Starkissed

Chapter Seventeen

     When my eyes fluttered open the next morning, I felt rested and re-energized in a way I had never experienced before. It was as if my entire soul had been renewed. I could feel the small smile on my lips as I patted the bed beside me, trying to feel for Kade's warmth.

What I felt instead was a cold mattress. I sat up quickly, looking for him. Disappointment and worry surged through me like a tsunami and left a bitter taste in my mouth as I realized he hadn't kept his promise from last night. After such an important moment between us, I was sure I would wake up to him next to me this morning. I frowned at the door, trying to understand my own frustration.

Despite the anger that had sparked up within me, I tried to rationalize with myself that something important must have come up for him to leave me here alone after the moment we had shared together last night.

I literally let the guy bite me, for gods sake. I groaned into my pillow with embarrassment.

Maybe what we shared wasn't as important to him as it was to me. My traitorous mind suggested.

The thought alone made my blood run cold as dread began to overtake my train of thought. Had I been a fool to think that an alien man from a different world would feel the same emotions as me? That the passion between us last night was really just due to some weird alien body-chemistry and nothing more?

Probably. I rolled my eyes at myself. Men were the same no matter where they came from, clearly. I must have been naive to think that there was something more than physical chemistry.

I let out a sigh as I sat up in bed, stretching my muscles languidly. I still felt better than I had in...  possibly forever, if I really thought about it.

I made my way around the room, brushing my teeth and readying myself for the day ahead of me. I found comfort in the mundane tasks that took up a small portion of my day.

I found clean clothes waiting for me on the wooden chair near the bed and slipped them on. I found myself absently wondering if Kade had laid them out for me or if there was some sort of invisible servant I hadn't yet met that crept around the room while I was sleeping.

I shivered at the thought. I hoped it wasn't the latter.

If it was Kade... my cheeks reddened at the thought of him choosing the clothes out for me to wear. It felt extremely intimate.

Don't get ahead of yourself, Emily. I rolled my eyes at myself.

I peeked out the door cautiously. I was pretty sure that since we had marked one another last night, that meant I'd no longer randomly turn into a ball of fire and once again be allowed back in the main part of the ship.

I wouldn't be trapped several stories below ground level any longer since it was supposed to neutralize my outbursts of power. I wouldn't be as great of a risk to exposing the Naurians powers.

At least... I hoped. I was done with the claustrophobic metal walls down here. I needed to see other people- er, Naurians or I was sure to go insane with just Kade to keep me company.

Even if he was exactly the company I wanted to keep.

I frowned at the thought of him, still annoyed he hadn't been there to keep the promise he had made me last night. I paused mid-step, furrowing my brow at my own behaviour. I was acting awfully possessive over a man I hardly knew. Fated or not. Whatever that really meant... I still wasn't completely sure.

I shook my head, forcing my troubled mind to shut up for the time being. Right now, I was hungry and on a mission to find someone to bring me back up to life above the shelter I had been stuck in for the past several days.