“Good.”

He leaned forward until his palms hovered a hair’s breadth over her breasts. Sasha drew a deep breath and that small distance disappeared. When her eyes flew open at his touch, he started to pull back, but she stopped him by putting her hands on his.

“I like when you touch me.”

So he did, gently kneading the soft curves until her nipples pebbled. As much as he wanted to linger there, he had more territory to cover. He continued down her sides to the curve of her hips and then checked each of her legs, top to bottom and back again. Sasha’s breathing had sped up, as had his.

He held his palms over her stomach, smiling at the fierce bit of life that had taken hold there. Male, female, it didn’t matter. The miracle was that he and Sasha had created the child together. He lowered his mouth down to press a kiss right above where his child rested, smiling when Sasha’s legs stirred and her hips flexed.

The exam was quickly becoming a seduction. He eased the waistband of her PJ bottoms down and kissed the same spot again and then lower and lower still. Sasha lifted her hips in encouragement. He quickly peeled her pajamas off and then took his time driving his lover wild with his touch and his tongue.

Sasha shattered once and then a second time before she said, “Larem, I want you up here. Naked. Now.”

She punctuated her demands by taking off her top and flinging it aside. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight than this woman staring at him with such powerful desire in her eyes. His boxers joined her pajamas on the floor.

Then they were skin to skin, his knee between hers, pressing against the damp heat at the juncture of her thighs. He kissed her, trying to go slow and losing the battle. Sasha’s hands were everywhere, touching, teasing, stroking until she’d shredded what little sanity he had left.

“Sasha, I need to . . . no, we need to slow down.”

But how could he when everything she did only drove them both crazy? Finally, he wrested control of the situation by pinning her hands over her head while he did his own little bit of tormenting. She arched back, demanding more, as he nuzzled and tongued her breasts into stiff peaks.

“Like that?”

Her expression turned solemn. “I like all of this, so much that it scares me.”

She was right. What they shared was incredibly powerful. He wasn’t sure where this exploration would take them, but right now it was simply too amazing to resist. He released her hands.

“I won’t hurt you, Sasha.”

She stroked the side of his face. “You can’t promise that, Larem, but I believe you mean it.”

He wanted to deny the truth of that but wouldn’t lie to her, either. Instead, he set about stoking the fire again. Conscious of the vestiges of yesterday’s injuries, he didn’t want her to bear his weight. Instead, he turned her on her side facing away from him, her back against his chest. He lifted her leg back over his hips.

Slowly, he pressed forward, seating his cock deep within her welcoming heat. Sasha’s head kicked back as he thrust in and out, her eyes half shut, her breath coming in shallow puffs, matching his rhythm. He memorized her satin smooth skin, the plump softness of her breasts, the way they fit perfectly in his hand. He loved the firm curve of her hips, flexing to absorb the power of his thrusts, and the throaty little moan she made when he moved in exactly the right way.

There was no longer a Larem and a Sasha. It was as if they had forged someone new, a combination of the two seeking the ultimate joining. He stroked her with his fingers as he accelerated the pace, no longer able to rein in his need to take her fast and hard. Sasha whimpered and called his name. Then she was shuddering in his arms, pressing back against him as he rode out his climax.

Then the tension melted away, both left gasping for breath and basking in the aftermath. He gently kissed the back of her neck; there were no words for what had just happened between them.

Larem reluctantly withdrew from her body, once again stretching out beside her. “Are you all right? Was I too rough?”

“You were perfect. In fact—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Chance made his presence known, throwing a major fit in the other room. Larem could just make out the sound of the doorbell over the racket. There was a definite note of danger in Chance’s bark that had Larem rolling out of bed, pausing only long enough to snag his pants and shirt on the way out.

The dog stopped barking as soon as Larem reached the living room. Even so, he growled deep in his chest, positioning himself firmly in front of the door.

Larem checked the time. Had Devlin said that Barak was coming this morning or that Larem was supposed to call him? Who else could it be? All he could tell through the frosty glass in the front door was that the unexpected guests were most likely male.

He hopped on one foot and then the other to pull on his jeans and then yanked his shirt on over his head. Palming the gun Devlin had left with him, he disconnected the security system and then threw the dead bolt. Opening the door a few inches, he peered out.

Two young Paladins stood flanking a disgruntled-looking human male, perhaps in his late fifties. The human had been glaring at his captors but immediately turned his bad mood in Larem’s direction.

“Who is this guy?” Larem and the stranger asked at the same time.

The nearest Paladin ignored the human and responded to Larem instead. “This guy’s ID says he’s Charles Willis.”

The glint of red in the older man’s hair suddenly made Larem’s question unnecessary. He had no doubt that he was facing Sasha’s father. To once again quote Lonzo, Holy hell, the shit was about to hit the fan.

Chapter 18

Larem’s first urge was to slam the door, but panic wasn’t going to change anything. He opened the door the rest of the way and then grabbed Chance by the collar in case the dog took his same instant dislike to the man. Of course, that was probably a knee-jerk reaction typical of any male who’d just come from a woman’s bed and was feeling a bit guilty about it.

“Thanks, gentlemen, I’ll take it from here.”

Turning to Sasha’s father, he stood back to allow the man to enter. “Your daughter wasn’t expecting you.”

“No, she wasn’t, but I’m here anyway. Deal with it.” The man stalked through the door, careful to give both Larem and Chance a wide berth. “Where is she? Is she all right?”

“She’s fine.” Mostly anyway. Having her father show up on her doorstep would certainly complicate the situation.

“Have a seat and I’ll tell her you’re here. She was just getting up when the doorbell rang. I’ll make breakfast while she gets dressed.”

“Fine, and when you get back, you can tell me who the hell you are and why you spent the night in my daughter’s . . .” He hesitated briefly. “In my daughter’s home.”

Couldn’t the man figure that out for himself? Perhaps not. Most humans lacked the enhanced senses that Paladins shared with the Kalith, so maybe Mr. Willis really couldn’t detect the musky taint of sex in the air. If that was true, there was a small chance they could avoid a complete disaster.

Dragging Chance with him, Larem went back down the hall to the bedroom door and knocked. “Miss Willis, I hate to disturb you, but you have a guest.”

The door opened and Sasha peered out. “Who’s here?”

Larem glanced back toward the kitchen, hoping the man had stayed where he’d left him. “Your father.”

“Oh God, why? And how did he find me?”

There was a definite note of panic in her voice. When Sasha started to charge out of the room, Larem blocked her way. The last thing she needed was to encounter her father looking as if she’d just gotten out of bed, especially one she’d shared with her lover. Larem shook his head, begging her without words to stop and think.

“Miss Willis, I’m sure your father won’t mind waiting for a few minutes since he arrived unannounced. I’ll tell him that you’ll join us when you’ve had a chance to get dressed. As your bodyguard, I’ll remain here only until my relief arrives.”

He dropped his voice. “I’ll call Devlin and suggest he send one of the Paladins instead of Barak. I’m not sure your father has recognized me as Kalith, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Then he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “Can you hand me my boxers and socks? I don’t think your father would appreciate stumbling over them.”

Her cheeks flamed red, but she actually giggled. “I like a man who thinks clearly in times of crisis. Wait here.”

A second later she shoved the rest of his clothing through the door at him. “Give me fifteen minutes.”

“Will do.”

He stopped in the guest bathroom long enough to finish dressing. After washing his face and combing his hair, he studied his image in the mirror. The strain of the past twenty-four hours definitely showed in the dark circles under his eyes, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Hopefully Sasha’s father would put it off to a night spent on guard duty rather than a bout of scorching hot sex with his daughter.

Before rejoining Mr. Willis, he texted Devlin about the situation, not wanting to risk a call that the Regent might overhear. Satisfied he’d done as much damage control as he could, he headed back to the kitchen.

Chaz parked his ass on a stool at the kitchen counter, even though he’d rather be pacing the floor. But from the way that damned dog kept staring at him, he’d play it safe and sit still. At least he could breathe again. Maybe the situation wasn’t as out of control as he’d feared.

But as soon as that guy came back, he was going to demand answers. What the hell was going on? All he knew for sure was that he’d gotten an e-mail from Rusty about Sasha being hit by a car. It had taken him several phone calls to find out where she’d been taken, and then the hospital would tell him only that she was a patient there. After that, all he could think about was getting on the first plane heading west. He’d envisioned finding her safely ensconced in the hospital, craving the comforting presence of her father.

But upon arrival, he found out that she’d already been discharged. After digging through his backlog of e-mails, he’d located the address for her condo and grabbed another cab, hoping like hell that she’d made it through the night all right on her own.

But then she hadn’t been alone after all, which raised a whole new bunch of questions. Like why were there Paladins posted outside? Not that he was complaining. But who the hell was that long-haired guy, and what was he doing in Sasha’s home?

Even without knowing his name, it didn’t take a genius to recognize a stone-cold killer on sight. Even without that gun in his hand, he had the same look that all Paladins did—like they were the toughest sons of bitches on the planet. Chaz had met enough of them over the years to know they might just be right about that.

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