Chapter 10
Nix laid on her side facing Corey’s sleeping form. This may have been a mistake, but she couldn’t find it in herself to regret it. She reached out to caress his face with her fingers. It had been even better than their first time months ago. This time it wasn’t clouded with alcohol. The problem was, there would be no pretending this hadn’t happened.
“How the hell could I forget that?” Corey rumbled right before he opened his eyes to look at her.
She would have asked him what he was talking about, but the knowing, almost accusing look he gave her made it clear what he referred to. Nix tried to roll away but he caught her and moved to lay on top of her to keep her in place. He glared down at her with those sharp intense eyes.
“You didn’t say anything, all these months. Why?”
“What should I have said? Hey there, Corey, we shared sex months ago, but you’ve clearly chosen to forget it. Would you have even believed me?”
He glanced away for a moment before looking back at her. “I might have thought you were pulling something over on me at first, but the dreams I’ve been having would have convinced me otherwise.”
“What dreams?”
“I would dream of making love to a woman. At first I couldn’t see the woman’s face, but then the face of the woman changed to yours.”
Some of Corey’s frustration faded as he leaned down and nuzzled her neck while his hands cupped her breasts, squeezing and kneading them. She moaned, opening her thighs, letting him wedge between them. It felt so good, he fit her perfectly. Suddenly, though, his hands stilled as he stopped to stare down into her eyes, all serious.
“I think the Drastan drinks I had that night were much stronger than anything I had ever had before. I woke up the next day and couldn’t remember anything. It took a while, but bits and pieces came back to me through my dreams.”
She didn’t say anything, just looked up into the face of the man she had liked him immediately and that like grew stronger. Corey was strong and sweet, smart and funny, and the best lover she ever had. It wasn’t just physical, though; he seemed to accept her just the way she was without demanding she change or be more feminine to appease his ego. She really liked that about him. She held her breath at the realization. He wasn’t done talking about that night, though.
“It must have hurt you when I acted like nothing ever happened.”
She tried to blink away the sudden tears in her eyes at this acknowledgment. “It did hurt.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” he murmured as he bent forward to nuzzle her neck.
“It pissed me off, too,” she admitted.
Corey scraped his teeth over her collarbone, making her shiver with desire. “I bet you wanted to kick my ass.”
Half laughing, half groaning as his fingers tweaked her nipples, she struggled to answer him. “I did, I really did.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“No, I started to realize that you may have really drunk too much and I...oh, Corey.”
He replaced his fingers with his mouth. He sucked her nipple into his mouth. “I want to make it up to you. Let me.”
What was she supposed to say to that? Her mind went to all the delicious things he’d done to her earlier, things she wanted to repeat over and over. All she wanted was to forget the past and live in the here and now. Unfortunately, pounding on the door interrupted anything else that they would have done or said.
They both growled with frustration as they scrambled for their clothes. It was dangerous to be caught unawares...and naked. Their weapons were still on the table in the other room.
“We’re not done discussing things between us. Stay here and let me see who it is, and then we’ll finish our conversation,” Corey said, pulling his jeans on but not bothering with a shirt.
Nix shook her head, not wanting to bring up their past again. She was actually starting to feel grateful for the interruption. “I’ll go with you.”
“Without your hood on, they’ll definitely spot that you’re not human.”
She wanted to argue but he was right. They weren’t ready to reveal their presence yet. At the repeated knock on the door, she rushed to get something on, just in case. The first thing she grabbed was the shirt Corey had been wearing, which fell to her knees. Good enough. She went into the other room to grab her weapon. He raised an eyebrow at what she was wearing but she ignored him and moved to partially conceal herself at the bathroom doorway. She smiled, watching Corey grab his weapon and tuck it into his waistband behind his back. She was glad to see that he was prepared for anything.
Corey opened the door to the apartment slowly. Then he stepped back to allow someone to enter. She didn’t recognize the person because they had on some kind of long overcoat with a hood covering their head and most of their face. The figure was shorter and smaller in stature than Corey and the way the person walked, with small unsure steps, made her think it might be a female. Nix stayed where she was just in case this person turned out ot be dangerous. Corey didn’t say anything, just waited for this person to speak first.
“I heard that you were asking for information about anyone coming through here with injuries recently. Is that true?” the stranger asked, in a a voice that was definitely feminine.
“That’s right. What do you know?”
“We haven’t had any serious injuries in the tunnels except for the occasional scrapes or bruises. I heard that two tribes down, though, a man came in injured. The tribe docs weren’t able to do much, so they sent for the Drastan healers who had been passing through here at the time.”
“How long ago was this?” Corey asked glancing over at Nix. She stayed where she was, not wanting to freak the woman out by suddenly appearing. She could see the poor woman shaking in fear.
“I think the injured guy arrived yesterday, but I can’t be sure, it’s rumors mostly that I’m going by.”
“Two tribes down, you say?”
“Yes.”
“When does the subcar leave again?”
“It will be eight hours before it’s back. Right now there’s only one subcar working in this area.”
Nix could see the frustration on Corey’s face and knew what he was thinking. Waiting eight hours before they could leave and then possibly a couple more hours to reach the right tribe was just too long. The injured male could leave before they reached him. No, they needed to find a way to leave immediately. She heard Corey open the door for the woman, showing her out.
“Thanks for coming here and giving us this information.”
The woman shrugged, “I know that many humans don’t trust the Drastans, but my daughter is alive because of the treatments she is receiving. I owe them this. Good luck with your mission.”
“Be safe and thanks again.” Corey closed the door after the woman left and turned to look at Nix. “Over eight hours…”
“I know, that’s too long to wait. I have an idea,” she said as she turned around and went back into the bedroom.
He followed after her. “What is it?”
“I need to go speak with Warrior Vendy,” she told him, sliding into her jeans.
“Not alone.” Corey reached for his shirt.
“Yes, alone. It won’t take long. I’m going to ask for a Drastan travel cart. They move much faster than a subcar and are quieter. We’ll be able to get in and out without causing too much interest.”
“I don’t like you going alone. How can we be sure that this Warrior Vendy is trustworthy?”
“Damn it, Corey, we don’t have time to argue about this. I know what I’m doing. The male we’re looking for could be gone in a matter of hours. I’m going to acquire the travel cart alone, and that’s an order.”
Corey glared angrily at her for using her rank against him. She’d know when she said it that it would cause strain between them. Their lovemaking had brought them closer, to an equal footing, but now she was throwing up a wall between them.
“Fine, I’ll give you twenty minutes to get this done.”
“I’ll be back in fifteen.” She finished putting on her boots and walked to the door. She paused to look back at him, he had turned to face her.
“Nix, about last night…” Corey began, but she interrupted him.
“We can talk about that later.”
“Right, later,” Corey didn’t sound like he believed her.
Nix knew that she and Corey would have to have that talk. Things needed to be cleared up about their past sexual encounter and then about their most recent. Now that she was sure Corey had not been purposely ignoring their previous encounter, she had to reconcile her feelings about it. It wasn’t right to hold that against him. Her hurt feelings had been largely appeased, but now they were being replaced with fear.
Spending time with Corey had opened her eyes to things about him that she liked. His protectiveness for his friends, his inner strength that had allowed him to survive the hardest of times, and his bravery and willingness to do anything to protect those he cared about. She was definitely falling for Corey, but she was so scared of having her heart broken. It had never really been a risk before. What if he didn’t feel the same way about her? What if this was the last time he wanted to be with her? The thought of never being with Corey again ripped her heart to shreds.
Nix wanted to say something to fix the tension between them, but there was no time. She had to leave now to get that travel cart. Hopefully once they were on their way, she would have a little time to talk to him. At least, that was the plan. Things didn’t always work out the way she wanted them to.
*****
Corey was both frustrated and angry that Nix would pull rank on him like that. What the hell! He’d thought that they were working as partners, and more than that, he had felt that they were becoming closer emotionally, especially now that they were both aware of their shared past. Obviously she didn’t feel the same as he did. Maybe she wanted to punish him for not remembering their first time? Okay, he could understand if she was still angry about that. He hated that he couldn’t remember all the details of that night. It haunted him. He wanted to make up for it, but now he wondered whether Nix would even give him a chance to. It felt like she was pushing him away, putting up an emotional wall between them, and he wanted to smash it down. Out of frustration, he kicked the wall with his boot.
Fourteen minutes later, Nix returned. Some of his tension left in the flood of relief at seeing she was safe. “Did everything go okay?”
“Yes, Warrior Vendy didn’t ask me too many questions. If we leave now, we can avoid being seen by the changing of security.”
He grabbed their backpacks and tossed her one. “Let’s go then.”
As he walked past her, he could feel her eyes on him. He wasn’t sure now was the right time for them to talk; they really needed to get going. It would be far more sensible to put their emotions to the side for now so that they can concentrate on the mission. He stepped out of the apartment resolutely, knowing she’d be right behind him.
“Where’s the cart?”
“Vendy is leaving it for us at the edge of the tunnel. He’s going to make sure that the guards are distracted enough so that they don’t see us leaving. The cart won’t make much noise, but we’ll need to keep the lights off to avoid attracting attention.”
“What did you tell Warrior Vendy?”
“I just told him that we needed to leave immediately to check something out, but that I couldn’t give him any details.”
“He just let you take a cart without any explanation?” Corey asked, not quite believing it. If even Maggie asked him for a cart, he would have questioned her until he had the truth.
She frowned at him. “He trusts me. Maybe you should as well.” With that last statement, she stormed away, leaving him to watch after her.
He knew she was right—he should trust her; she had done nothing to make him doubt her. It was his own insecurities and jealousy that had him acting like an asshole. If there was a chance for them to have a future together, he needed to show his faith in her, and that she could count on him as well.