as he rubbed small circles, pressing the seam of her jeans against her swollen, sensitive flesh.
That’s what it felt like.
All the reading hadn’t prepared her for the sensations coursing through her. Building, the pressure rising…
Don’t stop. Don’t stop.
He stopped.
“They’re coming back,” he whispered.
If it wasn’t her, then she didn’t care who was coming. She wanted to come. He’d probably change his mind in a moment. She opened her mouth to protest—loudly—and his hand moved to clamp over her lips.
She gritted her teeth.
Light was filling the tunnel and now that he’d stopped tormenting her, she could hear the sound of booted feet approaching. The men went past in the opposite direction and she held herself still as the light dimmed and the footsteps faded.
“We need to go.”
“I don’t want to go.” I want to come.
He turned her in his arms and a faint glow from his “torch” lit up the tunnel, illuminating the sharp angles and planes of his beautiful face. His eyes gleamed silver as he stared down at her.
“They might come back.”
She sniffed. “Don’t make excuses. Just say if you don’t want me.”
A smile flickered across his face, then he reached down and took her hand, placed it against his chest with his palm over hers, then he pushed it downward until she reached the hard length of his erection. She could feel the heat of him through the denim of his jeans.
“Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
She shook her head, then traced the shape of him, and he went totally still under her touch. He was so big, and heat flooded between her thighs.
He groaned. “But we do need to get back to the ship and put some safety measures in place.”
“More cloaking devices?” she asked.
He cast her a sharp glance. “Perhaps.”
“You do have some super cool devices,” she said. “So many…prototypes.”
“Technology is a wonderful thing. Come on.”
They didn’t speak on the half-hour walk back to the ship. Destiny spent the time thinking about Milo and his torch that looked like a wand and his cloaking devices that made them invisible. And about all the things he wasn’t telling her.
“I made a new friend last night,” she said as they walked up the ramp of the ship.
He paused and turned to her, a frown between his brows. “You met someone?”
“Not someone exactly. I met a dog. A really big dog.” She watched him closely as she spoke, trying to gauge his reaction, but he was giving nothing away, so she continued. “It was after Dylan left. I heard barking and went to look. It was sitting outside the tunnels as though it was waiting for me. Do you think it could be an indigenous species?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Anyway, we went for a run and then a swim in the lake. Don’t worry, I was careful—Dylan brought me this—” She lifted her arm to show him the silver bracelet. “It will flash and beep if there are any of those drone things around.”
“Good. But you want to be careful of strange dogs. They can be vicious.”
She started walking again. “This one seemed very friendly.”
He opened his mouth but then the comm unit on his arm beeped and he raised it to his face.
…
“What?” Milo snapped.
“I don’t want to say more now,” Dylan said. “But if you’re with our friend, stay there. They’re watching the shuttle. Don’t come back.” And he ended the call before Milo had a chance to answer.
“Shit.”
Something had clearly gone badly wrong. Dylan hadn’t wanted to speak over the comm unit, and he hadn’t mentioned Destiny by name, so he must suspect they were being monitored.
“Go inside,” he said to Destiny.
For a moment, her lips tightened, and he was pretty sure she was going to refuse, then she gave a quick nod. She turned to him, stood up on tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. “Stay safe. I’ll be waiting.”
He watched the sway of her hips as she disappeared inside. She didn’t look back. He had an idea she was becoming suspicious. The comment about the cloaking device had seemed…pointed. And the giant fucking dog. He was going to kill Dylan. What the hell did he think he was up to? Asshole. Dylan was the first to jump in and say they needed to eliminate anyone who suspected their real nature. So what was he doing with Destiny?
Jesus, he just wanted to take her inside and fuck her until he forgot about nuclear bombs, and politics, and the chance that Kinross had