Claimed

  “I’m sure.” She bit her lip. “Will you let me?”

  He looked down at himself, as if somehow his body had detached from his head. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I mean, sure.” Already his cock was starting to throb. “Whatever you want.” Oh God, please put your hands on me.

  She sank onto the bed, her eyes on his. “I don’t know how this is going to go.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, unable to believe it as her fingers crossed the distance between them and tugged at the hem of his shirt. Her knuckles skimmed his sides as she lifted it, and he raised his arms, letting her pull it from his body. He kept his eyes on her as she dropped his shirt at the foot of the bed and turned her attention to him. Her tongue traced her bottom lip. Still clutching the towel around herself with one hand, she used her other palm to meet the heated skin of his abs, travel up the ridges of muscle, over his pec, across his shoulder. Her fingertips trailed along his collarbone and downward again, brushing over his nipple and making him shudder with want.

  She watched his face, then ran her thumb over the little nub again. His head dropped back as his cock swelled, squeezed within the confines of his jeans. With horror, he looked at his zipper, remembering what she’d said about the sound. But then she lowered her head, her cool, damp hair slipping across his stomach, her warm breath on his chest.

  Her tongue flicked his nipple, and he groaned, his muscles drawing tight, his cock surging to full attention. She’d see it now. She’d notice. He held his breath and stayed completely still as she slowly kissed her way up his chest to his throat, and when he felt her teeth against his skin, he gasped, his fingers balling in the quilt beneath him. She’d let go of the towel around her now and was using both hands to stroke along his chest, his arms, his abs, his throat, like she was mapping every inch.

  He wanted to crush her to him. He wanted to grab her hips and feel her soft flesh yield. But he didn’t. He wouldn’t. Even if it killed him. What was happening was a good thing. That she wanted to touch him seemed like a miracle, fragile and exquisite, like a butterfly sitting in the palm of his hand.

  She rose onto her knees and slid her hands over his shoulders, leaning forward to look at his back. “So perfect,” she whispered, tracing the raven between his shoulder blades. Her barely covered breasts were an inch from his face, and Dec ached to take one of them in his mouth, to roll her nipple between teeth and tongue, but he held himself back. And soon, she lowered herself down again, legs folded beneath her as her hands strayed south, finally reaching his waist.

  Her fingertip slid into the dip of his belly button, and he felt it like she’d reached inside him, caressing something primal and pure. Her thumbs smoothed across the indentations of muscle at his hips, following the V shape as it disappeared into his pants. She let out an unsteady breath, her eyes on the button of his jeans. “You don’t have to,” he said. “It’s okay.”

  Her fingers rose and touched his lips, but she didn’t raise her head. Her concentration was so complete that he suddenly realized this must be what she was like when she was studying something. When she was trying to figure it out.

  When she was planning to take it apart and conquer it.

  He felt like he’d stepped outside of his body as he watched her fingers slowly undo the button and then slide across the bulge of the erection straining against his fly. She unzipped his pants quickly, suddenly, a sound that ripped through his mind. Galena took a few deep breaths in the aftermath, and she seemed to be staring at a loose thread on the quilt next to him.

  Something ordinary and harmless. Something that grounded her in the here and now. He felt a pang of sadness.

  But then her gaze returned to his body. His cock was tenting his boxer briefs. She took hold of the edges of his jeans and tugged them down his hips, and he raised them to allow her to draw the fabric down his legs. The friction pulled his boxer briefs down, too, and his cock sprang out, bobbing rigid against his abdomen. Galena slipped off his boots and socks and stripped his jeans from his legs. She sat near his feet, looking up the length of his body while he sat there like an idiot, braced on his palms, his hands fisted in the quilt, his cock hard and hopeful, begging for her touch.

  “You have a beautiful body,” she murmured.

  “You can look at it anytime you want, from now on,” he said.

  She let out a quiet burst of laughter. “Thank you.” Her wet hair swayed between them as her palms stroked up his legs, over his knees, up his thighs, then hooked over the bottom edge of the legs of his boxer briefs and pulled them down as well. A moment later, Dec was completely naked, shaking with need as her relentless gaze traced over him. She was so fucking intent that it was a palpable thing, with weight and power of its own. Slowly, her fingers trailed up his thigh, skimming over his cock, which jerked at the sensation.

  “I saw you stroking yourself,” she murmured. “I saw what it did to you.”

  He must have looked crazed, desperately seeking that release. “You did that to me,” he corrected. “That was your taste. That was watching you come.” The memory of it sent a rush of heat through him.

  “Well,” she said, her fingers slowly wrapping around his shaft. “That makes me feel kind of powerful, actually.”

  “Because you are.” He half chuckled, half moaned as she tightened her grip and pumped him, slow and agonizing.

  His hips moved in time with her, seeking more. But she let him go, her long dark-blonde hair tickling his abs and chest as she crawled up his body. As she did, her towel fell completely open, and Dec stared at the swell of her breasts as she moved closer. And when he felt her nipples brush his chest, he groaned again. Her hands were on his shoulders. Her eyes were on his mouth. And then she claimed what she wanted, her lips meshing with his in a possessive kiss. As her fingers slid into his hair, she straddled him, and in a moment of pure amazement, he felt the slick softness of her arousal against his abs. Once again, he felt like he was falling, but this time, it was in the best possible way.

  She pushed against him, and he sank backward, his eyes still shut tight, his teeth grinding. “Galena . . .”

  She took his wrists and moved his hands to her thighs, which was exactly what he needed. Her flesh was warm and smooth and willing as his palms met her hips, his fingers slipping over the curve of her ass, which kept nudging the tip of his cock, making him dizzy with need. He opened his eyes to see her legs spread over him, pink nipples taut and mouthwatering as she bent to kiss him again. Dec’s mind narrowed to one point, her body, blocking out everything else. All his worries and fears, the ticking clock, the danger. Right now, this was the most important thing in the world. He wanted to gather every second of it and tuck it away somewhere, so that no matter what happened from now on, he would have this, the honey scent of her, the sensation of her skin on his, her hair falling around them, her hands on his chest.

  She edged down his body, slowly, hesitantly, still kissing him fiercely. Her fingers were on his neck, and they tensed as her wet folds slid over the top of his cock. She whimpered, and Dec’s ears rang with alarm. He caught her waist and held her still. “Hey,” he murmured, kissing her temple. “You okay?”

  She nodded, blowing out a breath from between pursed lips. Her eyes met his, and he saw the fear there. He took her face in his hands as she focused on his mouth, tracing her fingers across his lips. “I need to feel you with me now,” she said quietly. She closed her eyes tightly then opened them again. “I don’t want to get sucked into my own head.”

  He tenderly kissed her cheeks, the tip of her nose, and then her lips. “I’m in this with you, Galena. Every second. Every breath.” From now on. Forever. “I won’t let you go.” Ever.

  Her eyes shone with tears. “I believe you, Dec,” she said, her voice cracking. One tear slipped free and hit his cheek, and she kissed it from his skin. Then she reached between them and caressed him, her fingers brushing over the head of his cock and sending a rush of want all the way down his spine. His balls tingled with
it; his muscles pulled taut. And when she guided him to the soft, slick center of her, it felt like something he’d craved for an eternity.

  Her lips met his, and she gasped as her tight channel accepted his rigid cock, bathing him with molten, wet heat. Galena moaned into his mouth, bracing herself with her palms against his ribs, then sinking down, taking him inch by agonizing inch. Dec’s blood pounded through his veins, and his mind threatened to go dark as every nerve in his body roared with desire. But he forced himself to stay aware, to listen to her panting breaths, to feel her skipping heart when her chest pressed to his. He began to stroke her sides, her thighs, gentle and soothing like he’d done before, because it had seemed to relax her, to remind her that he would never hurt her, to keep her in the present.

  Galena pressed her face to his throat as she sank all the way, until his cock was buried to the hilt. He’d never felt anything so perfect. Or so he’d thought. Because then she rose up, her hands on his chest, her eyes on his face.

  “Yeah?” he whispered.

  She gave him this gorgeous, victorious smile. “Yeah.”

  She started to move. Slowly, rising up and sliding down, her inner muscles contracting, wrenching a low moan from both of them. His hands returned to her hips. He was dying to thrust, but he held himself still, letting her do the work, letting her set the pace. She bit her lip, and her breasts swayed as she ground herself against him. Dec couldn’t help it; his fingers tightened on the soft mounds of her ass and he canted his hips up, seeking more.

  “Oh God, Dec,” she murmured, her eyes falling shut. “Do that again.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. He kept his hands anchored and moved her hips, pressing them down as he shifted his hips up, penetrating her so deeply that he swore he felt the limits of her body. Over and over, just like that, they swayed together, never separating more than an inch or two. He stayed deep inside her, ecstasy rolling in hard waves up from his groin, through his belly and into his chest. Galena fell forward, reaching for him, panting against his mouth while her breasts smashed against his chest. He’d never been closer to another person than this. Her fingernails sank into his shoulders as he slid into her, as he gave her all of him. She needed more; he could sense it in the tension in her thighs, in the frenzied clutch of her fingers, in the little cries that burst from her throat every time she felt him all the way inside.

  So he pulled back all the way and slid into her, watching her face as they collided, her parted lips. “Dec,” she whispered.

  “Yeah?”

  “Again.”

  He thrust into her body, gentle but sure, watching the friction undo her.

  It was certainly undoing him. Her body was unrelenting and hot around him; her scent was overwhelming. His knees fell apart as his hips bucked, as he squeezed her ass and moved her up and down his cock. He needed her to come soon, because there was no fucking way he was going to last much longer. Praying he wasn’t about to screw everything up, he reached between their bodies. He knew it was a risk, but then again, everything about this was a risk. His fingers tickled the damp curls between her legs and found her tiny, slick nub. Like he had with his tongue, he circled it as she sank onto him.

  Galena’s eyes opened, and she looked down at his fingers. Dec held his breath.

  “Yeah,” she whispered, opening herself to him. Dec stared at her, her head thrown back, hair cascading over her shoulders.

  He began to tease her clit constantly as she rode his shaft, clenching around him like a fist, wet and hot and so fucking perfect. “That,” he gasped. “More.”

  Her inner muscles squeezed again, and Dec arched up, helpless beneath her. His obvious pleasure made her laugh with delight. She owned him. His whole body was tingling, chasing release. Her arousal slicked his fingers as he watched himself disappear inside her again and again. “Galena, I can’t . . . I’m going to . . .”

  She descended on him, her hips still undulating, demanding everything he had. She held his face in her hands. “Me too,” she said with a moan.

  Dec stared into her eyes, her gorgeous deep gaze, and let himself fall.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Galena was lost in Dec’s eyes as she felt it coming, this unstoppable pleasure that made her whole body bear down. And as she did, Dec seized her hips and bowed his head against her shoulder, his jaw rigid, his eyes squeezed shut. She wrapped her arms around him as her body let go, and then she lost awareness of everything else. The sensation rose inside her, carrying her right over the edge, sending her spinning and tumbling.

  “Galena,” Dec gasped as his shaft throbbed inside her, dragging her under again, drowning her in ecstasy. Her body spasmed around him. Dec’s hands were iron as he thrust into her one more time, his whole body shuddering.

  Then a strange, loose feeling rolled over her, pressing her onto him as he sank back, his head falling to the pillow. The sensation traveled from the top of her head, down her spine, along her legs, and then back up again, this time in tingling bursts. She cried out in surprise, and Dec touched her face, his thumbs stroking her cheeks, brushing away tears she didn’t know she’d shed. “It’s happening,” he said quietly.

  “What’s happening?”

  “The bond. It’s complete. You’re immortal now.”

  She held his palm against her cheek. Immortal. She knew she should be ecstatic, but it seemed like the least important thing that had happened in the last hour. He was still inside her; she was still plastered to his chest, her legs spread over him. There had been a few scary moments, but she’d focused on staying in the present. Her trust in him had made that possible. Her adoration of him made it worth the risk. “We did it,” she murmured.

  His gaze roamed her face. “We did.” His lips met hers, achingly tender. “But if you want to stay this way, we have to go back to Boston and find proof that you didn’t somehow spearhead a conspiracy to destroy your own research and destabilize the future.”

  Making her immortal hadn’t been the “We did it” she was talking about, but it seemed ridiculous to mention that now. Dec was already sitting up, cradling her in his lap as he slipped from her body. Her cheeks heating, Galena climbed off of him. She was still stunned and breathless by what had happened between them, with the brilliant, blinding miracle of having him inside her, of wanting more, of asking and receiving, of relishing his pleasure as she enjoyed her own. The power of it, too. She was dizzy with it. But she needed to focus on other things, because she wasn’t the only one whose status as a Ferry was in danger right now.

  They took a quick shower, and Galena drew reassurance from the possessive way his hands slid over her skin, the way his eyes fell shut as she soaped him. She wanted to linger, to savor, and she could tell he did, too, but now it was time to fight for a future in which they could. She was ready to do whatever it took to clear her name and protect Dec from the consequences of his loyalty to her. He looked grim and serious as he toweled himself off and dressed, his black hair damp and disheveled. “Ready?” he asked as she pulled her shoes on. He looked down at his phone. “We have six hours left.”

  “You didn’t tell me that!” She waved her hand at the bed. “And all that—”

  He took her hand. “Was absolutely necessary.”

  She bowed her head. “Yeah. I’m immortal now.”

  He tipped her chin up, eyes fierce. “Necessary in every way, Galena.”

  “For me too.” Their gazes were locked, and the moment was heavy with the weight of all the things they still needed to say to each other. Six hours, her mind whispered. Only six hours until he loses everything. Move.

  “I think I know where we need to go,” she said. When he raised his eyebrows, she continued. “Before we had to leave the data center, I noticed a lot of activity in my user account, dating back to the first days I was in Boston. A lot of tech-support requests.”

  “What was unusual about them?”

  “I didn’t make any. And I was about to check the network for other point
s of entry, because it was supposed to be extremely secure. But that guard spotted us before I could. So I need to get access to a computer where I can check that.” She sighed. “I could have done it from my lab, but obviously that’s gone, so I need to get into the Immunology Department itself. My boss, Dr. Cassidy, would have the kind of authorization I need to access that information.”

  “So we need to sneak into her lab and get on her machine.”

  Galena nodded, then cursed. “I don’t have my phone with me. They confiscated it at the police department. I’d need it to copy any information we find.”

  He held up his phone. “You can use mine. But after we do this, we need to find Erin, that Ker who was with Luke the other night. She was with Trevor when he met with Jian, and she might be able to give us more information about what was said, and what was going on with Trev.” He pulled his Scope off the setting at his neck, brushed his thumb over the raven, and pulled the ring wide. With a smile she could only describe as shy, Dec held it out. “After you,” he said quietly.

  She stepped into the Scope and entered the cold gray world of the Veil, and Dec followed after her.

  “Good afternoon,” said a female voice from behind them.

  They whirled around to find Tamasin standing near the closed front door of the cabin. The colorful scarf she used to corral her mass of braids was gray in the Veil, but her glowing red eyes made up for it. “How long have you been here?” Dec asked slowly.

  She smirked. “Since Eli Margolis contacted me and asked me to guard Galena after he was called away.”

  Galena nearly choked. “You’ve been here the whole time?”

  Tamasin shrugged. “I’ve been on the porch. The view is nice. I had no desire to intrude upon your privacy.” Except it was dead obvious she knew what they’d been doing. Her crimson gaze settled on Dec again. “Her brother asked me to guard her. And so I will.”