Page 34 of Escape Clause

“An aide brought me something at the office. You eat dinner?”

“Don Juan made something.” Another solo supper.

“I’m sorry about tonight,” he said, his voice subdued. His manner and bearing seemed muted. His skin and the silvery scales along his hairline had grayed. His shoulders hunched.

“It’s all right. I understand.” She did, but she didn’t. He was still standing. She patted the sofa. “Have a seat.”

“It’s late,” he said but sank onto the sofa, almost like he collapsed. “How did your day go? Anything interesting happen?”

“I spoke to my friend Prudence. Mayor Gleezer—the man who was trying to force me to marry him—got arrested for political corruption.”

“So, he’s no longer a threat to you?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“He’s no longer a threat to anybody.”

He nodded. Just sat there, hands slack on his knees, shoulders slumped.

She studied him. “Are you all right?”

For a long moment, he didn’t answer, then he glanced at her with haunted eyes. “Fifty occupied stasis pods failed today,” he said, his voice a monotone. “Manufacturer defect.”

“What about the women inside them?” she asked, alarmed. “They’re all right, aren’t they?”

He shook his head. “No. I spent the day contacting their families. I couldn’t let them receive an impersonal notification from the pod facility.”

Oh my god.“Krogan…I’m so sorry.” She hugged him. For a moment, he remained stiff, but then he relaxed against her and buried his face against her neck. “I’m so sorry.” She rubbed his back and rocked. “So sorry.”

While he’d been dealing with a tragedy, she’d been wallowing in self-pity that he’d broken their date. She felt ashamed of herself.

Her heart ached for the families, for the women who’d passed from the world, but also for her husband. She could not imagine what it must have been like to face fifty people, one after another, and tell them their wives, daughters, mothers, sisters had died.

He lifted his head, and she turned hers. Their eyes met. For the first time, his emotions were laid bare. The pain in his eyes tore at her heart. It wasn’t that he didn’t care—just the opposite. He cared too deeply.

“What if I can’t fix this?” he whispered.

“You will. I know you will,” she murmured. “I have the utmost faith in you.” Hewouldfind a cure for the nano-virus, and he would save his people from extinction because he wouldn’t rest until he’d accomplished both. She stared into his bleak eyes and then brushed her lips against his in comfort.

His mouth locked on hers in a searing, desperate kiss. His lips crushed hers, and his tongue plundered her mouth. Rough, hard hands gripped her hair, tangling in the strands, and she felt the pull against her scalp.

She moaned and surrendered, kissing him back ferociously. She tugged the tie around his ponytail, releasing his hair from its binding, and wove her fingers through the thick, silken mass. He dragged his mouth from her lips to her throat. Her neck arched.

He roamed his hands over her body, smoothing down her back, stroking her shoulders, cupping her breasts. Her nipples hardened against his palms. Another searing kiss burned her mouth.

“I need you. I intended to give you more time, but I need you. Don’t turn me away.”

She peered into his deep-blue eyes. The pain was still there, but so was heated desire and an entreaty she was powerless to resist. “I need you, too. I won’t turn you away,” she whispered. Her pulse raced.

With a growl, he scooped her off the sofa and strode down the hall toward his bedroom.

They entered, and the room lit up with a glow as soft as candlelight, enabling her to see the huge pedestal bed facing the floor-to-ceiling window. No stars shined through the clouded night sky, creating a wall of black cocooning the room in intimacy. She’d seen his room before—had peeked inside—but hadn’t seen it like this, like the stage had been set.

Her body slid against his, brushing against a serious hard-on as he set her on her feet beside the bed. He cupped her face and kissed her and then began to disrobe. His jacket dropped to the floor, his shirt puddling on top of it, revealing a muscular expanse of smooth azure skin. A band of silver scales cut a diagonal swath from collarbone to hip.

Her heart hammered, her body flushing with desire and trace embarrassment, but she followed suit, pulling her short-sleeved lavender dress over her headthen removing the thin sheath she wore as an undergarment. Panties came off, and she stood there naked, except for her shoes. With a self-deprecating twist of her mouth, she slipped them off.

His gaze burning with intensity, all traces of pain gone, he stood there as naked as she. His thick erection jutted out over heavy balls the same azure hue as the rest of him.Talk about blue balls.She bit her lip to stifle a nervous giggle.

Humor evaporated when he captured her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. His skin was smooth and hot, his erection hard against her flesh. He guided her to the bed, and they lay down, the soft silky bedcovers a sensual caress against her bare back.

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