Page 195

I forced myself to slow.

To check.

In answer, she pressed closer, her hips fitting against mine.

Permission.

Clear and undeniable.

“You know what I am?” I asked.

Her brow furrowed for a heartbeat, then cleared as understanding dawned. “I have eyes, Veyr. Man. Alien. Beast. All three.”

“And you⁠—”

She pressed two fingers gently against my mouth, stopping the words. “Still want.”

I kissed her again, deeper this time, my restraint dissolving.

Her response was immediate. Fingers worked loose the tie holding my hair back, sending it falling around my shoulders. Her hands slid into it, gripping, pulling just enough to tilt my head back.

I had never been touched like this—not for mending, not for fighting, not for fleeting relief.

This was different.

Her palms knew the scars along my shoulders. Her thumbs traced the line of my jaw she’d only seen from a distance.

She knew enough. Too much. And still she held on.

Beneath my skin, a silver-white current flared—my ŭre awakening like a second pulse.

Talia broke the kiss and looked down.

Silver-white lines moved beneath my forearms and disappeared beneath the edges of my clothing.

“That is distracting,” she said.

“You can stop.”

She didn’t.

She watched the light travel along my skin, then lifted her eyes to mine. “I didn’t say I disliked it.”

I kissed her again.

She laughed against my mouth, a low half-swallowed sound, and I felt it in my own chest before I understood what it was doing there.

I lifted her.

Talia gasped, arms hooking around my neck, legs locking at my waist. “A warning?”

“You knew I was strong.”

“Knowing and experiencing are different things.”

I carried her toward the sleeping room.

She looked over my shoulder. “You checked the door, right?”