She slipped out of her day clothes and into the dress. It fit even better than she’d anticipated, floating around her like a confection while still managing to be sleek and sensuous. She smoothed her hands over her waist and smiled. It really was perfect on her, the color complementing the hints of pink in her complexion without washing her out even more than she already was. And the back… She turned to admire the near-scandalous amount of skin it revealed.
Meja opened the door enough to lean out, mischief percolating through her like effervescent warmth. “Layth? Can I get your opinion on something?”
He crossed to the dressing room, and she could see the moment he spotted the dress—his eyes went wide before darkening with a hunger she’d come to recognize and thought of as deliciously sinful and hers. Her blood heated in response, twisting the coil of desire deep in her belly. She regretted all the time they’d wasted, when they could have been together from the start, but she could still treasure the time remaining.
He took a step toward her, letting the door close behind him. It sparked a flare of forbidden lust, even though she knew the dressing area was likely monitored expressly to prevent couples from hooking up in secret. She spun slowly for him. “Do you think this works?”
His arm wrapped around her waist, snaking into the open back as she’d imagined it might. Their kiss seared her skin, burning away her confusion and worry in a fire of need. She pressed her thigh between his legs, moaning as he ground himself against her. He captured the sound with his mouth as his fingertips dug into the curve of her ass. This was the truth of them—hunger, need and attraction, without all the complex bullshit that seemed to get in the way when they weren’t locked together. He was air in a vacuum, and she wanted to fill herself with him.
A heavy knock on the dressing room door forced them apart, though a devilish grin remained stuck to his face as he appraised her again. “This isn’t over,” he whispered.
She smiled. “Promises, promises.”
“Meja Aquarone?” The voice was deep, basso, and definitely not the young girl tending the front of the shop. “You are wanted for questioning in relation to the violation of the Genetic Intellectual Property Protection Act. Please remit yourself immediately.”
Ice flooded out any lingering sense of arousal hiding in her veins. She tried to think about how Golden Ratio might have found her. She peeked through the eyehole in the door, to confirm, and it certainly appeared to be a pair of men in GRCA’s security uniforms.
“Is there a back way?” Layth whispered.
She looked at him and blinked. “Out of a dressing room? That would be like inviting theft.”
“Good point. What do we do?” He patted his pockets, as though checking for a weapon. If he was carrying one, it was news to her.
Not that she was a walking arsenal by any stretch. She didn’t carry anything either. And even if she did, the dress was significantly short of having enough cloth to hide anything in. Though that did give her an idea.
She opened the door, surprising the two security guards on the other side. “I’m sorry. Do I have time to change first?” She leaned forward slightly, and the nearest guard’s eyes dipped to look down her décolletage.
Pig.
She pulled his stunner out of its holster and jammed it into the center of his chest. The guard went down like a rag doll, and she yelled over her shoulder, “Grab my clothes! We’re leaving!”
The other guard had already drawn her own stunner and circled around to Meja’s left. But she hadn’t called for backup yet, which meant they still had a chance of getting out of there. Layth came out of the dressing room with her discarded clothes tucked under one arm and a scowl on his face. It drew enough of the guard’s attention that Meja made a run for the front of the store, hoping Layth would be quick enough to follow. The guard turned to pursue, and Layth stepped in, throwing a shoulder into the woman and knocking her into a rack of clothing. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do.
As she raced toward the door, Meja shouted to the clerk, “I’ll take this one!”
The clerk, who was grinning like this was the best thing she’d seen in ages, gave her a thumbs-up. “I’ve got your omni from the door scanner. You’re good.”
At least something was going their way.
She sprinted toward the transit station and the waiting autocabs, with Layth close on her heels and her heart thundering against her ribs. She dove into the first one she reached, pushing past a group of businessmen to claim it. Layth jumped in after her, muttering an apology and swiping his omni at the same time. The cab shifted up and away from the curb in a smooth glide.
Layth turned on her immediately afterward. “Are you out of your mind? What if they’d been armed with more than stunners?”
“They weren’t. I’d already checked.” He wouldn’t be this angry if he didn’t care, right? She fought the flutter in her blood which adrenaline wanted to turn into a shiver.
“Real life isn’t a holo-vid! You could have been hurt, or k—or worse.”
She put in the coordinates for the spaceport, so they could get back to the shuttle, then cupped his cheek. “Golden Ratio doesn’t authorize deadly force. At least never that I’ve heard of. It was always a matter of them bringing me in, especially since I clearly don’t have the cats on me.”
“You keep acting like you stole ten credits. You stole three cats. That’s more money than most people see in a lifetime.”
Outside, the flashy buildings of downtown gave way to the more industrial warehousing district near the spaceport. “You didn’t seem upset when it was about your paycheck.”
“It’s not about the money!” he shouted. “I don’t want you to be so damn casual with your life. Is that so hard to understand?”
“It’s my life!” she snapped. It wasn’t—she’d endangered him just as much with her actions—but her emotions had responded quicker than her logic. Behave. Toe the line. She’d heard it all too many times to take it lying down. She clenched and unclenched her fists and tried again. “I’m sorry. Yes, I endangered you too, you’re right.”
“I don’t care about me. I don’t want to have to patch you up again, or worse, watch you get hurt in a way I can’t fix.”
She brushed her thumb over his cheek gently and smiled. “It’s going to be fine. I promise. Plus, it’s a great dress, right?”
He shrugged out of her touch and gave her another look, a spark of hunger replacing the cold fear in his eyes. “It is a rather good dress. Too bad you can’t go to the party.”
Layth stormed into the cargo hold of the shuttle, heart still hammering with unspent adrenaline. Part of him knew he should have waited at the autocab for Meja, but he wasn’t sure he could maintain the façade much longer. She’d blown off his concerns, and he couldn’t decide if he was furious or relieved that because it would make leaving her easier.
The pain still crushing his heart in its talons said it was probably not relief.
Zion had Collins out of his cage, nuzzling his face against Collins’s nose and trilling to the cat happily. As soon as Layth entered the hold, however, he pushed the cat out to a safe distance and tried to look nonchalant about the blush staining his cheekbones. “I…wanted to check and make sure he was okay. So, I was listening to his breathing.”