Page 68 of Sublime Target
So he would be patient. For a human, she’d dealt with a lot today, and she’d taken it all surprisingly well.
Facing the unexpected and the terrifying, her composure was impressive.
“We’re here,” he said softly.
She turned to look at him. “That was fast.”
“I didn’t want you to have to wait any longer than was necessary. You’ve done enough of that already.”
“Jerik…” As the cruiser came to a halt, silently hovering over her apartment building, she rose to her feet, coming face to face with him. “You have to understand, I never expected any of this—for you to suddenly show up in my fairly ordinary life. It’s going to take me a while… to come to terms with the implications of it all.”
“You know what my intentions are. You know what sort of person I am.” He hoped so, anyway.
“I think I do now.”
He held out his arm, offering her a choice. “Would you like me to escort you to your dwelling?”
“That… that would be fine.” Tentatively, she rested her hand on his arm, her slender fingers sliding over seamless armor. “There’s a residents’ garden on the rooftop. We can alight from there.”
“As you wish.” He took her to the hatch, which slid open at his command, revealing the bright sky and the dwellings below. Jerik activated his visor, saving himself from the agony of temporary blindness. He looked down and saw a tall, square building with neatly manicured vegetation on its rooftop. There were tall trees growing out of boxes filled with dirt. Smaller vine-like plants cascaded over the sides.
It was idyllic and so very human.
“I presume we’re going to jump?” She gave him a wry look, her eyes narrowing, her lips curving downwards.
He couldn’t explain why, but he enjoyed it when she looked at him like that. Perhaps it was because no other would regard him like this—with a mixture of amusement, disbelief, and affection.
Surely, there was a hint of fondness by now.
There had to be.
He was definitely in trouble because if she ended up rejecting him, he would be ruined.
But he didn’t care. What was the point of worrying about the worst thing that could happen?
He slid his arm around her waist. She didn’t protest. He felt her body; warm, lithe, filled with vitality, willingly pressing against him.
Not stiff and afraid like before.
She was getting used to him.
He held her close as he wrapped the flexible Callidum line around his hand several times.
Then he dropped through the warm afternoon, holding her tightly, feeling immense satisfaction as she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him.
They landed lightly on the pavement, Clarissa balancing elegantly on her high shoes. He didn’t know how humans did it—walk in those strange contraptions, but she managed it with poise, quickly regaining her composure.
A faint pinkish hue suffused her cheeks. The wind ruffled her hair. He wanted to steal another kiss, but he held back.
You initiated the first one. Now, let her come to you.
“I’ll be fine from here,” she said quietly. “Thank you for bringing me home, Jerik. I hope everything works out well for you—and for us.”
That last word could mean a dozen things.
He didn’t dare to hope.
“You know what I want,” he rasped, unable to stop the hunger from entering his voice.