"In the meanwhile," Aset said, openly trying to stem what appeared to be the beginning of a long session debate. "Let us not filibuster over this hypothetical threat. Due diligence and research is warranted, and thus, what we shall employ. But our young Neterus have a wonderful plan to bring the world teams into contact with each other in preparation for any humanitarian threat that could be levied from the darkside - and we have controls swiftly being put in place to aid those efforts."
"Go in peace," Ausar grumbled. "Session adjourned."
"Can you say world tour, baby?" Carlos chuckled as a twelve-warrior escort team fell into formation before them. "I think you needed that anyway." She smiled. "Yeah, I did."
* * *
"man, d," carlos said, swinging her around and laughing as they came out of an invisible fold on the beach. "I have never been so glad to get out of somewhere, girl!" She threw her head back and laughed, holding his shoul ders as he began running with her hiked up by her waist. "That was craaazy! Like visiting the principal's office in school!"
"Naw, that was like going to court, yo! Start the what? Call a red who? Oh, shit!" He made them fall in the sand with a thud, still laughing.
"Kinda puts it into perspective, doesn't it?"
Carlos just looked at her. "Girl... I ain't guilt-trippin' no more, not after that I'll take Dan to see his peeps, we'll work on the concert logistics, get the Covenant over here, set up base camp here in La Jolla, sheeeit. I ain't breakin' no seals, though." He put his hands on top of his head for a moment.
She kissed him. "Good. 'Cause if you break a seal, I'd have to kill ya." He laughed and kissed her back harder. "As long as you kill me like this."
She smiled and sidled up closer. "That could be arranged." The smile left his face and he looked at his hands for a moment, tilted his head, and slowly closed his eyes.
"I can never figure out how you always do that to me," he murmured and then opened his eyes.
"Do what?" she asked with a waning half-smile, tracing his brows with the pad of her thumb, suddenly wanting to kiss his thick, black lashes.
It was hard to think as she looked at him now. Her fingers ached to skim the waves of his dark hair. She always loved what the sun did to his warm, golden brown skin... and he looked so damned sexy as he slid down onto his side, and propped up on one elbow... every muscle in his shoulders and arms and chest and stone-cut torso beneath his tight, army green T-shirt and black jeans had moved when he'd moved.
"You make my hands feel like they're on fire to touch you," he said after a moment, his voice becoming gravelly as he stared up at her. "I felt it the minute we walked back into the earth plane. I had to pick you up, touch you."
"I know," she said, her voice a husky murmur as she leaned down and her hands cradled his face. She didn't care if people walked by smiling at them, he was in serious peril of getting jumped right where he lay. "The second we came out of the fold, it spread out through my palms and ran up my arms." She swallowed hard. "Then it started coating my insides."
He leaned up and kissed her hard, his tongue straining against hers. "Maybe it's 'cause of what they said I might have to do - and got a reprieve. That crazy shit Noah was talking about," Carlos said, his words smothered by his own breath. He pulled her chin into his mouth as though devour ing her, then sought just her bottom lip.
"Okay, we've gotta get a room."
"Ya think?" he said, breathing hard, no longer even able to laugh.
"Yeah, 'cause the whole team - "
Her back hit the inside of a hotel door.
"Send Mar a message - stat," Carlos said between deep breaths, tugging at her yellow tank top to get it up and out of her jeans. "Tell her we need a private debrief after being in council, so your husband doesn't lose his mind, but so she doesn't wig and mount a search party looking for two MIAs."
"Okay, okay," Damali said, almost sliding down the door as his hands finally connected with her bare torso. The sensation made her arch like she'd been electrocuted and forced a deep moan from her gut. She held his wrists as they swept up to capture her breast.
'Touch me there, and I won't be able to home in on squat. The message will go to the lobby or some danged where."
"Then tell her later." He found the sweet spot on her throat and suckled it 'til her knees gave out.
"Whose room are we in?" She couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't think, just needed to touch him, and her hands were everywhere.
"I don't know," he groaned, opening her jeans as she worked open his belt. "Por Dios, your skin is muy caliente ... like hot caramel melting all over my hands."
"Can you at least block it out of the reservation system so nobody walks in here?" she gasped, arching as his fingers slid into her panties.
"I can't concentrate enough right now," he admitted, ag gressively nuzzling her hair and shuddering as her hands pulled hard to free his T-shirt. "Best I got is a black-box - and I definitely ain't got a prayer seal in me right now."
The moment her hands slid up his spine, she knew it was all over. He dropped his head back, let out a yell like she'd scalded him, and every pulse point he owned lit up. Nearly delirious and unable to speak, she helped him fight with his clothes as he struggled with hers, half-falling, needing to unlace Timberlands, forgetting the order of what made sense. His hands on her skin, anywhere they touched, made her feel like her bones were melting. It was as though he'd dunked her into a cauldron of white-hot, liquid pleasure. She was drowning in his scent, the feel of his skin, his voice making her gulp air, as her body contracted for him in pain.
Her essence literally ran down her leg as he rubbed himself between her thighs. Her voice hitched, faltered, ran the keyboard as he bent to suck her distended ni**les. Then he stood up quickly, looking tortured, caught a fistful of her locks, and suddenly swept one of her legs up into the crook of his elbow.