She swallowed, nodded, looked behind her, and saw him waiting, and let go.
He caught her and swirled her away from the wall, building altitude before he threw her into the air and caught her again in a better position.
Athena was shaking with muscle fatigue.
“What is wrong?”
“I was waiting for a lull in your conversation. It took a little too long for comfort.” She curled her bruised fingers up against her chest. “I have to give Tohba his tools back.”
He nodded. “Sure.”
He landed next to her friends.
Hivr grinned. “Seems like you climbed a little too high, Theena.”
She smiled weakly. “Yeah. I was trying to prove something to myself. It blew up in my face.”
Tohba looked at her, concerned. “What were you trying to prove?”
She shrugged and handed over the tools and the bag of mineral samples. “That I am more than the sum of my parts. I am not.”
Etska frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. Just an idle impulse.”
Tohba made a small sound, and he looked concerned. She gave him a small shake of her head, and he nodded imperceptibly. The guys nodded with larger motions.
“Is there something going on here that I am not seeing?”
She patted his chest with one hand. “Probably. I will tell you later.”
Tohba smiled and took the samples. “Are these on the list?”
She chuckled. “Top of it.”
“That is enough for today. I am taking you home, Athena.”
She nodded and turned toward him, hiding her face from her friends. Etska curled her in tight against him, and he took off. She curled herself in, and they flew in silence. Who was she now? She wasn’t Forager Theena anymore. What did that leave behind?
When he set her down on her feet, her fingers and toes had recovered from saving the rest of her. She walked past him to the bed, curled up, and tried to stop her brain from skittering around.
He sat next to her and rubbed her back. “What is wrong?”
“I am wrong. Nothing that I wanted for myself has come true. I was nearly free, now I am back in bond. I was a forager, now I am a companion. I am kicking myself for the error in judgment that sent me up that rockface. I would never have done that under normal circumstances. I was trying to prove that I was all the things I have lost.”
Etska murmured, “Ah.” He kept rubbing her back. “The hair was the last straw, I see.”
She blinked away the tears that were pushing into her eyes. “What?”
“You were sassy until I showed you that your hair had changed. It was at that point that you panicked. That was the moment you had lost your own reflection in the mirror.”
She swallowed. “I guess it was. I did get hit with a lot of shock and panic.”
He took the huge mirror in front of her, and she stared at her features.
“You have the same eyes. The same brows, lips, cheeks, skin. All of it is you. The hair is a change, but you will get used to it.” He kept rubbing her back. “You are still a forager, but it is no longer your active position. You have had jobs in the past, have you not? They don’t cease to exist in your experience just because you move on to something else.”
She glared at him. “Why are you being so sensible?”
He leaned in. “Because a depressed female is harder to arouse.”
Athena felt irritation surge through her. “You are cruising for another hit that didn’t happen.”
He kissed her intensely. When he lifted his head, he licked across her lips and then smiled. “It is easier to go from angry to aroused. Much easier.”
She exhaled grumpily. “You do have a one-track mind.”
He grinned. “Of course. I have been focused on waiting for my lover to feel better and realize that she is still the same woman she always was, but my cock has other thoughts. It remembers how amazing it was to be inside you.”
She put her hand on his chest and stroked the fabric. “Please, tell me that your cock doesn’t have a brain of its own.”
He grinned. “You will have to find out by reading up on Hmrain physiology.”
She groaned. “More studying.”
He chuckled. “You enjoy it.”
She looked up at his smiling features. “Yeah, I do. So, the next phase of my life is companion and student?”
“And colony controller. I was not kidding about that. As we gain more and more colonists over time, we will need to travel around the globe and direct the construction and distribution of materials. You will have to know all about construction in the environment, foods of the area, mineral deposits, and sun and wind exposure for power.” He nibbled and bit at her lips every few words until she was leaning up into every tiny kiss.
He looked down at her clothing. “You know, you look good in this, but the other layers were easier to manage.”
She chuckled. “You want me to strip. Now?”
“It is in the companion contract. When I have a need, you must fulfill it.”
Athena chuckled. “Right. Let’s both get naked this time.”
He leaned back in surprise. “Really?”
“Sure.” She unbuckled her belt and stripped out of her vest. She knelt to remove the upper layers and then unfastened the sash that held her trousers in place. A few yanks at her boots and there was a rustle of fabric, leaving nothing but skin behind.
She rolled to her knees on the bed and put her hands on his shoulders. “And if your companion has a need, you must fulfill it.”
He blinked in amusement, a slow smile creeping over his lips. “You read the contract.”
“I did. It was definitely drafted in my favour.”
Etska threaded his hands through her hair. “I have you on my world, so anything I can offer you is yours.”
She looked at his serious expression. “I suppose I will have to take it moment by moment because what I want changes, moment by moment. I am coming to realize that I have never truly been a long-term planner. I have spent my life going from crisis to crisis. Now that I am settling in, the future is looming before me, and I am trying to choose one thing to be for that whole time.”
“You don’t have to choose.”
She smiled. “I know. I am beginning to learn that, but I have never been a quick study when it comes to emotional evolution.”
“There is no rush for you to settle on being one thing. We have all the time in the world.”
Athena stroked his cheeks, his neck, and tapped her fingers against his shirt. “That sounds very nice, Etska, but right now, I have a need.”
He smiled. “You change moods rather swiftly.”
“Get used to it. If I can just embrace the moment for a while, I think my transition might be more entertaining.”
He stood up and removed his clothing. She watched and swung one leg idly as his skin was slowly exposed.
She patted the bed. “Sit.”