Page 26 of Stars in Umbra
The bride and groom had long left, and the Riders, too, were MIA.
Not even Sheba was within sight.
Rina blinked, and she inspected her wrist comm, seeing a message from her friend.
Took a fly cab to the space port. Catch you next month at drinks if you ever resurface from your love fest with that lethal man you’ve been lost in the last few hours.
It was signed with an X kiss.
Rina huffed, then checked her chrono, disbelieving.
‘Shit,’ she whispered. ‘We’ve been talking for three hours?’
Mo tilted his head, lazy and amused. ‘Three and I haven’t kissed you yet.’
Her inhale caught.
The rumbled words hit her like a live wire, unexpected, heated, electric.
She blinked. ‘What -?’
His hand came up, and he cupped her jaw with fingers that were warm and solid, thumb resting just under her cheekbone.
His eyes held hers, asking.
‘May I?’
Unable to form an utterance, she nodded.
When he kissed her, she swore her brainflat-lined.
It was a full possession, mouth to mouth, breath to breath, lips molded over hers with a raw, intentional reverence that turned her bones to steam.
His other hand found her waist, anchoring her as he leaned in and deepened the kiss.
His mouth moved with heat and hunger, slow but commanding, tasting, teasing, taking.
It was a panty-melting, pulse-destroying, end-of-all-reason kind of kiss.
When he finally pulled back, his lips quirked in a way that made her want to chase them again.
She blinked up at him, dazed and breathless.
‘Three hours well spent,’ he rasped. ‘Want more?’
Just then, his face changed.
It tightened, his eyes flicking into a faraway look.
The same one her fellow soldiers got when their neural node activated.
He was reading a message, and as he did, his features hardened further.
Rina went into auto-brace; she was a warrior after all.
‘I’ve got to go,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll comm you.’
‘You don’t have my link.’
