“I get it now,” Kimmy said. “After you left Dean, you lost your home trying to help others and now you’ve dedicated yourself to helping people save theirs.”
His features smoothed further. He looked away and shook his head.
“It’s so hard to believe,” he said, “that I could have found someone who understands me so well.”
She squeezed his hand tighter. “Trust is hard to give when you’ve been around so much betrayal. But I won’t betray you. I promise.”
11
Serac’s chest tightened. He wanted to believe her. Every cell in his body told him to trust.
She had listened to him so earnestly, without judgment. Maybe he was wrong about why she was interested in him. Maybe she saw him as something more than just a shifter.
“Claim her,” his zyln urged.
He reached out and cupped her cheek, leaning in to kiss her. She met him half-way, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Her lips were so warm. He had to be freezing her, but when he tried to pull away, she held on tighter, opening her mouth to him. He plunged in at the invitation, pressing her back on the bunk.
She slid her leg along his, latching on to his thigh and pulling him closer. The blankets had fallen away, and only the thin layers of their clothing separated them.
Her neck was bare to him. He kissed his way to her nape, her gasps spurring him on.
“Hold on,” she said.
She reached up under her hair and pulled out Payback. He chittered at them angrily, his fur turning a vibrant green that Serac had never seen from the creature. Then the parcel scurried to the side of the bunk and leaped to the floor, dragging one of the smaller blankets behind him. He was still making angry squeaks as the blanket disappeared out the door.
Serac and Kimmy looked back at each other for a moment, then both burst into laughter. He couldn’t remember ever laughing like that—not in his entire life.
But her smile, her gaze, her warmth… It flooded him. Changed him. Made him want to be more for her.
Made him want more from her.
“I wish for us to bond.” He regretted the confession almost immediately. It was much too soon to be asking for something like that.
Kimmy reached up to stroke his cheek. “I know it’s crazy, but I want that, too.”
He wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly—couldn’t believe his senses. Part of him didn’t want to push, but he had to be certain. “Because I’m one of these werewolves you like so much?”
“Of course not. Because you’re you, and what I feel for you, the pull… It doesn’t make sense. It’s sudden and it’s strong.”
She was describing a mating bond, and if she shared the instinctive attraction, he knew it was real.
“That is the way with Centauran bonds,” he said.
“That is the way with a lot of the stories I read. I just never actually thought I’d be living one. I dreamed about it, but this is so much better than anything I imagined. You are better than anything I imagined.”
His skin pebbled as longing washed over him—filled him with need and something stronger. No one had ever spoken to him like that.
“The truth about our nature—”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“You need to know.”
He took a deep breath, preparing to tell her the greatest secret of his people—one only shared with mates from other worlds.
“Centaurans are not a singular life-form,” he said. “When we are born, the links to our parents and kin keep us safe from the cold, but when we come of age, we take on an elemental spirit. We call them zyln. They are what give us our ability to survive and generate cold, as well as our shifting abilities.”
“Oh wow.” Her gaze became unfocused for a moment, then she nodded. “I’ve read stories like that.”
How fortunate could one sentient be?
She laughed. “I thought I was just reading for fun. I had no idea I was actually learning about my soulmate.”
“Soulmate…”
Her cheeks turned pink. “It means that we’re destined to be together. We feel like we’ve known each other forever because our souls know and…and love each other already.”
His zyln rumbled in approval of the word. Mated souls. It was a lovely—and apt—concept.
“You are beyond my greatest dream,” he said.
He kissed her again, burning every sensation into his memory. The way her hands felt pulling on the fabric of his shirt, the lingering taste of cocoa on her lips.
He leaned back to pull his shirt off and toss it aside. Her eyes widened, and she hissed in a breath.
“Wow, you’re gorgeous,” she said, dusting her fingertips over his chest.
“And you are beautiful,” he said. “Exquisitely so.”
“I… Thanks.” She blushed again.
“Has no one ever told you that before?”
She shook her head.
“Then you’ve been surrounded by fools.”
She blushed deeper as she glanced up at him, running her hands down along his abs. When she reached his jeans, she started working the fastener.
His dick was so hard, begging to be touched. What would it be like to be touched by his mate? To feel her hands wrap around him? To plunge himself into her heat?
He didn’t have to wait long to find out.
She slid her hand past the waistband of his undergarment as soon as she’d opened his jeans, fingers circling his shaft. Sensation jolted through him, knocking the breath from his lungs. He reached out to brace his arms on the walls in the corner of the room to keep himself upright.
“Kimmy.”
“We need to be naked,” she said. “Like, now.”
She released him, then scooted herself up in the bunk. It took him a moment to shake himself from the lust rising up in him. He stifled a growl as she slipped from the bunk.
It helped when he turned to see her throwing her jacket on the floor, then practically tearing her sweater from her body. Her glasses almost went with it.
“That wasn’t very graceful,” she said. “I’d take them off, but honestly, I want to be able to see absolutely everything with you.”
“Then you shall.”
He turned to sit on the side of the bunk, quickly removing his boots and socks. By the time he was done with that task, Kimmy had taken off most of her clothing. Apparently, it was easier to remove.
She was only wearing undergarments. He’d never seen anything like them, though. A small scrap of fabric was wrapped around her torso and held up with straps. The material had a transparent pattern and barely covered her small breasts.
He wanted to take the soft mounds in his lips. His mouth watered at the thought.
“Naked,” she said, slapping her hands together. “Now.”
He laughed as he rose. “I can deny you nothing.”
“I really like the sound of that.”
He hooked his fingers on the waistbands of both his jeans and undergarment and slid them down, kicking both off at once.
Kimmy’s jaw dropped and her eyebrows hiked up her forehead. Her glasses were a bit askew on her face.
“Oh…wow…that’s…” She cleared her throat as she stared at his dick.