Page 46 of Ashes

I flop down on the bed, leaving my coffee on the nightstand.

“I’m sorry.” She meets my eyes. “I know you’re worried, and I’m sorry. But I’m okay.”

Sincerity comes off her in waves. Sincerity and love. It tickles my skin, warming, like a summer breeze. I kiss her passionately on the lips. “Don’t apologize to me. I just want you to be safe.”

Nova strokes my face, then smiles and tugs Luther’s shirt off over her head. In the pale morning light, her breasts are delicious. My cock instantly pays attention.

“I told Luther we’d go talk about…” She steals the words from my mouth with her tongue.

“Make love to me first.” She wriggles underneath me, holding my hips with her thighs.

I press my erection against her, and she slips my boxers down.

I meet her gaze as I slide inside her. She sighs and wraps her arms around my neck, holding me close as I move slowly in and out.

For a long time, we kiss and fuck. Slowly and lovingly, our hands and tongues searching each other’s bodies. When we come, it’s like a rainstorm. Steady but hard. Nova’s back arches, her muscles tense. She quivers against me, her walls twitching until I come too.

I stay inside her for as long as I can, then finally roll over next to her.

We’re lying, quietly tangled up in each other, when I find myself saying, “I think Nico wanted you to know he was lying.” I kiss her stomach and look up at her. She strokes my hair. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know why. I’ve been trying to figure it out.” I push my fingers through my hair. “It was like he dropped his mask.”

“Why would he do that? Why would he want me to know?” She turns onto her side and leans up on her elbow as I lie back next to her.

I sigh and shake my head. “No idea, little star. Maybe a kindness? Maybe just game playing?” I stroke her arm, smoothing her scar with my palm, then move my fingers to the mark on her neck. “I just thought you should know.”

Nova closes her eyes and presses her forehead to mine. I lean in and kiss the bruise left by Kole’s teeth. “Did it hurt?” I ask softly.

“A little,” she sighs, “but also not at all.” She lays back and lets me pepper her throat with kisses. “Will he be okay? Will it fade? The… power?”

I sweep her hair up away from her neck and turn her head to the side so that I can kiss the spot beneath her ear. “I don’t know.”

“Is it dangerous for him?”

“I don’t know.” I kiss her again. My headache has gone. I pause with my hands on her waist. “Nova…” I know what I’m about to say, and I know it’s a bad idea, but I also know it’s the only way—the onlyquickway—to do what she’s convinced needs to be done.

“Mmmm,” she sighs and taps her neck. “Don’t stop.”

“Nova…” I sit up. She realizes I’m serious and sits up too, pulling the sheet around her. “I can find Sam.”

“The way you found me and Kole?” A brightness flickers in Nova’s eyes. “You really think you can do it?”

I nod. “I know I can.” I glance at her cellphone, next to her mug on the nightstand. “Open up the photo Luther gave you—of you and Sam. We’ll do it now.”

“Now?” Nova presses her lips together. “Shouldn’t we wait for the others to get back?”

“Nah,” I say casually, grinning at her. “I’m all amped up. Best do it while I’m in the mood.”

Nova watches me climb out of bed. Slightly hesitantly, she gets up too, and takes fresh clothes from the bag.

I pull the shutters closed, so the room descends back into darkness.

“Okay,” I tell her. “Let’s do this.”

23

NOVA

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