Page 16 of Uprooted

“This way leads to the south side,” Aro points out as we walk down the hallway.

A dozen knee-high cleaning bots whir past, pushing us up against each other as they sweep the floor.

My pulse picks up and my hands get clammy at his proximity.

I jump away when they are gone. This is exactly why I shouldn’t have taken his hand to get up. Touching just leads to more touching.

Aro activates the next door we come to. He presses his palm against the square touchscreen next to it. The screen lights up green when it scans his hand and the door slides open.

I follow him into a cavernous room that is easily four or five times larger than my lab. In tidy rows, stacks of uniform black storage containers rise nearly to the ceiling.

"You brought me to the warehouse?" I choose to ignore the twinge of disappointment I feel at our destination.

“As you know, there isn't much to do around here.”

Aro saunters down the aisle. I follow him from a safe distance. The tension between us feels manageable with some space. We reach the back corner and Aro picks up his pace a little.

“Follow me. There’s something I want to show you.” Aro ducks into a smaller room that's separated from the rest of the warehouse by a clear plexi wall. The safe distance away from him is erased when I step into the confined area.

It’s darker in here, the only light coming from a dim control panel that runs the length of the room. Aro lights it up with a swipe of his finger. He taps through the glowing hieroglyphs without any explanation.

“Here we go.” The panel emits a soft hum at his touch.

Aro slides his finger forward and a lit-up cube on the panel follows his movement.

Simultaneously, metal and gears grind together in the warehouse.

At the other end of the room a magnet activates and lifts a crate into the air.

It raises up and lowers down, synchronizing with Aro's finger on the panel.

He taps twice and the box drops to the ground with a clang.

Aro picks up another crate, swings it through the air and stacks it on top of the first one he moved. He arranges the stacks effortlessly.

“Want to take a turn?” he asks me once the containers are all lined up. “Just select a unit here and slide it up.”

I gently rest my finger on the control pad over the lit-up cube. A container at the far end of the warehouse rises. The panel vibrates as I move it up, down, and side to side. “This is fun. You come in here to play blocks when you’re bored? ”

My quick glance at Aro takes my attention away from where I should be looking. The crate crashes into the next row, knocking a few boxes to the ground. I jerk my hand back like it’s about to be bitten.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I got distracted.” I step back wanting him to take over the panel. With a few swipes he has everything back where it should be.

“You should’ve seen the first time Bennet worked the panel. He destroyed the entire place.” Aro laughs. “Now let’s get out of here before you break something.” He playfully nudges his shoulder against mine as he leads me out of the room.

“Let’s see if I can find somewhere that’s Elowen-proof. I’d hate to see you having to explain to your director that you destroyed millions of credits’ worth of equipment,” Aro says nonchalantly. “

“What’s in the boxes?” My stomach drops to my feet.

“Not exactly sure, but it must be something important to be stored in a secured room,” he casually tosses over his shoulder.

My legs stop and I feel like every ounce of blood has drained out of my body. “Oh no.”

Aro turns around to look at me and laughs. “The crates are empty. You didn’t break anything. I wish you could see your face right now.”

“You scared the shit out of me.” I playfully punch his chest for emphasis. Before I make contact he flicks my fist aside like he’s shooing away a fly.

“Be careful, little human. You keep touching me like that, I might think you’re flirting with me.”

“I should kick your ass,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.

“That gives me an excellent idea!” Aro beckons me to follow.

He scans open each door as we walk through twisting hallways. I’ve completely lost any sense of direction and have no idea where we are now.

Aro’s pace slows and he activates a door for us. “After you.”

I’m surrounded by workout equipment and monitors. The gym is mostly empty, with a few Tilaks working out. They briefly acknowledge Aro as we walk through, but no one takes notice of me. We come to an open area with soft purple mats covering the ground.

“Alright, take your best shot,” he says and sinks down into a defensive fighting stance .

“What?” I laugh at his ludicrous posture.

“Try not to hurt yourself.”

I bounce on my toes back and forth, imitating a combative posture. “You ready for this?” I push out my lower lip in mock seriousness.

“Let’s see it then.” He motions me forward.

I take a jab at him. He ducks out of the way and steps away from my strike in one swift motion. We circle around each other, both of us smiling and waiting for the other to make their move.

I look down when my foot finds the edge of the mat. That’s all the opening he needs. He swats at my ass and jumps back a safe distance away before I can even flinch. My face heats red from the smack on my backside.

“You humans turn the cutest shade of pink when you’ve been beat,” he says.

“Beat? Not even close.” My bravado sounded real even to my own ears.

I turn and take another swing. This time he grabs my wrist and turns my body so my back is up against his chest. I squirm to get away, but his arm across my upper body holds me in place. I can feel his solid chest against my back. I clutch his forearm and it loosens a fraction at my touch.

Luckily, he can’t see my face. I’m smiling as I step to the side and sweep my foot across his ankles, bringing him down to the ground.

He lands on top of me caging me in on the mats.

I turn over to face him and he grabs both of my wrists, holding them to the sides of my head while his knees straddle my hips.

He smiles down at me. “Hm, I like the view from up here.”

I’m not ready to give up without a fight.

I push my hips up and yank my wrists out of his firm grasp all at once.

I grab his shoulder and use his momentum to roll him to his back with my full body weight on top of him.

Pressed together, our chests rise and fall against each other.

Our position makes heat radiate from between my thighs.

It all began with him helping me up and less than an hour later, against all better judgement, I’m now straddling him on the ground.

He could easily lift me up and toss me aside and there is nothing I could do about it.

“What are you going to do now that you’ve got me here?” he asks quietly .

He wants to see who yields first, and now I’m feeling stubborn.

I look around to see if anyone is watching.

The others in the room are oblivious to us, focused on their own workouts.

I arch my back and move upwards to meet his face.

I sweep my hair behind my shoulder and bite my lower lip. His eyes settle on my mouth.

“I think I could do anything I want,” I say, imitating his cool confidence.

The space between us feels heavy and I'm powerless to the gravity pulling me down. I wonder what his lips would feel like on mine. Maybe just a tiny, little...

Someone drops their weights with a loud clang. I pull away and collapse onto the mat next to him and try to catch my breath. He shoves a hand through his hair and his ear does a little twitch.

“Um. I’m gonna go,” I mumble. I push up off the floor and suppress the urge to bolt from the room like a coward.

I straighten my shirt and do my best imitation of a confident walk.

I glance over my shoulder when I reach for the door, hoping he doesn’t see through my act.

He’s lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling.