Page 31 of Inescapable Gravity

She nodded and shrugged at the same time. It was a good enough question to start with.

"Because I wanted to talk to you."

"There's nothing to-"

"The fuck there isn't!" He took a step forward. "You're not running out of my life, Heather! You're not leaving me again without telling me why."

"I told you," she pointed at the doors. "I told you in the hallway. I'm not letting you put yourself in danger because of me. I'm not!"

"Well, I have news for you." He laughed and the sound was hard and cold. "All I've done for years is put my life in danger. I did it for my country. Then I got a job as a bodyguard, so I did it for myself. And now," he got so close to her that she had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes, "I'm doing it for you because if something happened to you when I could have stopped it... this time, I couldn't live with myself."

His voice.

She felt it deep inside of her.

She felt it as if he was pressed against her.

Pressed inside of her.

It was a deep, primal vibration that shook her to her soul.

She'd just said the same words to him. A nagging truth that she couldn't ignore, only to find out that he felt the same way.

Life was cruel. She knew that already.

But her life seemed determined to rip her heart into pieces and burn them up in front of her eyes.

"Mars, I'm sorry, I can't-"

He groaned and she felt his breath hot against her cheek. "Say it again."

She managed a shallow breath and an even quieter tone. "I'm sorry, I-"

"My name... No. Your name for me. Say it again."

"Mars, I-"

He swallowed the rest of her words and her thoughts with his kiss. She felt the rough press of his lips against her and reveled in it.

The last time they'd been together, their kisses had been softer... almost gentle in their fervor, but not now.

Now, he was feeding off of her, trying to climb inside of her.

The intensity held her there between him and the elevator wall.

She turned her head to the side to try and breathe, but his mouth moved with her, cutting off any escape and when he slipped his tongue between her lips and opened them up, he gave her air from his own body.

Oh god.

Her knees went weak and he propped her up, his knee between hers.

She tried to put her hand on his arms and then his chest, but he moved them up and over his shoulders so she linked them behind his neck.

Another deep sweep of his tongue in her mouth and she was lifted up, her back against the wall of the elevator.

Her backside bumped against the railing and a soft cry of pain rushed up from her lungs, but before she could really feel the full measure of it, he had a hand between her and the hard brass.

He wasn't just protecting her from the pain, he was soothing it away with his fingers.

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