Page 54 of The Alien in the Archive

She doesn’t regret the kiss…she hasn’t met someone.

She’s been trying to hide her feelings for me.

And now I know—and I’m never letting her go.

I’m already kissing her, not knowing when it started, when my arms wrap around her to pull her close. She slants her mouth against mine as I lift her onto the desk, her arms coming around my neck.

I devour her mouth, my restraint shattered,obliterated. There’s no holding back now—not after everything I just saw in her mind, not after everything I’ve felt. Her hands slide into my hair, anchoring me to her as I pull away only to trail kisses down her neck. I could bite; she’s expecting me to, screaming for me to do it in her mind, because she wants so very badly to save me…but I don’t want to.

Because I realize now it wasn’t the Elixir in her blood that drew me to her. It wasneverabout the Elixir.

It was alwaysher.Always just Page.

The Elixir, her powers, everything else…it was incidental.

She’s the reason my world cracked open. The reason I’m beginning to feel lonely.

Because I needher.

As I kiss her, as I learn her and touch her and feel her mind intertwine with mine, it becomes clear that this contact is essential to my survival. She gasps, jerking against me as I send my own thoughts into her head…thoughts of all the things I want to do to her,withher. My hands, still on her hips, jerk her toward me so she can feel me—my cock straining against my pants, desperate for her. “You say I can’tbother with you,” I growl, “but I can’tresistyou. Do you feel what you do to me?”

She boldly reaches down and shocks me when she wraps her fingers around my shaft. I buck into her hand, Page stroking me through too much fabric, too many layers. “Oh fuck?—”

“You have driven me to madness.” I’m whispering the words between wet, hungry kisses, my hands gripping her ass, trying to keep her close. “Look into my mind, see how much I’ve wanted you.”

I feel her touch my psyche, dive in. I rest my forehead against hers and cling to her as she explores, the first true glimpse she’s gotten.

Watching her in the library, feeling her against me for the first time,kissing her. Imagining her here, bent over the desk…tasting her, teasing her, touching every alien piece of herexactlyhow she likes to be touched. Forcing myself to stay calm, to remind myself that I don’t deserve her, when I want nothing more than to bury my cock inside her and fuck her until she can hardly walk…

I squeeze my eyes shut, the intermingling of our thoughts nearly enough to make me forget about a lifetime of horror.

But I somehow manage to pull away, snatch her hands from where she’s touching me, grasp them tight.

Put them between us as we both breathe hard.

“And this…this is why we need to slow down,” I rasp.

She looks into my eyes, silver swirling in her irises. The telekinesis…I wonder if it was because of our proximity. If her powers are getting stronger because I drank from her.

Because Elixir bonds, even the smallest amount, can work strange magic.

“I don’t want to stop,” she says, shaking her head. “Thorne, I want—Ineedyou to fuck me.”

I hiss out a breath, holding her at bay. “No,” I bite out. “Not tonight.”

“But—”

I lift one hand to take her chin, tilting her face toward me. “Page, listen to me,” I tell her. “The connection between us…it can muddle your thoughts. I need to know this desire is yours, so youhave to wait. Because I can’t…I can’t take that from you, knowing I may have influenced you.”

I fully expect her to storm out; she’s in the kind of mood that lends itself to strong reactions, and I’ve refused to give her something she wants.

But she takes a deeper breath, even if she shudders on the exhale…

…then she nods.

“Okay,” she says. “But…can I stay?”

I breathe a sigh of relief, resting my forehead against hers again. “Gods, yes,” I murmur. “Of course. I want…we should talk.”

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