Ignite by Tana Stone

Chapter Thirty-Two

Zoey

“Another,” I said, holding out my empty glass to Nina as I sat on the floor of her suite, my legs crisscrossed in front of me.

She scrunched her lips to one side in contemplation for a second before sighing and pouring the pale-pink liquid. “How bad was your meeting with the captain?”

I took a swig of the overly tart liquid, my cheeks puckering. “It didn’t happen.”

Nina leaned her elbows on her own crisscrossed legs. “Then why are you drowning your sorrows with cheap Noovian wine?”

I made a face. “Why do you only have cheap alien wine?”

“That’s not the point, Zo.” She gave me her most severe look, setting the nearly empty bottle down on a nearby end table, between a glass figurine of a dolphin and a chunky, pink pillar candle.

Nina’s quarters were much like mine in basic design, with a sunken sitting area below the larger bedroom. But while my suite was simple and practical, hers was a riot of colors and packed with decorative knick-knacks. A bright-pink duvet covered her bed and was topped with multicolor cushions, some beaded and glittering. Glass bubble bowls sat on low tables jammed with artificial wildflowers and interspersed with framed photos of her large extended family back home. It even smelled different, the flowery aroma of her perfume making her quarters look and smell just like her.

I swallowed another gulp of wine, the alien booze making the tips of my fingers tingle. It wasn’t the same type of electric jolt I felt with Kalex, but it made me think of him. I bit back a groan. “I messed up, Nina.”

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is. What happened?”

The Noovian wine might have been cheap, but it still gave me the liquid courage I needed. “The captain summoned me to meet him at his quarters.”

“That’s weird. Has he ever done that before?”

I shook my head. “I’d never been to his quarters.” I took a breath and closed my eyes for a beat, remembering how the glow of the candles had illuminated his nervous smile as he’d stood inside waiting for me. “When I got there, I freaked out and ran.”

Nina’s brow wrinkled. “I still don’t get it.”

“He’d set up this big romantic gesture for me—candles, wine, music—and I took one look and bolted.”

Nina sat up with a jerk. “The captain made a move on you?”

“It’s not like that,” I said, rushing to defend him. “We’d already…we were kind of…we’re involved.”

My friend stared at me for a while without speaking. Then she slapped her hands over her mouth and shrieked. “Are you fricking kidding me? You and the captain are seeing each other?”

I jumped at her reaction, surprised that she seemed so happy about it. “Not for long, and it’s nothing serious, but yeah.”

“I knew it!”

“What did you know?”

“That you two would make a great couple,” she said, a smug expression on her face.

I cocked my head at her. “You thought Kalex and I would make a great couple? In what universe? We fight all the time.”

She pointed a finger at me. “Exactly. There’s so much sexual tension between you two that you could light a fire off it.” She dropped her voice as if someone else was in the room. “I’ll bet he’s a great kisser.”

My face heated as I thought of Kalex’s lips soft yet firm—and everywhere he’d put them. “He’s great at everything.”

Nina’s eyes practically bugged from her head. “Does that mean you’ve…done everything?”

I nodded, not meeting her gaze. “Pretty much.”

She exhaled loudly as she shook her head. “I can’t believe this. I mean, I can, but I can’t. You and the captain.” She slapped a hand on my knee. “Zoey, this is amazing.”

“It’s not amazing. Didn’t you hear me? I screwed everything up. I freaked out when I saw his romantic setup, and I ran.”

Her smile faltered. “Right. Why did you freak out if he’s great at everything, not to mention unbelievably hot?”

I reached for the bottle of wine, hoping that maybe one more glass would wash away the shame I felt for hurting Kalex. Somehow, I didn’t think there was enough booze in the world to remove the memory of his eager smile fading as I’d turned tail and left him standing alone. “Because we were only ever supposed to be casual. Neither of us wanted more than sex.”

“So, you were fuck buddies and then he tried to make it something more?”

I wasn’t crazy about the term fuck buddies, but that about summed it up. “I told him I was just in it for the fun. Besides, neither of us are staying. He’ll return to Inferno Force, and I’m heading back to Earth.”

Nina leaned back against the back of an unholstered chair. “It never occurred to you that it might become something more?”

“But it didn’t. It was only crazy sex. We didn’t even do it on beds.” Then I thought about being tied to the bed in the fantasy suite, and I bit my lip to keep from moaning out loud. “Well, not usually.”

Nina’s mouth fell open, but she gave her head a little shake. “It must have been more than wild sex to him—and to you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here getting wasted on my floor.”

I wanted to argue that she was wrong, but I couldn’t. As much as I’d wanted to keep emotions out of it, they’d managed to sneak in. I was used to having strong feelings about Kalex—irritation and anger mostly—but now there was something else. When had I started to care about the arrogant Drexian?

She touched a hand to my arm. “Does he know why you didn’t want anything serious? Does he know about Theo?”

I sucked in a breath, waiting for the sharp stab of pain and regret. But it didn’t come. Thinking of my fiancé made me smile, but it didn’t make me ache with sadness anymore. “I never told him.”

“I’m no expert,” Nina said. “But I think you and the captain need to talk. He needs to know why you ran and why you’ve been afraid to get too close.”

“You’re right.” I owed the Drexian an explanation and an apology. “It didn’t seem to matter since we were just about...”

“Sex.” Nina laughed and rolled her eyes. “I get it. You’ve been having amazing sex. You know, you don’t have to rub it in. Not all of us are lucky enough to find guys who want to fall into bed with us.”

I laughed and swatted at her. “I’m sure any guy would want to fall into bed with you.”

“Think again,” she said, her cheeks flushing. “A chubby brainiac is not the winning combination you might think it is.”

I threw an arm around her shoulders. “You are not chubby. You’re curvy. If I wasn’t currently in a mess of a non-relationship, I’d go for you.”

She choked back a laugh. “Thanks, I think.”

Her door beeped, and we both swung our heads toward it.

“Does the captain know you’re here?” Nina asked.

I shook my head, my stomach roiling from nerves and too much alien wine. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see him. What would I say?

Nina jumped up without waiting for me to speak, hurrying to the door and pressing the panel to open it. But it wasn’t Kalex standing on the other side of the sliding door.

“Two birds with one stone,” Serge cried, as he swept inside Nina’s quarters, with Reina bustling in behind him.

“Are you two celebrating something?” Reina asked when she spotted me holding the nearly empty bottle of wine.

“If you weren’t before, you will be now.” Serge beamed at me as he held out his electronic tablet. “I was able to get a special dispensation to use the holo link. Now you can have your date.”

“A special dispensation?” I asked, knowing that it hadn’t been long since I’d left the captain in his quarters. “From whom?”

Serge cleared his throat and waved a hand. “Not important.”

“He decided to authorize himself,” Reina said with a nervous giggle.

Serge shot her a murderous glare. “Only because the improvements to the stations’ systems are complete. The captain would have done it himself, if he was still on the ship.”

I almost dropped the wine bottle. “What do you mean ‘if he was still on the ship?’ Where is he?”

“Off on some mission with that other Inferno Force pilot,” Serge said. “Something about the Kronock.”

I swallowed hard. Kalex had gone on a mission that had to do with the deadly Kronock right after I’d rejected him? This couldn’t be good.