Page 18 of Bounty Hunter's Match

“Something about their video series.” He guided me toward the service exit, one hand at the small of my back. “The answer is still no.”

“Not even if I have insider information about Vinduthi courtship customs?”

His steps faltered. “What information?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I grinned up at him as we emerged into a quieter section of the station. “Though if you’re not interested...”

He backed me against the corridor wall, bracing one arm above my head. “Bishop.”

“Yes?” My pulse jumped at his nearness.

“Stop playing games.”

“Never.” I reached up, fingers almost touching his chest. “It’s more fun this way.”

His free hand caught mine. “Dangerous game.”

“Please.” I shifted closer. “You’ve been studying the rules as thoroughly as I have.”

“Rules.” He lowered his head until his breath stirred my hair. “Like the ones about professional distance?”

“Exactly.” My voice wasn’t quite steady. “Though chapter seven had some interesting suggestions about cross-species contact...”

A sound like distant thunder rumbled in his chest. His lips brushed my temple, then my cheek, moving with deliberate slowness toward my mouth-

“There they are!” Risa’s voice carried down the corridor. “Quick, get the holo-cam!”

“Perfect angle for the dating series!” Rina added.

Barek pulled back with a growl that promised mayhem. The twins’ recording equipment bobbed at the far end of the corridor, their giggles echoing off the walls.

“I’m going to space them,” he muttered.

“Later.” I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to my level. “First, I’m invoking chapter seven, subsection three.”

His protest died as I kissed him. For a moment he went still, then his arms came around me and nothing else mattered. Notthe twins’ delighted squeals, not the distant sound of Mondian arguing, not the station announcements in fifteen languages.

Just his scent, the way his hands tightened on my waist as I deepened the kiss.

“Wait,” he pulled back just enough to speak. “The cameras-”

“Will make excellent security footage.” I nipped his lower lip. “Very professional documentation.”

He laughed - an actual laugh, rough with disuse but real. “Minx.”

“Obviously.” I kissed him again, lighter this time. “Though if you’d prefer to discuss proper security protocols...”

“Bishop.”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

I smiled against his mouth. “Make me.”

He did.

The twins’ video went viral in three sectors, but that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight was for breaking all those professional rules we’d both been pretending to follow.

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