He tore his lips away. "Shaya, baby, I'm not that good."
"I called you 'the sniper' in my journal. I know exactly how bad you are." Her hands slid under his T-shirt to lie flat against his back.
Sizzle. "Harder," he told her when her nails dug into him.
"Like this?"
"Mmm." Dropping his head, even as he smoothed his hand down her back to tilt her heat tight against him, he began to kiss the sensitive line of her neck. Ashaya needed release. He'd damn well give her release. And he'd keep his promise to never hurt her. Even if she was driving him insane with those urgent little movements of her body. "That's it, baby. Let me take you over." He ground himself against her, startling a sharp little cry from her throat. "Shh, darling. Hold on to me."
The scent of her was hot, wild, arousing as hell.
At the edge of his control, he took her mouth in an open-mouthed kiss, insinuating his hand between their bodies at the same time, and using the heel of his hand to give her the sexual friction she needed. He couldn't handle any more. "Come on, sweet darling. Come for me."
"Dorian." It was a gasp as her eyes went pure black and her body arched like a bow, her breasts crushed against him.
"Good girl," he whispered. "Good girl. I should get sainthood for this."
She didn't hear him, and that was fine. He liked seeing her like this, all loose and relaxed... and his.
Chapter 33
I'm latent. That used to make me angry. But that was before I decided I was going to become a sentinel. My mother thinks I'm pigheaded. I think I know what I want. And no one is going to stop me. No one had better even try.
From an essay titled "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" by Dorian Christensen, age 8 (Graded A+)
They made it back to Tammy and Nate's house around six thirty.
Something struck him as they entered. "Your PsyNet shields?"
"I'm safe." She gave him a puzzled look. "I shouldn't be. Dorian, what we did - "
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." His guess was that Amara was protecting Ashaya. But he didn't want to bring up her twin again so soon. "Keep your head down and don't get lazy with the shields."
She nodded. "Sound advice."
It made him smile to hear her being scientist - like after she'd just exploded in his arms. "I forgot to tell you - Rina's set up another broadcast for tomorrow."
Her eyes met his. "Maybe we can discuss it after dinner." An invitation, a gesture of trust.
"It's a date." He let the memory of their earlier pleasure color the air.
"Dorian."
Grinning, he nudged her upstairs. "Go on - Keenan's probably wondering what's keeping you. I'll come up after I talk to Nate."
When he finally did get upstairs, it was to find both mother and child asleep despite the early hour - Keenan lay tucked against Ashaya, her arms holding him tight.
The sight was a violent kick to his heart.
And he knew.
No more dancing around the truth. No more suspicions. He knew.
Chest brutally tight, he walked out into the hall, leaving the door ajar. The staggering weight of the realization had him shaking. Ashaya was his mate. That was why his leopard had gone so crazy around her from the start. It had known. But the man had been too angry to listen. So the cat had shoved all that need, all that hunger, into the most vicious sexual need. "Christ, I'm blind." And he knew the blindness had been at least partly willful. He hadn't wanted to feel such excruciating tenderness for the enemy.
It was so much easier to hate.
Ten minutes later, when he could breathe again, he walked back into the room and closed the door behind himself. As he slid down the back of it to sit on the floor, his eyes on the bed, he saw that his hands were shaking.