“So, I have to be my normal me?”She slapped the table.Cylo could’ve been ravaging her already if it wasn’t for those stupid scientists.
“Yes, or permanently this color.Until the markers stabilize, I suppose.”Qaff smacked his lips after another sip.
She raised her forearm to eye level and glared at it, willing her skin to change.
“What are you doing?”he asked, a smile curling one side of his mouth.
She slumped, giving up on the futile attempt.“If a dream undyed my hair…” She caught a curl and held it an inch from her nose, briefly considering trying to make it pink.“These great teachers—what can I expect?”
“Questions, tests, and—”
“Like a lab rat?”She curled her fingers into fists.If the lure of normalcy wasn’t dangled before her, she’d almost resent them, Qaff, Hiossu, and his crazy uncle.Well, the latter could rot in whatever their hell was.
Wait, as Qaff had told Cylo?She grinned.So Cylo asked him, too?A shiver shot down the nape of her neck, sending a ripple of delicious goose bumps outward.
Qaff angled his head and inhaled, flaring his nostrils.Anger hardened his features.“Your scent is…” …Like Cylo’s.Did they— No.He knows the risks.
She jerked back, then sniffed herself.Did the smell of ‘sex’ cling to her?Her cheeks flushed, and she bolted, abandoning her half-empty cup.“Off to shower.”
She made it to the barracks without encountering anyone.Except, when the door opened to the passage, Cylo stood there, barring her from reaching her room.His eyebrow shooting up said she’d surprised him.Her heart stuttered, and hot need pooled in her core.
He caught her wrist and yanked her against him, then with a sidestep, he had her pinned to the wall.He rested his hand next to her ear and leaned in, surrounding her with his spicy cologne.
“I was thinking of you,” he whispered, his breath fanning her chin and lips.
“Oh?”she asked, unable to vocalize anything more…complicated.
He hummed.“Where are you heading?”
“Qaff says I smell—”
“Like me?”Cylo rubbed his nose along her cheek, sending a spark of heat down her neck.
“Yeah.”She grasped his hip, digging her fingers into the firm flesh she found there.“Thought I better change before—”
“Want me to watch?”He feathered his lips across hers, stealing her breath.
“When we can fuck, that’s—”
He crushed her to the wall and kissed her, claiming her with that skillful tongue of his.Her knees threatened to buckle.Thankfully, he held her up with his bulk.She slipped her hands up his armored chest and around his neck.This plastered her to his body.She moaned then tilted her head to deepen the kiss.
He tastes so good.
She hooked her leg around his hip, trying to rub where she ached across his hard bulge that was digging into her belly.It wasn’t enough.Before she could climb him like a crane strut, he broke the kiss.
Blinking at him, she struggled to gather her thoughts through the emotions pouring off him and—
Amusement hit her first.Hiossu strolled past them without saying a word.
Shit.She stole a peck from Cylo, then slipped around him, dragging her nails across his abs.“See you in a bit.”
Inside her room, she slumped against the closed door, sucking in deep breaths to calm herself.When she could trust her knees, she staggered to the shower.That man was lethal.Untying the wrap dress reminded her that she was sans panties.
“Oh, you hussy,” she said, then giggled.
She unclipped her bra and dropped it to the floor.Adding another metaphorical padlock to her door, she raised her face as the spray activated.The hot water drenched her, and along with the divine orgasm he’d wrung out of her, energy thrummed through her.She didn’t dally, not when the next stage of this insane adventure would kick off soon.
Jeans, a T-shirt in deep purple, and flip-flops had her feeling herself again.
