His teeth clenched. “Once I take you, you are mine. My woman. No other man can have you.”
“Yours,” I agreed on a moan, not caring about the consequences of such a vow.
He plunged inside me.
We both cried out at the perfection of it, the exquisite rightness. My nails scored his back as his lips crushed into mine, taking, giving. For the first time in my life, everything felt completely right.
He was so big and thick inside me, sliding in and out. He filled me completely. Passion uncurled with his every movement, seeking total satisfaction. I used the strength of my legs and rolled him to his back so I could ride him, so I could command the depth of his penetration, the swiftness of our pace. I moved up him, then down, increasing the delicious friction.
He maneuvered me to my back.
And I immediately switched our positions again. “Kyrin—”
“Mia,” he said. My name was like a reverent prayer on his lips, and he allowed me dominance this time. His hands slid from my h*ps to grasp my ass and jerk me tighter against him. We began moving faster. Faster still.
I’d never felt so alive. So free. I wanted this feeling to last forever. I didn’t want reality to intrude.
“Harder, Kyrin.Deeper.”
He ground against me, hard. Perfectly. Deeply.
He reached between our bodies and circled my clitoris with his thumb. I gasped, cried out. My inner walls tightened and spasmed against him, and he moved faster. Harder. Deeper. Just like I needed. Almost instantly, another orgasm catapulted me to the stars, this one stronger than the last. Only when he heard his name rip from my throat did he spill inside me.
When the last pulse subsided, he thrust me to my back and collapsed on top of me. A long while passed before the hazy sexual fog lifted from my mind.
When I opened my eyes, Kyrin was gazing down at me, his lips soft with tenderness. “I have waited for you my entire life,” he said. “Give me the rest of this day. Tomorrow we can deal with the outside world.”
Immediately I opened my mouth to tell him no. There was so much I needed to do. Call Jack. Search for Atlanna. Visit Dallas. I had a case to wrap, but after everything I’d learned today, I needed a bit of normalcy in my life. More pressing than any of those, however, was my need to be with this man.
“I…would like that,” I said.
He grinned and gave me a swift kiss. We didn’t bother with clothing. We didn’t need it. I allowed him to carry me inside his house—into his bedroom.
CHAPTER 20
Later that night, I awoke in a dirty alley behind an abandoned grocery store. Crickets chirped a lazy tune while I oriented myself. Cold, pungent air. Hard ground. Moonlight. I blinked. This didn’t make sense. I’d been in a bed. A soft, warm bed with Kyrin.
He’d cl**axed.
I’d cl**axed.
Then…What?
I’d fallen asleep, obviously. But how the hell had I’d gotten here? I shifted my gaze in every direction. The night sky winked above me, discarded papers and food cartons whirling on the concrete.
Why wasn’t I shivering? I wondered, looking down at my body. A thick coat draped across my shoulders. I wore thick socks and heavy boots, and leather pants hugged my legs. I didn’t recall getting dressed, which meant Kyrin had done it for me.
Where the hell was that lover of mine?
As if sensing my thoughts, he appeared beside me and crouched down. I sat up, noticing that we were hidden behind a stack of reeking garbage. My nose wrinkled in distaste. No one was nearby, and neither was there any noise. Kyrin didn’t spare me a glance, but kept his attention directly in front of him. “I hope you do not mind, but I transported us here.”
I would have loved to watch the whole transportation thing, but let it slide. “What are we doing here?” I whispered.
“Waiting,” he answered just as softly.
“For?” The man needed to learn I’d never settle for half-answers.
Now he leveled me with an intense gaze. “Atlanna. I want you to see firsthand that she is not the motherly woman you want her to be.”
I instantly went on alert and moved beside him on my knees, staring at the dark alley he had watched moments before. Eagerness thrummed in my blood. Eagerness…and dread.
We waited.
“When she appears,” he said, “you are to study her, nothing more. No matter what happens. Before we attack her, you must see how she utilizes some of her powers.”
I almost screamed a denial. Almost. I knew studying the enemy and learning his weaknesses and strengths before jumping into action was the right way to hunt—and win. I knew that. Yet my impatience was strong. I yearned for some sort of confrontation with Atlanna.
“Give me a gun anyway.” I said. “I will—”
A twig snapped.
I sliced off my words and went completely still.
At the far end of the alley, a woman suddenly appeared from the shadows. Moonlight bathed her in youth and beauty, paying nothing but tribute to her fair skin and curly mane of white hair. Black pants and a long black leather jacket draped her, showcasing her curves. She looked like a hunter. She looked like me.
Atlanna.
Kyrin stiffened.
I watched as a body floated behind the woman. She blinked, and the bulky, na**d form fell unceremoniously onto the ground. Shit. Her telekinesis must be unbelievably strong to lift such weight.
As a wave of her energy hit me, she paused and frowned. Her gaze darted in every direction, searching for something—or some one.
My heart raced. I controlled the urge to stride to her. To strangle her. To hug her. Before I took my next breath, she disappeared in the shadows.
The winter wind kicked up a notch, swirling and whistling around the alley. Keen disappointment nearly felled me, and I massaged the back of my neck.
“She sensed us,” Kyrin said.
“Yes. She probably felt a hum of energy in her blood.” Like I felt every time I’m near an Arcadian. I strode to the body, preparing myself for what I’d see. A male. He was naked, his body devoid of any sign of torture. The poor bastard was even smiling. I checked his pulse, just to be sure. “Dead,” I muttered. “I wish to God I knew why she was leaving them out. You said William was to get A.I.R.’s attention. What about this one?”
I dropped my head into my hands. I’d always wanted a mother to love me. Hell, I’d always wanted a mother to love. But my mother had killed this man. My mother was a predatory alien, had done such evil things, and just thinking about them made me sick. I was duty bound to hunt and kill her. And yet…