inside. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she didn’t give them away. Then in a couple of weeks they could return to Trakis Two with the information they needed to move forward. Maybe Destiny would have gotten over the duty thing by then and could come with them…
He led the way out of the spaceship, down the ramp. The door shut behind them. They didn’t speak in the tunnels, but as they came out into the forest, he turned to her. “You can still go back,” he said and had no clue why.
“I will. Just not yet.” She smiled. “I want to read my books.”
It wasn’t the answer he desired and again he wasn’t sure why. But something drove him on and he stepped closer to her, so close they could touch. A voice inside his head reminded him that this was not a good idea.
But he ignored it this time, because he’d been wanting to do this since he’d first seen her.
He reached out and she went instantly still. They were so close she had to tilt her head to look into his eyes, and a little line formed between her arched brows as if she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Hell, he had no clue what to expect, either.
She inched even closer. Her eyes were wide, not with fear but with anticipation. She glowed. And he lowered his mouth to hers.
Chapter Sixteen
“…remember that what has once been done may be done again.”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
This was a kiss.
Destiny held herself very still. If she moved, he might stop, and she really didn’t want that to happen.
His face was so close now that she had to shut her eyes, and then his mouth touched hers. Pressed against hers, his lips were warm and hard. His fingers were in her hair, cupping her skull, tilting her back. Her heart rate picked up and tingles ran across her skin. It was very…interesting.
Too soon, he backed off, and her eyes flashed open. Was that it? She wanted more. He was watching her, his silver eyes half closed.
“Open your mouth, Destiny,” he murmured, a faint tinge of amusement in his voice. His thumb stroked her lower lip and her mouth dropped open. “Are you always so obedient?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He chuckled. “I’ll have to remember that.” Then he was coming close again and this time she kept her eyes—and her mouth—open. She didn’t want to miss any of this. She felt as though she was poised on the edge of something momentous, something life changing, and that it might be snatched away from her at any second.
He paused, so close she could feel his warm breath against her skin. “You have to breathe,” he said.
She gulped in air and then his mouth was on hers, his lips parted. They fitted together perfectly. Then his tongue filled her mouth, and the shock of it pulled her back and away from him. She swallowed, eyes wide, staring at him.
“You want me to stop?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Is this what normal people do?”
“I don’t think there’s anything normal about this. The question is: do you like it?”
She frowned. “I’m not sure. It makes me feel…” A shiver ran through her. “I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure how to put it into words that would make sense. It made her feel like the world might spin out of control at any moment.
“Do you want to find out?” he asked. “All you have to do is ask.”
And now she felt as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice and she could back away, or she could jump. She knew then that if she said no, he would stop, and he would turn around and walk away. And she also knew, with a certainty she had never felt before, that she didn’t want that. She wanted to jump, she wanted to fly.
“Show me.”
His nostrils flared, his eyes narrowed, and his mouth curved into a small smile. His finger stroked down over her cheek, along her chin, leaving a trail of sensation.
This time she lifted her chin and moved toward him, touching her mouth to his, parting her lips, and her tongue slowly slid into the warm cavern of his mouth. He went still, and then a shudder ran through him. For a moment, he tensed, and she was sure he was going to pull away, then his hands tightened, holding her against him and his tongue moved against hers and