Page 73 of Bound By Stars
Weslie spins and catches herself against my chest, laughing. Her face inches from mine, but she doesn’t push away.
I press my hands to her back, pulling her close, holding her gaze. I could live in this moment forever, wrapped up in noise, the smell of sweat and spilled drinks permeating the sweltering air. No expectations. No future. No past. Just now. The rhythm and the beat. Movement. Sensation. And Weslie.
She leans in closer.
The crowd shifts, knocking us off balance. Bodies crash into us and I’m swept away, losing her in the tangle of limbs and darkness. Arms reach out of the shifting crowd, catching me before I hit the ground.
A blue light flashes over Weslie’s face as she pulls me back to her.
Her lips part against my ear, sending a tingling rush down my neck, spreading through my lungs, crashing into the pit of my stomach. “Come on.”
She guides me, more slowly this time, through the dark. At the side of the room, the flashing and swinging lights above the dance floor cast an electric glow across the faces in the crowd.
She spins back toward me. Soft pink light sweeps over us, highlighting her freckled skin.
Heat builds in my chest. I search her eyes, gaze flickering to her mouth. Desperate to pick up where we left off. Dying to know what she’s feeling.
Her hand slides up my neck to the edge of my jaw and something coils inside of me, aching for release.
I lean in, closing the distance slowly.
“You two lost?” A familiar voice cuts through the music and a hand claps hard against my shoulder.
Weslie dips her head away and takes a step back. “Reve, did you just get here?”
“Had to finish my shift in the cargo bay. I guess I’m later than I thought.” A dim purple light flashes through the dark edge of the room, illuminating his scowl. He scans me like he’s assessing a low-level threat. Completely different from the silent, stone-faced porter who escorted me to my family’s quarters after the captain caught us leaving the docking bay. “What’s the heir doing here?”
“We were…uh…” Weslie bites her lips, gaze flicking between us like she doesn’t know the answer. I’ve never seen her this nervous.
I frown. “Having a good time like everyone else.”
One edge of Reve’s mouth pulls upward with his eyebrow. “Is slumming it in second class part of your Earth Experience Mission, Dalloway?”
I hold his stare for a beat before meeting Weslie’s eyes. I raise my voice over the music. “No. I don’t believe in that classist bullshit.”
“That’s cute,” Reve says flatly, slapping my back and angling himself between me and Weslie. He turns to the wide-shouldered blond man beside him with a cup to his lips. “This is Wes. The friend I was telling you about. We’ve known each other forever.”
I take a deep breath, sidestepping out from behind him.
He puts his hand on her arm, roping off my access. “She’s a robotics genius and won herself a first-class ticket.”
The stranger wipes his mouth against his sleeve, eyes widening. “No shit? What’s it like up there?”
Weslie glances at me, sounding unsure as she answers, “Fancy?”
“Damn, I bet.” Reve’s blond friend raises his cup, taking another drink that dribbles down one side of his chin.
Reve steps closer to Weslie, taking her hand. “You still owe me that tour of your room we talked about.”
Weslie’s eyes shift between him and me and back again.
What is with her and this guy? If anyone else said something like that, she’d decimate them in under ten words. It’s like her personality setting has been dialed down. The difference between ILSA and a tow-bot.
Reve thinks he’s going to scare me off. But I’ve known guys like him. Self-assured to a fault and enough charm to feel powerful. He sees me as easy competition.
I touch Weslie’s arm. “I should get back. Did you want to stay?”
“It’s still early,” Reve says, moving even closer to her.
