Page 15 of Fifth
“Biology.” The corner of his mouth moved again, ahuff of heat against her hair. “And perhaps a little pride.”
“Of course.” She breathed out, and the breath trembled at the end. “I’m afraid.”
“Affirmative.” He didn’t say it like a judgment. He said it like a fact they could both put hands on. “You are also ready.”
“How can you know that?”
“You stayed in my arms.”
She could’ve argued. She didn’t. The sky lightened by a shade and her pulse climbed. She realized her knees were still hooked over his thighs and that he had kept her there all night, taking the ache into his own joints so she would sleep peacefully. She lifted them gradually and slid her calves down until her shins lay over his. He caught her ankles without looking and set them gently on the ground on the far side of his body, as if he were laying a gift where it wouldn’t be broken.
“What happens now?”
“You drink. We move. The gate waits.”
“Is there more kissing?” she daredask.
He turned his head. The look he gave her stripped the last veil off the night. “Affirmative, there is more kissing. Not for them. For us. When you ask for it.” He fixed his amethyst gaze on her. “Ask.”
Chapter 5
HEAT ARROWEDthrough Hannah, sharp enough she had to close her eyes. If she might die today, at least she’d know what it was like to taste him again.
Her fingers curled in determination as she whispered, “Kiss me.”
His head bent, his mouth claiming hers with a heat that stole her breath. The first brush was rough, almost harsh, as if he would devour her. Then he slowed, deepening, coaxing her lips open until she yielded without thought. His tongue stroked into her mouth and she met him, clutching at the hard planes of his shoulders, pressing closer until the thin barrier of her halter became useless.
The kiss burned, wild and consuming. His hand slid from her waist up her spine, fingers splaying against bare skin as he hauled her tighter against his chest. She gasped into him and he swallowed the sound, kissing her deeper, as if he would brand her with his mouth alone.
Her thighs trembled, brushing against his, and the loincloth did nothing to hide the hard proof of his arousal. Heat coiled inside her, fierce and insistent, and she pressed closer still. His answering growl vibrated through her chest, low and primal.
He broke the kiss only to trail his mouth along her jaw, down to the tender spot beneath her ear. Her head tipped back, breath catching, and she hated how badly she wanted more. His teeth grazed her throat, not a bite, only a threat of one, and she shivered.
“Again,” she whispered, reckless now. If the world ended, she would at least have this. He obliged, crushing his mouth back to hers, kissing her like a man starving. His hands roamed, not yet beyond her back and hips, but firm enough to make her ache with promise. She wound her arms around his neck, greedy for his heat, for the dangerous certainty ofhim.
It didn’t go further, only the fire of mouths and hands and the sharp, trembling knowledge that she wanted more. The dawn waited. The trial waited. But for this stolen stretch of night, there was only the furious press of lips, the hot drag of breath, and the unspoken truth that she would never be the same again.
Her lips tingled as she broke away, breath ragged. “That’s enough,” she whispered, though her body screamed the lie. “If I take more, Imay never stop. And I don’t want anyone to see. This is only for us.” The words steadied her, afragile shield against the hunger.
Locus’s eyes burned violet, his chest heaving, but he inclined his head once as if honoring the boundary. He stood in one efficient movement. The night carved darker shadows into the lines of him, the faint ash on his forearm brushing her skin as his hand slid away. “You have only to ask. Iam yours.”
She pushed up, hair sliding over her shoulders in a dark curtain. The halter tugged, the tiny skirt riding high. She didn’t pull it down—he had already seen everything and somehow made her less exposed by looking. He reached for the canteen he’d set in the ferns the night before and lifted it to her mouth. She drank because he wanted her to, and because the water tasted like the first mercy she had been given indays.
“Again.” His voice left no room for refusal. She drank again.
When she lowered the canteen, the world tilted, areminder that she had not truly slept. He steadied her by the elbow, then released when she found her balance. His gaze lingered on the sky in the direction of the camp for a beat toolong.
“What is it?” she asked.
“The drones. They are moving again.”
“Here?”
“Near.” He angled his head. “Not yet here.”
“Then we go before they arrive.”
“Affirmative.” He stepped in front of her, pace purposeful. “Stay on my heel. If I stop, you freeze. If I pull, you lean.”
