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Itching to touch him, she nonetheless reet your attention"

"You got it"

"It’s time" She walked to stand at the foot of the bed "You need to go into le brutal word "I told you, that’s not happening"

"Why?" She stepped closer "Because it’ll make you feel like a h," she said, refusing to buckle under the urge to just give in, to let him have his way If she did, they’d never move beyond this point And every time she looked into his eyes, no matter how much he wanted her, she would see distrust It hurt So ined "If I can bear it, you can do it"

He closed the space between the, Katya You can’t forceso tight her bones ground together in pain "If I dropme to close them around your entry point, my mind will be wide open to anyone with psychic ability"

"You think that ry

"Yes, it h a throat raith emotion "Because you’ve taken responsibility for ht have to kill me, but until then, you’ll protectshe had to keep her tone level "A woot to do"

"Even if it destroys the other party?" A soft question that cut through her defenses with razor sharpness

Bleeding, she looked up "Will it truly be that bad for you?"

A harsh bark of laughter "Haven’t you been able to access the files you have on aze, suddenly dead certain that if she forced hi" between the back from it It wouldn’t haveas part of a cost-benefit ratio

But it

"Okay," she said, dropping her head even as the pragmatic side of her screamed in rebellion "Okay"

Dev felt Katya’s acquiescence like a blow "Why?"

"Because soht her hand when she would have turned away, tugging her to his chest and taking her mouth in a furious kind of possession before she could do asp She’d backed away because it would hurt him

It shattered him - he had always been the protector, the one who looked after others Never had he expected that the enemy would try to protect his heart

Echoes of sensation, too-soft whispers in his head

He bit at her lower lip "Shh Tag will hear"

Her lips curved into a startled "Oh"

Taking advantage, he swept into herthe intoxicating taste of her into his lungs The whispers ceased, and he was unaccountably annoyed "I’ll have to learn," he said, kissing his way across her jaw, "how to shield your projecting from other telepaths" Because that was an intimacy he’d allow no one to invade

Katya’s hand clenched in his hair as he nipped at the slender line of her throat, only just restraining the savage need to bite hard enough to mark "That assumes," she said, her voice breathy, "you’ll have a lot of chances to practice"

"And your point is?"

Her gaze was dark with arousal when she blinked them open "Dev"

He waited for her to tell hi this, dao Instead, she stood on tiptoe, put her hands on his shoulders, and stole a kiss that was as delicate as it was passionate, as fe hie of surrender All he wanted to do was tumble her into bed and strip her inch by slow inch

But she had the reinsand she took her oeet time When she finally stepped back, his entire body was vibrating with pure, undiluted hunger