Page 47 of Bonds of Starfall

She wanted to go to it.

A sense of peace clung to her like smoke. Her heart steadied. She hadn’t even realized how much she hadhurtuntil the vise wrapped around her heart loosened, making a relieved breath whoosh from her lungs.

Entranced, she lifted her foot, cutting into the broken glass as she took a step. She winced but was not deterred.

Thundering footsteps pounded on the stairs before Kit nearly stumbled around the corner. The kitchen and living room were open, decorated with pillars—he wrapped a hand around one, using the momentum to force himself deeper into the kitchen. He fell against the island, hands slapping on the marble.

"Rin, what happened? Are you okay?" Kit’s wide brown eyes found hers. As he rounded the kitchen island, his brows jumpedup in shock as he saw her standing, unmoving, among the shattered glass. "Don’t move. You’re bleeding." As he said it, she realized the bottom of her foot was stinging.

She met his eyes, tearing her gaze away from the window. "I-I’m fine," she stammered.

Kit shook his head, grabbing a kitchen towel from the sink, and kneeling by her side, uncaring that the glass cut into his sweatpants-clad knees. She gasped as he lifted her foot, using his bare hand to gently brush the glass embedded in the bottom of her foot.

"You’re not fine. What happened? Did you have another episode? Do I need to call Lucien?" He was near-frantic, but his hands were achingly soft as he brushed the remaining glass from her foot, using the kitchen towel and pressing it into the small cuts littering her heel.

Rin floundered for a moment, finding herself staring out at the window but?—

Nothing.

The shadow was gone, and she was left wondering, once again, if it had all been in her mind.

Kit tapped her knee, and she looked down at him, finding the evening light cast thin streams of pale blue across his face, highlighting his freckles and messy brown hair. The awkwardness was back, and she felt her cheeks heat.

"Nothing. It was nothing, sorry. My hand was wet. It just slipped." She was rambling, avoiding his eyes entirely.

She felt his amused huff against her exposed legs. She was wearing thin cotton shorts and an oversized soft shirt, perfect to lie around in.

Kit stood, fingers dancing over the backs of her calves and thighs as he did so. She shivered as he came up to his full height, towering over her. She tipped her head back, staring up at him.For a brief moment, she forgot all about shadows and Nova and the invisible clock ticking on her heart.

They were just a girl and a boy in a kitchen, desperate to be more as the sun set and the Stars twinkled.

Kit’s throat worked. "There’s glass all over the floor. Don’t walk, let me carry you?"

"Oh—what about you?"

"Don’t worry about me." Kit held out his arms, a hand settling on her waist and making her shirt ride up to her hip.

He paused, and when she gave a soft, small nod, he carefully lifted her, her legs hooked around his waist and arms thrown around his shoulders. It was… intimate. She felt her lower belly clench with a novel, scorching sort of awareness. This close, she swore she could count every freckle scattered across his nose, like the Stars in the sky.

Kit stepped over the glass, taking big steps as he moved around the kitchen island. He sat her down on top of the countertop, his hips pressing into her knees as he stepped close to her.

She drank in his airy scent. "What are you doing, Kit?"

Kit grabbed another towel, fingers leaving soft dimples in her calf as he held her leg up to tend to her foot. Blood beaded across the heel. When he swiped it away, more took its place. Each pass of the cloth stung, but she would bear it to be this close to him. Any pain was worth that.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you acting this way?" Rin’s breath hitched when he bent low over her leg, his breath skittering over her thighs.

"What way is that? I’m just treating you as I always have… Maybe it’s you who’s acting different?" He arched a brow, and she wanted to strangle him for being so coy.

"That’s not what I mean, and you know it," she retorted.

"No, I don’t know what you mean." Kit finally stood, releasing her foot. He stepped back, and air shivered between the space he had once inhabited, leaving her cold as his eyes shuttered. He blew out a harsh breath, shaking his head slightly. "I got a call before I came down. I was going to tell you differently, but… I have to leave again. Another mission—off-planet."

It felt like the glass on the floor had found its way to her dying heart. "Okay."

"I can tell them no," Kit murmured. "All I have to do is say you need me, and my superior will extend my leave." She didn’t speak, so he continued, "I don’t have to go."