Page 10

Lochdon waits for me at one of the tables set in the back. I see him when I step inside and a host bot flutters a little too close to my face.

“I’m meeting someone,” I say, softly. Lgeur’s is just a little fancier than I expected and I feel like I need to be quiet.

But Lochdon is wearing what looks like a t-shirt, black pants, and some heavy work boots, so I don’t feel underdressed when the bot zips ahead of me, leading me to him.

He stands to greet me and I’m left bereft by the kiss he gives me.

“Hello Peach.”

“Hi.” I sit, even though I want to crawl into his lap and kiss him some more. There are plenty of different aliens in the restaurant and I don’t know how any of them would react to the level of PDA I’m imagining.

“I’m glad you made it back in one piece.” I scan his body one more time—what I can see of it—just to be sure.

“I certainly had incentive to stay out of the medical ward when I came back.” His hand trails down my arm and he smiles at my skin.

“Did you just mark me?” I ask, trying to glare through my smile.

“Maybe.”

I try to force a scowl and I can’t manage it. “I should pretend to be offended.”

“And I should pretend to be ashamed.”

The bot comes back and I don’t understand what it says, even though it’s clearly speaking to Lochdon in Glantanian.

He waves it away and I look after it, following it past a dozen other diners.

“What was that about?”

“It wanted to know if we were ready to order.”

“Oh… how weird that I couldn’t understand it.”

“Because of the kiss?” He shakes his head. “You’ll only be able to understand me or others of my clan. I don’t know why, but the connection doesn’t cross clan lines, or work with mechanicals.”

“Well, I will be ready to order whenever you are. I got a menu preview while I dried my hair.”

“You worked today?”

I nod. “Wouldn’t be on station if I hadn’t.”

“Then I am very glad that our paths aligned again.”

The way he says it makes me wonder… “Do Glantanians believe in fate?”

His lips quirk in a smile that makes me want to kiss him again. “We’re known to base our whole lives on it.”

He smiles at me and the bot comes back, zipping past my ear.

Lochdon says something to it and it swivels to me, switching to English, “Thank you for visiting Lgeur’s what can I put on order for you?”

“I’d like the vegetable lasagna, please.”

The bot’s aperture shutters and it spins to face Lochdon, but he’s looking at me.

“Would you mind getting that without onions?” He asks. “I’d like to kiss you again and I can’t have them.”

“Oh, of course.”

He thanks me softly and then turns to the bot, rattling off words that have no translation. The bot flies away again and I don’t look after it this time.

“So… was your long haul any fun?”

“Nothing went wrong, so that was good… but nothing went wrong, so I was also bored out of my mind. All I wanted to do was go back to my bunk and fall asleep so that I could dream of you.”

I blush, but am saved from answering as the bot returns and places our food in front of us.

“That was fast.”

He nods, looking down at his food. “I don’t know how they do it.”

The lasagna is good… but it tastes a little odd. The tomatoes are wrong, somehow, or maybe the cheese.

It’s not bad, just different from what I’d expected… dissatisfying.

I don’t know what Lochdon is eating. It’s large, blue, had some sort of shell he had to split open, and there are spines piling up on a plate beside him as he makes his way through it.

My closest guess would be some kind of crustacean.

“We’re basically on sludge rations while we’re out in the lanes,” he says when he sees me studying the thing. “One solid meal a day, everything else comes in a pouch and has to be slurped.”

Ew. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“It’s usually fine.” He looks at me and his smile makes me think I’m going to blush again. “But I’d rather have my lips wrapped around you… if we’re being honest.”

“Are we being honest?”

“I’d like to be honest with you,” he says, “always.”

“I’d like that too.”

He closes the split open shell and a moment later, another bot comes over, bustling the spines and shell and plates away.

Lochdon leans on his elbows, placing his chin on two of his hands.

His two lower arms though…

One hand catches around my calf, lifting my foot up and I leave my shoe behind as he pulls me up to where he has full access.

His fingers dig into the sole of my foot and I sigh as I take my next bite.

Even though I shouldn’t. Even though I know it’s just asking for trouble… I let the word flutter into my head and I pin it on him.

Perfect.

I know it’s silly. And I know he’s not, but he feels so right. This feels so right…

“When we’re done, would you want to…” I don’t get to ask if we could go back to his place.

A booming voice in the general quiet makes me flinch, and Lochdon lets go of my foot.

“I have to hunt you down like a criminal?” The man who stops beside me is also Glantanian. I can understand him, which means he’s part of Lochdon’s clan.

He’s not unattractive, but the smile he turns on me ruins everything about his pretty face.

“What a delicious treat. Is she on the new dessert menu?”

“She is not, Terjen. You’re interrupting.”

Brows flown high, he angles himself more toward me and I glance at Lochdon, who doesn’t move a muscle.

He looks me over in like I am on the menu. “Terjen Orlex,” he says with a sideways bow.

“Peach.” I don’t know why that feels safer than my real name out here. Maggie doesn’t exist on this station… she’s untraceable. He could find me as Peach some other time.

“Peach,” he says it with a weird souring of the vowels. “I am so glad Lochdon found you for me.”

“I’m not for you.”

“Aren’t you?”

I wait for Lochdon to tell him to get lost or to stop being a creep, but he doesn’t.

There’s a brief moment of silence before Terjen asks, “How much longer ‘til you need another kiss, baby? I’d love to know what you taste like.”

“I don’t think I’d enjoy that.” In fact, when I go back to Phantom’s, I’m going to have to remember to put any Glantanian that isn’t Lochdon on my restricted list.

“I bet I could make you enjoy it.”

He places his hand on my shoulder and Lochdon doesn’t do anything. Een when I look at him, he sits still, like he’s waiting.

I should have known there would be something to spoil it all.

Sliding my arm out from under his hand, I say, “Please don’t touch me.”

Terjen holds his hands up like I’m the one who’s just made a scene and says, “So sorry, didn’t know you were roleplaying a wife.”

“Go away, Terjen.” Lochdon says… too calmly.

And the other Glantanian man does go, but the way he looks at me before he does…

Damn.

I hate that I was wrong about Lochdon… and I hate that I was proven wrong, so quickly.

It’s like the universe—fate—heard me think the word “perfect” and decided to slap me in the face with it.