Nate's Fated Mate(31)

"The only thing wrong with me is a bad bout of sexual frustration. Are you trying to get me in bed?" he asked, not trusting Sheena's sudden change of heart.

"Yes, I am," Sheena said, chuckling at her own answer. "Not for sex though. You really do need to rest."

"All I need is you and about twelve uninterrupted hours in bed," Nate shot back.

He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Sheena's. Her lips moved hotly under his at the same time her mouth opened to let his tongue slip inside. One his hands cupped the back of her head as her hand slid to the side of his neck. Her fingernails scratched him as they gripped, but Nate didn't care. Arousal moved through him again as he kissed her hungrily.

When he pulled away, Nate leaned back into the sofa, suddenly weary to the bones. Sheena was right. He needed rest-real rest. "My relief that you're not still mad at me has worn me out. I thought you'd never want to kiss me again after we were interrupted today."

"I wish I didn't want to, but that's not the case," Sheena said softly, her hand coming out to cup his jaw. "You look very tired, Nathaniel. I really think you need to sleep now."

"Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes." And Nate did just that. "Will you stay?"

"I'll definitely stay until you fall asleep," Sheena promised, because that had been her plan all along.



When Nate's breathing became even, his fingers unwound from the grip he'd had on her hand. Sheena slipped away and went to the door. Bringing in one of her boys, she had him carry Nate to his bed-the bed she hadn't gotten to share with him. Sadly, his bedroom looked exactly like it had when she left him all those years ago. Did none of the other women he'd married ever care about the starkness of their sleeping space?

"Query, Number Five. Is it possible to erase all evidence of me being in this suite?"

"Affirmative. Access to privacy logs is confirmed. Time tables can be amended."

"Good. I'll be out in twenty. Start the privacy protocol while you wait. After we leave, just remove our arrival and flash the log forward."

"Affirmative. Preparations are being made. Approximate completion time is about twenty minutes."

When her droid was gone once more, Sheena crawled onto the bed beside a softly sleeping Nate. "Hi, Handsome. Can you hear me?"



       
         
       
        

"Of course. I love your voice. It makes me hard," a sleeping Nate answered.

Sheena smiled at his loss of filters. "I like your voice too. What are the new versions of Angus and Erin? Are they clones? I need to know the truth."

Nate thrashed a little, struggling against the question, then settled down once his unconscious mind made peace. The truth serum was infallible for the most part, but a person's mind could resist some of it. When Nate woke, his recollection would be like recalling a bad dream. No one would ever know how she'd found out the truth. In the end, it would hopefully save the precious job he loved more than her.

"They're alternates from Universe 6."

Sheena gasped. "What?"

"The alien portal allows time jumps of a specific, yet limited nature. However, there are complications. Getting the matchmakers was deemed worth the risks. No one knows it works. Highly confidential. My mother can't even know."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Sheena whispered, patting Nate's shoulder. Her dad must have known. This must have been his idea. He'd spent three hundred years studying time travel and mirror universes.

"What kind of problems did you encounter in getting them here?"

"One of the Erin alternates died, unable to adapt. She was depressed and homesick and wouldn't eat. Others we couldn't find in their worlds in time to keep them from their fated history, no matter how precisely we set the parameters. The damn Universe 6 versions arrived fine, but..."

Sheena chuckled softly as Nate's revelation faded off. Yes, she knew exactly why he stopped his story. Angus and Erin were not conforming to the stagnation that gripped New Earth worse than the alien plague had five hundred years ago. Admiral Tiberius of the AAS airship hated nothing more than he did people who thrived on change and wouldn't follow the rules like he did.

"What did I ever see in you?" Sheena whispered.

"I have a big dick and love you madly. Just really suck at showing it," Nate said, rolling to his side.

"You also have a colossal ego, despite what you think you know about yourself," Sheena added for good measure. She leaned down and laid her cheek against his back. She stayed that way until Nate rolled over and blinked his eyes open.