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Unwilling, unable, to pull away froer, she watched "It’s very energetic" No NewsNet reporter would ever gesticulate as wildly,over, Dev stole soesture that hijacked her interest from a report on what appeared to be so in a deep breath, she tried to focus But the scent of Dev - rich and wild, with an edge that tasted of steel - settled over her senses, holding her in thrall He glanced over at that verystopped Dev broke the electric contact by putting his ar instant, she’d gli to happen e get back to New York?"
"Later, Katya"
Shaking her head, she turned to push at his chest "The pretense ended last night" With the painful honesty of that kiss
He closed his hand over hers, holding her palht to stroke "A few s unsaid "Do you want this to end so soon?"
No, she thought, no Even if their relationship was a fragile construct forht of day, she wanted to cling to it with all the strength in her Giving in, she settled herself back by his side, curling her fingers lightly into his chest, her knees scraping against his thigh as she sat with her legs bent, feet pointing away from him
His chin brushed her hair as he said, "Watch this"
It took her emotion-torn mind several seconds to realize the i about trouble in Sri Lanka’s legislative capital "She’s talking about Psy" Her overn!"
Dev’s free hand came to rest on her knee "Only four people," he murmured, "but that’s four more than should exist under Silence"
"That’s Shoshanna Scott!" Blasted by e, she would’ve jerked upright had Dev not been holding her
On-screen, the slim brunette waited until the reporters had quieted to ainst the darkness of her hair, the creamy white of her skin Shoshanna Scott was the Council’s public face for a reason - she had an appearance of such delicate beauty that people forgot the Psy ruled with their an in a clear voice, "an incident provoked by Jax"
Katya couldn’t believe it - her memories, shaky as they were, told her the Council liked to consign the Psy drug probleical weakness," Councilor Scott continued, "inherent in those who succuenetic abnorainst"
"Councilor!" A short man with stiff black hair stood up, his eyes that of a rottweiler "There are ruiven in to their emotions What’s your answer to that?"
"It’s a ridiculous assertion Nor his hand down her calf in a caress that shattered her concentration "She’s sidelining those four, effectivelythem non-Psy"
Another reporter stood up even as Katya realized he was tugging her feet out fro them on his lap "Dev - "
"Shh" His eyes were on the screen, but his fingers continued to stroke lightly over her calf "Listen"
She forced her attention back to the screen, hearing only the last part of the newest question
" - Jax is a proble us, yes," Shoshanna said "Some individuals are intrinsically flawed"
The report cut off at thata short analysis "She took the less dahter with Dev’s every languid stroke, "acknowledging the Jax proble to break Silence"
"Yeah, that’s rip that screa, is it? Everyone knows some Psy do Jax The junkies are hard to miss" The lazy stroke of his thuether in an instinctive response she barely understood Dragging in a breath, she tried to find her train of thought "But it’s the deeper issue that’s really interesting - the public nature of the breakdowns"
"These four aren’t the first," he said, his breathwith hers as their faces came ever closer "There was a rash of similar incidents not that many months back They’ll be in the CTX archives"
It should’ve been a startling piece of information, but - "I worked with Ashaya for years I always knew there was so imperfect about her Silence" And if there was one, why not more?
"Stop that"
Only then did she realize she’d been petting hih the thin cotton of his T-shirt "I - "
His hand curled into her hair, tugging back her head and cutting off her words She found herself looking up into a face that could have as easily belonged to soht,civilized, but peel that away, and this ho he was at the core Hard Ruthless Quite possibly withouteyes," he murmured "Don’t you know you shouldn’t play hat you can’t handle?"