She closed her eyes and concentrated on analyzing what she was feeling. It was all so new and different and…unhygienic? She was sure Dr. Yang wouldn’t approve.
His tongue stroked along hers, then the roof of her mouth. He retreated and she heard the words. “Stop thinking, Destiny?”
So she did, because she’d told the truth—she was obedient. She felt the first flicker of rebellion, but now was not the time to rebel. She cleared her mind, and he was back, and she welcomed him, and heat stole over her body. Her hands came up without conscious thought and she mirrored his actions. Threading her fingers through his short, silky hair, she pulled him harder against her, thrusting her tongue into his mouth, tasting him…sharpness and spice. The heat sank down through her body, settling in her breasts and her belly and between her legs. She pushed herself closer to him, needing something but not sure what. With his mouth still on hers, his hands slid down her back and pulled her against him. Something hard stabbed her in the belly.
She didn’t want him to stop, so she pressed herself closer. He went still. His hands were on her bottom and he squeezed once and then let her go. Part of her wanted to protest, but more of her needed time to assimilate this new interaction.
What had just happened? Was this really what normal people did? But then he’d said nothing about this was normal.
She raised a hand to her face, touched her lower lip; it was swollen and sensitive. Then she forced her gaze upward to find him watching her out of narrowed eyes. “What was that?” she asked.
“That, Destiny, I believe was your first kiss.”
She blinked. “Will there be more?”
“Christ knows.” Then he turned around and was gone.
Chapter Seventeen
“Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy.”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
In hindsight maybe kissing Destiny hadn’t been the most sensible of decisions. Though at the time it had seemed the only thing to do. He’d been thinking about it since that first sight of her, which was maybe a good enough reason to stay the fuck away. But he had kissed her, and it had been on his mind ever since, playing havoc with his concentration.
Dylan prodded him in the side. “Have you heard a word I’ve said?”
“Nope.”
“Got better things to think about?”
Hell, yeah. She’d tasted sweet and hot and that mixture of innocence and curiosity was a huge turn-on.
Maybe he just needed to get laid and he’d stop thinking about Destiny’s kisses. There were a few women around, likely looking for suitable mates to start populating the planet with a new generation of humanity. Except he wasn’t human, so he didn’t qualify, but they didn’t need to know that.
“This has the potential to be a complete clusterfuck,” Dylan said.
He sighed. “What has?”
“Our new friend, Destiny. She’s trouble.”
After the pointless meeting, they’d wasted a few hours trying to hack into Luther Kinross’s computer system. When it became clear that neither of them had the skills to do that, they’d spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the colony, talking, watching, having a drink at the bar that had popped up in the collection of buildings forming along the edge of the lakeshore. The customers comprised the guards and the crews and the representatives. So far, he hadn’t seen any of the “workers” except when they were working. No doubt they were being kept somewhere “for their own safety.” Just like Destiny.
From the talk they had picked up, it had become clear that, while it was not being publicized, there was an intense search going on to find her. Everyone was being questioned. Had they seen a blonde woman in a yellow jumpsuit? Milo had asked who she was but hadn’t got an answer. Just that she was ill and needed medical attention.
Could it be true?
Destiny had said she was in the cell for her own protection. She didn’t look ill, though, and he figured it was just an excuse. So who was she really?
“If they find her and they find out we got her out of that cell, then my guess is we’ll be well and truly fucked.”
“Then we’d better make sure they don’t find her.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t take the risk. Maybe we should…dispose of her.”
Hell no.
He kept the words in but paused and turned to look