Page 60 of Needed in the Night
I left her treading water and clambered up the stone wall to stand beside the pool on the basking stone I had used earlier. When I turned to look down, Isla was smiling up at me, her lovely hair swirling around her shoulders.
“Oh, I like this view,” she chuckled, her gaze on my dripping cocks.
“No view could be better than looking at you.” I crouched and reached for her hands. “Ready, my love?”
She let me grip her wrists and found a foothold on the wall to push off. “Ready.”
I rose, lifting her with ease to set her on her feet beside me. She kissed my chest, then turned in a circle, her arms extended.
“This is wonderful,” she said, tilting her head back, eyes closed, to feel the heat from above. “It’s warm, but nothothot. I see why you like it.”
I sat on one of the stones and held out my arms. “Come to me.”
She did so immediately, folding herself into my lap as easily and naturally as though we had done this a hundred times.
I lay back on my elbows as she moved around on top of me to find the most comfortable position, careful not to put her knees or elbows anywhere sensitive.
My mate ended up lying on me as if I were a bed, partly on her side, nestled into my chest with one knee bent over my thigh and her head over my primary heart. The moment she stilled, my body relaxed, as if I had melted into the heated stone beneath me. I exhaled in complete contentment.
“Is this all right?” she asked, biting her lip. “Am I too heavy with a rock under you?”
“Never.” I kissed the top of her head. “You will frown at me, but you are perfect.”
She did frown, but then she smiled and snuggled closer. “Let me know if you get uncomfortable, or your leg falls asleep.”
“I will.” I wrapped her in my arms. “Areyoucomfortable?”
“Unbelievably comfortable.” She chuckled low in her throat. “I think I could get used to this, actually.”
Did she have any idea how much joy she kindled in my hearts and soul with those words?
As we basked, I caressed her back and soaked in her scent. I did not want to spoil the moment, but she had not provided an explanation for something very, very distressing I had noticed last night when we removed her dress.
“Isla,” I said gently, “will you tell me about the scars on your back? They appear recent.”
She flinched. I stroked her back lovingly until she relaxed again.
“I mentioned my last mission ended badly,” she said finally. Her voice was strong and not shaky, but I smelled the pain of her memories. “I can’t give you details, but I was shot in the back by a plasma rifle. My body armor took most of it, thankfully.”
My chest grew so tight I could not get a breath.
An image of my Isla filled my mind’s eye, lying on some distant world, bloody and hurting and shot in the back. My Isla, who could have died in that moment, or afterward if she had not received adequate medical care.
My Isla, who had nearly given her life trying to free someone else from captivity. My body quaked with the force of my rage and sorrow.
“Mikas.” She moved her head to look into my eyes. “I’m all right,” she said, and squeezed my hand. “I lived. My mission didn’t fail, and the person I extracted is living free now.”
“I am glad to hear it.” I kissed her knuckles. “But is this mission the reason you came to Fortusia? You are in hiding?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “There’s an angry Erotovo on Ngara who believes Istolethis person from him. He’s combing Havel Prime for a woman named Halena Onsulus. That was my false identity for the job.”
“How did your mission go wrong?”
“I never found out.” She sighed. “I’ve had no contact with my handler since that day and Ycari doesn’t know. My best guess is someone found the holo projector that hid us while we got ready to escape, but I suppose I’ll never know for sure.” She rubbed her nose on my chest over my hearts. “I received a new identity after it was over. My face, my hair, and even my voice have changed. I don’t think the Erotovo will ever find me, no matter how determined he is.”
I tried to imagine Isla as she might have looked before she came to Fortusia and could not picture it.
“Mikas.” Her voice suddenly had a sharp edge, for reasons I did not understand. “Say something.”
