by Kye Mooney
“We should, uh... We should get you back.”
Her hand closed around his wrist.
“No, Finn. I don't want to go back.”
“Your father will be worried about you.”
“For once in his life, maybe he'll be more worried about me than how I affect his seat in office.”
“Lily.”
“Take me somewhere tonight. I'll go back home, to at least tell them I'm done being there. They can't make me stay. I'm a grown woman now.”
“Technically,” Finn told her with a playful grin.
“Actually.”
Finn sighed.
“Fine. But just one night. I don't relish the thought of being an outlaw, and your father wouldn't appreciate you hanging around a lowly, tournament champ.”
“There's nothing lowly about you. And who cares what he'd like? Huh? I want to be around a tournament warrior. And that's really all that matters.”
8
Lily
He was shy at first, but he warmed up to her enough to come into the pod they'd “commandeered” for the night. Whoever owned it wouldn't be returning anytime soon if the forward-messages note on its door told them anything.
It was just one night, anyways, and Lily chose to trust her senses for once. No one was coming back tonight. Everyone pod-hopped from time to time. So long as nothing was damaged, no one cared. All the valuables would be under security locks. Win-win.
They'd be altogether fine. Slow to warm to the idea, Finn eventually agreed, and displaying a knack for hacking into pods, he got them in without a hitch.
Even rustled up something to eat when she took advantage of the pod's shower. Which was glorious, and if she hadn't wanted to be near Finn like she did, she would have languished in it for an hour.
When she finally left it, she did so in only a towel-robe, blushing at the blush on Finn's face when she sat beside him at the Eastern style table, settling onto the pillows with the true fanfare they deserved.
“What are we eating?”
“They had some packs of Gresh. Government issue. They'll go bad before they get back to use them, I'm guessing. And I know how to make these sing.”
Lily raised a daring brow.
“Oh do you?”
“You tell me.”
Stealing a gaze at the steaming bowl of Black noodles, a grin ticked her mouth.
“Certainly smells amazing.”
“It is. I assure you.”
“Huh...”
A cook, too?
Uh, yes, please.
Digging into the bowl of noodles, Lily swirled her metal spork into its depths and quickly lifted the savory bits to her tongue. Yeah, so, he wasn't exaggerating.
It was PURE heaven.
“Ohmagerd,” she mumbled.
Finn laughed.
Every inch of her body thrummed with it.
“Chew your food, Lily.”
“Shuddup,” she mumbled over the last bits before swallowing it down.
“Just... wow. You're amazing at this.”
“I do have my dishes.”
“No. You didn't just get lucky with one dish. This is a gift.”
She praised him a little more in between ecstatic bites of something that was normally only a government-issue staple that the families of Alpha9 relied upon because they had, too. He'd turned it into a delicacy that anyone would want to line up to dig into.
Lily's heart tugged.
There was so much about the people, things like this, that she'd missed out on being sheltered by her father. She fully resented that.
Her eyes lingered on Finn a long time when they'd finally inhaled the last of the Gresh, and she looked away shyly when his eyes found hers.
“You're beautiful, you know.”
A shiver coursed her skin.
“You think?”
She smiled playfully, slightly uncomfortable with the compliment, even as she had to admit that the sincerity of his gaze was unmistakable. He pulled back from it, though, the intensity, almost like he had to before he did something he might regret.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Don't-”
“Look at me.”
“I don't-”
“Finn, look at me.”
She drew a finger along the underside of his chin, her finger weaving it like it knew the terrain of his skin, the heat beneath it, the very cells that formed it. It was the strangest thing.
“Your eyes are glowing, again.”
She grinned, encouragingly, she hoped. It was beautiful. All that he was was just... lovely.
“Why are they glowing now? When there's no danger.”
“You don't want to know.”
Looking away sharply, he rose up on his feet, stepping around the pillow he'd been sitting on during their meal and wandering over to the Holo windows of the pod.
“What is it?”
“We should get some sleep.”
Her gut fired with irritation, and Lily rose up, too. Clenching her fists, she forced herself to relax her hands and made her way over to him.
“You don't get to do that.”
“What?”
“Close me out.”
“I'm not-”
“You are.”
Finn turned to meet her eyes then, his own still glowing, and she swore she felt his energy merge with hers in that moment, like it belonged with her. She could feel him strain against the fire within him, and her own body fevered with interest.
“Don't fight it, Finn. Don't...”
His lips rushed hers then, obviously before he could hold off his desire another second, and Lily all but melted into him as his arms closed around her, pulling her close.
But just like that, he pulled back.
“Not like this.”
“Why?”
“I want to be with you, but you deserve better than this.”
He averted his eyes, like he was trying to force his bear back.
Lily had no idea what that was like.
Backing away from him a step, she gave him a nod of understanding.
It was sweet actually.
Meeting her eyes again, Finn folded his arms over his chest.
“This is... impossible, Lily.”
“It's not.”
She could actually feel her heart squeeze when he'd said it. Whatever was between was not impossible, and he'd better be willing to fight for it. She wasn't some kind of leper just because she was the daughter of the president.
Lily was tired of feeling like she was made of glass.
“I won't be able to shake you now, but I can't actually have you. We have to face that reality.”
“Well, maybe you can't have me, but you can be with me.”
His brow quirked, and he grinned. Point taken.
“How Lily?You're the president's daughter.”
“And a grown woman who can make her own choices.”
Lily's hands found her hips, and a thrill of warmth trailed her belly seeing how his eyes followed the gesture and darkened. He looked away quickly. She could almost see the self-talk that was going on in that gorgeous head of his.
“What are you going to do? Runaway with some intermediate-level tournament champion?Your father would keel over and die.”
“I'll run away with the one my heart sings for.”
Her heart squeezed again.
Don't give up on us before we've even started, Finn.
“You promised to go back, Lily.”
“To get my things. And then I'm moving out. Hope you have room for me.”
Grinning, she gave him a self-satisfied wink like someone who was sure they had it all figured out. A tick of a smile touched Finn's mouth. Then he reached out and pulled her closer.
He searched her eyes a long moment.
“I have room for you. We're star bound. I have room for you wherever I go. But the risks...”
“Fuck the risks,” she whispered.
“Where will we go, Fin
n? Tell me.”
Her mind was made up. Whatever was happening between them wasn't just some average thing. Running away from it would just be... criminal.
Indulging her, Finn sighed before answering. His eyes sought the ceiling like he was thinking up the best place for them, ideally.
“Off Alpha9. To the wilds. You deserve to see everything you've missed in that pampered prison of yours.”
“Damn straight.”
Finn laughed.
“Finn?”
“Hmm?”
“I'm glad it's you.”
A pale, delicious glow took his eyes.
“Glad what's me?”
“My star bound. My first. You know what I mean.”
“Your... first?”
His gaze widened then quickly deepened.
Cupping her cheek, he was a moment before speaking, and then he whispered.
“Your first and your forever.”
And his kiss sealed the words with a certainty that told her he would give her every adventure her heart could ask for, and be the rock it rested on whenever she needed that, too.
Thank you for reading! I had a blast writing this with Kye Mooney, and we're talking about releasing a few more for this couple. If we do, there's going to be some steam between these two ahead (strap in), and we'll move on another in October if it's a go.
We'd love to hear your feedback (I check Goodreads a lot to read your reviews, especially for honest feedback about what you'd like to see more of, and yes, also less of) <3 Alpha9 was a fun world to write in; we look forward to exploring more of it.
Kye's releases and other Sci Rom and PNR fare can be found through LoveBytes mailing list updates: http://eepurl.com/GzWqP
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