Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

** PIRACY WARNING: This story is free to read on RoyalRoad.com If you are reading this on another site it is a pirated copy. If you enjoy the story please read it on Royal Road here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/122374/stars-dancing-dreams-to-lovers-romance **

RORY

Your Uncle Ronnie had good news for me.

Yeah?

Umm hmmm. He said Five Spheres has a cybernetics specialist willing to see my dad, but my family is digging in their heels.

Do you have better options on Dliptonia?

We have zero options. For the last six weeks, I've been trying to find dark sites on other spheres, but that gets me closer and closer to the criminal element, which is more dangerous than what your family has to offer. For some reason, my family wants to keep pursuing off-the-books locations.

Frustration spilling over into anger.

Is there anything I can do to help, Slydar?

Baby, just talking to you helps. A hand caressed my cheek. Just knowing you're mine, and you're on your way. That this is what you want. That I am what you want . . . I could even be tempted to run away and leave everything else behind.

Eye roll from me.

Cackling laughter. Hey, girl, I mean it. You, me, a starliner. All of space and time. . .

Space. The One Star doesn't time travel, bucko, and it isn't mine, so we'd be stuck doing whatever my Auntie and Uncle want to do.

Gleeful laughter. Neither of them talks out loud, right? I've heard about them, heard they can be entertaining. All I got was factual info from your Uncle. Didn't seem like a laugh-a-minute type to me.

Guess you have to catch him in the right mood.

Cackling again.

Is that why we've been doing this a year, Slydar? I had to come to you? Is that some Dliptonian courting ritual?

Raised eyebrows. "Courting?" Is that what you think is going on here, Rory? Playful taunting.

Well, I could just ignore you and see what you really think about it.

Snickering. Try it, baby. Let's see how good you are at ignoring me.

I laughed out loud, and my being wrapped around him. Then I wasn't in my starliner cabin anymore, I was in his arms, lying on top of him, looking at his face.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Hey, baby.

Hey.

You gonna kiss me now?

I leaned towards his lips then whispered close to him, Tell me about the game we've been playing, Slydar.

Now you're getting it. I have a feeling you know exactly how to play the game, even if you've never been to my home world or met anyone like me.

I closed my telepathic shield a bit so I had less sense of him and more connection to my own thoughts. What did any of this mean? What kind of game were we playing? Was it girls chase boys? No matter where in the Cosmos they were? He seduced me, then it was my turn to go hunting for him?

But whenever I'd tried to ask him for personal details, he'd been evasive. He hadn't acted like someone who wanted to be found. No, he'd given the impression that he was very happy with how things had been. I returned my focus to him.

Slydar, I don't get it. Can you just tell me? My tone and my feelings were confused and discouraged.

Comfort wrapped around me, soothing me, reassuring.

He rolled his eyes at himself.

We can be stupidly evasive. Yeah, Rory, it's how Dliptonians are, but some people, like my dad Slick hate that. He's direct. He wants something, he lets you know. Me, well, I got a little bit more Dliptonian in me 'cuz oddly, Muller is so paranoid that he likes the evasiveness of my people. He came here decades ago and never left. I grew up with layers of shadow around me, and I don't think it's a good thing.

Love and softness.

Shaking head.

I knew you wanted me, baby. I wanted to be with you too. Mental sigh. But things are complicated. So, if you really wanted to do life with me, well, then, it had to be your choice. I wasn't gonna chase you down and drag you into my drama.

Mental nod from me. I got that. Didn't like where it had led, but I understood it.

You let it go on too long, Slydar. We could've resolved this months ago.

Wincing. He hadn't been ready. He was committed, but not enough to want to drag me out of my cozy life and into his unstable one.

What's the worst thing about your family, Slydar?

Surprise. Contemplation. Sigh.

Indecision.

Light bulb in my brain. Nodding.

Do you feel trapped, baby?

Nodding. Not always, but with important things. Feels like my hands are tied. I'll make a decision. I want to move forward, but trying to get everyone else to move in the same direction is impossible. So no one does anything, and we don't get anywhere. We should go to Five Spheres. We should pack NOW.

If we started packing today, we could be ready to go when you get here. We'll still have weeks of travel to get back to Andromeda, so we need to get moving; get Dad treatment as soon as we can. But I don't know how to herd them.

I do.

And I decided. I let go of my mental shields and opened up to Uncle Ronnie and Cyn. They were right there.

Guys, let's bomb the Joon family. Let's blow them up. Assault their defenses and demand they pack up right now and do everything Slydar says. So by the time we arrive at Dliptonia, they are ready to go.

Ronnie's mind flew forward. We all put our focus on him, and there was a constellation of minds before me. I saw them like stones in the sky, and Cyn flicked orange light at them. Sparks zinged at them. Like annoying mosquitoes, but ten times stronger.

I felt irritation coming from those minds and a swat. Ronnie didn't even bother dodging. They were nothing to him. Zing! Ping! Zap! Knock! Sting! Slam! Boom!

Cut that out, man.

I felt Slydar relax. It was his dad, Slick.

What the fuck you want, Ronnie?

For you to listen to the only person in your family with any sense, Slick. Slydar knows what he is about. Don't fuck this up. Save your husband's life. This is your chance. I'll be there in 3 days. I'm not going to walk away and let Muller die of stupidity.

Laughter. From every single mind we'd been assaulting. I felt like I was starting to understand Slydar's people a little better. You needed to be pushy with them. Funny and pushy. The stronger, the better. Hunh.

Slydar pulled me against him, happy, grateful, and feeling like I got him. I smiled against his shoulder, relieved. Three days. Only three more days.