“Seeing your home world from space for the first time puts your life into perspective,” Stone remarked. “You realize how unimportant many of your troubles are.”
“You’re right,” Cassandra breathed. Her big brown eyes were starry and bright as she looked down at the blue-green ball getting smaller and smaller in their viewscreen.
Stone reached over to take her hand and entwined their fingers. He couldn’t help it—it was the wonder in her face. He wanted to share this moment with her, to touch her as she left her planet for the first time.
“Stone?” She looked over at him, clearly a bit surprised. He didn’t usually reach out to her unless he was comforting her for some reason. He didn’t trust himself to touch her too much because he wanted her so badly and he feared his desire would show on his face.
“I wish I could take you to the stars,” he said hoarsely, unable to help himself. “I wish I could show you the whole galaxy—the whole universe—Cassandra.”
“I wish you could, too.” In the soft glow of the instrument panel, her eyes were large and luminous and Stone thought she had never looked more lovely.
They had been growing closer lately, he thought—talking about things they never had before. The murder they were trying to solve was the worst one he had ever seen, but at least it seemed to be bringing them together.
You shouldn’t hope too much, he reminded himself. Remember that she only sees you as a friend. Remember she told her ex-mate she could never see you as anything but that.
But he couldn’t help the tiny spark of hope that had ignited in his heart. He slowed the shuttle a bit to make their journey last and held his partner’s hand all the way to the Mother Ship.
Eighteen
Cassie really wasn’t sure what had gotten into her partner lately. The trip up to the Mother Ship was almost…well, romantic. The chilly black void of space was all around them but the inside of Stone’s shuttle felt like a safe, warm cocoon for just the two of them. The way his big hand enclosed her much smaller one and the way he looked at her when he said he wished he could show her the universe made her heart pound like crazy.
His scent was working on her, too—she could feel it happening. Her breath was coming faster and she was tingling all over—especially between her thighs. Maybe it was because the shuttle was airtight and Stone’s warm, spicy aroma kept recirculating, she speculated. For whatever reason, though, his scent had never been stronger and her body had never reacted quite so urgently.
By the time they finally reached the Mother Ship, she was nearly dizzy with desire. She had to remind herself, over and over, that Stone was just her partner—just her best friend and he didn’t think of her that way.
Don’t make a fool of yourself! Don’t make a fool of yourself, she thought, over and over when all she wanted was to lean over and kiss him. Stay in control—don’t do anything you’ll regret! Don’t ruin the best friendship you’ve ever had in your life by making a clumsy pass he’ll only have to reject.
And then what? How could she ever look Stone in the eyes again if she tried to kiss him and he had to put her off? His actions might seem romantic, Cassie told herself. But he was only being friendly—holding her hand the first time she left Earth—probably to reassure her.
She was relieved when they finally touched down in the huge, echoing Docking Bay of the Mother Ship, which was filled with ships similar to Stone’s own, and he opened the doors. Fresh air rushed in, diluting the warm, spicy scent which had been driving her crazy, and Cassie literally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well, here we are!” she said brightly and quickly climbed out of the shuttle. She turned around in a circle, taking in the massive size of the Docking Bay. There had to be thousands of ships here and room for even more. “Wow, it’s really big.”
“The Mother Ship is about a fourth the size of your moon, I believe,” Stone said, climbing out to stand beside her. “Look—Commander Sylvan is coming to greet us.”
A tall Blood Kindred with short blond hair and blue eyes was coming towards them. He had an air of authority about him, Cassie thought. But it was tempered with an expression that made the Kindred commander seem kind and approachable.
“Commander Stonev! And this must be your human partner, Detective Steel.”
“Call me Cassie, please.” Cassie put out her hand and Commander Sylvan took it. Then he offered his forearm to Stone in a warrior’s clasp.
“We’re very glad to have you both aboard,” he said, looking serious as the two of them gripped arms. “This is a bad situation, made worse by the fact that the murderer you two are chasing is passing himself off as one of us.”