“But you have to leave so soon?” Beth shot a nervous glance at Dawson.
“We don’t have a lot of time to get this done,” I said. “But you two will be safe here.”
“I’m not worried about us,” Dawson said, and I wanted to smack him upside the head because he needed to be worried about them. “Letting you guys go off, meeting up with some damn Arum, and trying to convince them to help us out? That’s crazy dangerous.”
It was.
There was no denying that, and I’d never been a liar before, so I wasn’t going to start now.
Archer leaned forward, resting his weight on his arms. His eyes met my brother’s. “I understand you and I don’t really know each other, and you have no reason to believe anything I say, but I promise you I will make sure Daemon and Katy come back with Dee. You can take that to the bank.”
Sitting back, I stared at the Origin.
I’d never admit it, not in a million freaking years, but Archer . . . yeah, sometimes he was pretty cool in my book, and I did like the way he sounded. Hell-bent on fulfilling that promise and bringing back not only us, but Dee. He just didn’t need to know I felt that way.
We finished up breakfast like it was any normal day, trying to forget that no matter what promises Luc and Archer made, it could be the very last time we saw each other. Kat and I packed up the changes of clothes Archer had found for us.
My heart kicked around my chest as I watched her shove the final sweater into a duffel bag we’d found in the closet. Once we left, things were going to happen fast, and I had no idea what we’d face on the road or when we met up with Hunter.
This literally could be the last time Kat and I were alone.
I wasn’t being a pessimist. The truth was we’d be stuck with Archer. The three of us were glued together for the foreseeable future, and if things went south, well, this would truly be the last time we had a handful of minutes together.
Kat zipped up the bag and turned around. Her hair was down, and I always liked it that way. There was a slight pink flush to her cheeks and her dove-gray eyes seemed to take up her whole face.
Her lips tipped up at the corners, and it said something powerful that she could still smile, like, really smile, when all this crap was going down around us. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I took a step forward and then another, until I was standing right in front of her and she had to tip her head back.
I slowly moved my gaze over her face as I cupped her cheeks, memorizing the high sweep of her cheekbones, the heavier fringe of the lashes at the outer corners of her eyes, down to the slight upturn in her nose and the fuller bottom lip.
Damn, I didn’t want to waste these minutes. I wanted to spend them worshipping her. Most of all, I wished our paths had been different. Not that we wouldn’t be together or some crap like that, but for the first time, I wished I were human and that my kind was hers and there was no invading race of aliens. That we’d graduated high school like normal teenagers, gone away to college together, and, instead of packing up to go knee-deep into the lair of sociopaths, we were planning a weekend at a beach or whatever the hell normal humans did when their planet wasn’t at war. But spending time wishing for things that could never happen really was for losers. And I was wasting very limited time.
I lowered my mouth to hers, kissing her softly at first, and when her hands landed on my shoulders, slipping back around my neck, I deepened the kiss. God, I could live on the taste of her.
Taking my time—time we really didn’t have—I traced the pattern of her lips, committing the feel of them to memory. A tiny, breathy moan came from Kat as she leaned into me, her fingers finding their way through the hair at my nape. Need slammed into me, invading every cell.
My hands slid down her sides, lingering around her waist for a moment, and then I smoothed my palm over her hips that rounded out sweetly. I wanted to be closer, all up in her. I was a needy bastard like that, but she liked it.
“Two minutes?” she asked.
I grinned against her mouth, and then forged a path of kisses to her ear. “Mmm, I like the way you think.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“You know me well.”
Kat drew back, slipping out of my grasp. Meeting my eyes and wearing a mischievous grin, she reached down and pulled her sweater off over her head.
Hells yeah.
Then all rational thought fled when the pants came next, along with everything else she’d been wearing. The prettiest pink swept over her body, but she didn’t duck her chin or hide from me.
Man, Kat fascinated me, every aspect of her. She was beautiful, but it went so beyond that. She was so incredibly strong, and she bore the scars of her strength like a prizefighter. She was smart and stubborn, but most of all, she was kind, and she’d given me the ultimate gift when she loved me in return.
That was the most important thing I’d always take from this.
Love was a gift.
Joining her in the buff, I wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t need to tell her that I loved her. The words were meaningless because they were spoken so much. Actions were always louder, always more potent.
I showed her.
On my knees, and then on the narrow bed, with her breasts flush against my chest, and then I moved lower again. I wanted to do more, a whole lot more, but I hadn’t had the forethought to bring any protection from the mayor’s mansion with me, and the last thing either of us needed to worry about was a little Kat or Daemon on the way.
But like before, there were other . . . things we could do. And we did them until my senses were completely short-circuited, and I fell for her over and over again. We were greedy, pushing it until we were almost foolish in the way we felt for each other, pulling back at the last moment, and then falling over the edge together with our hands on each other and our mouths fused together.
It was perfect.
She was perfect.
And I was the luckiest guy.
When we finally left to meet up with Archer, Dawson was waiting at the exit doors, one arm over Beth’s shoulders. I really didn’t know what to say to him. Good-bye was wrong, too unforgiving. So I stopped and just stared at the two, hoping that even if we failed in the worst kind of way, my brother and his girl would go on. They’d be safe. They’d be okay.
Kat approached them first. She gave Dawson a hug and then Beth. The girl said something to her and Kat smiled in return.
I had to take a deep breath when I walked over to Dawson and clapped my hand down on his shoulder. “You’re going to be okay here.”
He leaned in until his forehead pressed against mine. “So are you.”
“You know it.”
Dawson grinned, and then he hugged me. We both knew the risks and how this could all play out. But we didn’t voice it to each other as we said good-bye. Walking away from Dawson, leaving him in the same building with the woman who’d messed up his life so badly, went against everything I knew.
But I had to do it.
I had to let Dawson take care of himself, Beth, and his child. That was his job now.
My skin itched with the need to go back when I walked out those damn doors, but I ignored it and focused ahead. General Eaton was waiting for us beside a black Explorer, the kind of car Daedalus used to roll around in.
I sort of wanted to blow that bitch up, but that wouldn’t go over well. Impulse control. I was proud of myself.
“We’ll be waiting to hear from you,” he said, meeting our gazes. “I don’t think I need to remind you guys of how important this is and what is riding on you, but if you manage to pull this off, you’ll spend the rest of your lives not worrying about any of us. I will make sure that no matter what precautions are taken in the future, you will have immunity to all laws and sanctions. You’ll be free from all of this.”