Chapter 63

Jovan heard the elevator arrive on his floor just as he was finishing tying his shoe. While he looped and pulled, he wondered what was taking Blake so long to knock on the door. They had made plans to do a little hand-to-hand training down in the gym.

Saying he was surprised to see Liberty standing there would not be accurate. He had been floored.

He hadn’t gone to the airport to get her, and he hadn’t waited around upstairs for her to arrive home. Going back to being the crabby child, he decided she could come find him.

And she had.

She stood before him, the same Liberty, but different. She wore a blue sweater, jeans, and boots. Nothing new there. However, he noticed some physical differences, such as her brown hair was tinted with . . . blue highlights? Her ears were also pierced now with small diamond earrings, and she even had a small diamond stud on the side of her nose.

But the way she carried herself was different as well. When he had last seen her, she had been confident, but now it was though her confidence soared. Her shoulders were pushed back a little farther, and she met his gaze head on without any hesitancy.

He loved the physical changes, as well as the personality transformations, and that only made him want her more.

Like he needed that.

When she said she would come in, he felt like he had just won the lotto.

Shutting them in, he went to the phone and dialed Blake. “Hey. Yeah, I’m going to be a while.”

He glanced at Liberty. She was standing in the middle of the room looking around as if she was seeing the place for the first time.

“I don’t know how long. Go down without me if you want, and I’ll catch up with you later.”

He hung up the phone and Liberty turned around. “I don’t want to keep you from your planned activities,” she said.

“It’s fine. Just me and Blake rolling around on the mats downstairs. There’re about a thousand other ways I’d like to spend my time.”

Liberty smiled.

Jovan walked over to the overstuffed chairs and motioned her to follow. When they were seated, he asked, “How was your trip?”

“It was wonderful, thank you for asking.”

He couldn’t do the small talk. He had to get down to business.

“Look, Liberty, I’m sorry. I was a complete jackass. It’s just that . . . it’s that I’ve never put myself out there and cared about anyone before. I’ve always kept to myself, held fast and strong on the boundaries I set up for myself.”

He stopped talking and met Liberty’s gaze. She stared at him expectantly, and he could see she wasn’t going to make this easy. She was going to make him say everything.

So, onward.

“I’ve seen a lot of ugly shit in my life, Liberty,” he said quietly, running his hand through his hair and shifting his gaze to the floor. “I’ve seen what the Colonists do, and I’ve seen what the humans are capable of. It’s an ugly world out there, and the thought of the one I love, the one person who understands me, out there without me to protect her, made me sick with worry. And fear. And so . . . yeah, all that worry and fear came out with me acting like a complete asshole.”

There was a small stretch of silence.

Finally, Liberty said, “And I apologize for becoming so angry. I should have realized why you were acting the way you did, but I had this voice screaming in my head that I’m not in servitude any longer, and no one is going to tell me what to do.”

He nodded, and their eyes met. She stood and came over to him, kneeling at his feet. Placing her hands on his knees, she stared up at him.

He felt her trying to probe his thoughts and feelings, and he fought it.

Let me in, Jovan.

Damn it. Her gift was so much stronger than his.

Sighing, he let down his shield.

If you will have me, I would very much like to become your mate again.

Jovan stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. He wondered if his brain was making all this up.

No, it’s not. Just like when you were in that truck, what you’re hearing is real.

“What changed?”

Liberty shrugged and looked around the room as though she was searching for answers written on the walls or carved into the carpet.

Finally, her gaze came back to his. “I love you, Jovan. I believe we can work together to find a common ground where I am able to do as I please, and your protective side is satisfied with my comings and goings. Perhaps we can even find ways to explore this world together.”

He imagined her on a motorcycle and realized Christmas shopping was going to be a snap this year.

“Well, then,” he said. Liberty wanted to be his, and he sure as shit wanted to be hers. He’d just spun all cherries on the slot machine. His body roared and his mind reeled with one thought. “I want to make love to my mate-to-be.”

Liberty laughed. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

He bent down and kissed her gently, and her arms snaked around his neck. Lifting her up, her legs circled his waist, and he marched over to the bed. Setting her down, he kneeled before her and brought the sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor. Expecting to see some colored silk, he was surprised to lay his eyes on black. And what was this made out of? Holy shit. No. Was she . . . ? “Is this leather?” he asked as he cupped her breasts.

“Yes.” She sounded like she was purring.

His sweet, little, Liberty was wearing a black leather bra, and he hadn’t seen anything so fucking erotic in all of his time. His shaft quivered in his pants, begging for release. Yeah, he liked the bra, but he liked what it housed better. Let’s get the party started, for God sakes.

Noticing something on her breast, he flicked the bra open and brought it down her shoulders, throwing it to the floor. He stopped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

On her breast, right where her heart was located, was a tattoo of a red heart with J in the middle of it. It was still a little red, so this was some fresh ink.

He sat back on his heels, stunned. “You got a tattoo.” His brilliance really knew no bounds.

“Yes.”

As he stared at the tattoo, he wasn’t certain what to say. The J wasn’t some pretty, flowery letter, it was a strong font, something that looked old worldly with thick lines and strong curves.

“San Francisco was so much fun. We passed a tattoo and piercing parlor, and I thought of your tattoo and what you said about most tattoos having meaning. I wanted your initial over my heart. Remember when you kissed me there and told me that you could feel my heart fluttering beneath your lips?”

Oh, hell yeah. He remembered. Males didn’t forget stuff like that. He still didn’t know what to say, but he gently brought his mouth down to the tattoo and felt her heart jump.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“I do like it, Liberty. I like it a lot.”

His tongue flicked over her nipple, and he stood up while pushing her back on the bed. He pulled off her boots, and his hands shook as he undid the button of her jeans, but he had them off her quickly.

Again, he was greeted with black leather.

Oh, man.

“You’re killing me here, Liberty,” he said through a constricted throat. Gazing over her from head to toe, he took it all in. The blue highlights in her hair. The diamonds in her ears, and the small one at the side of her nose. That damn sexy tattoo. The leather underwear.

Shutting his eyes, he decided he had never been this cranked before, and he thought about the football game he had watched a few days ago to prevent coming right then and there.

“Jovan?”

He looked down at her.

“Why are you still clothed?”

Wasn’t that a great question?

He quickly disrobed and laid on top of Liberty, her skin feeling soft to his touch.

“Jovan, please remove my panties!”

How the hell had he forgotten that? Hell, his brain felt like Jell-O.

He kneeled before her again. He tried to rip the string, but the leather was too strong.

Liberty laughed as he slid them off her legs. “I guess these are one set of panties I’m going to be able to keep!”

He chuckled and came back up on the bed. Lying down next to her, he picked her up and put her on top of him. He watched as she stood him up and he slowly disappeared within her.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his body to feel every sensation as his hands gently traced over her skin and she moved up and down his pulsating shaft.

He looked up at her and opened his mind, feeling her emotions, the sensations she was experiencing, and sharing his with her. It was the most intimate that he had ever been with another, and bonded together in body and thought, they truly became one.

I love you, Liberty.

She smiled down at him and brought her mouth to his. I know. I can feel it.

As he stared up at Liberty, Jovan smiled at the changes in his life. He had gone from someone who was truly alone, to a male about to mated. His destiny had been changed dramatically, as had Liberty’s. She had gone from a docile female born into servitude, to a strong, confident female.

In fact, both of their destinies had been completely shifted.