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HOLLIS’S EYES TURNED A BRILLIANT gold. “The Declaration is accepted so the couple has the right to be together, to figure out if they can live together. When the courtship is accepted—”
“The couple are listed as spouses,” Rowena finished for him. “I know. I listened last time.” She ran her hands over the muscles of his shoulders again. She knew every weak point from sparring, every place she could hit for maximum damage. Learning where to touch him to elicit pleasure would be interesting.
Fun to use during training too.
Golden fire rolled over her skin, a heated warning. “Rowena,” Hollis drawled her name. “If you keep thinking like that, I’m going to have trouble following medical advice.”
“Really?” She ran her fingers through his too-long hair, memorizing the feel of it wet in her hand. “Where’s that famous control, Commander? I thought Silars were good at following orders.” She met his eyes.
“I’m a Lee now,” he said without hesitation.
“Hollis Lee.” She said the name, tasting the feel of it. “I love you.”
Three little words that shattered the universe and reformed it around them.
She looked into his eyes. “This past year, with everything that’s happened, you’re the only one I wanted beside me. The only one I trusted in any situation. I thought it was enough to be partners, almost friends, to just have you nearby.”
Warm hands slipped under her shirt to massage her lower back. It was so familiar, the same touch she’d welcomed after hundreds of training sessions.
She leaned into him, felt his joy like it were her own. If anyone had told her that the boy who drove her crazy during flight training, the ridiculous flirt who hid lethal power behind a vicious smile, the man whose name made her want to curse throughout the war, would one day make her this happy, she would have laughed as she shot them. It didn’t feel possible.
Hollis’s eyes caught her attention, pulled her away from the memories. “I love seeing you like this.”
“You love seeing me any way at all. You think I’m beautiful when my hair’s a mess and I’m covered in mud.”
His smile widened. “You are beautiful like that. And this. And fighting me. And flirting with me. And kissing me.” He pulled her closer still. “Do I have to wait two weeks for another kiss?”
She should have said yes, because she knew what he was thinking. But she couldn’t resist leaning in. “Be good.”
“I’m always good,” he murmured as his lips met hers.
And he was.
So very, very good.
Hands tight around her waist, hips pressed together, lips tempting her into a deeper kiss. Being the focus of Hollis’s attention in battle was dangerous. Being the focus of his attention when he wanted to bring her pleasure was burning her alive from the inside out.
Reason and logic fell away as his lips found a sensitive spot on her neck. She gasped, nails digging in his shoulder, and he groaned in pleasure. There was a reason she needed to keep her shirt on, but she wasn’t sure what it was anymore.
Hollis nipped at her lip and pulled away as she growled in frustration. He had a very satisfied smile on his face. “See? I can be good.”
“Uh-huh.” She rested her head on his shoulder and tried to breath.
That was a kiss? Was that what everyone felt when they kissed? And, if that was a kiss, what was the rest like?
Visions of Hollis massaging her aching muscles after a long day and following with kisses slipped past her defenses. She didn’t want a hot rush of passion but long hours of touching, and petting, and forgetting the rest of the universe existed.
Hollis groaned. “You are killing me.”
Trying to be good, she tucked that battle plan away for later.
“Seducing me doesn’t require a battle plan,” he grumbled.
She pushed herself away. “Of course not. And you came after me and just winged it? Made it up on the fly? You always have a plan.”
“True.” His smile was hadn’t changed. “I like plans.”
Lightly touching the top edge of his bandage, she reminded herself why she wasn’t giving into that smile just yet. “Good, then you can make some plans with me while we eat.”
“Oh?” He was far too tempting.
Rowena stepped away, taking his hand and leading him over to the food.
“What are we planning?”
“Happily ever after. There’s going to be more than one fight when we get back, and stations don’t staff themselves.”
He sighed with mock regret. “When you said I could play your second-in-command, I thought you had some bedroom fantasy of stripping me out of my uniform.”
“Liar.” She sat down. Okay, it was only half a lie. She did have an unusual dream once where she’d stripped Hollis out of his guardians all-black uniform piece by piece after a particularly violent bar brawl he’d broken up.
But they hadn’t been in a bedroom.
Hollis stopped and looked back at the bed as if he was seriously considering dragging her over there.
“You’re not wearing a uniform right now anyway.”
“I can put one on!”
“Two weeks. Or I don’t fix the zero-g flumes.” She could feel him weighing out his options. “I’m currently the chief medical officer of this station, your commander, and your spouse. Two weeks, and then I’ll tell you all the things I’ve dreamt about you over the years.” Not that she had had more than one before this month, but she’d come up with at least thirty in the past ten minutes and felt confident she could find more before he was recovered.
His lips curled into a snarl and he sat down with a wince of pain he couldn’t quite hide. “I hate being injured.”
“I know. I’ll make it up to you later. Come help me plan our future.”
It was that easy, settling into together with a smile, sharing a meal, planning how to get everything they wanted. It was the most natural thing in the universe. Like this was where their lives had been going all along.
Not everyone was going to approve, but she didn’t care. She’d give up the sky and stars if that’s what it took to keep Hollis with her.
But it would be so much more fun to conquer them with him.