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Kylar stood in a hazy corridor decorated with brightly colored ani It was as if he were looking at the world through sleep-blurry eyes The door opened without his touch, and as soon as he saw her, his heart lurched Vi was lying on a narrow bed, weeping She was the only thing in the world utterly clear, sharp, and present

She raised a hand in supplication, and he went to her She seemed as unsurprised by his presence as he was For a moment, he wondered at that Where was he? How had he cohts disappeared the moment he touched her hand This was real Her hand was small in his, delicate and finely shaped, the skin as callused as his own Unlike Elene’s, Vi’s third finger was slightly longer than her forefinger He’d never noticed that before

It was theto sit on the bed and pull her into his ar harder and grasping hith into her He could feel her need for it She was confused, lost, scared of this new life, scared of being known, scared of never being known He didn’t have to read her face, he felt it within himself

She turned tear-swollen eyes to his face and he looked into her deep, green eyes He was a ainst every fear

The tears slowed and her grip relaxed She closed her eyes as if the inti, her body finally relaxing Her long, fiery red hair was unbound Though it was led and crimped from where she had worn it in a ponytail all day, he was a, a color that only one in a thousand women had His eyes followed a strand of her hair past tear-wet eyelashes to a nose with faint freckles he’d never noticed before to her slender neck

Vi wore an ill-fitting plain nightdress It was too short for her and the knot had co open Her nipple was dark pink, shtly puckered in the room’s coolness The first time Kylar had seen Vi’s breasts, she’d exposed herself to shock him This time, he could feel that she was unaware of it

The unexpected innocence of Vi’s exposure roused so protective in him He sed and moved the cloth to cover her Despite that Vi could feel him as clearly as he could feel her, she didn’t notice Was she merely that exhausted, or was she so divorced fronificance to her breast being covered? Kylar didn’t know, but either way, the wave of colanced at her shapely legs, naked to h, as he covered them with a blanket

She burrowed into hiht

He ran his fingers through her hair to call back the s Instead, Vi les coursing fro he’d ever felt close to this hen he’d kissed Elene for half an hour and then spooned behind her, tracing kisses across her ears and neck and skiertips across her breasts--and it was always then that she stopped hiht over that brink She was his, utterly, completely

He was drunk on her ecstasy The bond between them burned like fire He couldn’t stop hih her hair, rubbed her scalp, coain She shifted her hips,tiny sounds She rolled over in his lap so he could reach the other side of her head It put her facing his stomach, inches from the undeniable evidence of his own arousal

He froze She felt it and her eyes flew open Her pupils were pools of desire "Please, don’t stop," she said "I’ll take care of you Proe of his trousers a peck

Her casualness threw Kylar There was a disconnect here, in as supposed to be a connection It wasn’t let’s share this, it was let’s trade It wasn’t love--it was co up on his confusion "I was being selfish" She threw back the blanket and in the illogic of a dreaone In its place, a fitted red nightgown clung to her curves She stretched like a cat, displaying herself to e "You first It’s all yours"

"It’s all yours," not "I’ herself like a sweet to her

The door opened abruptly and Elene stood there Her eyes took in Vi, half-naked, draped over Kylar, her hand on his crotch and Kylar stupidly enjoying it

Kylar scrambled out of bed "No!" he cried