moving along the scooped neckline of my shirt.
I held on to his head, clamping him to me. I never wanted him to stop. I wanted him to touch me higher. Lower. Everywhere.
Shade kissed my chest and collarbone, my throat and the soft underside of my chin. His hands skimmed my ribs, falling to my hips, and then his lips were on mine again, yielding but firm, his tongue in my mouth, and we both made a needy sound that was volcanically hot.
I pulled him closer. He ground against me. It was both torment and relief.
A double pair of footsteps rang out on the avenue close to the intersection, and we sprang apart, both of us breathing hard. If we didn’t stop, someone was sure to report us, and that would send the Dark Watch roaring back. No matter how good it felt, or how much I wanted to continue, a bout of deliciously crazy public indecency could get me into a whole lot of trouble.
I tucked my still-damp hair behind my ears, my voice coming out like a scratch. “I should get off the streets.”
Shade nodded, his eyes on my face. He looked incredibly tense. Did he regret kissing me and feeling us both ignite?
The footsteps drew closer, and Shade held out his hand. Instinctively, I took what he offered, and he led me down the darker cross street and away from the main thoroughfare. His hand was warm, the skin a little rough, and I loved having it around mine. It was too bad I couldn’t hold on to him for more than a few days.
My spirits sank. Dangerous thoughts, Tess.
There was no settling down for me yet. I had things to do. People to help. Right now, stopping the illness at the orphanage was my priority, followed closely by deciding what to do with those enhancers. I couldn’t get complacent and stay in one place just because there was a man who turned me into a raging inferno and made me want to jump into his bed.
My body talked back—loudly—still all warm and wound up. Parts of me, both in my head and decidedly not in my head, wanted to stay on Albion 5 and see what could happen with Shade.
If anything. Maybe that kiss had been it.
Or maybe there could be more—just short-lived.
My spirits sank even further. Neither possibility was my first choice.
I glanced at Shade as we walked. It had been pretty obvious that first day in his shop that I needed to avoid the Dark Watch, which explained his tactics tonight, but not much else.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“I live nearby.”
“And you just happened to run into me on the street? Literally?” What were the chances of that?
He shrugged, and I stopped.
“Shade?”
He dropped my hand and turned to me, scrubbing the back of his neck. “I followed you from Susan’s. You said something about the book drop-off today, and I wanted to make sure you got back all right.”
My heart started pounding like a heavy-armor hammer trying to break through my ribs. “You were worried about me?”
“You’re carrying my money,” he grumbled, starting to walk again. “Already paid for that door.”
He had my door!
Wait. He had my door.
He’d fix it, along with the remaining holes in the Endeavor, and then I’d fly off this rock.
“That’s, ah…great news,” I said, thinking I should have meant it.
He didn’t respond.
“It’s creepy to follow women, you know.”
He slanted me an odd look. “Maybe I’m a sketchy bastard.”
I didn’t believe that, especially with Susan vouching for him. “You could have just walked with me.” I took his hand back, because I was a numbskull like that. “I don’t bite.”
What seemed like a wry huff escaped him. “Actually, I kind of hope you do.”
My pulse bucked, and my lower abdomen tightened, flooding with heat again.
“Where are we going?” I asked, looking around us after I’d caught my breath once more. My attention had been so focused on Shade that I hadn’t realized until right then that I didn’t recognize a single thing about the area.
“It’s a shortcut,” he answered, leading me toward a dimly lit tunnel under a docking tower that soared so high I couldn’t see the top. The network of darkened platforms rose straight up until it faded into the night. “To your ship,” he added.
I bit my lip. That was disappointing. I’d begun hoping we were heading for his place.
A whole lot of awkward silence went by.
Oh, screw it. “No one’s expecting me back right away,” I