Read Serendipity for Free Online

his patience with her son's attack. Nothing. No stolen kisses. No wildflowers on the table. Nothing.
    And he wasn't in his room, either. Not that she'd been checking up on him, of course. It was just that she'd realized it had been several days since she'd put new soaps in the fresher for him. Lazy on her part, she thought. She usually checked on the soaps every day.
    She pulled off her dress and stood before the mirror in her shift, staring at her reflection. She was still attractive, she told herself. Her long, blonde hair had lightened in Hector Prime's sun. It was beautiful now, and she knew he liked to touch it. Her breasts were high and firm. Well, at least as high and firm as they could be after nursing two children. Her body was slim, and her stomach was tight. Sure, she had some stretch marks, but they hadn't bothered him before. Why wasn't he here? The night was halfway over!
    She sat down at her dressing table with a thump, making a disgusted face at herself in the mirror. Why should she care where he was, anyway? It was nice to get rid of him for the night. Only two and a half more weeks, then he'd be gone. Well, two weeks and five days. And then he'd be gone forever…suddenly it didn't seem like that much time.
    She attacked her hair with the brush, willing herself not to think of him. She was glad he wasn't there. She needed to get some good sleep—last night he'd kept her awake until all hours.
    But thinking of him last night sent a wave of heat through her. He'd been so strong, held her so close. He had been hard against her, too. She clenched her legs together, feeling herself grow moist. He could slide right into her; he wouldn't even have to touch her first, she thought. What was wrong with her? It was like she had completely lost control over her own body. Disgusting.
    She finished combing her hair, and moved toward her bed. It was stuffy. She might as well open the sliding door. It hadn't proven much of a barrier to him last night, and he wasn't even around this evening so there was no point in suffering in the heat.
    A sudden thought stopped her dead in her tracks. What if something had happened to him? What if he'd been injured? Was that why he hadn't come home? Her heart raced, her mind running through a thousand different scenarios, each worse than the last.
    He could have been attacked, robbed. He could have gone for a walk in the rainforest, and been set upon by predators. It was dangerous out there, everyone had told her to watch her children carefully. Maybe his head wound was more serious that either of them had realized. Maybe he had collapsed somewhere, was in a coma and couldn't tell anyone who he was.
    You're being ridiculous , she told herself firmly. Settle down. He's probably just in town at a bar. Maybe he had met a woman there, a beautiful woman who didn't have children.
    For all she knew, he was boffing some floozy at that very minute!
    Sure, he told her he wasn't going away, but he was gone already.
    She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the knock on her door.
    Then the knob turned slowly, and he slipped into the room.
    "Sarai, are you still awake?" he whispered into the darkness. She whirled to face him, livid.
    "Where the hell have you been?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "I thought you were dead! You've been gone all day!"
    "Glad to hear you noticed," he replied in an amused voice. She could only see his outline in the darkness. He paced over to her chair and sat down, pulling off his boots. "I took a transport over to the space station for the day. I needed to send some messages to my family on Saurellia, and it seemed like it might be a good idea to give you and the kids a break from me. I hope you don't mind, but I picked up a doll for Mali, and a game for Able.
    They just sort of jumped out at me. We can say they're from you, if you don't want them to know I've gotten them a present. I got you something, too."
    "Oh," she said, feeling deflated. It