told me to stay on the ship and keep out of trouble, but I needed some fresh air. I was restless, and I wanted to see this place and the water.”
She nods, those arresting eyes of hers staring straight at me in a way that makes my skin prick. But then she very deliberately looks away, and everything inside me deflates.
At least until she says, “You didn’t say anything about yourself.”
