He followed slowly. Wyatt almost laughed as she shifted from foot to foot, clearly wanting him to hurry. As soon as he reached her side, she tried to skip off, but he snagged her elbow and drew her back. “Hang on, darlin’, don’t be so dang eager.”
Her stomach growled, and he did laugh then. Kendall wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m hungry.”
“Me too, but I want to look around.”
From his vantage point, it seemed as if this indoor farm stretched across the entire side of the pyramid. The doors they’d entered through appeared to be directly in the center. To the left was an orchard filled with different kinds of Jarved Nine fruit trees. To his right were rows of crops. In front of him was a large fountain that had a smaller version of the temple at its midpoint. Water flowed down from the capstone. All around it was a smooth stone shelf that matched the ivory marble of the fountain. It was the perfect place to sit and relax.
Kendall’s stomach growled again, and he nodded. She took off into the orchard and he followed, making sure he kept her in sight. She picked a variety of fruit, and when she had her hands full, she handed him her haul. Wyatt had his own arms loaded before she was satisfied.
They returned to the fountain. Kendall set down the fruit she held, then shrugged off her bag and left it on the floor. “You know,” he said when he sat near her, “we haven’t had food in days. We can’t eat too much too fast or else we’ll get sick.”
“I know.” She bent forward and opened the flap on her messenger bag and started stowing some of the harvest inside. “I picked enough to take with us if we want more later.”
As they ate, Wyatt tried to figure out how this whole indoor garden was possible. Given the way the Old City took care of itself, he had no problem with the idea of crops growing indoors, but he wondered at their cycles. Shouldn’t there have been fruit and vegetables that had ripened over the last three thousand years? Shouldn’t they have fallen to the ground and formed some kind of mulch? And yet there was no sign of this. It was as if everything had simply waited to be picked, held in some kind of weird suspended animation. It left him unnerved.
Not Kendall, however. She lay back on the bench, knees bent, feet near his thigh, and happily munched on a purple kahloo as the fingers of her left hand played in the water.
Watching her eat aroused him. She was just messy enough that he wanted to lean over her body and lick the juice from her lips. When their gazes met, she smiled, and Wyatt felt it deep inside his heart. Yeah, she was going to drive him plumb loco, there wasn’t a doubt about it.
Kendall finished eating, but she didn’t get up, and he was content to watch her. For the first time in days, Wyatt was able to relax. They were safe here; he knew it even if he couldn’t recall any details about this section of the temple from his other life.
His body clock told him it was late afternoon already, and if they stuck to their usual schedule, they’d be stopping for the day soon anyway. Wyatt had plans in mind for the night, plans that involved staking his own claim on Bug—if she were willing.
She plucked her hand from the water. “You’re staring.”
“Just enjoying the view. You’re beautiful, darlin’.”
Some of her easiness left her face, and Kendall sat up. “Yeah, right. My hair is beyond gross, my face will probably break out after not being washed for so many days, my clothes are limp and they reek. I’m sure I’m downright gorgeous.”
He stood, grabbed the straps of her bag, and held out a hand to help Bug to her feet. “I’ll carry this; it’s heavy,” he told her. “And you are beautiful even when you’re a mess. Heck, I’m no better off than you are when it comes to being clean.”
“It doesn’t bother you, though, the way it bothers me.”
“I’m used to it.” Wyatt shrugged. “I was out in the field for three months before I came to J Nine. There were no regular showers and no chances to shave or change clothes.”
She didn’t reply, and Wyatt followed Kendall’s lead again. They went past the lift they’d used earlier into a tighter circle of platforms. There were only a handful of the things here. He and Bug were in the very center of the pyramid now, he was certain of it. He stepped on the dais with her and glanced around as she took them to a higher level.
They walked down a hallway, past a series of doors spaced a fair distance apart, then up a flight of stairs. There was another wall covered with gemstones and it was extraordinary—by far the most elaborate, richest-looking inlay he’d ever seen.
Bug looked it over, found the symbol she wanted and opened the wall. As he trailed her inside the room, Wyatt struggled to hide his reaction. He remembered this place from a thousand dreams. They were in Zolianna’s suite.
“Let’s spend the night here,” Kendall suggested.
“Sounds good to me.” But his mind wasn’t on the question. He was flashing through dozens and dozens of memories, recalling the eternity of nights he’d loved her here.
Taking the bag from his grip, she set it on the low table in the seating area and wandered away. He followed her, coming to a dead stop in the bedroom. There, in the corner, was the calling glass that Berkant had given Zolianna just before she’d entered the temple. Had Bug seen it? Did she notice how closely it resembled that wind chime she had hanging outside her home?
Kendall returned before long, but she seemed oblivious to the textured pieces of glass. “I found the bathroom,” she told him with a grin. “I’m going to take a shower, okay?”
“Yeah,” Wyatt said thickly, still affected by his thoughts. He cleared his throat. “I want a shower too.”
“Why don’t you use one of those rooms on the floor below this one? Each has its own bath, and that way you won’t have to wait for me. I plan to camp out in there for a while.” Kendall smiled at him. “You don’t need this,” she showed him her right palm, “to enter any of those chambers.”
“Makes sense,” he agreed, but only because he was positive they were completely safe here.
“Good. I’ll leave the hall door open so whenever you’re done you can come back inside my rooms.”
Kendall danced away, humming under her breath, but Wyatt didn’t move until he heard a door deeper inside close. Damn it to hell, this suite belonged to Zolianna, not Bug, and he didn’t like that she called this place hers.
*** *** ***
There was one thing Stacey hadn’t taken into account when she’d decided to stay with Ravyn and her husband, but she should have thought of it—Alex was as welcome in their home as she was. Agitated, she paced from one side of her room to the other. Oh, sure, Ravyn and Damon tried to run interference for her, but they hadn’t told Alex not to stop by and she couldn’t ask them to. Because of this, she never knew when she was going to step outside her bedroom and find him around somewhere.
She didn’t know how he managed it, since there was no question about the amount of time he was pouring into his job. If he’d been working sixteen-hour days before Cam was hurt, he must be putting in twenty hours or more now. Yet he still had time to stalk her. Alex called it courting—an oddly old-fashioned word—but Stacey thought it more closely resembled a siege.
This bedchamber was her one refuge, but she knew if Alex decided to come in here, nothing would stop him. She supposed she should be grateful he’d allowed her this much space, since it showed respect—if not for her, then at least for his sister and her husband—but Stacey had a feeling that this sanctuary might not last indefinitely. Sullivan played to win, period, and if he had to breach her room to achieve his goal, he’d do it without hesitating. And without caring about the consequences.
He honestly amazed her. Cam had been hurt less than forty-eight hours ago, and it hadn’t even been a day before she’d begun to feel like prey. Alex always had a good excuse for his presence. He needed to investigate the crime scene. He needed to ask Ravyn some questions. He needed to talk with Cam. But no matter what he said or did, his focus—his intensity—was squarely on her. It was unnerving, to say the least.
Bemused, Stacey walked to the window, leaned her shoulder against the wall, and gazed outside, but the view didn’t hold her attention long—she’d seen the square in front of the so-called royal residence too many times—and her thoughts returned to one of her chief concerns. Who had hurt Cam and why? He was practically a baby, for God’s sake! Luckily, there’d been no permanent damage, but a blow to the head could have killed him.
Damon was livid, and whoever had hurt Cam better hope he was arrested—by someone other than Alex—before the boy’s father got his hands on him. Or his mother. Ravyn was just as furious.
And Stacey understood that desire to protect, to defend, in a way she never had before. This amazed her too. She hadn’t expected to feel so fiercely maternal so quickly, but it was there. She was outraged at what had been done to the toddler, but she knew if it had been her baby, she would be beyond infuriated.
Her stomach growled, and Stacey sighed. She was going to have to risk running into Alex if she wanted dinner. When she realized that she was actually considering skipping a meal to avoid him, she frowned. She wouldn’t let him affect her like this; it gave him too much power over her. Straightening her shoulders, she strode from the room.
And lucky her, Alex was camped out in the main gathering chamber. Her heart leapt at the sight of him, and Stacey silently berated herself. She wasn’t going to moon over him; she refused. Time after time she’d reached for him emotionally, and he’d never cared enough to reach back. Not even once.
The instant he saw her, he put aside the papers he’d been reading, and stood. “You’re ready to go to dinner?” he asked.
Stacey narrowed her eyes. “If you think you’re accompanying me, you better think again, Sullivan.”
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, it doesn’t matter to me. You want me to question you here about the night Cam was injured, that’s fine. Although as late as it is, the mess hall will probably be closed by the time we’re finished.”
“Talk about a bunch of cow manure,” Stacey accused. “You don’t need to talk to me; I didn’t even pick up the noise Ravyn heard. You’re maneuvering so that I have to eat with you.”
Alex’s lips quirked up. “Now you can hardly blame me for this turn of events. If you’d come out of your room earlier, I could have questioned you, and there still would have been time for you to go to dinner. This is your own fault.”
That smirk ignited her temper, and Stacey struggled to rein it in. If she’d appeared at the very start of the dinner hour, he’d simply have come up with something else. She’d lived with him for three years and knew how fast he thought on his feet.
Right now, he’d narrowed her choices to two: eat dinner with him or face his version of the inquisition and miss the meal. If she tried to push back, he’d counter with something like, didn’t she want to help find who’d attacked Cam? Stacey would end up on the defensive and Alex—damn him—would move in slick as spit. Her stomach growled again, loud enough for him to hear. His smirk deepened, and Stacey saw red. “You think this is funny?”
“No, ma’am,” he said, looking as serious as if he were at a funeral. Too bad the gleam in his brown eyes gave him away.
She took a deep breath, and counted to ten. It didn’t help, but she did reach a decision. “Okay, you want to eat with me, fine, but you better not utter one word that doesn’t have to do with Cam, do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Stacey wanted to hurt him. No one had ever been able to make her mad faster than Alexander Sullivan, and there were times she knew he relished that ability. But if they fought now, he’d realize how deeply she still loved him and she was darned if she’d give him that satisfaction. Without saying a word, she pivoted and headed for the door. If he wanted to eat with her, he was going to have to keep up.
As they walked across the plaza, Alex said, “I hear you received approval to return to Earth.”
“Yes.” She left it at that. No doubt he’d seen the entire message, and knew that while CAT Command had granted her request, they weren’t thrilled with it. They had, in fact, actually left it up to her whether to come back.
If your professional assessment indicates that the Colonization Assessment Team has no need of representation on Jarved Nine during the military study of the planet, you have permission to return to Earth on the next available transport.
Obviously, the new director of CAT had a different view of the situation than the previous head. When Alex had first pulled some strings to get her here, Command hadn’t been happy because they didn’t want ties to the military or their operation. Now, apparently, the new head wanted someone from CAT here and knew the army would never give the okay for Stacey to be replaced. It was clear to her that if she returned to Earth her career would go nowhere fast. It was something she’d have to live with.
Alex held the door of the mess hall for her. As his hand rested on the small of her back, Stacey felt a shiver course through her and sighed silently. Would he always have the power to affect her so strongly? Despite knowing better, she didn’t move away from his touch.
“So,” Alex said, his voice low, almost seductive, “you didn’t hear anything the night Cam was hurt?”
Dazed, she shook her head. Then realizing she was falling under his spell, she cleared her throat. “Ravyn heard something and asked me what that noise was. I told her that I didn’t hear anything, but she looked troubled. Then she decided to go check on Cam, just to make sure everything was okay. Which you know since Ravyn told you all this.”
“Go on.” His face didn’t give anything away.
“I stayed in the room, reading, until I heard Ravyn yell. Then I ran to check on what was wrong. That’s when I saw Cam on the floor, his head covered with blood.”
The line inched forward and Stacey wished it would move faster. She wanted something to do other than stand so close to Alex that she could feel his body heat seeping into her. Stacey edged away from him, but he shifted, and she was right back in the same position she’d been in before.
“What happened next?”