Page 35 of Kiss of Steel

She grasped his erection and slid her hand along his shaft sending fiery tendrils zinging through him. Heat and tension merged into urgent, wondrous bliss.

With avid hands, he sought out new ways to elicit her gasps of pleasure. He trailed his fingers over curves to the apex of her thighs, toyed with the curls before dipping between her legs.

Her wetness coated his fingers, causing his balls to clench and his cock to throb in anticipation. He wanted to do right by her, bring her the pleasure she brought him.

“Show me what pleases you,” he murmured while his lips investigated the shell of her ear.

Covering his hand, she guided his fingers to draw circular strokes over her clit. “Like this.” He followed her instruction, and she arched. “Ah! I think you’ve got it.”

He felt absurdly pleased by her praise. He kissed her again, his tongue caressing hers.

Slow exploration picked up speed and urgency, and then he slipped between her thighs and guided his cock to her entrance. He pressed forward and rocked inside. Wet heat and tight walls enveloped him in intense satisfaction. Bracing on his palms, he shuddered with bliss.

Soft arms hugged his neck. Smooth thighs gripped his hips. Thrusts met thrusts as they found a synchronized rhythm.

Her face screwed up with fierce beauty as she climaxed. He tried to watch, but pressure and tension built to a crescendo; his cock contracted and hurtled him toward orgasm. Muscles in his face tautened, and his eyes squeezed shut. Behind shuttered eyelids, stars exploded as ecstasy wracked him.

As he came, a single disquieting thought reverberated through his brain.This is what it means to be human.

Spent, he collapsed onto his back. Reluctant to be parted, he slipped an arm under her shoulders and pulled her close. She curled against him, a hand on his chest, a thigh resting across his. Her breathing came in gasps, and he could feel her heartbeat against his ribs. He pressed a kiss to her damp, messy head.

He floated on a cloud of euphoria, conscious that his future had altered. It had been slowly, inexorably changing, but in consummating his marriage, he’d passed the point of no return. Honoria was his life now. He would have it no other way, but the uncertainties, his lies of omission scared him to death.What if she finds out?For the first time in his life, he had something to lose.

“You have impressive stamina,” she said, still panting. “You didn’t break a sweat.”

“I’m in peak physical condition,” he replied, compounding his growing guilt with another prevarication. He could run a marathon without breaking a sweat.

“I guess I’m not, then.”

“You are for you.” For a human.

Truth and lies used to be one and the same, veracity and mendacity mere tools to be used to complete the mission. Truth for truth’s sake had no value.

Until now. Their intimacy had been built on a false premise. He wasn’t who, or evenwhat, she thought he was. She curled against him trustingly. More than anything, he craved her unconditional acceptance and approval.I want her to desire me for me.The things he’d done would be a silent, secret burden he’d have to carry for the rest of his life. No one could ever learn he’d been an assassin. But what if he shared part of the truth—that he’d been genetically engineered in a laboratory to besuperhuman. Not all cyborgs were assassins, were they?

She lifted her head. “Your heart is racing now.” Her palm flattened against his chest. “What are you thinking about?”

What would he do if he lost her? How would he stand it? “Us. The future. My past.” He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I can’t believe my good fortune. How lucky I am to have been matched to you.” Having a wife had never been on his short list of desires. Now Honoria topped the list. No, shewasthe list. She satisfied a dormant, suppressed yearning for belonging, companionship, affection, and passion, but getting it awakened a craving for more. Could this ache be the emotion humans called love?

He had no idea what love felt like, what it wassupposedto feel like. How did one know if one was in love?

“Oh, no. I’m luckier than you. I gotyou.” She grinned. “Cosmic Mates did a good job matching us.”

His heart thudded with anxiety.I’m a cyborg.Could he speak the words? Did he dare risk destroying everything tangible and good?

“Would you still like me if I wasn’t human?” he asked.

“If you were an alien? As long as you were you, I’d like you no matter what. I’d be fine with you being an alien, but the fact that you’re human gives us some common ground.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.Say it. Just say it.“There are so many things you don’t know about me, about my past, how and why I came to be here.”

“We both have a lot of history, or we wouldn’t be on Refuge.” She drew lazy circles over his heart with her finger. “But our pasts led to our future together. Our circumstances and choices put us on two paths that converged in our meeting—with a little help from Cosmic Mates. I had a lot of regrets, but I wouldn’t change anything now.”

He regretted his entire life. But like she said, if it had been different—if he’d been born a human, if he’d mutinied and escaped sooner, they would never have met. That would have been its own tragedy. Despite studies in time travel, you still couldn’t undo the past.Tell her. Tell her now.

He took a breath. “I’m a cy—”

“I hated Blane, but if not for Solutions, we wouldn’t have—”

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