I shivered again and ducked inside. I swung a leg over the seat and sat in the passenger position, such as it was. As much as I wanted to fly the thing—and it was a very great deal indeed—I decided that whatever Torran had to show me took priority over a joyride.

For now.

Torran climbed in, and the narrow cabin immediately felt far more cramped. I moved back as much as I could while he swung his leg over the seat.

I tried to leave space between us, but he reached back and pulled me snug against his back. “The safety system is going to engage. Don’t be alarmed.”

Flexible clamps closed around my ankles, calves, and thighs. I could still move, but not much. Torran was similarly locked in.

“You can hold on to me, or there’s a handle under the seat,” he said. “We’re going to be traveling at speed, so pick whichever is more comfortable and secure.”

I tried the handle under my seat, but it did not feel secure at all, so I tentatively wrapped my arms around Torran’s waist. He pulled them tighter, until I could feel the firm press of his armor under my gloved fingertips.

All of the feelings I’d been trying to ignore came rushing back. We were pressed together about as tightly as two people could be, but I wished the armor wasn’t separating us. I liked Torran, despite everything that stood between us. That alone was enough for my body to get ideas about what we could do when pressed together like this—preferably sans clothes.

Before I could worry about whether Torran had picked up that delicious—and mortifying—thought, the lev cycle rose from the ground. The control panel remained off and a single light indicated that the vehicle was on at all.

“Ready?” Torran asked.

I must have been getting used to his mental voice, because I barely flinched. “Yes.”

He eased the vehicle out of the garage without turning on any external lights. Outside, the starlight was bright enough that the night vision in the helmet made it seem like daytime. I could see, in color, with incredible detail. I wondered if Torran would notice if this armor went suddenly missing when we returned.

Rather than letting the autopilot, if there was one, take over, Torran manually piloted the small craft. As soon as we cleared the residential area, Torran opened the throttle. The lev cycle darted forward, fast and nimble. We floated a meter above the ground, stabilized by an internal gyro and Torran’s skill.

We stayed off the main expressway, which still had some traffic despite the hour, and kept to the smaller, slower roads. Not that Torran paid any mind to a speed limit, assuming there was one.