As she slid into the warmth of the limo and Mercury moved in snugly against her, Ria couldn't help but think about the mother she barely remembered, the father she hadn't known since his death while she was still an infant.
She had been so alone that sometimes, over the years, she had ached at that loneliness. Until Mercury. Until he stepped forward and filled all those cold, empty places, and made her wonder how she had survived without him.
But you couldn't fully appreciate, or fully miss, what you had never had, she reminded herself silently. Until Mercury, she'd had no idea the depth to which she could belong to another person. She hadn't known how easily she could lose in a man's arms the core element of exactly who and what she was.
And she had done that last night. When he had whispered that she was the mate of his soul. That she was his soul. When he had wrapped her in his arms, sheltered her with his body and eased her to sleep with his vows.
"You worry too much."
Ria looked up at her lover as his hand slid past the opening of her coat and smoothed beneath her skirt.
She had been off balance since waking. She couldn't seem to decide if she needed to cry or to throw his body to the ground and rub herself against it. Take him. Explode with him in ways she hadn't exploded with him yet.
He had taken her in the shower. He had taken her after that first cup of coffee, and still she burned inside for him.
"It's going to be difficult to make certain we have everything in place once we manage to trap the traitor in Sanctuary." She spoke low, even though Mercury had raised the window, and the driver, the Breed Lawe, had been present during the meeting the night before.
"Oh, he'll be caught. And he'll be dealt with." The underlying growl in his voice was one of retribution.
Ria shook her head. "There's more than one. Just one person couldn't pull this off."
"It doesn't matter how many there are." His hand slipped higher, causing her breath to catch as his fingers touched the damp material of her panties.
This time, his growl was sexy, sensual.
"You're still wet for me."
He lifted her into his arms, staring down at her, approval and arousal building in his eyes now.
"You're addictive, even without the mating heat." She pushed the fingers of one hand into his hair and drew his lips to hers.
She loved his kiss. The feel of his lips moving over hers, his hands holding her to him as his tongue twined with hers, and she swore there was just a hint, the slightest flavor from her dreams.
"That camera's coming out of that office today," he muttered against her lips. "Crowl can shove it up his ass if he wants to. There's no way I can wait all day to have you again."
Her heart raced at the knowledge that he hadn't had enough of her. And she was woman enough to admit that it fed that small little part of her ego that was completely female.
"Crowl might shake in his little shoes if you try to choke him again." She smiled against his lips, loving the feel of being this close to him. So close that they kissed as they spoke. That she could hear his heart beat against the side of her breast and the warmth of his body wrapping around her, stealing through the leather coat.
He pushed the leather from her shoulder, nudged her sweater to the side and stole her breath as he licked over the mark he had left on her.
"I've never marked another woman," he told her, kissing the small bite gently. "Only you, Ria."
She hadn't known she needed that information, but she had. The vague fear rising inside her stilled at the knowledge that no one else, not even the girl who should have been his mate, had carried his mark.
Her head tilted farther to the side, and for the few moments of privacy that they had left, she luxuriated in his touch.
And Mercury liked to touch her. Stroke her hair. He'd refused to allow her to pin it up that morning. It flowed around her now, the thick, heavy length perfect for him to run his hands through and fill her with pleasure.
She kept her hair long for very specific reasons. The old maid look didn't go very well with short hair. Besides, short hair had a tendency to make her face look a bit chubby, not quite studious or severe enough. She had needed the studious look.
But she knew she would never cut it again now. Because of this. Her eyes fluttered closed in pleasure as his hands stroked through her hair and his tongue lapped at the wound on her neck.
"We're almost there," he growled.
She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be right here forever.
Suddenly, Ria had a very bad feeling about Sanctuary, one that went far deeper than the conspiracy she knew was building there. That female part of her was rising inside her, warning her. She had given too much of herself, and now she risked losing it all.