VANESSA

After a few minutes of aimless running, I realized I was stuck in a hedge maze. I hadn’t paid attention to my direction. I had no idea how to get out.

The hedge walls were so thick that I couldn’t even stick my arm inside them, never mind cut through. The bushes towered several feet above my head and were precisely trimmed. They might have been constructed from wood, not living plants.

The beautiful stones making a path on the ground were as perfectly fit together as the floor of the courtyard. There were no gaps or weeds between the rocks. A warm breeze blew through the air and brought with it an outdoors scent.

I didn’t think Avren would follow me in here after what I had said to him. It looked like I was stuck until I found my way out or the gardener came looking for me. I sat down, feeling defeated.

I hadn’t slept properly in a week. We had spent time on different planets, but at night, Avren’s constant presence tormented me. I had stayed up late, unable to fall asleep. During the last day on the ship, I had been awake the entire time.

All I wanted was to curl up in a ball on the soft grass and rest. The thought seemed heavenly, and I almost laid down before I realized what I was doing.

I was an eminent scientist coming to an alien world to save the Auxem. Being found sleeping on the ground in a park wouldn't be good for my reputation. I stood up unsteadily and tried to clear my head — I couldn’t remember when I’d eaten last.

I had been stupid to run away from Avren. If I had just stayed with him, I could have been in a bed covered with soft sheets — expensive ones with a high thread count that were laundered by servants.

Wait a second. I wasn’t a damsel in distress who would wait around for the gardener to rescue her. I would find my way out by myself. As a child, I had always loved mazes. Once I set my mind to solving it, it wasn’t as confusing as I had thought. All I had to do was follow the wall on the right.

I made it to the center and sat down on a wide stone bench covered with a soft cushion. How lovely. I knew I could get out of here and find my bed.

I would only rest for a minute.

The soft bench was so comfortable that I couldn’t open my eyes again. I was out like a light almost as soon as my head touched the cushion. My last thought was that at least the gardener wouldn’t find me lying on the ground.

* * *

When I awoke, I was disoriented. All I could see in the dim light was a soft, warm, white blanket. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized a warm male chest was touching my back.

I had to admit I liked it before wondering who it was. Had someone attacked me in the garden?

In a moment, I recognized his scent. It was Avren. I could never have fallen asleep comfortably in the arms of a stranger. I was tired, but not that tired.

On a subconscious level, I knew I would have woken up if it had been anyone else. A feeling of comfort washed over me. I wished it could always be like this. I turned to face Avren and saw his eyes were already open.

He flashed me a smile. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

I cupped my hand over his cheek, feeling gratitude rush over me. “Did you come looking for me?”

“When I realized you had passed through the doorway into the labyrinth, I wasn’t going to abandon you.”

“Why are we lying together wrapped up in a blanket? This isn’t a good idea, Madellan.”

“I guess it depends on your point of view. I saw you sleeping on a bench and thought you looked cold.”

“So you pulled an emergency blanket out of your pocket and decided to join me?”

Avren shook his head. “I know my way through the maze, but the fastest way to find you was from overhead. I felt like stretching my wings, anyway.” He gave one a tentative flutter.

He was dodging the question. I twisted my head. “Are your wings wrapped around us right now?”

“Maybe.”

His gray eyes looked almost black in the dim light.

“They’re soft.” I lightly ran my hand over them. He shivered and pierced me with a gaze a lot hotter than the way he had looked at me a moment ago. “Wait. Are your wings an erogenous zone?”

Avren turned his head away from me. “You’re only asking me because you need to know for the research, right?” He shifted in his seat.

“Of course. I need to know everything about you to plan out my experiments.” I couldn’t stop myself from touching his soft, downy feathers one more time. He shivered and looked at me, and I felt his hard cock press into my stomach.

Avren didn’t take his eyes away from me. “In your clinical opinion, what do you think, keeping in mind my physiological reaction?”

I swallowed hard, wishing I hadn’t started going down this path but unable to stop myself.

“I think they are.” I felt my body yearning for him. “Avren, you know there’s no chance for us.”

“Vanessa, you’re the smartest and sexiest woman I know. Your brain turns me on as much as your incredible body. If there’s no future for us, it’s because we won’t allow ourselves one.”

Everything was going wrong. If there was a possibility of something working out with Avren, I didn’t think I could resist taking it. I needed him too much.

“There is no chance, Avren. You know how I feel about my career. I can’t let a relationship get in the way of my goals.” My heart ached, but I didn’t have a choice.

My words had the desired effect. It was as if I had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. Avren’s gray eyes cooled to ice, and his lips made a thin line. The look on his face made me want to cry, but we had to keep things professional.

I didn’t want to lose myself. I couldn’t have Avren leave again — I barely got over it the first time. My mother was the one who screwed up her life for a guy, not me.

I pushed against his chest, and he unwrapped his wings. I felt cold instantly and started shivering.

“Vanessa, let me take you to your room.”

I sadly watched as he retracted his wings and began the period of agony. He had never shown it to me before.

It was hard to watch.

Had he let me see him on purpose as a way of motivating me? I knew he could be a ruthlessly efficient person, but there was something more happening here.

It felt intimate. Avren was willing to show himself to me when he was most vulnerable. The Auxem usually extended their wings in private. He was showing he cared about and trusted me.

I didn’t want that. I wanted to do my job and go home.

Avren was not in my plans for the future, and that wasn’t going to change.

* * *

AVREN

Three weeks later, I was ready to get away from the lab. I stood up from the comfortable stool on the edge of the counter. I was speaking the truth when I told Vanessa it was state-of-the-art, but sitting down hadn’t changed. If a person sat immobile for hours on end, their back was going to ache. I stretched and looked over at her. She was absorbed in splitting and recombining DNA.

“How about taking a break, Vanessa?”

She didn’t answer or look away from her work. I didn’t know if she had heard anything I had said.

I took a chance and watched her. Her strawberry blonde hair was neatly braided back, and she wore a white lab coat. Her face was fixed in a grimace of concentration. Having her next to me made my heart ache.

Vanessa had constantly been pushing me away since the day in the labyrinth, determined to make sure our relationship remained professional. It bothered me for a few days, but my rational mind eventually realized she was right. I had been caught up in my old feelings for her and not making good decisions.

The next day I took things easy and started acting like old friends. There was no more awkwardness between us.

We were making progress, too. Vanessa had already isolated the gene, and we were figuring out what to change to eliminate the pain. Manipulating the blueprint for the body was a delicate business.

Many had died during the early times on Auxem. The planet had vast deposits of minerals and other materials, but it had something else, too — animals with plenty of teeth, and they had a taste for our flesh. We called them the beasts.

The beasts were fierce, swift, and had far too many teeth for our own good. They killed us for sport. The only way we survived was by evolving wings. If we had used them simply to escape an attacking beast, we would have gone extinct long ago. Instead, our wings were a way to avoid the monsters entirely. The beasts were all land-dwellers and could not fly or swim.

We were safe as long as we stayed off the land. The first colonists on Auxem built houses in the cliffs overlooking the sea. The only way in or out was through the air.

After we had expanded up, we stretched out, building cities on islands the beasts couldn’t reach. We managed to take back some of the lands after a few years, though not without cost — we experienced a sharp drop in population when many of us were killed and eaten.

Eventually, our cities grew into the strongholds where most Auxem live today. But the pain never ended. We could survive, but it wouldn’t be pleasant.

It fell on Vanessa and me to fix the problem. We were going to give evolution a kick in the ass so we could use our wings freely and without pain.

It sounded like heaven.

I watched Vanessa work for another few minutes, but couldn’t get up the nerve to ask her again. I didn’t want to break her concentration. Instead, I prepared some food in the kitchen. The head chef hated it when I intruded on him. He thought I should go through the servants and have them bring the meal to me, but I couldn’t get used to acting like a prince again. I didn’t know what my brothers were going to do when they returned to Auxem. They hated being bowed to and simpered at as much as I did.

With my meal in hand — Auxem seafood for me and a sandwich for Vanessa — I returned to the courtyard outside the lab and set up a table. It was a perfect day. The weather on our planet was usually sunny and moderate. The place would be a paradise if it weren’t for the beasts.

I made my way back into the lab, blinking my eyes to adjust them after being in the bright sunlight outside. I walked up to Vanessa and gently placed my hand on her shoulder. “Vanessa, you haven’t eaten for seven hours.”

She glanced up at me with a dazed expression. She had been so deeply involved in her work that she hadn’t been aware of my presence.

“Stop working. I think you’ve lost weight since the last time you came here. Come on.” I gently tugged on her hand.

Vanessa reluctantly set down her lab equipment and laid a test tube on the counter. I pulled her outside into the sun. She blinked like it was her first time breathing fresh air. I put some food in front of her.

“You put this stuff in your mouth.” I was afraid she wouldn’t eat unless I reminded her. Sometimes I lost track of time when things were clicking for me, but a person wasn’t meant to stay in the zone forever without coming back down.

After she had finished robotically eating, I took her hand again and made her take a walk with me. “Thanks, Avren. I was pretty absorbed in what I was doing, wasn’t I?”

“I don’t think you heard a word I said when I spoke to you, Vanessa.”

She blushed. “Sorry. I can get immersed in the lab.”

“Who’s going to be the lucky guy who makes sure you take care of yourself?”

“Myself?” Vanessa looked confused. “I don’t need anyone, you know that. When it’s nighttime, and I realize the entire day has passed by, I go home, have a shower, and go to sleep.”

She stretched her arms and leaned against the walkway railing. It overlooked the ocean, giving us a stunning view of the cliffs lining the coast. They were filled with caves, a typical geological formation on Auxem. My ancestors had lived in caves until we took land from the beasts.

Fashionable architects once built houses in the caves for people who could afford the cost, but most of them were empty now. The caves stretched from the top of the cliff all the way down to the water.

“I probably could have gone for another three hours.”

I snapped my fingers. “You’re a genius who doesn’t take care of herself because she gets absorbed in her work.”

“I’m not a genius, and I’m a grown woman, Madellan.”

“You’re definitely a woman.” She looked good enough to eat.

“Cut it out.” Vanessa slapped my shoulder and turned back to the view. “We’ve been doing fine this whole time. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“I think I can finish anything.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Let’s pretend I don’t. Tell me.”

“Come on, Madellan.” Vanessa started to walk again. “Stop beating around the bush. We both know there’s something we’re not saying to each other. You’ve managed to keep things professional for the past few weeks, and I like it.”

“Whatever you say.”

“You don’t want me breaking your heart again, do you?”

I knew she was joking, but her words bothered me. She had taken a few steps before she realized I had stopped.

“Avren?” She looked me in the eye. “What’s your deal?”

“You’re right. I don’t want you to break my heart again.”

* * *

VANESSA

I froze but was determined to act normal. Avren had practically told me he loved me a long time ago.

Why was he doing this now?

“Good. We’ll keep everything professional, and nothing will happen between us. Come on.”

Avren stared at me with unreadable gray eyes.

I wanted to look or move away, but he had me ensnared with his gaze. I couldn’t believe what I saw in them. Could he possibly have feelings for me again? I didn’t want to break his heart. It was his fault for bringing me here and having us work in close quarters, though.

I didn’t have to worry about my heart, of course. Mine was safe. I hadn’t let him inside. He wasn’t going to hurt me again.

“Vanessa.” Avren took a step toward me. The tension in the room went from zero to a hundred in a second. I felt my body respond, and an old, familiar ache and wetness stirred between my legs.

Damn it. Avren was too hot. My nipples began to harden, and I felt my pulse kick up. Was all this happening from one glance? What would happen if he touched me?

I shuddered at the thought of Avren’s hands running over my body. Suddenly we were standing next to each other, almost touching. I didn’t know how we had closed the distance between us. I tilted my head up to look at him. His brown hair was messy, probably from running his fingers through it as he thought about something important. His jaw was set and his eyes burned.

I wanted him to kiss me. The thought coursed through me like a bolt of lightning.

He stepped closer but didn’t touch me. Our eyes were locked, and our bodies hummed. I was ready. One more inch and we would be touching.

“Excuse me, Your Highness.”

We both jumped back. Avren’s guilty face looked just like how I felt. I looked out at the ocean, pretending to enjoy the view while he dealt with the servant.

“The Crown Prince wanted me to inform you that your family will arrive in four days...”

I stopped listening. It was boring and none of my business. I was thankful we had been interrupted.

No good could come from kissing Avren Madellan. I wouldn’t kiss him even if he looked at me like that again.