“Speaking of quickies,” I said, turning back to Asher and taking his face into my hands. I brushed the hair from his eyes, offering him a gentle smile. “Let’s see what we can do about this nanotech predicament.”
Thirty-Five
ASHER
Gray’s smile was a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
“Still determined to win me over with your outlandish stunts, incubus?”
I coughed out a weak laugh. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t remember what flowers you liked, so I figured this was the next best thing.”
“Hmm.” She stroked my cheeks with her thumbs, making me shiver. “And here I though Emilio was the softy of the bunch.”
I reached for her hands, covering them with mine. Her touch was so warm and soft, I didn’t want her to stop.
But she needed to get out of here before that fuckstick woke up.
“Gray, you have to—”
“I have to help you. That’s what I’m doing right now.” She pressed a kiss to my left eyebrow. Then to the other. Each caress, each kiss, sent a burst of warmth to my chest. “So stop fighting me.”
I closed my eyes, letting her cover my face with her soft, perfect kisses. Letting her strengthen me, just a little.
“This isn’t how I wanted things to happen between us,” I said.
Gray laughed softly. “Well, maybe you should’ve thought of that before you decided to get locked up in here and pumped full of nano-soldiers, because now you don’t have a choice.”
“No, butyoudo.” I turned my head away from her and coughed.
Gray stood up, taking a step back. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
But I should’ve known better. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Keeping her blue eyes locked on mine, she slid out of her pants and underwear. I hadn’t even fully processed this when she straddled me on the chair.
Oh, fuck.The wet heat of her core radiated through my pants, kicking my heart rate up a few notches.
I clenched my teeth, fighting off a rush of pleasure. I appreciated the temporary energy boost, but this was fucking dangerous.
“What are youdoing, Gray?”
She rocked her hips forward, brushing against the fabric of my pants and the firm ridge of my cock beneath. Another wave of warm, healing energy pulsed through my chest, keeping the devil’s trap particles at bay and filling me with a burst of new energy.
Also, a hard-on.
Fucking hell.
“We’ve been dodging this since we met, Ash,” she said. “So unless you can look me in the eyes andswearto me this isn’t what you want, I’m not stopping.”
I cradled her angel face in my hands, my thumbs stroking her silky-soft cheeks. Goddamn, she was breaking my heart. “You know I can’t, Cupcake.”
“So what’s the problem?”
I laughed. “You mean, aside from the fact that we’re locked in an underground cave prison by your totally unhinged ex-boyfriend—excellent life choice there, by the way—and no one knows where we are or how to get to us, and I’m dying a slow death by some kind of devil’s trap blood transfusion, and he might be back at any second to force you to transfer your power so he can unleash his crazy on the world?” I fingered a lock of her hair and took a breath. Chances are I wouldn’t live to see tomorrow, so what was the point of holding back this last bit? I could only manage a whisper, but I had to say it. Now or never. “I’m, uh… I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you, too. So… there’s that.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything right away. Her silence felt like a punch in the gut.
For a minute, I worried I’d ruined everything. That telling her was an even bigger mistake than falling for her in the first place.
