few storage rooms and a small dining room for private parties.
“Have you lured me here to have your wicked way with me, sir?” Lena asked with a teasing smile, stepping close to him and running her finger up and down his chest.
“I would never take advantage of someone innocent,” he said with false sincerity.
“Good thing I’m not innocent.” She leaned in close and kissed him, backing him up against the wall, not caring that they were still in the hallway. Anyone could walk in on them.
He heard a door open and then a feminine voice said, “Oh!”
Lena broke away from him and looked around. Solan glanced over her shoulder and saw Oz and Emily standing in the doorway of one of those little storage rooms, both of them with mussed hair, wrinkled clothes, and cheeks pink from exertion. They all stared at each other for several seconds before bursting out laughing.
Emily collapsed against Oz , hiding her face against his shoulder as she was overcome with even harder laughter. She and Oz shuffled away without saying a word.
“Come on,” Solan said, leading Lena towards the newly vacant closet.
Lena paused. “Is this the only option in this hallway?” she asked.
“No, I think we have some options a little further down.” He had studied the layout to make sure his brother could have a secure event. Now he was thankful for entirely different reasons.
Lena kissed him again. “Let’s try that, then. I don’t want to think about Emily and Oz while you’re inside of me.”
Fire lit in his blood, and he could feel her spark coursing through his veins. His cock thickened, and it took a good deal of self-control to keep from pressing her against the wall and taking her right there. “If I’m doing my job, you won’t be able to think about anything.” He tugged her arm further down the hall and they snuck into the small dining room. The dining table wasn’t a bed, but it would do for the moment. Lena hopped up and summoned him toward her with the crook of her finger, a wicked smile on her face.
He closed the distance between them and covered her mouth. He was exactly where he was supposed to be, and he couldn’t wait to live the rest of his life at her side.
Epilogue: Pre-Order Exclusive
LENA, SOLAN, EMILY, and Oz were in a large warehouse filled with dozens of obstacles, obstructions, ladders, and other pieces of debris. Cameras were all over the place with trainers in a control room monitoring them. All four of them had their wings out and were ready for the mission. Lena wasn’t quite sure why all of them were wearing heavy jackets with a sensor at center mass, but she was used to weird shit in training scenarios by now.
Solan was the one who explained the parameters. “The goal of this exercise is to practice control. We will all be using our sparks to inflict damage, and it will be measured by the sensors on our chest.” He pointed to the black box embedded in the jacket. “The vests also have a dulling effect on our sparks, so unless you’re incredibly out of control, you won’t be able to seriously injure anyone.”
“Are we working in teams?” Lena asked. Her eyes crawled over the building, looking for places to hide and places where she could take out her opponents.
“No,” said her Match, and she saw a gleam in his eye. He was ready to win.
He’d have to get through her first.
“So what are we doing?” asked Emily. She was shooting glances at the three of them and Lena knew not to underestimate her. Emily may not have had any military training until she Matched with Oz, but she’d been an elite level gymnast for most of her life and the need to win always pulsed within her.
“The goal is to retrieve a key from the center of the room and use it to unlock a door on the second floor. There are four keys, one labeled for each of us. You may only take your key, taking someone else’s key is an automatic violation. If you use too much power and it registers on another participant’s vest, you will be disqualified. And, if you are hit by enough spark to normally incapacitate a person, you will be disqualified. You will know you are disqualified if the lights on your vest turn red. First one out the door wins. Also, wings must stay out for this