Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE

Somehow, she managed to make her way to the dressing-room area without falling to pieces. Feeling toasty—after the shower turned off, the cubicle had filled with a gentle blast of deliciously warm air, drying her completely, even all the way through her hair—she stood naked before a rack of neatly arranged garments, trying to figure out what to wear.

Beyond was the main chamber. There was nothing separating it—separating them— not even a doorway.

Just the gently curving walls obscuring him from her view, giving her the illusion of privacy.

Privacy? Ha.

She'd been inside his head. She'd seen how he perceived the world with his preternatural senses.

He could probably see her through the walls.

Wasn't this a bit… much?

She should really ask him to leave, but he wasn't doing anything terrible right now.

Still…

It felt indecent, somehow. Was nudity not inappropriate in their culture? And didn't Kordolians have any sense of personal space? Or did they just walk in on each other all the time?

Why is he even here?

Alone?

A feeling of alarm rippled through her.

She knew very well how dangerous he could be. He could easily overpower her. He could do anything to her, and she would be completely helpless.

No. She refused to believe it.

Why would he go to all the trouble of helping her just to turn around and do something horrible to her?

It was a good opportunity to test him. Was he ill-intentioned or just naive—as naive as a deadly killer could be, anyway?

"Dragek, can you go outside for a moment, please?" Despite her best efforts, her voice trembled.. "I'll let you know when you can come back."

"I won't intrude on your dressing ritual if that is what you're concerned about." Her cheeks grew warmer. The tips of her ears burned. This was ridiculous. Alien or not, he had to respect her boundaries. What was he even doing here, anyway? "Listen, it's completely inappropriate for you to walk in on my personal space when I'm in the middle of showering or getting dressed." She spoke slowly and clearly, and it took a huge effort to remove any trace of emotion from her voice, the way she would if she were speaking with a client—things could get pretty heated in her line of work sometimes.

"I… wasn't aware," he said after a slight pause, and she couldn't tell whether he was being genuine or not. "I'll be outside. Call me when you're done. I need to speak with you."

Jade heard his footsteps. Considering he was normally as silent as a ghost, that was strange, but maybe, just maybe, he was doing it for her benefit.

Then, all was silent.

She counted to ten in her head and then let out a deep, shuddering breath.

I can't believe this is happening.

She was still naked, and he'd been here, in her space.

This intrusion. This invasion. It made her feel everything at once: confusion, irritation, fear, attraction, trepidation, excitement…

She found a long, luxurious robe which was a deep shade of emerald green. Given her half-incapacitated state, it was the easiest thing to put on right now. The fabric was silken but thick and generous enough to provide her with some semblance of warmth and, dare she say it, modesty.

Balancing on one leg was easy enough as she shrugged on the robe and wrapped it around her, tying the sash-like belt firmly around her waist.

That would do… for now.

The fabric felt so good against her skin.

She felt scrubbed clean, toasty, and fragrant, as if she'd visited a relaxing spa. To think she could feel this way on a floating alien space station of all places.

But she wouldn't be left alone, would she?

Leaning on her crutch, Jade made her way to the main chamber of her quarters and sat down on the bed. She smoothed her hair down over one shoulder. Instinctively, she crossed her legs and folded her arms.

Voices came from everywhere: quiet murmurs that threatened to intrude on her carefully wrought composure.

But she shut them out, more forcefully this time.

The more she did it, the easier it got. In fact, she was starting to enjoy this feeling of being able to tune in and out at will.

"Come in," she said, and to her relief, her voice came out calm and steady even though she was a tangled mess inside. "And make sure the doors… stay open."

She wanted to trust him so badly, but at that moment, she didn't care about whether she offended him or not.

The thought of being in a closed room with him was too much to bear.

And she was ready to scream the house down if he did anything untoward.