48. Jasmine

Jasmine shifted uncomfortably on the hard rock that served as her chair. Her injured ankle barely bothered her anymore, but she"d been sitting there for hours, and her butt was getting numb.

She"d thought about pulling a sleeping bag out of her backpack and folding it under her, but she already felt utterly useless, and getting comfortable while others worked to save the people trapped in the pod didn"t seem right.

Straining her ears, she tried to get some hints about what was happening below, but she didn"t hear a thing.

Edgar and the other pilot were in the same boat, standing near the edge with their eyes fixed on the gaping maw of the chasm. She was a little put off that Edgar hadn"t tried to engage in a conversation with her as she"d expected, but then he was probably just as curious as she was about what was going on.

She wondered when they would thrall the other pilot to forget what he had seen. Would it be by the end of today? They should, or he could tell someone, and they wouldn"t even know.

Norbu, or Nubru, she wasn"t sure how to pronounce his name, leaned down and peered into the darkness with a look of confusion on his face. "Why did you need a doctor to come out here?"

Edgar hesitated momentarily, his eyes flicking to Jasmine before answering. "One of our team members was injured on the way down," he said smoothly, the lie rolling off his tongue with practiced ease. "The team leader called the doctor, and he also asked me to bring more research equipment."

"What"s down there?" The pilot asked.

Edgar shrugged. "How should I know? I"m just the delivery guy. Maybe they found some fossils." He winked at Jasmine behind the guy"s back.

Norbu looked skeptical, but he didn"t press the issue. Instead, he turned his attention back to the chasm.

Jasmine had to hide a smile at the deftness of Edgar"s story. He was quite good at spinning tales, as she had noted when they had crafted the sexy story leading to their first time together.

He was fun to be with, and it was a shame that she didn"t feel about him as strongly as he felt about her. Well, to be honest, she wasn"t sure he felt all that strongly about her either. If he had been so taken with her, he would have come looking for her in the lower decks of his own accord and not waited for Amanda to announce that she was looking for a companion for Jasmine and signal that it was okay to see her.

"You should go back to the helicopter and wait there," Edgar told Norbu.

He must have thralled the guy because the other pilot obeyed without question and walked away.

"Did you compel him?" Jasmine asked.

Edgar sat down next to her on the other boulder. "I can"t compel. I can only thrall. Sometimes they work the same, though. I just planted the idea in his head that waiting in the cockpit is much more comfortable."

"That"s a good one." Jasmine shifted on the flat rock that served as her chair. "Maybe I should do the same."

"You can. Do you want to sit in mine?"

She shook her head. "I"m too anxious about what they are going to find down there to move away from this rock."

Edgar glanced over at her, his expression softening as he met her gaze. "Aru said the chances of anyone surviving in there were slim. The pod was damaged, and the stasis chambers were not working. Without proper life support..." He trailed off, letting the implication hang heavy between them.

Jasmine swallowed, her heart clenching at the thought. She hadn"t admitted to herself how much hope she"d pinned on this moment, allowing herself to believe that the prince would be waiting for her, alive and whole and just sleeping like in a fairy tale, waiting for her to wake him up with a kiss.

Thinking that they might have come all this way only to find a tomb was sad.

"But Aru asked for Julian to come along," Edgar said, probably sensing her plummeting mood. "That means that there"s a chance they might find some survivors. He wouldn"t have requested a doctor if he didn"t think there was at least a possibility."

Jasmine nodded, clinging to that slender thread of hope like a lifeline. "You"re right," she said, forcing a smile that felt brittle and false on her lips. "I hope that they"ll find someone alive down there."

Edgar reached out and took her hand, his fingers lacing through hers. Then he leaned and kissed her.

She smiled. "So that"s why you got rid of Norbu? You wanted to kiss me?"

"Of course."

The kiss was a nice distraction.

As they waited for news from below, the wind picked up, whipping Jasmine"s hair around her face and sending a shiver down her spine. "It"s getting cold."

"Do you want me to bring you your coat?"

She nodded. "That would be nice. And if it"s not too much trouble, can you bring my sleeping bag? I need to put it under my butt before it goes numb."

Edgar smiled. "We wouldn"t want that. I have plans for that butt tonight."

Usually, she would have felt a twinge of arousal at the prospect of fun times, but she wasn"t feeling it now.

When he returned with both items, she tucked the sleeping bag under her and put on the puffer coat. "This is much better." She smiled at him. "If you could also get me a warm cup of coffee, you"d be a prince."

She wanted to take the words back as soon as they escaped her throat, but Edgar didn"t seem bothered by her mentioning the prince.

"Let me see what I can do. I bet Aru and the others packed something to make coffee with."

"They did, but we used it this morning and left the pot and cups dirty because we didn"t want to waste our water." She grimaced. "We ate cold rations and energy bars. It was pretty miserable."

"My poor baby." He patted her shoulder. "I brought plenty of water with me. I"ll wash everything and make you coffee and something warm to eat." He returned to where the backpacks lay discarded on a patch of grass.

Jasmine was glad Edgar had something to keep himself occupied, so she didn"t have to pretend everything between them was peachy.

It wasn"t his fault she was confused and didn"t know what she wanted. She felt guilty for stringing him along but wasn"t willing to give him up yet, either. Maybe she was tired, hungry, and stressed, and everything looked bleak.

She didn"t know whether her prince was dead or alive or, if he was alive, whether he was someone she could feel attracted to. Maybe her job ended with bringing the team to this spot, and there was nothing further for her to do.

Would it be so bad to settle for Edgar?

Compared to her other boyfriends, he was a catch, and not just because he was immortal, he could induce her dormant immortal genes and could give her multiple orgasms.

She enjoyed being with him, at least most of the time.