Page 21 of Bounty Hunter's Match

Her skin felt like silk beneath my fingertips as I traced them along her cheek. The scent of her - flowers and something uniquely Camden - filled my senses. My pulse thundered in my ears.

Warning signals flashed in my mind. This crossed every line I’d drawn. Broke every rule.

But when she tilted her face into my touch, logic scattered like stardust.

I lowered my head slowly, giving her time to pull away. Her breath caught. Those green eyes darkened as they met mine. Thespace between us crackled with electricity that had nothing to do with the station’s systems.

“Barek...” My name on her lips undid me.

I kissed her. Softly at first, learning the shape of her mouth. Then her fingers slid into my hair, nails grazing my scalp, and softness burned away. I pulled her closer, one hand at her waist, the other still cradling her face. She made a small sound in her throat that shot straight through me.

The kiss deepened. Heat blazed between us, dangerous and wild. She tasted like starlight and possibility. Like everything I’d denied wanting since that first day in her office.

My hands shook as I gentled my grip on her waist. Too much. Not enough. She pressed closer, and coherent thought vanished. There was only the silk of her skin, the warmth of her body against mine, the way she kissed me back like she’d been starving for it too.

Warning klaxons blared in the distance. We broke apart, both breathing hard. Her lips were swollen, her hair mussed where I’d run my fingers through it. When had I done that?

“That was...” She touched her mouth, eyes wide.

“Bishop.” My voice came out rougher than I’d intended.

“Yes?”

“Stop analyzing.”

Her laugh brushed my cheek. “Never.”

I caught her chin, tilted her face up. “Then I’ll have to try harder to distract you.”

This time when I kissed her, I poured everything I couldn’t say into it. Every missed chance, every stolen glance, every moment I’d wanted to reach for her and held back. Her hands fisted in my shirt as she rose on her toes to meet me.

The klaxons grew louder. Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the taste of her, the soft sounds she made when I traced herlower lip with my tongue, the way she fit against me like she belonged there.

Like she’d always belonged there.

I broke the kiss to trail my lips along her jaw, down the curve of her neck. Her pulse fluttered beneath my mouth.

Mine to protect. Mine to cherish. Mine-

“Oh!” The Sylphid client who had just phased through the wall flickered with embarrassment. “Is this traditional human courtship location? The guide mentioned ‘private moments’ but failed to specify proper etiquette for interruption...”

Camden buried her face in my chest, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

“Out,” I growled.

“Of course! Though perhaps I could observe? For cultural research?”

“OUT.”

They retreated through the wall, still asking questions about human mating customs.

“Well.” Camden straightened her shirt as we left the closet. “That was...”

“If you say ‘educational,’ I’m confiscating all the dating guides.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” But her smile said otherwise. “Though speaking of education, Madame Hara left you another manuscript draft...”

“No.”

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