Near Miss Kiss

Posted on Wed Nov 6th, 2024 @ 2:16pm by Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami

620 words; about a 3 minute read

Freecloud was a place of noise and light, a neon-drenched hub filled with bars, clubs, and every sort of unsavory character the galaxy had to offer. Adrianna and Vance had slipped into one of the dimly lit bars to avoid notice, hoping to blend in among the throngs of people while they waited for their contact to arrive. Vance had managed to secure a deal but the item they were smuggling had to be delivered on person.

But as they sat at the edge of the crowd, Adrianna noticed Vance glancing at her in a way that sent her heart racing. There was a restlessness in his gaze, a kind of desperate tension. She felt it too– the unspoken words, the longing that had lingered between them for so long now it seemed almost impossible to ignore.

Without a word, he grabbed her hand, pulling her down a narrow hallway off the side of the bar. They slipped behind a heavy curtain, just barely concealing them from the loud, chaotic world outside. In the shadows, Vance’s hand tightened around hers, his breaths shallow and hurried.

“Adrianna,” he began, his voice thick with a raw urgency. “I can’t… I can’t keep pretending this doesn’t mean anything. I cannot be this close to you and not kiss you, damn it. I have tried to kiss you so many times and each time– interruption. I want you.”

She looked up at him, her heart pounding as he pulled her close, his hand slipping up to cup her face. She felt the heat of him, the depth of his gaze, and she knew he was right; she couldn’t stand it, either. Her hand came to rest on his shoulder as she leaned in, her eyes fluttering shut, their breaths mingling as they hovered so close, lips just a whisper apart.

But before their mouths could meet, a sudden burst of noise erupted from the main bar– a scream, followed by the unmistakable sound of a phaser blast. They both tensed, instinctively moving apart as chaos erupted outside the curtain.

“Damn it,” Vance muttered, glancing back toward the doorway, through the crack in the heavy curtain he could see his contact clutching their chest and falling to the floor. He squeezed her hand, his expression shifting instantly from longing to focused urgency, “shit! We need to get out of here. Now.”

Adrianna nodded, adrenaline spiking as he pulled her back through the curtain and into the now-panicked bar. People were scrambling in every direction, dodging stray phaser shots as the security guards tried to contain what was quickly becoming a full-blown firefight.

Together, they ducked behind tables and bolted for the exit, weaving through the crowd as the phaser blasts continued to light up the room. Vance kept a firm hold on her hand, guiding her through the chaos, his grip a steady reminder that they were in this together. They finally burst out onto the street, breathing hard, adrenaline still pulsing through their veins.

For a moment, they just looked at each other, the tension from earlier now mixed with the thrill of escape. She could see the longing still there in his eyes, despite the narrow escape, and she knew hers held the same.

“Guess we’ll have to wait,” she said breathlessly, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

Vance chuckled, shaking his head with a rueful smile, “Next time, I’m not letting anything stop us. We can be in the middle of a battlefield and, I swear to hell, I will grab you and just kiss you.”

Adrianna chuckled and shook her head, “just give up, amore mio. Admire my lips from a distance.”

“Never.”

 

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