Page 36 of Taming Chaos

“I don’t,” Torin said softly once the Bartharrans were out of earshot, making her jump. “I’m making a lot of educated guesses. Sooner or later, there will be an access point.”

Oh yeah. Hyper-acute hearing. I forgot about that.

Abruptly, Torin stopped, and Seph almost crashed into him. She checked herself at the last moment, stifling a gasp as she skidded to a halt.

“This is what I was talking about.” He motioned to a dark opening in the wall. “An access point. I will go first. Follow me.”

Torin entered into the dark space and disappeared.

What? Seph peered into the shadows, but his armor was such an effective camouflage that he became one with the darkness.

“It’s clear, Seph. Come on.” Torin’s rich voice echoed from the confined space. Seph took a deep breath and stepped inside, squinting as she tried to adjust to the darkness. All of a sudden, his hands were on hers, guiding them toward something narrow and solid. “Here.”

In the dim light, Seph could only just make out the horizontal rungs of what appeared to be a ladder.

“We go up.”

“This seems a bit… low-tech.”

“Bartharrans aren’t exactly known for their interior design skills.” Torin guided her other hand toward the rung, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You okay?” Under the cover of darkness, he let his hard warrior’s mask slip, his voice becoming gentle. Which one was the real Torin? The sweet, considerate man who seemed to anticipate her every need, or the merciless Kordolian who killed as naturally as he breathed?

Probably both. People had different sides to them, Seph included. Right now, she was quiet and a little bit shellshocked, which was so different to how she was on Earth. Being abducted, rescued, and ejected in the span of a few hours could have that effect on a soul.

“I’m fine,” she replied, putting her foot on the lower rung. “But do you mind going a little slower? I can barely see where I’m going in here.”

Suddenly, his hard body was pressed up against hers. “I can do anything you like, Persephone” he whispered, his hot breath grazing her ear.

You sneaky devil, you.

Seph froze and slowly exhaled, a pleasant ripple coursing down her spine. Part of her couldn’t believe her ears, but at the same time, she drank up his attention like a fish in the desert. “Are… are you making a move on me, Torin?”

A pause. “It seems I am.”

“You have an interesting sense of timing, Kordolian.” She wasn’t denying him, though.

“If not now, then when?”

“You have a point.” Slowly, deliberately, Seph leaned into him, just a little. In this dark, secret little pocket of the Universe, she felt as if the laws of reality didn’t exist anymore. She could be anyone she wanted and do anything she wanted, even if it meant following Torin’s lead.

She was still a little bit afraid of him, but the more time they spent together, the more she realized he wasn’t going to hurt her. In fact, her fear added a little spice to the mix; a sharp edge that she couldn’t resist.

She was like a moth to a goddamn flame.

“We can go as slow or as fast as you like, Persephone. Either way suits me just fine.”

Persephone. Ooh, there it was again, that little growl in his voice when he spoke her name. Seph usually hated it when people called her by her full name, but the way he said it sent a flood of warmth through her core, momentarily turning her legs to jelly.

He was probably the only person in the entire Universe who could call her by her full name and get away with it.

Is this really happening, or am I dreaming?

Perhaps she was still on Earth, passed out on her kitchen table after too many glasses of red wine. If that was the case, Seph didn’t want to wake up from this scary, sexy, vivid nightmare-fantasy just yet. Maybe later.

“You need take it slow with me,” she murmured. “I have a terrible fear of heights, especially when I can’t see the bottom.”

“How about we climb together, instead of me going in front? I need to guard against whatever might come from above, but I can haul myself up in a flash if things get tricky. I can’t have you falling off ladders in the dark.”

“No, I would drag you down with me.”

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