Chapter 7

Lucius had been planningto suggest that they get some sleep, but his throat had been too dry to speak. Syra’s record spoke for her skills. The last three days together proved a sharpness of mind that he’d found lacking in his Earth colleagues and friends. He never played stupid to fit in—which meant he rarely had—but he’d also never been so challenged.

And the way she looked. Not just the jet black suit hugging her form, but her face had utterly captivated him. Everything showed there: the wistfulness when she discussed her mother, the heat when she disagreed with something he’d said, and that laugh that he could never quite tell if it was at him or with him, but he enjoyed every time. Those green eyes held a thousand secrets yet hid nothing of the woman within.

When she kissed him, it unleashed some built-up stockpile of emotion—forever trapped behind the cool engineer. There wasn’t enough room in the Inserter to do much, but that didn’t stop them from trying.

“It’s like trying to do it in a sports car.”

“What’s a—” Syra shook her head. “Never mind.” She released a seam on her suit and he forgot about sports cars. Instead he discovered the softness of the woman beneath the hard shell.

And it turned out she had more than a few ideas about what they could do with six hours inside such a small space.