“I wanted to touch you,” he said, as if it were a perfectly reasonable request.
“You still can,” Sunniva breathed, disbelieving, and then his mouth was on hers. Lightly at first, his lips soft, barely making contact. She opened her mouth, wanting more, and for an instant she had it; his tongue entering her, his breath hot on her cheek, his body hard and sure against hers. She reached up to pull him even closer and saw the bracelet against her wrist.
No.
Sunniva dropped her hand and shoved Marcus away as hard as she could, breaking the kiss. She felt the separation as a physical shock, but worse was the guilt at using Marcus like this. She couldn’t look at him.
She could hear his breathing slowing. The opal jittered at the edge of her senses, pushing for her to use it.
“I need to re-route the crawler,” she said, and was bitterly pleased with how calm she sounded. Her whole body felt raw and aching. “I’ll be in the cabin. That won’t happen again.”
“Understood.” His voice was husky and low, and it set something deep within her thrumming in response. She ignored it.
In the crawler’s cramped cabin she wriggled back into her clothing and made herself focus on the mechanics of directing the crawler, switching the third and fourth placements so they would finish in the pinnacles.
He likes you. Her dragon sounded baffled. Why are you so upset?
Sunniva set the crawler in motion. He doesn’t have a choice.
The drizzle cleared as the crawler made its way to the first location. Sunniva stopped it and got out, keeping her expression as neutral as she could, and ordered an equally expressionless Marcus to remove the equipment and carry it to the site. He stood there as she unpacked the first sensor, cupping it in her hands to protect it from the inquisitive wind gusts.
The sensor hummed as the small matrix it contained activated and melded with the rock, flattening into a lichen-like tracery of metal. She took it through from dormant to active and back again, monitoring the outputs through the filaments she’d coaxed into life in the workshop, and then beckoned Marcus over with the heavy converters.
It took well over two hours for Sunniva to set it all up. At this rate she’d never get the network done in time. Another disappointment. She sat back from the new station port on her heels, brushing rock dust from her hands, and looked over at where Marcus was putting everything away.
You should talk to him.
She’d failed him, too. “I’m sorry,” she said abruptly. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
The fine line of one eyebrow arched. “I rather thought I started it. My lady.”
Sunniva’s memory helpfully provided her with a vivid re-enactment, which sent heat scalding down her body and did nothing for her focus. What was she saying? Oh. “The modifier gem. I — well.” Best to get it out there. “I think it picked up on my feelings and compelled you to respond. It won’t happen again. I promise,” she added. Exposing her weakness to him was excruciating.
Marcus rubbed the scar below the modifier with one finger, as if feeling for a sore spot. “Apology accepted,” he said mildly, as if they were discussing a spilt tea cup.
Surely he couldn’t leave it there. “Aren’t you angry?”
Blue eyes met hers. “If I started getting angry, I wouldn’t stop. If I could.”
It was like seeing the tip of an iceberg and realizing how much was hidden under the surface.
“Was Giels lying when he said you’d volunteered for this?” It came out before she could think about it.
His eyes went distant. “No.”
Sunniva already regretted asking. “We should move on,” she said, knowing it sounded awkward. “Do you need me to give you any orders?”
Marcus was already picking up the last of her equipment. He shook his head. Sunniva trailed him back to the crawler, the opal heavy at her wrist.
At the next placement after Sunniva sealed the sensor into the rock she noticed Marcus had put out each piece of equipment in the exact order she would need it for the converter. Either he’d remembered what she’d done at the last station, or — on impulse, she held out the integrator. “Can you use it?”
Marcus took it, one eyebrow lifted. He handled it cautiously, but managed to activate it, and start on the first connection.
“Have you worked with Dreki tech before?”
“Not officially.” A trace of amusement.
Contraband technology. She’d assumed Giels meant the humans were using tech he’d forbidden, not stealing it from the Dreki.