And yet.
He watched Orin pilot the craft with nothing short of exemplary skill as they set a course designed to avoid the notice of any Enforcers patrolling the Verge.
A course that necessitated long stretches of nothing at the slowest pace they could stand.
Ari hung back in the corridor as Orin checked and double-checked the autopilot before declaring them fit for a rest period.
Attempting to appear as though he had business standing there, Ari focused on his pad, tapping the screen every time it went blank from disuse.
Every muscle of his body went rigid as the sound of Orin’s footsteps headed in his direction.
Ari stared at the blank screen until his eyes watered as the footsteps slowed, stopped, and then continued into Orin’s bunk with a hiss of his door sliding shut.
Ari almost dropped his pad in disappointment.
Instead, he opened his door with a heartfelt sigh and tossed his pad to bounce on the bed. He had just turned to close the door but paused at the hiss of Orin’s door sliding open again.
He found honey eyes watching him, crinkled at the edges in a knowing smirk.
“You coming, Red?”
Ari followed Orin into his room like a man sleepwalking, body in motion before his mind could catch up.
He surveyed the bed anxiously, relieved when Orin stopped and turned as soon as his door hissed shut. Relieved until he realized he was stuck between Orin and the bulkhead just behind him, with very little room to move in either direction.
Orin leaned in slightly, resting one hand on the wall over Ari’s head. His expression was open and inquisitive, searching Ari’s face.
“Ever done this before, beautiful?”
Ari tensed. “Of course I have, don’t be ridiculous.”
Orin tilted his head, chocolate-brown hair flopping with the motion, making him resemble nothing so much as an overlarge puppy.
“Naw. You’re greener than those pretty eyes, darling.”
Ari studied the floor, clammy hands clasped behind his back in an effort to curb the trembling.
“Will that be an issue for you?”
He closed his eyes as a large hand grazed over the top of his head, circling around to rest lightly against the nape of his neck. Orin tapped his index finger gently just under Ari’s hairline.
“Just means I gotta be a little more thorough, is all. I’ll take real good care of you, baby, don’t you worry about that. I just gotta ask though. How?”
Ari finally met Orin’s warm gaze, steady beneath the dark shaggy fringe of his hair. “How, what, precisely?”
“How’d a pretty thing like you make it all the way to my big paws completely untouched? Doesn’t seem possible.”
Ari shrugged uncomfortably. “The opportunity has never presented itself. No one has ever been interested in me in such a way before.”
Ari neglected to mention he’d never been so lonely before in all of his life, having been used to the constant companionship of his twin. The loneliness left behind after Theo’s disappearance kept him up at night. He would not squander the opportunity to press close to another person until the loneliness faded, if only for a few moments.
Orin’s grip tightened infinitesimally around Ari’s neck.
“Bull. Shit. They weren’t interested. I been all over the Core, past the Verge and through the dark and I’ve never seen a sight as good as you, gorgeous. Hell, I was ready to beat down three pieces of flotsam who were sniffing after you over at the saloon the moment we met.”
Ari’s face twitched against a smile, attention split between Orin’s steady regard and the rosy flush of his full lips. Lips that parted slowly to reveal the edge of a long tongue peeking out to moisten them.
Ari’s heart engaged in rigorous calisthenics.
He shook his head slightly, wrenching his focus from Orin’s lips. “False flattery is entirely unnecessary. I assure you of my willing participation, regardless.”
Orin blinked so slowly Ari thought for a moment he had simply shut his eyes. “Pardon?”
Ari sighed. “I refer to all of this ‘sweet talk’”—he lifted both hands to bend his index and middle fingers into air quotes to emphasize his point—”you have been directing at me. I do not require flattery and falsehoods to garner my favor, Mr. Stone.”
Mr. Stone frowned, moving a step closer until the heat of him emanated down the length of Ari’s body. A heat rivaled only by Ari’s resulting blush.
“You calling me a liar, Red?”
Ari shook his head, pressing his hands flat against Orin’s chest; it felt like pushing against a wall, having an immediate negative impact on the structural integrity of his knees.
“No. Not as such. I simply. I understand that such words are well intended, but I am also aware of the deficiencies in my physical appearance. You do not need to pretend I am anything other than what I am to gain access to my body, Mr. Stone.”
The solid wall beneath his hands rose and fell in an exaggerated deep breath, the exhalation ruffling the hair at the top of Ari’s head regardless of his carefully applied pomade.
“Yeah, that’s enough of that.”
Ari took a sharp breath of his own as the hand that had rested behind his neck circled around to cup his jaw, spanning from ear to ear with thumb and fingertips. Orin’s irises were molten bronze.
“Think I already told you to call me Orin, sweetheart. You can also call me lots of other things if you want to, but this Mr. Stone shit stays out of the bedroom, understand?”
Ari nodded as best he could within Orin’s grip.
“Good. Now, as for what I’m calling you, you got a choice in that too. You don’t like something I’m saying, you tell me. But don’t you think for a minute that anything I’m telling you is a lie. I say it how I see it and damn, honey, I don’t see nothing but perfection when I look at you.”
Ari had to close his eyes against Orin’s earnestness.
Orin shifted a little closer, fingers readjusting on Ari’s jaw, the thick edge of his thumb sweeping back against one earlobe.
“That’s alright, sugar, we’ll work on that. We got all the time we need and nobody around to interrupt.”
Ari couldn’t suppress the shiver that started in his fingertips and ran a course through his entire body until his lower lip trembled against the webbing between Orin’s forefinger and thumb. He kept his eyes shut tight as he attempted to will it away.
Orin lowered his head to drift his lips down Ari’s hairline to his ear, making gentle shushing noises as he circled Ari’s waist with his other hand. He walked them backward a couple of steps until the cool panels of the bulkhead supported his back.
The hand around his jaw turned his head up and to the side, everything pausing for a breathless moment until he lifted his lashes to find Orin studying his face like he had all the patience in the galaxy.
“Yeah?”
Ari felt the question more than he heard it, Orin’s voice soft and deep within the rumble of his chest, standing close enough that they pressed together with every breath.
Ari swallowed, Orin’s hand stroking gently down his throat as though chasing the motion. “Yeah. Yes,” he whispered.
The heat of Orin’s lips hit Ari’s senses before the weight of them. Ari froze for a second, body tensing until he realized that Orin had paused, just like that. Lips a subtle pressure against Ari’s own, large hands rubbing tiny circles up and down Ari’s back and arms.