He moved, and she slid in behind him. She hesitated. Okay, maybe this wasn’t the best idea she’d had. She gingerly placed her fingers on his shoulder and started kneading.
“I like it when I don’t have to force you to use my name,” he said.
She stared at the back of his head and worked her fingers into the muscle.
His head dropped forward and he groaned.
She stilled. “That hurts?”
“Hell, no. It feels damn good.”
It’d be better without the fabric in the way. She waged an inner debate on how sensible that would be. He had an injury, that’s all that mattered. “Undo your shirt. The massage will be more effective without it.”
His muscles tensed under her fingers, then he undid the buttons and the white fabric fell off his muscled shoulder.
Xenia resumed the massage. She tried not to think about how warm his skin was, how firm the muscles were beneath her fingers, and how good he smelled. A man shouldn’t smell as good as he did.
He groaned again. “That is so good.”
That masculine sound wound through her. As she massaged, she felt some of the rigid tension leave his body. He was strong,let the entire planet lean on him, took their worries and concerns onto his shoulders.
They were broad shoulders, but who helped keep him upright when the load got too heavy? She’d thought he spent his days in a whirl of meetings and parties, but in the aftermath of the coup, she’d seen him striding amongst the ruined buildings in Haxx, visiting survivors in the medical centers, and working tirelessly to put the pieces back together again.
Xenia was afraid that the more she uncovered of Axton, the more she’d like.
“They kept me in the dark,” he said quietly.
Her fingers stilled for a second, then she resumed her movements. She also knew they’d withheld food, beaten him, tortured him. “And they dislocated your shoulder.”
“So many times I lost count.”
He would have been able to use his enhancements to block the pain initially, but that much trauma would have eventually overridden the filters.
“They wanted me to release security codes so they could access personal records, Centaxian assets, government records. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Xander had received all the fanfare—much to his dismay—about being the hero who’d saved Centax. But here was a silent hero who was still suffering for what he perceived as his failure.
Without thinking, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to the bare skin of his shoulder.
He went very still. “Xenia.”
“Shh.” His skin was so warm. She let her mouth travel along the firm muscles to the back of his neck.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not really sure. I’ve never done this before. I’ve never wanted to.” And she shouldn’t be doing it now. She was playing with fire.
He spun and cupped her cheeks. “You are so gorgeous.”
“You can’t see me in the dark.” But she could see him with her night vision.
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re beautiful.”
She blinked, off balance. “Really?”
“Really.” Then he kissed her.
Oh,oh…his taste exploded inside her mouth. She’d never been kissed before, wasn’t entirely certain what to do. But his lips moved on hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth to touch hers. She followed his lead, tangled her tongue with his. He groaned.
