Page 53 of Legend

Before I could tell him to stop being sogrekkinghonorable and kiss me, there was a thumping on the door.

Chapter

Forty-One

Vyk

Fiona’s hand brushed my cheek and then the back of my neck as she peered at me. My heart skipped several beats as she fisted her hand into the hair at the nape of my neck and tugged me forward. I did not fight her, even as I doubted her judgment and my own.

The sensation of her mouth on mine was electric, and the room seemed to sway as I surrendered to the sweet taste of her, the eagerness of her lips, and her quickening breaths.

This is wrong. All wrong.

The voice in my head was sharp and commanding, like the orders I had given so readily over my career. It did not matter that she had kissed me or that her body hummed with desire.She had been compromised by the gin. She was not herself. I would not allow myself to enjoy stolen pleasures, even if they lit my entire body on fire.

I pulled away, breaking the kiss and sucking in a breath for strength. Fiona blinked at me, confusion etched on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

Her breathy voice sent heat arrowing to my cock. I curled my hands into fists by my side as I forced the words from my lips. “This is not you.”

She opened her mouth to speak again, and I knew in that instant that I would not be strong enough to resist her if she protested too much. But a hard knock on the door broke the spell between us.

I expelled a heavy breath that dripped with relief, straightened, and took a step back.

Her gaze darted to the door. “Who could need you now?”

It was a good question. This was not an Inferno Force battleship. There were rarely emergencies that required my attention in the middle of the night, even though I was the chief of security. An academy did not deal with the same level of potential danger, which was something I had come to value after years of living on the edge of battle.

“I do not know, but it must be important.” No one would disturb me otherwise. Admiral Zoran was no alarmist, and the rest of the staff was too terrified of me to dare disturb my sleep.

Fiona grabbed my arm before I could press it to the panel. “Wait,” she whispered. “How are we going to explain me?”

There was no explanation I wished to offer anyone. The truth did not make me look good, and anything else would create more questions.

She pointed to the attached bathroom. “I’ll be in here. Just make sure not to offer your guest a full tour.”

Fiona darted into the room, disappearing into the darkness as I turned my attention to the door. I touched my palm to the panel as another sharp rap sounded.

When the door slid aside, Tivek stood on the other side. Maybe I had been wrong about Zoran not summoning me, or maybe there was trouble brewing.

“I would not bother you if…” the admiral’s adjunct began, then paused. “I thought you might have information about the whereabouts of the Earth envoy.”

I stared at him for a beat. “The captain? You think he is here with me?”

“No.” Tivek inclined his head to one side. “I thought you might provide insight into where he might go.”

“Are you telling me he is lost?” I had not expectedthis.

Tivek held up a hat. “The captain left this behind at the banquet table, but when I went to his assigned quarters to return it to him, he was not there.”

“And you thought that since I had spent most of the evening engaging in conversation with the man, I might have greater insight?”

Tivek frowned slightly. “You are the head of security. I think you, more than anyone, would want to ensure that he is safe during his visit.”

The rebuke was deftly done. It was my responsibility, and after my lapse of judgment earlier that day, I needed to prove that I could still keep the human safe. “I will find him.”

“Thank you,” Tivek said. “I have not notified the admiral. I thought this could be handled quietly since it is most likely nothing.”

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