His smile was male and satisfied and unbelievably gorgeous. "Then I should make sure you never do." This time, his kiss was leisurely, but so hungry she gasped into his mouth, wanting only to give him everything and anything he wanted.

His hand slipped down, over her ribs, to the curve of her waist. "How are your shields?"

"Impenetrable." She laughed and it came from the soul. "The bastard locked me in, but I bet he never realized he was giving me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted."

Devraj heard the laugh, but he also sensed the pain behind the laughter. It tore at the masculine heart of him to know that he'd never be able to wipe the memories of devastation from her mind. But there was also a fierce sense of pride. "You beat him once. You'll do it again."

Those huge hazel eyes widened. "That sounds like an order."

"Don't forget it." He stroked up to graze his thumb over her nipple. When she took a whispery breath, the angry protectiveness in him calmed. He hadn't been able to help her then, but he damn well would protect her now. No matter what. "So, where were we?"

"My hands," she said, lifting her mouth to his. "I want to touch you."

He nibbled on her lips. "Hmm."

"Dev."

Smiling at that tart feminine demand, he reached up and undid the soft bonds. Her hands immediately went to his shoulders, stroking and shaping. It was obvious she liked his body, and he was male enough to preen under the attention. Dipping his head, he kissed her with playful little nips and bites as she took her time learning him.

Of course, his cock had other ideas. He was so fucking aroused it was a wonder he could form a sentence. When Katya's wandering hands moved over his chest, threatening to skim downward, he stopped her. "Not this time." Pressing into her, he reached between their bodies to part her curls.

She made an intrinsically feminine sound of delight, and that, coupled with the damp heat of her, was his undoing. He knew he must have risen to get rid of his pants and underwear, but he had no memory of it. She was wet and slick and wild under his fingers when he next blinked, and his control was beyond ragged.

Sliding a hand under one of her thighs, he urged her to lock her legs behind his body. She followed his lead with an enthusiasm that made sweat bead along his spine, his cock pounding in time with every thudding beat of his heart. Bracing himself on one elbow, he guided himself inside her. . . and had to grit his teeth from swearing a blue streak as she clenched around the blunt tip of his erection, a hot, wet glove that was such an absolute fit he thought he might pass out from the pleasure of it.

"Dev!" Fingernails dug into his back as he pushed in, trying for slow but knowing he wasn't going to last. "Oh, God, more, please."

It was all the invitation his body needed. Control shattering, he thrust into her deep, so deep, catching her cry with his mouth. For an instant, he thought he might have gone too far, remembering too late that she'd never done this before, but then she tightened her grip on him and rolled her hips in sweet feminine welcome.

"Katya," he said against her ear, trying to draw breath, to not lose himself completely.

Her fingers thrust into his hair. "You feel so good."

The simple statement, made in that erotically husky voice, stole what small fragments of control he'd had left. Putting one hand on her hip, he pinned her in place as he began to stroke in and out in a hard, steady rhythm that had her clawing at him.

He didn't last long. But it was alright, his hazed brain told him. Because she shattered under him even as pleasure swept over his skin in a scorching wave. For an instant, he felt a strange pull, as if something was stretched taut inside him, but then the sensation just ended, as if it had been summarily cut off. He didn't have time to consider the odd feeling, because his entire body exploded at that very instant, every nerve and tendon taut with ecstasy.

EARTHTWO COMMAND LOG: COMMUNIQUe TO SUNSHINE STATION

18 September 2080: Your status has been noted. A supervisory team will be flying out on the 28th to make the decision as to any possible evacuation. Continue operations as per original instructions until then.

Chapter 37

"Dev?" Katya bit lightly at the ear of the man who was crushing her to the bed, his solid male body a perfect, wonderful blanket. Who needed to breathe? "Dev?"

This time, she got a grunt.

Smiling, she pressed her lips to his jaw, loving the roughness under her lips. "I like sex."

She saw the edge of a smile, and it made her own lips curve. "I really like it." Rubbing her heel over the back of his leg, she ran her hand down his muscled arm, wanting only to touch him. "When can we do it again?"

He sounded like he was choking as he said, "You're not acting like a Psy."

"Maybe if they tried sex with you, the others would change their minds, too." She scowled. "Dev?"

"I know, you like sex. Gimme a couple of minutes." It was a laughing complaint.

"No." She drew the sweat and man scent of him into her lungs, luxuriating in the sensations. "Are you planning on having sex with someone else?"

He pinched her nipple hard enough to make her jump. "That's what you get for asking silly questions."

A slow smile spread across her face. "That hurt."

"You're just asking for trouble."

"Am I going to get it?" She bit his ear again.

His hand curved around her breast. "Keep that up and you're not going to get any sleep tonight."

"Sounds good to me."

Groaning, he rose up on his forearms. "No more sex for you. We shower off the sweat, and then we catch some sleep. We need to be ready to head out at dawn."

She reached up to press kisses along his chest, cradling his growing arousal against her lower abdomen. Swearing, he let her play, but only for a minute. "Shower." And this time, he wasn't budging. She found herself being thrust into a fast, hot shower, and then tumbled into bed.

"Sleep." It was an order in her ear as his body closed around hers, protective, and yes, very definitely possessive - the thigh he pushed between her own ensured she wouldn't be going anywhere without him.

For the first time, her compulsion to go north wasn't the overwhelming thought in her mind. And though the heat between them burned white-hot, that wasn't at the forefront either. No, it was the tenderness of the kiss Dev pressed to the curve of her neck, the intensity of his hold. He was, she realized, looking after her.

It was an odd feeling, one that swept warmth through her limbs, turning them heavy. But she found the will to untangle their legs and turn so she could tuck her head under his chin and place her hand over his heart. He thrust his thigh back between hers the next instant. Smiling, she snuggled close. Her sleep was soft, dreamless, peaceful.

* * *

Six hours later, the precious interlude was a thing of distant memory. The car was warm, but Katya huddled into her jacket as Dev drove them out of the lodge with grim determination. The dread he'd silenced with the protective warmth of his embrace had a clawhold on her heart once again. She didn't know if it was because of what she'd sensed, what she was leading them toward. . . or because of her terror that the compulsion was born of nothing, her mind a place of nightmares and lies.

"Don't think about it." A cool order from the director of Shine.

His strength fed her own. "It's hard not to," she said. "I can feel something calling to me, but I know I've never been in this area before."

"Is it possible you were held around here?"

"I suppose. But. . . I feel no sense of familiarity with anything." The snowy fields passing by on either side as they drove ever deeper into largely uninhabited territory sent a chill down her spine, but not because of any memory of torture.

The world on the other side of the window was actually rather beautiful, the snow glittering with diamond shards under the morning sun, the sky a placid blue that should've made evil impossible. But - "In my mind," she whispered, "everything's swathed in shadows."

The cold, clear-eyed soldier in Dev told him to turn back, that Katya was most likely leading him into a trap, but he kept driving. Today, he was going to follow the gut instinct that had saved his life more times than he could count. This woman - his woman - needed this, and he would give it to her.

"Tell me something," he said when she fell silent, her eyes locked on the outer vista.

She started, as if he'd broken into a trance. "What?"

"You mentioned your parents - any memories you want to share?" He just wanted to get her thinking about something other than the darkness coming inexorably closer. It wouldn't take long, he thought. They'd reach their goal either tonight or early the next morning.

"Well," she said after a long pause, "since my parents had a full coparenting agreement, we all lived together in a family unit. They always consulted each other before making any decision about my welfare."

"Doesn't sound too bad." It was, in fact, far better than he'd expected.

"No. It was a good existence." Folding her arms, she tilted her head to face him. "But it was simply an existence. When I turned eighteen and moved out, there was no difference in my life other than the fact that I could make decisions on my own from then on."

"I thought Psy were pretty strong on family loyalty."

"Yes, but it's a cold kind of loyalty. A month after I reached my majority, my parents - who'd ceased living together the day I turned eighteen - dissolved their coparenting agreement, and my memories tell me that I never knew them to speak to each other again." She shrugged. "They'd achieved their aims, fulfilled their contracts. I have connections to both families, of course, but when I turned twenty-one, I had to choose."

"Why?"

"Because Psy only trust loyalty that is absolute," she said. "I had to formally identify with either the maternal or the paternal side of my family."