Bytes of Passion

Chapter 23

Being back on Baccarus 3 made Skylar's skin crawl, and it had nothing to do with the way Teegan clipped the tops of the trees flying under the Goldsmiths' radar. While she tried to get a handle on her emotions, or rather lock them down, he mumbled something about Dennison under his breath. DSPS had emptied Teegan's weapons locker of everything save two knives, and those appeared to have been tossed in there as if to say they'd give him a chance, but they really didn't care if he survived. Even his armor was gone, which further proved her theory that Dennison could care less about Teegan or her.

Several times Teegan looked at her, the door lock, and the knives. He wanted to leave her behind. She'd considered that as well, but the thought of being alone on this planet, even in the relative safety of the ship, unnerved her.

Before she could overthink the situation, she slid out the door, with Teegan right behind her. He sideway glance became both a comfort and a burden. What would he think when he learned the truth about her?

"Stay low," he whispered.

Crouching behind him, with her hand on his back to guide her, her feet sank into the earth. Even the grass felt foreign, not like home. That's because it had never been home.

"Stop that," he said.

"Stop what?"

"You're biting your lip, wearing away the skin. They'll be nothing left for me to kiss."

He was cute when he did that, flirt with his eyes as much as his words. "Who said you'd be kissing me?"

"A guy can dream, can't he?"

The certainly in his voice said he wasn't going to break his promise to her. He'd leave her alone once this mission was over. That's what she wanted, wasn't it? She didn't know anymore. She'd never felt so confused, unlike Teegan who always knew what he wanted. He stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, no matter what the consequence. Maybe he hadn't fully thought his actions through back at Quintero Station. She couldn't be mad at him, not for something so sweet, so innocent as hoping to kiss her again.

He pulled her behind the refuse collection area, which killed any idea about kissing. The stench alone made her want to run back to the ship. They had another five minutes before the guard passed by on his rounds. Then they could enter through the garbage chute, her personal doorway when she wanted to get out of the house without a guard trailing her.

"Why are you so nervous?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"We're sneaking in to find evidence against the only people who gave me a home. They're essentially adoptive parents to me."

"They're not and that's a load of crap. You haven't shown any affinity towards them before or any sense of remorse, and do you know why, Princess? Because you know what they've done to you. You've never had a real connection to them. In fact, I'm guessing you resent them as much as I do."

"You?"

"Yes."

"That makes no sense. Why do you–" She stopped herself mid-sentence when she noticed the anger in his eyes. He was mad at Margaret and Ephram for how they'd used her, and how they'd destroyed her memories.

"It's one thing to hide your feelings and emotions from me, to convince yourself that I don't care about you. I get that. You don't want to have anything to do with me after what I did. But you're hiding from something, Skylar. You need to face it, whatever it is."