Page 73 of Tempting Jupiter
Feeona chuckled. “I think it’s sweet how well you and Alfred get along.”
His eyes narrowed. “Alfred is a computer.”
“I am an artificial intelligence, base program echo-eight—”
“He didn’t mean it, Alfred.” Feeona interrupted before Alfred could list all of his specs.
Seneca pulled out of his safety harness and offered her a hand as he stood.
She shook her head. “I’ll stay here awhile.”
He took her hand and tugged. “Later. I doubt you’ve slept a full night in days.”
Reluctantly, she got to her feet. He clasped both her hands, freezing her in place. “You have my apologies for upsetting you about Toby.” Seneca pulled her closer. “Perhaps you’re right about what he needs. But I could only give him my truth.”
She nodded. “There’s nothing to be done about it now.”
He squeezed her fingers then tugged her toward the ladder that led to the upstairs passage. “You need rest.”
“I suppose we’re both tired.” She wrapped her hand around a rung, with every intention of sneaking back after they parted ways. “What makes you think I’ll sleep better tonight?”
He guided her second hand to the rung and urged her to climb. “We’ll share your bed and both sleep better for it.”
“I don’t know whether to be angry at your assumption or laugh at your arrogance.” She was leaning toward the laugh, and she feared it was because the idea of having him back in her room made her heart expand with want. Not a sexual want. Just the need to feel close to him.
He put a hand on her butt, still urging her upward. “Why don’t you just accept it as truth? We both need the sleep and that is all I am asking for tonight.”
Feeona put her foot on the first rung of the ladder and started climbing. “Asking?” She scoffed and muttered to herself. “I never heard a question.” But the word that lingered in her mind wastonight.
***
Seneca woke feeling better than he had since they left Petro-5. Feeona’s warmth pressed against his chest and wrapped around his right leg. Her breath brushed across his chest and teased his nipple. When he’d fallen asleep, she’d still had her back to him. He liked that she’d turned to him in the night. He looked down at her naked face, relaxed in sleep. There were still dark circles under her eyes where her lashes rested against the tender skin, but they were lighter than before.
She’d worn a sleeveless tunic and lightweight, ill-fitting shorts to bed. He could see the shadow of her nipple through the fabric and the plump curve of her breast pressed against his chest. The nipple was large and soft—evidence that she was still deeply asleep. His dick was awake, but not yet demanding attention. The thought that he should fuck her was a lazy tease that spread more warmth through him. She was Jupiter’s mate. Oddly, he was even more certain of that now than before she’d betrayed them. As Jupiter’s pack brother, it was his duty to use sex to seal a pack bond between them. Now that his anger had faded, the pull to have her was nearly irresistible, but doing it for that reason didn’t sit right. She loved Jupiter. He was certain of that now. How she felt about him was less clear.
It would feel damn good to fuck her, and that might have been enough for him if his own feelings for her weren’t such a jumble. She was hurting as much as him. And like him, she was no stranger to hurting. As he watched her chest rise and fall with her breath, it wasn’t the thought of the slide and tug sensation on his dick that came to mind and stirred him. It was a need for the skin to skin heat of her body against his, their scents mixing and filling the air, the feel of her arms around him. He shifted a leg to make his now pulsing dick more comfortable.
Feeona’s breathing changed and a moment later she stretched as much as she could without moving away from him. Her eyes were still closed, and that brought a smile to his face.
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Sorry, if I woke you.”
“Mmm. You were thinking too loud.” Her words came out whiney in the way some of her kids had complained when they’d resisted getting up for breakfast.
Seneca kept his chuckle silent, but his chest shook beneath her cheek.
“Are you laughing at me?” The whiney drag of her syllables was still there, so he knew she wasn’t truly upset.
“There’s no rush to get up. You only slept about five hours.”
After a deep breath and a long exhale, her eyes opened, and she started to pull away from him. “I’m awake now. I might as well get back to work.”
He closed his arms around her, keeping her close. “No. Don’t go yet.”
She studied his face as if she could see something written there. “Okay.”
Together they sat up, knees bumping into each other until he scooped her up and positioned her butt in the gap between his legs then pulled her slender legs up over his thigh.
Seneca reached for the salve they’d left on the bedside table and began applying a second treatment to the already fading bruises on her arms. “There are a few things we need to talk about.”
