With a low groan, he pressed me back up against the wall. “You’re killing me, starshine.”
“Don’t stop.” I grabbed his short hair and pulled his mouth back to mine.
He met my lips with enough dominance to send a kick of exhilaration through me. This was what I’d been missing for so long, and I kissed him like he was the key to all the thrilling, fun things no one was supposed to do anymore. Kissing Shade felt like belting out a song from a rooftop, or splashing fully clothed into a rare public fountain. It felt like freedom, like he wouldn’t judge, like I could do what I wanted.
And that he would like it.
I moaned and kissed him like I was freaking dying for it—which I was. For seven years, I hadn’t had the slightest interest in a man. Not sexually, at least. But then Shade had looked me up and down with his honey-brown eyes, said he was checking me over for weapons, and I’d started falling for him right then and there in his dusty, overstocked shop.
I’d only known him for a few days, but I’d been waiting forever for this kiss. I wanted more than a kiss from Shade; I was so ready. I hooked my leg around his hip and tilted my pelvis up, finally getting a good feel of his hard length. He pressed against me, almost thrusting. Heat sizzled low in my belly and flared between my legs. My head dropped back against the wall, and I gulped down a breath.
Shade trailed scorching, openmouthed kisses along my throat. “Holy shit, you’re like chaos in skin.”
A splash of cold hit the fever inside me. We were taught to like and value order, restraint. I’d thought he was like me, but maybe I was too wild and impulsive for him?
“Too chaotic?” I asked.
“Fucking perfect.” His hands dove into my open vest, and he palmed my breasts. He lifted them, bent his head, and rubbed his face along the twin curves he’d plumped up.
Rub. Kiss. Lick. Holy fuck.
Little-used muscles clenched, and my breath shortened to pants.
Shade’s light stubble scraped my skin. He grunted something I didn’t understand. Freckles, maybe. I had a few. Whatever he said was husky and low and got lost in a haze of lust. My nipples hardened under his hands, and he gently squeezed, his mouth moving along the scooped neckline of my shirt.
I held on to his head, clamping him to me. I never wanted him to stop. I wanted him to touch me higher. Lower. Everywhere.
Shade kissed my chest and collarbone, my throat and the soft underside of my chin. His hands skimmed my ribs, falling to my hips, and then his lips were on mine again, yielding but firm, his tongue in my mouth, and we both made a needy sound that was volcanically hot.
I pulled him closer. He ground against me. It was both torment and relief.
A double pair of footsteps rang out on the avenue close to the intersection, and we sprang apart, both of us breathing hard. If we didn’t stop, someone was sure to report us, and that would send the Dark Watch roaring back. No matter how good it felt, or how much I wanted to continue, a bout of deliciously crazy public indecency could get me into a whole lot of trouble.
I tucked my still-damp hair behind my ears, my voice coming out like a scratch. “I should get off the streets.”
Shade nodded, his eyes on my face. He looked incredibly tense. Did he regret kissing me and feeling us both ignite?
The footsteps drew closer, and Shade held out his hand. Instinctively, I took what he offered, and he led me down the darker cross street and away from the main thoroughfare. His hand was warm, the skin a little rough, and I loved having it around mine. It was too bad I couldn’t hold on to him for more than a few days.
My spirits sank. Dangerous thoughts, Tess.
There was no settling down for me yet. I had things to do. People to help. Right now, stopping the illness at the orphanage was my priority, followed closely by deciding what to do with those enhancers. I couldn’t get complacent and stay in one place just because there was a man who turned me into a raging inferno and made me want to jump into his bed.
My body talked back—loudly—still all warm and wound up. Parts of me, both in my head and decidedly not in my head, wanted to stay on Albion 5 and see what could happen with Shade.
If anything. Maybe that kiss had been it.
Or maybe there could be more—just short-lived.
My spirits sank even further. Neither possibility was my first choice.
I glanced at Shade as we walked. It had been pretty obvious that first day in his shop that I needed to avoid the Dark Watch, which explained his tactics tonight, but not much else.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“I live nearby.”
“And you just happened to run into me on the street? Literally?” What were the chances of that?
He shrugged, and I stopped.
“Shade?”
He dropped my hand and turned to me, scrubbing the back of his neck. “I followed you from Susan’s. You said something about the book drop-off today, and I wanted to make sure you got back all right.”
My heart started pounding like a heavy-armor hammer trying to break through my ribs. “You were worried about me?”
“You’re carrying my money,” he grumbled, starting to walk again. “Already paid for that door.”
He had my door!
Wait. He had my door.
He’d fix it, along with the remaining holes in the Endeavor, and then I’d fly off this rock.
“That’s, ah…great news,” I said, thinking I should have meant it.
He didn’t respond.
“It’s creepy to follow women, you know.”
He slanted me an odd look. “Maybe I’m a sketchy bastard.”
I didn’t believe that, especially with Susan vouching for him. “You could have just walked with me.” I took his hand back, because I was a numbskull like that. “I don’t bite.”
What seemed like a wry huff escaped him. “Actually, I kind of hope you do.”
My pulse bucked, and my lower abdomen tightened, flooding with heat again.
“Where are we going?” I asked, looking around us after I’d caught my breath once more. My attention had been so focused on Shade that I hadn’t realized until right then that I didn’t recognize a single thing about the area.
“It’s a shortcut,” he answered, leading me toward a dimly lit tunnel under a docking tower that soared so high I couldn’t see the top. The network of darkened platforms rose straight up until it faded into the night. “To your ship,” he added.
I bit my lip. That was disappointing. I’d begun hoping we were heading for his place.
A whole lot of awkward silence went by.
Oh, screw it. “No one’s expecting me back right away,” I said.
Shade eventually responded with a soft grunt. In the end, I thought it was just to acknowledge that he’d heard me. He didn’t look at me or take me up on anything, even though I’d thought that was a pretty clear invitation to resume our earlier activities.
Confused and stung, I let his hand drop. I didn’t understand, and I definitely wasn’t used to putting myself out there like that, despite apparently going full throttle whenever I was with Shade. Our kiss had initially been a ruse to trick the Dark Watch, but he’d seemed just as into it as I’d been, especially the second part, after we’d ducked around the corner. But now, it was as though he’d taken a cold shower, while I was still hot, hot, hot.
“Did you take a shower?” he asked.
Shit. Had I said something about showers out loud? I didn’t think so.
“Yeah. At Susan’s. She’s really nice.”
“You smell like peaches.” Shade glanced over at me. “I fucking love peaches. Best fruit in the galaxy.”
He took my hand back, and just like that, I felt better again. I had to duck my head to hide my smile, and the silence that stretched between us after that didn’t seem so awkward anymore.
Worry still niggled at me as we made our way toward the Endeavor, and I finally recognized some landmarks. I was starting to think that numbskull wasn’t even the half of it. It was a little scary how this man I barely knew was starting to hold sway over my emotions and occupy my thoughts. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing, having to get off Albion 5 in a rush.
And then maybe I could stop wondering why Shade looked like he wanted to consume me one moment, and then scowled so grimly the next.