At some point, Danziger knew, he should enlarge the airlock entry to the bio-dome. Human traffic jams happened there all the time, including right now when he was trying to go out while Devon was coming again. She was running late for breakfast, but based on the smell, there was still plenty remaining to go around. That was a good thing, given that, for once, it had been pretty tasty.
“Um,” she said, stepping to her left at the same time he stepped to his right. “Sorry.”
“Stay still,” he told her, stepping back to his left. That made just enough room for them to pass, although it was still uncomfortably close. It was also the reason he happened to see the bruises when he looked down at her. She’d wrapped a scarf around her neck, but it was loose at the top, and their height difference meant he was able to see the oval-shaped purple marks underneath.
He caught Devon’s arm before she could finish passing. “Who did that to you?”
“Did what?” She avoided his eyes.
“Your neck. Someone had their hands on it during the last couple of days. Why haven’t you said anything?”
She pulled the scarf tighter. “It’s fine.”
“Devon, someone had their hands on your neck. That’s not fine, and…” he trailed off, noticing something else, something that looked like… “is that a bite mark?”
She jerked away. “Don’t worry about it, Danziger.”
“Too bad. I’m already worried. Who did this to you,” he repeated, “and why haven’t you said anything?”
A flush crept across her cheeks, but she still kept her eyes averted. “It doesn’t matter.”
Understanding dawned, and with it came horror. “It was me, wasn’t it? I did something to you while that dead Terrian was inside of me. Why didn’t ’Lonz tell me about it?”
The flush grew darker. “He doesn’t know. Let it drop.”
“Damn it, I put my hands and mouth on you! What did I do?” It was only when the words came out that he understood: the blush, the refusal to meet his eyes, the exact pattern of the bruises and the placement of the bite mark. Given that he’d also discovered scratches across the backs of his shoulders…
“Oh, my God,” he choked, feeling his gorge rise. “I didn’t.”
Now she met his eyes. “John. It’s all right.”
“But—”
She took a sharp breath. “It was consensual.”
“What?”
“It was consensual, Danziger. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some food before it’s all gone. You’re in my way.”
Numb, he let go of her arm and stumbled out of the airlock into the crisp morning air. He managed to make it around to the side before losing his breakfast completely. The foul-tasting bile burned his sinuses, but he ignored it. It was the least he deserved.
She found him in the common area. “You’re avoiding me.”
Danziger froze for a long moment, wondering how he could get out of the situation, before giving up any hope of convincing Devon she was wrong. She wasn’t. He had been avoiding her for the last three or four days.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. “It’s better this way.”
“For you or for me?”
“Adair, if I can’t be trusted—”
“How many times do I have to tell you?” she exploded. “It was consensual!”
He stared at her. “Keep your voice down, damn it, unless you want the whole camp to hear about it!”
“Nobody else is here,” she snapped back. “And it wouldn’t be that shocking if they did. Don’t you know how big the pool about us is?”
He did, actually; or, at least, he had. Until their encounter with the ancient Terrian, he’d made a point of getting regular updates from Alonzo. “This didn’t count. Wait, blast it, hear me out!” he continued. “I have fifty pounds and, what, eight inches on you! If I’d been determined to…to do something…you couldn’t have done anything about it. That’s not consent! If you gave in, it only means you didn’t start a fight you couldn’t win.”
Her lips thinned. “You know, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never actually condescended to me before.”
“It’s not condescending! It’s realistic.” His mother had had a long talk with him once, after he’d started developing some of the wrong ideas about girls. “When people are intimidated, they don’t always speak up. Which means that if a guy’s larger and stronger, he should make very sure—”
She made a disgusted sound. “That’s all well and good, Danziger, except for the part where you aren’t listening to me. If I hadn’t wanted it, you’d have a lot more than a few scratches on your back!”
“You have bruises!”
“So what? They happen sometimes.”
All the air had gone out of his lungs. All of it. It took a moment to get it back in. “But you’ve made it clear you’re not—”
She rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re stuck for the winter in the middle of the wrong continent, counting the days until we can get back on our way across the rest of it. Now is not the time for me to be…” she trailed off. “Indulging myself.”
“Indulging yourself,” he repeated, incredulous.
“Yeah. Indulging myself. Like this.” Leaning down to where he was sitting, she pressed her lips against his. His eyes fell closed, and he was returning the kiss before he even completely realized it was happening.
When it finished, she locked her eyes on his. “I didn’t make very sure about that. Does that mean it wasn’t consensual?”
Danziger shook his head, still reeling.
“Exactly. Consent can be implied.” With that, she turned and left the bio-dome, but there was still an echo of her on his lips. He licked them and groaned.
She tasted exquisite.
And she was going to be the death of him.