LunarReunion by Shona Husk Page B

feelings she’d
once had for him and just act on lust?
    “I bet it is.” He smiled, revealing his dark teeth. Then the
grin widened and it reached his blue eyes the way she remembered. He was as
devastatingly handsome as he’d been six Allied Standard years ago and her body
remembered the old longing. Her nipples peaked and pressed against her
undershirt. She’d come here looking for sex and had found Filid. The one man
she’d never been able to have, even though she once had considered trading her
pilot’s wings for him.
    She was glad she hadn’t because then she might have hated
him for grounding her. And she’d have never expected him to give up his posting
and position. But things were different now.
    Filid sipped his drink. “Miss the APM?”
    A little, but not enough to ever go back. Which was the way
she felt about Lekithia as well. She’d go back to Lekithia as
soon as she’d seen enough of the galaxy. As soon as she had enough chits put
away. Now she was sure she was just avoiding going home, ever. Flying on the
other hand she loved. Civilian flying was more fun and she got shot at less.
“Not really.”
    But she missed him. They’d had a chance and mucked it up.
Even if he didn’t recognize her, was it possible he could be interested in
something fun and short term? Did she want him enough to pursue it even though
he didn’t know her anymore? If she was honest, she’d been half hoping he’d
recognize her the way she had him. That he’d be glad to see her and they could
do all the things they’d never gotten to do with the APM regulations between
them. She swallowed and shook off the doubts. He was here; she could still
cross him off her list. No regrets was her motto and he was a beautiful blot in
her life.
    Unless of course he was merely being polite in talking to
her and he had no interest in sex. Only one way to find out—keep him talking
for a bit and look for clues. She was so tempted to say something to jog his
memory, but if he couldn’t remember on his own, maybe it was easier just to go
along with it. Pretend they’d never met before today and keep things simple.
    Silva rested her elbow on the bar and angled her body toward
him. “Flying the Lunar Bird I get a mini holiday with every stopover.”
    “Different guy in every spaceport?” His tentacles moved as
he was talking, the way some people moved their hands. What was he sensing from
her? She knew that he couldn’t read her thoughts exactly, only emotions. Once
that had been enough—more than enough, the idea that someone could possibly
read every thought in her head was scary. She didn’t know how he coped when he
went home.
    She grinned and tried to sound as though she didn’t care
that he didn’t remember her even though she’d often thought of him alone at
night. She was going to enjoy this stopover and she was going to get laid. “You
know how it works.”
    Back then she couldn’t have Filid, so she’d had some random
guy in the first spaceport, anything to stop the aching lust. It hadn’t helped.
And the tension between them had risen.
    Silva glanced at the Amayan . Their culture was so
repressed and bound up in rules that it made serving in the APM look like a
holiday. Was Filid with the Amayan man? Or had they simply arrived
together? How together were they? Talk about contrast. The idea of being
between the two of them…she almost shivered with delight.
    Filid laughed and his tentacles slithered over his shoulder,
trying to get closer to her. He’d read her thoughts as if she’d written them
down and handed them over, but she refused to let her skin heat. He would’ve
only sensed a strong desire as she’d looked at both men. It would’ve been easy
to fill in the gap.
    “Tadao is my pilot. We’re here for prisoner collection and
to enjoy the Moon until the dock opens again for departures.” He took a moment
to slowly check her out, but his expression gave nothing away. His tentacles
did. They moved as if