She smiled as I tugged her onto her feet. “It’s not going to last long.”
“Nope.” I pulled her to me. Her eyes widened in surprise as I lifted her into my arms. Her squeal was lost as I raced up the stairs and into my bedroom. I placed her on her feet. “Admit it. You like my method of travel.”
Kat tipped her head back and laughed. “One of these days I’m going to be faster than you.”
“Keep dreaming.”
“Tool,” she threw back.
My lips quirked up on one side. “Trouble.”
“Oh.” She widened her eyes. “Harsh.”
“We should make use of this quiet time.” I advanced toward her, liking how her cheeks flushed pink.
“Really?” The backs of her legs rested against the side of my bed.
“Really.” I kicked off my shoes. “I say we have about thirty minutes before someone interrupts us.”
Her gaze dropped and lips parted when I pulled my shirt off and let it fall somewhere on the floor. “Probably not that long.”
I smiled. “True. So let’s say we have twenty minutes, give or take five. Not nearly enough time for what I’d like to do, but we can work around that.”
“We can?”
“Mm-hmm.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and pressed down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. I clasped the sides of her face as I knelt between her legs. “I’ve missed you.”
She wrapped her fingers around my wrists. “You’ve seen me every day.”
“Not enough,” I murmured, and pressed a soft kiss to where her pulse thrummed on the side of her neck. “And we’re always with someone.”
She smiled as I started a trail of kisses that followed her jaw. “We probably shouldn’t spend it talking then.”
“Uh-huh.” I kissed a corner of her lips. “Talking is such a time waster.” I kissed the other corner so it didn’t get jealous. “And when we talk, we usually end up arguing.”
Kat laughed, and I loved that sound. “Not always.”
Pulling back, I raised a brow. “Kitten…”
“Okay.” She scooted back and I followed, climbing over her, caging her in. “You might be right,” she said. “But you’re wasting time.”
“I’m always right.”
She opened her mouth, probably to disagree, but I claimed her lips before she could get a word out. I don’t think she minded, because she melted into that kiss. Her fingers slipped through my hair, tugging me back when I lifted my mouth from hers.
Yeah, she didn’t mind.
Loved that mouth of hers, but I had other…ideas. I kissed my way down her throat and then followed the edge of her cardigan, my lips dancing over her collarbone. I kept going, over the flower-shaped buttons and lower still, until her chest rose and fell deeply and sharply.
My hands skimmed over the thin tights covering her legs as I sat back on my haunches. I grabbed one of her boots, brows rising at the softness. “What are these made of?” I tossed it over my shoulder. “Rabbit skin?”
“What?” She giggled. “No. They’re faux sheepskin.”
“They’re so soft.” I got the other one off. Then I inched off her socks. Catching an ankle, I pressed a kiss on the top of her foot. She jerked. “Not as soft as this, though.” Lifting my chin, I grinned at her. “Love the tights, by the way.”
“Yeah?” She wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were fastened on the ceiling, her hands flattened against the covers as I ran my hands up her calves. “Is it…because they’re red?”
“That.” I moved again, closer to her, fitting my shoulders between her knees. “And because they’re so thin. And hot, but you already know that.”
I watched her face as my hands slid over her outer thighs, under her skirt, and then over the tops of her legs. I didn’t stop there. Oh no, the palms of my hands made their way along the insides of her legs. The bedside lamp flickered, and it wasn’t from me.
“Kitten…”
“Hmm?” Her hands fisted the covers.
“Just making sure you’re still with me.” I kissed the inside of her leg, above her knee.
“Don’t want you falling asleep or anything.”
Her chest rose sharply.
“You know what,” I said. “Give me two minutes. That’s all I need.”
“Whatever,” she said. “What are you going to do with the leftover eighteen minutes?”
“Snuggle,” I offered.
Kat’s answering laugh was cut off sharply when I found the band along the top of her tights. I dragged them down. They got bunched around her ankles. “Dammit.”
“Need help?” she asked.
“Got it,” I muttered, balling them up and throwing them somewhere over my shoulder.
Kat’s breath caught as my hands now glided over bare skin, and I blazed the same path I’d taken earlier, but this time, with absolutely nothing between us, my lips trailed down her skin. Her body trembled with each kiss, each touch. I kept my eyes open, one hand curled around the outside of her thigh, unwilling to miss even the slightest flicker of pleasure.
Not that anyone could miss it.
A faint luminous glow surrounded her body and limbs as she moved. Damn, she was beautiful, and her response, everything about her, from the softest breath to the feminine breathy sounds she made, completely awed me.
Her arms and legs went lax, and I was barely able to hold it together as I stood. Shit. My hands were shaking. “You glowed a little.” My voice was rough. “I’ve only seen you do that once.”
Kat sighed.
My lips curved up in the corner as I wrapped an arm around her and lifted her so she was fully on the bed. I stretched out beside her, my own movements a bit stiff, as I kissed her parted lips.
“Wasn’t even two minutes,” I reminded her. “Told you.”
“You were right.”
“Always.”
Kat smacked me lightly on the chest as she rolled into my side, throwing a leg over mine. She was quiet for several minutes as we did exactly what I’d said we’d do with the remaining time. Cuddle.
“I can’t move,” she said finally, her voice muffled against my chest.
I laughed. “This is how we snuggle.”
“I really should head next door.” She yawned, making no move to get out of the bed. “Mom will be home soon.”
“Do you have to leave now?”
She shook her head, and I prepared myself. We really needed to talk about Sunday, and she wasn’t going to like this conversation. I placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head back. “What?” she asked.
My eyes searched hers. “I wanted to talk before you leave.”
“About what?” The lethargic haze faded from her stare.
“Sunday,” I said. “I know you feel like you got us into this, but you know you didn’t, right?”
“Daemon…” She tensed. “We are at this point because of the decisions I—”
“We,” I corrected gently. “Decisions we made.”
“If I hadn’t trained with Blake and had listened to you, we wouldn’t be here. Adam would be alive. Dee wouldn’t hate my guts. Will wouldn’t be running around doing God knows what.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she flopped onto her back. “I could go on and on. You get my drift.”
“And if you hadn’t made any of those decisions, we wouldn’t have Dawson back. It was kind of a stupid-smart move.”
She laughed drily. “There’s that.”
“You can’t carry this guilt with you, Kat.” The bed moved under me as I rose up on one elbow. “You’ll end up like me.”
She peeked at me. “What? An extremely tall and douchey alien?”
I smiled. “The jerky part, yes. I blamed myself for what happened to Dawson. It changed me. I’m still not back to where I was before everything happened. Don’t do that to yourself.”
Kat nodded, but I doubted it changed how she felt. “You don’t want me going Sunday.”
“Hear me out, okay?” When she nodded, I continued. “I know you want to help, and I know you can. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. You can be pretty scary when mad, but…if things go south, I don’t want you involved.” My gaze held hers. “I want you to be somewhere safe.”