Page 8 of Hollow State

The sincerity in his voice stole the air from her lungs. "You give me too much credit."

“I mean it.” His thumb moved over the inside of her wrist. “I’m grateful you’re here. For your friendship. For everything you’ve done to help me keep this place functioning.”

“This sounds dangerously close to a thank-you speech.”

“I’m trying to say something important.” His gaze dropped briefly to her lips. “I’m grateful for whatever we’re becoming.”

Warmth spread through her chest.

Neither of them had tried to define it. They’d agreed to take things slow. Their lives had become too complicated for promises made in the dark or decisions fueled by the fear that tomorrow might never come.

That didn’t make the pull between them any weaker.

Darwin raised her hand and placed it against his chest. His heartbeat thudded beneath her palm.

“I won’t take unnecessary risks with you,” he said. “I won’t treat what’s happening between us as something disposable. You matter too much.”

She believed in what he said and appreciated the words he’d chosen.

Wynn lifted onto her toes and kissed him.

His lips moved gently against hers, unhurried and warm. The kind of kiss they’d shared late at night when neither of them wanted to return to an empty room. Their late-night talks were intimate. She shared things with him she'd reserved for her therapist's sofa. Not that she'd seen that counselor since she'd been twenty-five, but that wasn't the point. Darwin had a way of drawing out her deepest emotions.

And he'd opened up to her and told her things about his life, his past. She understood him in ways no one else did. Everyone looked at her like she had some schoolgirl crush on Darwin. As if she and Darwin had feelings for one another but didn't know it or refused to act on it.

They hadn't meant to keep their growing relationship from the team. It wasn't about that. For her, it was about protecting Darwin. For him, she suspected it was like everything else. He was an onion that could only be peeled back one painful layer at a time.

She slid her arms around his neck.

He drew her closer, and the kiss changed.

The tenderness remained, but something hotter cut through it. His hand spread across her lower back, pressing her against him as his mouth opened over hers.

Wynn’s pulse jumped. She threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him harder. Weeks of restraint burst under the pressure. Every late-night conversation, every glance across the medical bay, every moment she’d stopped herself from demanding more, rushed forward at once.

Darwin turned them, backing her against the edge of the counter.

A tray rattled behind her.

His mouth moved along her jaw, then down the side of her neck. She tipped her head, giving him better access while her fingers found the buttons of his shirt. The first slipped free. Then the second. She worked another button loose and slid her hand beneath the fabric.

He kissed her again, deeper this time, while his hands traveled up her sides. His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shirt. He traced the edge of her bra, then reached for the clasp.

The medical bay door opened.

“Oh, my. Excuse me.”

Darwin froze.

Wynn blinked open her eyes.

Zadie stood in the doorway with a tablet tucked against her chest. “Sorry.” Zadie lifted one hand. “I guess I should’ve knocked.”

Darwin stepped back so quickly that his hip struck the tray, and the contents tumbled to the ground. Metal on tile. Not a pleasant sound.

Zadie smiled a little too wide. “I won’t be long. As a matter of fact, this can wait. You two can go back to whatever you were about to do.”

“We weren’t about to do anything,” Wynn said.