The Lonely Orphan by K. Webster & Nicole Blanchard

Author:K. Webster & Nicole Blanchard [Webster, K. & Blanchard, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, Romance
Goodreads: 47997941
Published: 2019-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

9

Lyric

So fixing the antenna is a total frigging failure, just like Hadrian had said it would be. I’m hurt, though I won’t admit it out loud, and there’s no way Hadrian can repair the damn thing while trying to keep my injured ass safe.

Thinking about my ass only makes me remember how it had felt in Hadrian’s hands, so I try to push the thought away.

Focus, Lyric.

“We have to go back,” I finally say into the silence.

“What about the comms unit? We were nearly to the top.”

“We’ll have to climb straight back up the mountain and you were right. It’s too dangerous.”

His eyes study me as though he knows I’m hurting, but won’t admit it. He could convince me to keep going, to push through it, but instead, he says, “We’ll return to the prison. When you’re healed, we can go back up to fix the antenna.”

I give him a wan smile. “That’s sweet of you, but we’re going to have enough trouble getting back down the mountain, let alone planning another trip up. It’s too risky and I don’t want you to get hurt, too.”

Hadrian lifts a hand to my jaw, thumbing the bruise blooming along my cheek. “If I asked you to trust me, do you think you’d be comfortable letting Theron and me fly the Mayvina to the top of the mountains? We can make contact with the Facility, repair the antenna, and schedule a time for you to talk with your sister.”

Trust him?

How can I trust a man…a monster…I barely know?

My eyes flutter closed as the gentleness of his touch takes me off guard. When was the last time I let someone touch me? That I felt comfort from another person? Too long ago for me to remember off the top of my head. And certainly not since I’ve been at the prison. Finding Aria, and then caring for the prisoners has been all I’ve focused on for so long, his caress shocks me to silence.

I force myself to mellow, to think. I don’t know if it’s the bump on the head or the exhaustion I feel deep in my bones from the trek up the mountain, but I can’t seem to put two words together.

“Lyric,” he says in a dark rumble.

“How am I supposed to trust you?”

“You’ll never know until you try. That’s sort of how it works, sweet one.”

“Don’t call me that,” I say absentmindedly as his hand slips down my cheek and rests on my shoulder. I like his hands on me too much, I realize, and get to my feet. It’s like I’ve gotten a taste of something I shouldn’t have, and I like it—too much. So much that I want him to put them on me again. And again. And again.

And that’s the last thing I should want.

“How are you feeling this solar?”

He doesn’t seem to notice anything is wrong and I join him at the door of the decontamination room to look out the window. Focusing on the trip back to the prison is much safer than what I was considering before.

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