Torran pulled back until he could meet my eyes. “Tavi, may I kiss you? Properly?”
My chin dipped in agreement before I could overthink it.
Torran leaned in slowly, giving me time to change my mind, but instead, I met him halfway. His lips covered mine, warm and delicious. I licked his bottom lip and the resulting jolt of desire slammed through me. Torran groaned softly, deep in his chest, and then he moved, sliding his tongue against mine. I arched into him, pressing as close as I could get with the armor in the way.
It wasn’t enough.
I wrapped my hand around the back of his helmet and pulled him closer, fusing our mouths. When my tongue slipped past his lips, Torran made another low sound of pleasure, and my stomach clenched.
I wanted to hear that sound again.
One kiss became two, then three, then more, blending together until time and place lost all meaning. A light, fluttering touch ran down my back under my armor, and I gasped into Torran’s mouth. “Was that you?” I whispered.
He nodded, breathing hard, his mouth flat, and I wished I could see his expression. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked. You drive me—”
“Do it again,” I demanded.
This time, the phantom touch was firmer, and I bit back a moan as it ghosted over my breasts and between my legs. I trembled and my knees turned to jelly. If not for Torran’s weight pinning me to the wall, I would’ve melted to the floor.
“How?” I whispered in awe.
A tiny smile pulled at the edges of his lips. “Very precise control. It’s far more difficult with you in armor.”
“Are you going to suggest that I take it off?” I asked with a smile of my own.
“Only if you want to.” His lips touched mine as his power stroked down my body again, and pleasure surged through me. Was there anything I wouldn’t do if he asked like this?
The sound of a door slamming closed sent me crashing back to reality. We were in a parking garage, about to be discovered by a security guard. Now was not the time for making out. I pulled back and sucked in a deep breath, then held it, trying to calm my racing pulse—and quell the heat flooding my body.
A moment later, the cool feel of Torran’s power slipped away, leaving me feeling shaky and exposed, even though my own shields were still in place. “What are you doing?” I whispered.
“The guard is gone.”
How much time had I lost in the pleasurable haze of desire? Most of the guard’s visit, that much was certain. And had Torran kissed me just to distract me? Lingering pleasure turned to outrage, with a heaping side of embarrassment.
“I didn’t kiss you to distract you,” Torran said calmly, then corrected himself. “I didn’t kiss you only to distract you. And if you think I did, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
My eyes narrowed. “You said you wouldn’t read my thoughts.”
“I also told you to mentally shout to get my attention and that thought was incredibly loud. I kissed you because I wanted to. I’ve wanted to for days, but I wasn’t sure my attention would be welcome. If we hadn’t had an audience on the ship, I would’ve asked to kiss you after we sparred.”
“Oh.” All the times I’d thought I’d seen heat in his eyes hadn’t been my imagination, even before our unmistakable almost kiss on the wall. The desire that I’d been fighting rose higher, stoked by the knowledge that it was mutual, that he really did want me as much as I wanted him.
A thought occurred. “You could’ve used your power to carry me to the medbay without touching me.”
His grin was quick and wicked. “I could’ve,” he agreed. He stepped back but held my arms until he was sure my legs would support me. He gestured at the vent. “I think we’ve found everything we can here, so let’s head out before the guard returns. I’ll send someone to retrieve the suitcases later. For now, I have a few more places to show you, if you’re not too tired.”
My mind immediately jumped to exactly which places I’d like him to show me, but I figured he had less exciting things in mind. I sighed. Work needed to come before play, sadly.
With thwarted desire still simmering through my veins, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be tired again. Plus, I was in that weird, wired state that came from too little sleep. I would crash eventually, but I would be okay for another few hours. I followed Torran out of our hidden little corner and back into reality.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
We made it out of the garage without being stopped, which I considered a minor miracle. Torran took us on the same route the kidnappers had used. With our visors down for night vision, we had resumed telepathic conversation.
Well, telepathic on Torran’s end, and half mental, half verbal on my side.
The route wasn’t the most direct way to get from the garage to Torran’s property, but it did seem to avoid most of the late-night traffic. Torran stopped at the corner of his property where the kidnappers had exited the transport.
There wasn’t anything particularly exciting about this corner, except that it was near the point they’d chosen to scale the wall. We were close to the house, so I sent Kee a message confirming I was still alive, and letting her know what we’d found.
“Some of us are trying to sleep,” she replied. Then she added, “But I’m glad you’re not dead. I’ll start looking for the outside surveillance tomorrow. Let me know when you get in.”
I promised her that I would.
Torran turned to me, though all I could see was the gleaming visor of his helmet. “Ready to continue?”
I nodded. “Show me the rest.”
We took the same circular route the transport had taken, passed by Torran’s front gate, and then headed away from the city. The edge of the forest wasn’t that far from the Imperial Palace, so the houses we passed were hidden behind high walls and ornate gates.
The road ended in a wide circle without much fanfare. It was like a switch had been flipped: city on one side, nature on the other. Trees and plants stretched as far as I could see.
Torran ignored the barriers at the end of the road and continued into the trees. After a dozen meters, a narrow path became visible. It was cleverly hidden from the road with plants and a natural rise, but the trees had been cleared enough to allow a transport to pass through.
I tapped Torran. “Is this route well known?”
Torran shook his head. “And the owners around here fight to keep it that way.”
“Where does it go?”
“There’s a monitoring station a few kilometers out.”
I sucked in a surprised breath. That hadn’t been in the brief. I figured the answer was obvious, but I had to ask anyway. “Did you check it?”
“Extensively.”
“Show me where they dumped the transport.”