Page 34 of Dark Reign

I sucked in air, imagining what giving in would feel like. My heart was belting the word‘YES!’from a mountaintop, but then my mouth opened and said the opposite.

“I don’t know if … if that’s a good idea.”

Julian’s brow quirked with surprise, maybe because the signs were all there. Signs that I was open to this, signs that he wasn’t the only one who felt what steeped between us.

And yet, I rejected his offer.

Or maybethat’swhat the look was about, not getting his way.

Whatever the case, that hand still lingered, waiting, and the man attached to it clearly hoped I’d change my mind.

“I know this isn’t easy, Cori,” Felix’s voice rang into my ear. It was gentler than before, maybe understanding half the reason I resisted.

“I know letting one of those things touch you is about as terrifying as our work can get, but … remember the mission. If letting him think you’re into him can lead to him sharing their secrets, then … you have to go for it.”

The things Felix said were real and never far from my mind, but what the team couldn’t have possibly guessed was that getting closer,pretendingto let him in, scared me for a very different reason.

As I stared at Julian, acknowledging my undeniable attraction to him, I realized what a fine line I was treading.

“Take one for the team, Cori,” Felix added.

Brisk air filled my lungs just before nodding, just before giving in to what my team wanted.

WhatIsecretly wanted.

“…Okay.”

Julian’s expression told me all I needed to know; he was thrilled that I finally caved.

My waist was taken by large hands, and I was brought dangerously close to a massive body. One that was all height corded in muscle, pure masculinity swathed in a pleasing scent. His heightened strength was otherworldly, moving me toward him as if I weighed nothing. And as my hands drifted up the hills and crags of his biceps, I noted one of my human tells I’d been concerned about was now a non-issue.

Julian wouldn’t notice my warmth, because his temperature soared, too.

His body heated like a furnace, and Liv had made the cause of this phenomena clear. Ianites only produced heat when in a heightened emotional state or … situations of extreme stimulus. Whether being near me made him feel something emotionally or physically … I was at least certain he did feel something.

Being held this way, it felt like the dangers of the world didn’t exist, like my being among ‘them’was of no consequence. I braced myself against his shoulders and tried with everything in me not to get rapt in his stare, but like so many other times tonight, I failed. I was trapped, gravitating toward him like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake. I was sure countless other women had experienced the same during his twenty-two years on this planet.

We swayed to the gentle tones of the alto saxophone and trumpet. The jazz drum throbbed slow and even beneath it. Julian’s cheek pressed to my hair and, without thinking, my hands eased from his shoulders until both locked behind his neck.

As the silk of my dress gathered beneath his palms, I worried a little, questioned whether this was the result of compulsion, before remembering that was impossible. Not only would the device implanted beneath my hair have protected me, but Julian being from the East Quadrant mattered, too. Fortunately, only Ianites from the North could toy with your mind.

So, this had nothing to do with manipulation.

It took a moment before I finally admitted it. This was all me, my true response to being near someone so handsome, so charming. There was no excuse for the truth.

We had chemistry.

A set of lengthy fingers pressed into my flesh, greedily bringing me closer where we had already erased the space between us. My heart went wild and I was certain he felt it pick up speed, beating where the unyielding mass of his chest met the softness of mine.

However, he said nothing, freeing me from the pressure of finding a way to explain it.

Below us, in the garden, a flash of shimmering silver caught my eye—a young woman running toward the hydrangeas wearing an elaborate ballgown. Behind her, a man dressed in a svelte, black tux, indistinguishable from all the others who donned similar attire—all except four handsome princes who couldn’t have hidden among the crowd even if they tried.

I turned when the two met in the maze of bushes and fountains that adorned the palace yard. Julian turned to see what had my attention. Right then, the man took his date into his arms, holding her close, nuzzling his mouth to her neck as she whimpered with pleasure.

Julian smiled. “Looks like we aren’t the only ones who thought to get away.”

My cheeks warmed just a bit more as we spied on them, the couple so eager to steal away from the crowd for what theythoughtwould be a private moment.

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