Free gaian consortium 06 - zhore deception by Christine Pope

toward the window. “It was not so simple as that. We were told we would be the ones being selected, not the other way around. However, Jalzhin did tell me of several of the men who would be approached, described their situations. And when he said that one of them had lost his wife a year earlier, and that he also had a prestigious position here in the city…well, it was not so difficult for me to piece together those details and deduce that the man in question must be you.”
    As he had thought. The question was, now that they had both been revealed to one another, what next? Should he bow his head to fate, and become part of the Ministry’s experiment?
    The thing was, he had sensed yearning and need from Leizha, but no real passion. It was possible that she had done a better job of hiding it than her other emotions, but Zhandar wasn’t so sure. In all their time working together, Leizha had always impressed him as a remarkably level-headed woman, even more so than one might expect from one of his race. Perhaps she had no true fire at her core, and that was why she had never bonded with anyone else. Her attraction to him could be based on a simple need for companionship, without truly understanding what could attach a man to a woman, make him want to live for her.
    Or die for her.
    The sound of the waterfall somewhat masked the silence in the room, but it could not erase that uneasy quiet completely. Leizha waited, clearly expecting him to speak next. However, he had no idea what to say. That he would put aside all his misgivings, take Jalzhin’s misbegotten drug, and see what happened next? That perhaps the drug would engender the passion she so far seemed to lack?
    His entire body and soul quailed at the prospect. He had told Jalzhin he would consider it, and had in fact called Leizha in to speak on the topic so that he might make up his mind once and for all. Now, though, with her sitting there and watching him, Zhandar found his resolve deserting him. He could not do this. He would not.
    “Thank you for your honesty, Leizha,” he said at last. “You have given me much to think on.”
    He’d meant the words as a dismissal, and she did not overlook that. A brief clap of anger, quickly hidden, and then she got to her feet, saying,
    “That is all? After I have told you the truth of my heart, you will send me away as if we had discussed nothing more important than a new order of irrigation tubing?”
    That, he felt, was being somewhat melodramatic. Yes, she had spoken somewhat of her feelings, but it was not as if she had flung herself into his arms and told Zhandar of her undying love for him.
    Not that he would have wanted such a thing, of course. In fact, he was very grateful for her restraint. Now, though, he thought she had begun to push things a bit too far.
    Forcing his tone to remain even, he said, “This is not something I can make a decision on right now. I wanted to know how matters stood with you, and now I do. If you find my hesitation hurtful, I apologize for that. But I hope that you would not expect me to rush into something as important as this without thinking it over carefully first.”
    He’d expected her to nod and accept his words as the truth they so plainly were. Instead, she stalked to the door and pushed the button to open it. Stopping in the open doorframe, she snapped, “If it was something you truly wanted, then you would not have to stop and think about it, would you?”
    With that parting remark, she was gone, the door whooshing to a close behind her. And Zhandar was left staring after her, wondering what he had just done wrong.
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    “Freaky,” was Blake’s observation as Trinity took a seat across from him in a small conference room, one outfitted with only a round table and two chairs.
    Since Gabriel had guided her here but then left, saying that Blake didn’t want the intrusion of someone else’s thoughts in these exercises, Trinity knew she had to stick up for herself. Not