19. Aurelia

NINETEEN

"Aurelia!"Sylas's voice called after me again.

But I wasn't listening.

Squaring my shoulders, I kept marching forward. I knew it was irrational—that he was right, and I was the one who had endangered us. But he'd agreed to help me, hadn't he?

I couldn't do this right now. Not when he was looking at me like that.

He wanted to talk about the kiss, but I couldn't. Not now. Maybe never. Because the sinking feeling in my gut told me exactly what he was going to say.

I was too young. Too immature. Too reckless.

A mistake. How many times had I heard that? Had I felt that? In past relationships, when I felt like I was a burden, that I was too much, I drifted away. Self sabotaged, as my best friends said. Because it was better to leave than be left. Wasn't it?

"The signal is coming from in there," I said, not looking backwards at him. I knew with one look of those piercing blue eyes, I'd fold. And right now, I didn't want to give him what he wanted.

Following the signal to what looked like a cave on a strange moon probably wasn't the best idea, but it was the only lead I had. There was no way I was ignoring it.

Sylas stepped up to my side, a large silver flashlight in his hands lighting up.

I blinked. "When did you have time to grab that?"

He adjusted the pack on his back. "When you were busy getting off the ship, I grabbed some supplies, too. I wasn't sure what we would need."

"Oh." I bit my lip. "Thank you. I—" My cheeks felt warm. Hopefully, the darkness of the cave would hide my blush.

"You don't have to thank me. Not for this." His tone gave no room for argument, so I just nodded.

The darkness swallowed us whole as we moved into the cave, the light from the outside quickly becoming only a speck. We had only the light from my communicator, the little red flashing light from the trace, and Sylas's flashlight to see.

"This is eerie," I whispered, my voice echoing back slightly. "What do you think is down there?"

I could feel Sylas step closer to me. Like he was ready to protect me. "I don't know, but hopefully nothing that wants to eat us."

A shiver worked its way down my spine, and I resolved myself to stay optimistic.

"We haven't spotted any creatures yet. I mean, we don't even know that there is any life on this planet. The thermal scans could be wrong." I was pretty sure they weren't, but that was a separate problem.

The walls were narrowing as we followed the caves deeper and deeper, the sound of dripping water echoing from somewhere beyond. When it got to where we could no longer walk side-by-side, I moved in front of him. Thankfully, the light of his flashlight was still shining in front of me, lighting our path.

"Do you think they came here for this?" I asked, my voice a low whisper. "Water is a precious commodity on any planet."

It was something the UGSF had been searching for over the last thousand years: planets that could sustain life. And if there was water, that was the biggest indicator.

Since the two-thousands, space travel had advanced tremendously. Back then, it used to take eight to nine months to get to Mars. Now, we could fly halfway across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. Technology was incredible, and there was no doubt in my mind that we'd be able to traverse the entire depths of space within the next hundred years.

"They might have. Or there's a chance something happened. But how would they have flown the ship down here?" In the dim light, I could barely make out Sylas shaking his head. "It makes no sense."

"Maybe it's not the ship at all," I said, though I could feel my heart sinking at the thought.

My foot caught on something, and a muscular arm wrapped around my waist. Again. Ugh, could he stop doing that?

"Careful," he gritted out into my ear. "The ground isn't stable in here. Hopefully, the whole thing doesn't come down around us."

"Right." If I hadn't been blushing before, I was now. Thanking the stars that he couldn't see my face, I kept going, watching my footing as we climbed through the narrow passageway. The walls opened up, but with the darkness, I missed the drop. I stumbled, my foot catching on a rock and sending me spiraling onto the surface, before finally landing on my hands.

"Ow," I cried out, a sharp pain radiating from my ankle as I rolled over.

When I looked up, Sylas looked, well… he looked pissed. Of course he did. Because I was a stubborn brat who had gotten herself hurt. Even after he'd caught me. Twice.

My eyes squeezed shut, embarrassment quickly making its way through my veins. Dammit. That hurt. I'd scraped up my hands and elbows too, which stung. How was it possible that I was this clumsy?

"Fuck." His voice was rough. Was he… worried about me? I'd thought he was angry. "Are you okay?" The concern was evident in his eyes as I looked up at him.

"Yeah. I don't-I don't think it's broken." Wincing, I ran my fingers over my tender skin. "I think I just twisted it." Hopefully, I hadn't sprained it. It wasn't like the shuttle had a medical bay inside of it if it was broken. Either way, I'd gone down hard.

"Do you think you can walk?"

I tried to stand, but the weight on my ankle made my legs buckle. "Maybe not." I bit my lip. "You should go back to the shuttle for the night. I'll only slow you down." I tried to give him a smile, but failed. "We can start again tomorrow."

Maybe that made little sense, but nothing really did to my brain right now.

"Aurelia," Sylas practically growled. "I'm not leaving you alone here, for fuck's sake. Get on my back and I'll carry you."

My chin trembled. "You don't have to do that."

"I do."

"Captain—" I shook my head, trying to hold back the tears. Fuck, it hurt. Damn rocky planet surface.

"We'll get you back to the ship," he promised, his voice soothing. "Everything's going to be okay. You'll be fine."

I almost laughed, but it came out more like a choked sob. "It's not like I'm dying from a busted ankle. Of course I'll be okay."

But our comms were down, we were stuck in a series of caves, and who knew what sort of creatures might exist down here? If the sensors were right, there was life on this planet, which meant there could very well be a strange alien species in this cave. I'd hate if we ended up as a tasty snack.

Even if I'd told him they probably weren't lion size. I wasn't exactly an expert in forensic scans. My advanced engineering degree and pilot's school hadn't focused on biology that much.

He frowned at me, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's getting dark," I started. "You should go back, in case the Paradise comes looking for us. If they track the signal of the ship before it crashed?—"

"Rae." Sylas's murmur was pained. "I'm not leaving you."

As if in demonstration, he bent down, scooping me up into his arms.

There it was again. Rae. I liked the nickname more than I could explain. My friends growing up had often called me Lia, so this one felt special.

Because he gave it to me.

I needed a distraction. Something to rid the warmth lingering in my chest. Maybe I should have gotten on his back instead, because then I wouldn't have his face so close to mine. So focused on me as he continued walking down further. It all felt so intimate. Like there was something more between us.

"You shouldn't even be down here. This is all my fault." He mumbled the words under his breath.

"No," I shook my head. It wasn't his fault that I'd stolen the shuttle and come on an un-sanctioned mission. "It's mine for thinking this was a good idea."

"I should have said no."

Even though I hadn't given him the chance to. He'd practically had to force his way onto the transport as it was. "Captain—" I started to dispute his comment, but he cut me off with the shake of his head.

"Sylas." His voice trembled as his hand cupped my jaw. "Call me my name, just this once."

"Sylas,"I whispered, closing my eyes as I let my face rest against his shoulder.

"That's my girl," he said with a slight chuckle.

His girl? Why did I like that so much? My chest warmed, a part of me feeling claimed like I never had before. I'd never been anyone's, other than my own.

Part of me felt like I should have argued that I wasn't his. But at that moment, I didn't particularly care. I wasn't thinking about the kiss, or our argument, or even the pain that was slowly fading.

I let the motion of him carrying me lull me into a warm, drowsy sleep, one where I was unencumbered by the events of the day.

Sylas settingme down in a cavern of glowing rocks was what finally awoke me, and I drowsily yawned, trying to blink the sleep away before I would believe my eyes.

"They're glowing," I said, stating the obvious.

He chuckled. "They are."

"It's wonderful. Beautiful." I'd never seen anything like it. Even when I'd been in caves on earth, I'd never seen one with such magnificent minerals. "What do you think they're made of?"

"A substance we don't have on earth," Sylas observed.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," I muttered. Then silently high-fived myself, because I should have been using that the whole time.

He was moving around—unpacking, I realized. While we didn't have much, we were way more prepared than I would have been if I'd have set out alone.

"Are we safe in here?" I whispered.

"There's an underground stream not far from here, and hopefully with the filtration system in the canteen, it's drinkable. But there's only one entrance and exit into this place, so if anything enters, I'll know." His eyes were sharp—detecting.

"Come here," he said, spreading out a blanket on the ground. "Let me look at that foot."

I hobbled over to him, not putting weight on it. Luckily, the distance was minimal, and then I was sitting on the soft blanket, Sylas kneeling in front of me. He untied the laces of my boot before tugging the shoe off entirely.

The flashlight nestled in between his legs—giving him light—as he removed my sock. I thought about making a joke, but his face was too solemn, too serious, and I still caught a flash of that anger from before.

My ankle was red, and definitely swollen, but I rolled my foot around without too much discomfort. "I'm fine, see?" I said.

He grumbled something under his breath, unzipping his flight suit and shucking the white t-shirt he had on underneath over his head. Tying the sleeves around his waist, he left all of his glorious, bare chest visible in the dim lighting of the cave.

I was too busy ogling his abs to notice him ripping his shirt into strips until I heard the fabric.

"What are you doing?" I gasped. "You need that."

"We need to wrap this up," he responded, all matter-of-fact, before his eyes met mine in a sexy smirk. "You didn't think I was giving you a show for no reason, did you?"

My face was warm as I stared at him, mouth agape. "No. I just?—"

His hands lightly massaged my ankle, a frown covering his face as I winced slightly. Slowly—almost torturously, he wrapped that long strip of white fabric, binding my skin tightly.

"How's that?" Sylas asked, adjusting the makeshift wrap after he'd tied it off.

"Great," I barely croaked out.

He looked up at me, and the sudden realization of how close we were—how intimate of a moment this was—wasn't lost on me. My heart was beating a million miles in my chest.

Sylas Kellar, on his knees for me. Shirtless, on a strange planet that was millions of light years away from home. He was my captain, and yet?—

"Aurelia."

My eyes darted to his. The way he said my name undid something inside of me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, trying to ignore the way the tears were springing to my eyes.

"For what?" His voice was calm—soothing.

"For getting you into this mess. Getting hurt. I took your attention away from the ship, and I never should have. This is all my fault."

"Little star," he murmured, voice pained.

"Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive."

I shook my head. "That's not true. I've been a pain in your ass since the first day. You don't have to deny it. You didn't like me at first."

"No." Sylas shook his head as his hands slid up to my calf, massaging as he went. "That's not true. And I'm a damn fool for letting you think that for this long."

I raised an eyebrow. "No? What do you call it then?"

"You've never been anything but a temptation."

His palms rested on my thigh, and my entire body was warm. Burning.

And even if I shouldn't, even if he was my captain, I wanted him. In a way that I knew would change everything between us. But I didn't care anymore.

"Sylas," I whispered, the sudden emotion in my chest flooding my system. Clawing it's way out. The way he took care of me today—carrying me, tenderly checking on my ankle, making sure I was okay—it was more than I knew how to handle.

Careful not to put any weight onto my sore ankle, I pushed him back into a sitting position and then climbed into his lap.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on," he admitted. "Too good for me. Too young. Too bright."

My hands reached up, cupping his cheeks between them. "You don't see it, do you? How good you are. How warm and gooey you are on the inside. You try to hide it, but I see you. How you interact with the crew. How much you care about your sister." He grumbled, but I kept going. "You're good, Sylas Kellar. And you can't convince me otherwise."

It was the first time we'd been like this—really touching, for anything other than necessity. My hands slid down his bare chest, running my fingers over the defined muscles he got from his many hours at the gym each week. I couldn't complain.

His deep blue eyes were all I could see, the feeling of his warm, hard body underneath mine all I could feel. I scooted forward, pressing my chest to his.

"Aurelia," he groaned. "What…"

"Shh," I said, leaning down my head to press a kiss to his collarbone. "Let me take care of you now."

I continued my exploration, kissing up his neck, just light presses of my lips against his skin. I moved to his jaw, the side of his lips, before his patience ran out.

Sylas wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, bringing our lips together, and then he was kissing me. Really kissing me, like he had that day on the empty observation deck. But this was different. This was full of heat and passion, of desire and lust. Temptation in every sinful way possible.

And when the object of his desire brushed against my core, I gasped. Rocked against him, the hardening evidence that he wanted me the way I wanted him creating the perfect friction against me. But we both had too many clothes on.

I needed them off now.