Chapter Ten
*Poe*
What the hell justhappened? Had my lips really been locked with Dax’s? LiketheeDax?MyDax? I probably shouldn’t refer to him as my Dax after one kiss, but I couldn’t help it. He had always been mine. At least in my head he had been. Picture the cyborg of your dreams asking you to kiss him. Not even simply asking-he had said please! I could be freaking out here.
Stay cool, Poe. Stay cool. Did you... Oh crap! I totally admitted that he was my crush! Mayday. Mayday. We are going down! Back away from the cyborg slowly.
“So, it’s been a crazy day.”Really? That is what you got. We have waited years for this, and one kiss makes you lose all sense. We are so never getting laid. By Dax or anyone else. I can’t help you. You’re on your own with this one. Good luck.
Dax cocked his head, his brows furrowing. If he was trying to figure out where I was going next, so was I.
I blew out a breath. “Okay, here’s the thing. I am kind of bad at this. I mean that,” I gestured from my mouth to his, “was my first kiss and I never thought the cyborg I’ve waited my whole life to meet would be the one to do it.” I ran a shaky hand through my hair. “I should shut up now. Say goodnight, turn around, head up the stairs, and pretend that wasn’t a big deal. Remind myself that I have to give you up. But I can’t do it.”
I crossed the distance between us, took his hand in mine, and traced the dark green lines that mapped his palm. If he asked I would follow him anywhere. “I can’t do it because it’syou. The one cyborg I risked everything to meet if only just once. You were my first and only crush. Everyone paled in comparison. And now that I’ve kissed you once, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.” I dropped my gaze, staring at my shoes on the worn-out kitchen floor. A gentle finger pressed under my chin, raising my head so I had to meet his eyes.
Once the words were out, I felt the world shift under my feet. I began to sway and his strong arms caught me, winding around my waist and pressing me up against his frame. I let his strength help keep me steady.
Revealing my secrets so early caused panic to flare inside my chest. The way Dax held me made me think that maybe he didn’t mind my sudden outburst of feelings. I had never been good at discussing my feelings. I learned young that expressing myself, and especially my love of cyborgs, was frowned upon.
My parents, my friends, the kids at school, everyone I knew got uncomfortable when I even spoke the word cyborg. Their eyes would dart around as if they were waiting for the Global Allegiance to pop up and punish them for speaking about their failed cyborg program. The Global Allegiance never wanted to be reminded of something they hadn’t gotten right. Something that had cost them a ton of money when they had to issue a recall order and terminate the cyborgs that had made them billions of dollars.
But right now, here in this moment, I allowed myself the luxury to indulge in the cyborg whose arms were wrapped around me. I breathed in his scent, a calming mix of metal and...vanilla? That couldn’t be right. I buried my nose into his shirt, taking a deeper sniff. Yep, there it was. Vanilla. Cyborgs shouldn’t smell like vanilla, right? Metal, mechanical fluid, the scent of whatever Dr. Shaw had used to create their synthetic skin-those were all things that made sense.
Could it be the clothes? Now that my curiosity was peaked, I had to know. I wigged myself free from his hold reaching up on my tiptoes so I could bury my nose into the exposed skin of his neck. Holy shit. Freaking vanilla! Dax’s skin smelled like vanilla. It wasn’t his clothes. It was him. I couldn’t believe it. I shook my head as I lowered myself back down to the floor.
Dax leaned forward. “Is sniffing me some type of mating ritual human females perform?”
“Vanilla,” I blurted out. “You smell like vanilla. I thought for sure it was the clothes but no, it’s you, Dax. How the hell do you smell like a delicious sugar cookie straight out of the oven?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Does that mean you might like to eat me?”
I quirked a brow back at him. “Are youflirtingwith me, Science Model?”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t the one that claimed they didn’t think they could stop kissing me.”
I stiffened in his hold, that rush of panic coming back with a vengeance, my heartbeat picking up speed. “About that.”
Dax sucked in a sharp breath. “Don’t tell me you didn’t mean it, Poe.” He shuffled on his feet as if was struggling to stand still.
I grabbed for his hand, lacing his fingers with mine. The moment my hand took his, he stopped shuffling, the tension on his face vanishing as he let out a deep breath.
“I meant it, Dax. That is what scares me. Don’t you at all find this strange? We just met, for goodness sakes! You shouldn’t like me. You don’t even know me.” I dropped his hand, putting some space between us.
“What about you?” His eyes narrowed. “The same thing applies to you. Shouldn’t it be strange for you, too?”
I shook my head. “Remember when I said I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you? That wasn’t a line, Dax. It’s the truth. My whole life has been trying to find a way to you.”
He advanced on me, backing me up until my ass hit the kitchen counter, his arms coming down to cage me in. He leaned down until his eyes were level with mine. “Do you know why I was out in those woods, Poe? I can tell you it wasn’t because I had a sudden longing to be among nature. Nature is unpredictable. Ihateunpredictable. Then I found you.”
The adorable green bastard had the nerve to smirk.