Page 83 of Bound By Stars
“Wes.” He pulls back again, just enough to run the tip of his nose along my cheek, whispering in my ear. “I…I think I—”
“Jupiter. Let’s not make this into a game tonight, please,” Gianna shouts, and the pounding echo of her footsteps grows louder behind us.
He whips his head toward the noise and then back to me with wide eyes.
I grip his hand and we run.
The halls are brighter when we come out of the pod bay. The heavy metal door slides shut with Gianna on the other side. It opens again with the sound of compressed air as we cut left, then right, and down a stairwell, until we find the bottom. The hollow pounding of her feet against the metal stairs is cut off as we run into another hall.
The high ceiling and dark gray walls subdue the dim light. We sprint down the wide hallway, past a large cargo bay. The stairwell door opens behind us, and we cut right as Gianna shouts again.
Door after door, but nowhere to hide. Ahead, near the end, an exit. Across from it, one of the cargo bay doors is opened just enough to squeeze through. We stop between them.
Jupiter slaps the button for the exit. White light floods in from the small door, like a beacon.
Gianna is almost in sight. Her footsteps, heavy and echoing.
I pull Jupiter in the opposite direction, slipping into the dark.
The exit across the hall slides closed, and she stops in front of the door.
We creep back farther, deeper into the darkness until Jupiter softly bumps into a pod-like structure, making a quiet thud, and I grab the plastic form to keep it from tottering. We both freeze. I hold my breath, and Jupiter doesn’t make a sound.
Gianna squints and tilts her head, staring into the dark room. Backing across the hall, she hits the exit button.
Light floods in again, reaching out for us as we creep back deeper into the darkness, weaving between rows of large capsules.
She runs the opposite direction, and the exit slides shut.
Jupiter’s fingers find mine. “That…was close.”
“She’s pretty fast”—I swallow and take a deep breath, still winded from the chase—“even for a henchwoman.”
Jupiter laughs quietly. “Running laps around this ship has really improved her speed.” He tugs on my hand, lowering to the floor. “Probably best to wait her out, she might loop back.”
It’s too dark to make out his expression, but my skin prickles with anticipation like an electric charge building in the inches of air between us. “She is pretty determined.”
He leans in closer and pauses like he’s waiting for me. He sucks in a breath and swallows loudly.
“Nervous, Big Six?”
“Something like that,” he whispers and lifts my hand, softly pressing his lips to my palm.
My blood ignites. Without the icy floor under my thin dress leaching the heat out of my body as quickly as it can flare, I would burst into flames. I shift closer, my thigh pressed against his, and weave my fingers into his short hair.
Our lips slide together like we can predict each other’s smallest movements in the dark. Lips and teeth and tongues.
He lifts me onto his lap. “Holy stars, you’re freezing.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him again.
He draws back and huffs out a breath. “This can work, Weslie. I swear. I don’t have to take over the company. And if I’m not the heir, my parents won’t have a say in anything else. They won’t care what I do or who I’m with.”
Behind him, between the rows of silhouettes, endless stars sparkle through the glass wall. Like the two of us are floating alone in space. But that’s not real. Everything that stood between us minutes ago is waiting outside this cargo hold. His parents. His betrothal. His responsibilities. And stepping aside, giving it all up won’t be easy. If it’s even possible.
“Can we just be lost right now?”
“But I—”
