Breathless by Scott Prussing

she felt safe with him nearby.
    “It must be strange not to have a phone,” she said after a few moments.
    A bemused expression appeared on his handsome face. “Is it strange not to have wings?” he asked.
    His question confused her. She was certain her puzzlement showed on her face.
    “You don’t miss what you’ve never had,” he explained. “It’s just the way things are.”
    Leesa guessed that was true, at least partially. “But what about a car? How do you get anywhere?”
    Rave stopped and lifted his foot off the ground. “With these,” he said, smiling. “I walk, like we are now. Only a bit faster.” He started forward again, seeing no need to add that his kind could cover fifty miles in a matter of hours, if necessary.
    “Can you at least take a bus or a cab if you need to?”
    He shook his head. “Nope. We walk. Run if we’re in a hurry,” he added with a grin.
    Leesa wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to know more about him—wanted to know everything about him, in fact. “Why don’t your people use any modern stuff? Is it a religious thing?”
    “No, it’s not religious. It’s just the way we are, the way we’ve always been. Change comes slowly to us. My people and modern technology don’t seem to get along, for some reason.” The reason was simple, but he wasn’t ready to reveal it. The heat and energy within a volkaane’s body did not mix with electrical or battery-operated appliances.
    They were approaching Leesa’s dorm. She didn’t want the evening to end and tried to think of a way to keep it going. Maybe she should continue walking, pretending this was not her dorm. But if he’d been keeping an eye on her the way he said, he might already know this was where she lived, and she would look foolish.
    Rave halted at the walkway to the dorm. Leesa’s heart sank. He did know.
    “You in a hurry to get home?” he asked. “Or can you walk a bit longer?”
    Leesa felt her heart skip a beat. She smiled—this was getting to be almost like a date. “I’d love to walk some more. Like you said, it’s a beautiful night.”
    They strolled past her dorm, continuing up the sidewalk toward the athletic fields. The campus was noisier than usual—music, television and voices rode out through windows thrown open to the warm night. The first fallen leaves crackled now and then under Leesa’s feet, and she wondered why Rave never seemed to step on any. She listened carefully for a few steps but heard no sound at all from his footfalls. His soft-bottomed moccasin-style shoes were silent. What must he think of her as she limped along, crunching every dead leaf in sight?
    But he didn’t appear to notice, or at least not to care. The farther they walked, the more conscious she became of the feeling of heat between them. Take my hand , she thought as they walked, trying to will him to show his interest. Please, take my hand . If only she knew what he was thinking…
    Leesa would have been thrilled to know what was going on in Rave’s head, for he felt happier strolling beside her than he’d been in a long, long time. He wondered what it was about her that drew him so strongly. It was more than her looks, more than her smile, more than the soft tones of her voice. He suddenly felt an almost irresistible urge to hold her hand, but touching her would raise questions he was not prepared to answer, so he forced the urge down.
    The night grew quieter as they strolled past the ball fields, empty and dark tonight, then much louder when they passed near Fraternity Row. Lost in the thrill of Rave’s company, Leesa noticed neither. Their conversation flowed easily, and their few silences were equally comfortable. An hour flew by, feeling like mere minutes. They walked all the way to the main campus entrance before turning and heading back.
    Rave bid her goodnight in front of her dorm. For a moment, Leesa hoped he might kiss her, but somehow knew he wouldn’t. Most guys would have been all over her given half