Pleasures of the Night(61)

She swallowed hard. “I thought you said no one has ever gone back?”

“None of the other Guardians had a book by the Elders detailing fissure creation,” he pointed out.

“Oh.” Sinking into the mattress, her legs slackened and then fell away. “So you’re not mad?”

“I am.” His voice was low and fervent. “At everything and everyone that prevents me from keeping you.” He rested his forehead against hers, inundating her senses with the scent and heat of his skin. “But I’m not angry with you, no. I’m proud of you for taking steps to protect yourself, and I know you trust me. You wouldn’t have let me take you without a condom otherwise. You’re a doctor and far too smart to gamble with your life like that.”

Aidan rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling.

“I don’t understand how you could go back,” she said, frowning in confusion. “I’m not even sure I understand how you got here.”

He turned his head to look at her with a gentle smile. “You’ve heard of Athena, haven’t you? Goddess of Wisdom, who sprang fully formed from Zeus’s head.”

“That’s a myth,” she scoffed, but the similarity was startling.

Shrugging, Aidan said, “Aren’t all myths and legends based on some grain of truth?”



“So…” She stared at his profile, melting inside at how beautiful he was. A large, graceful, and deadly predator sprawled across her bed. She’d watched him through the balusters while he fought with Chad, watched the play of muscles in his arms and chest, the way his PJ bottoms had stretched over his thighs when he lunged forward, and the tight roping of his abdomen as he’d leaped backward. The calculating way he’d studied his opponent had made her shiver, and not just with fear. Just as Stacey said, Aidan Cross was a dangerous bad boy and she wanted to tame him.

Before he could reply, she jumped him, throwing herself over his hard body. He grunted from the impact and stared up at her with wide eyes. She took his mouth so he couldn’t protest, her tongue gliding along his lips and then slipping inside. Her fingertips found his nipples and rubbed them lightly. His answering groan was music to her ears.

“It’s too late for caution,” she whispered against his lips. They were glorious, firm and beautifully etched, but so soft, and the way they moved…the way they made love to her…“It’s going to break me anyway. I think you should make it worth my while.”

“I haven’t already?” His accent was pronounced, betraying her effect on him.

“I want more.” She sat up and yanked her camisole over her head, tossing it to the floor. She cupped her breasts, rolling the aching points between her fingertips.

“Oh, Lyssa,” he murmured roughly, his hands rubbing up and down her thighs. “You drive me insane when you do that.”



She opened her mouth to say she hadn’t ever shown him her breasts and then remembered what he had said earlier. They’d been lovers in her dreams. “I’ve done this for you before?”

“Ummm,” he replied, his thumbs slowly working their way higher, setting her skin on fire.

“Not fair. You have more memories than I do. I have to catch up.”

His mouth curved, and her heart beat faster. Catching his hands, she pressed her breasts into them. “Please don’t end this,” she begged, throwing aside her pride. “I need you. Desperately.”

Aidan rolled then, coming over her in a blanket of big, hot, sexy male. “I need you, too.” He nuzzled against her throat and slipped a hand up the leg of her shorts. “Too much.”

She sighed and wrapped around him again. If she took a moment to think, she would be terrified of the future, but here, now…It was heaven.

“Tell me you’re with me,” she moaned, arching into his fingers as he parted her and stroked across her clit with a feather-light touch of a callused finger.

He kissed her with heartbreaking tenderness. “I’m with you.”

It was only for now. But for now, it was enough.





Chapter 13





“I’ve been looking for you, Captain.”

Connor straightened and turned to face Philip Wager as he climbed the porch steps of Aidan’s house. Tall and wiry, the lieutenant approached with a long-legged stride that ate up the distance between them. He set a cooler on the bench near the door and then used both hands to tie back his overly long hair with a small black band.

“You found me.”

Now presentable to a commanding officer, Philip bowed low. Connor returned the salutation and then arched a brow in silent query.