Page 164 of Alien Burn

She kissed him.

Softly at first, with a hesitation that lasted only until his mouth answered hers. Then she shifted closer, her other hand catching his shirt, and he forgot the report entirely.

He slid his hand into her hair, careful of the dressing. She made a small impatient sound and came into his lap.

The borrowed shirt rode up her thighs. His armor rose beneath his own, tightening the cloth across his shoulders. Sereya moved against him once and went still.

“Oh.”

He rested his forehead against hers.

“Yes.”

“That wasn't a complaint.”

“I hoped not.”

She kissed him again, harder. His arm closed around her waist. She was warm and solid in his lap, her fingers curled at the base of his horns, her mouth opening beneath his.

He broke the kiss just enough to speak.

“We still need that conversation.”

“We can talk.”

“You are making an excellent argument against it.”

She laughed against his mouth, then sat back and pulled the shirt over her head.

He had imagined her. He could admit that now. None of those carefully dismissed imaginings had prepared him for Sereya watching his face while she bared herself to him.

Her skin warmed beneath his palms. He touched the curve of her breast, then lowered his mouth to it. She arched toward him as he drew her nipple between his lips, and her hands tightened around his horns.

Pleasure shot down his spine.

He made a sound he had never made in a Coalition chamber.

Sereya went very still, then stroked the base of one horn with her thumb.

“That one,” she whispered. “That's a good one.”

“Everything is a good one with you.”

Her answer was a kiss so hungry it cost him what remained of his composure.

He slid his hand between them. She was wet through the thin cloth of her underthings. He pushed it aside, touched her, and felt her forehead drop against his as her breath caught.

“Tell me,” he murmured.

She moved into his hand.

He learned her slowly. The pressure that made her fingers clutch his shoulders. The stroke that turned her quiet and made her eyes close. When he slid two fingers inside her, she whispered his name and held him there.

“Like that?”

“Yes. Don't stop.”

His thumb moved against her while she rocked in his lap. He kissed the side of her neck, feeling each uneven breath beneath his mouth.