“For what?” His voice was lazy.
“For…not letting you touch me the way you wanted to.”
He went still for a second, then he hugged her closer. “I’ll take you as you are, Nera. I’m not asking you to be anything else.”
She smiled. “Then maybe sometimes I’ll let you touch me…if it suits me.”
His arm tightened on her. “All I want is your pleasure. If me keeping my hands out of the way achieves that, it isn’t a problem.”
She rubbed her cheek against the warm skin of his chest. He was so damned good. He deserved so much better than her.
But for now, he was hers, and she would do everything she had to do to keep him safe.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As Niklas walked alongside Nera the next morning, he felt sated and relaxed, but he had more than a few aches. The scratches on his back stung, he had a handful of bite marks, and his muscles were aching. None of it had anything to do with escaping from rampaging zombies.
He smiled. He’d never felt better.
He glanced to the right and studied her lean profile. God, he wanted to hold her hand—like a lovestruck teenager. But he knew she’d never allow it, and he’d never do anything to jeopardize the badass reputation she’d worked so hard to build.
Her head turned and when she saw him staring, her lips quirked upward. “The ship’s underway.”
He nodded. “I felt the engines start up a few hours ago.”
“Then let’s get to Avril’s planning meeting and find out where we’re headed next.”
“You snuck out while I was in the shower.”
She nodded and eyed the empty corridor. “I went to see Alarah.”
He tried to read her even tone. “How is she?”
Nera’s face hardened. “Broken.” She dragged in a breath. “No.” One determined word. “She isn’t broken. Not irreparably. I’ll make sure she has a chance to make it.”
Outside the door to the library, he heard the murmur of voices. They paused, and because he couldn’t stop himself, he allowed himself to run his hand down her back. “You aren’t alone. Whatever help you need, you let me know.”
She didn’t look at him this time, but once again, her lips flicked into a small smile.
They walked in side by side.
Avril glanced up, the light from the holo-table illuminating her face. Her gaze flicked between the two of them. “Nice of you to join us.”
Nera stepped forward, a cool smile on her face. “Cheating death leaves you with this intense need to—” she ran a proprietary hand down Nik’s arm “—celebrate still being alive.”
Nik barely controlled his jerk of surprise. He heard Solomon turn a laugh into a cough, and Gunn was looking at Niklas like he was crazy.
Solomon cleared his throat. “Phoenix, you have balls of steel.”
Nera swiveled. “You want to say that again?” Her voice was deadly soft.
“Ah…no.” The young man sank back against the wall. “I really don’t.”
Avril sniffed. “I suggest we all focus on the plan for the remainder of this expedition.”
They all moved around the holo-table. A huge, illuminated map of the region filled the surface, and Nik spotted the blue arrow that indicated theDrake. “Where are we headed?”
“South,” Avril answered. “Agent Ryant and his team worked through the day to load the artifacts from the New Mexico City Museum.”
