They stumbled into the lab, giggling like children, and Maya laughed as she shut the door behind her.
“I still can’t believe it, Luka,” Maya said, shaking her head. “We did it! We really caught the bugger.”
She knew she was crowing, but it felt so good. “Got him fair and square.” She grinned. “Ludmilla won’t be forced to marry that odious Crown Prince now, not when his man has been caught for espionage!”
Luka grinned. “I never had any doubts about the success of your plan.” He sketched a little bow at her. “We make a good team.”
Maya turned to face Luka, her eyes sparkling. “We do, don't we?”
Luka grinned at her, his smile going crooked. “I thought we were continuing our celebration in here? Please tell me you have wine in here. If not, we’ll have to sneak back into the dining hall for another bottle of wine.”
“No need,” Maya said, stumbling past him to the little bookshelf in one corner of the room. She came back, holding a bottle aloft.
“I always store a bottle in my lab, for when my inventions work out perfectly on the first try.” She grinned as she sloshed the wine around the unopened bottle. “You can see it hasn’t seen much use.”
Luka watched indulgently as she popped the cork, then took a long swig of the wine. She coughed as the alcohol travelled down her throat in a burning path, sputtering only a little.
“Here.” Their hands brushed as she handed him the bottle, and she was powerfully reminded of all those nights she’d stayed up with Luka in the Academy, talking and sharing a bottle of wine, just like now.
Maya took the bottle back from Luka, and as she did, their eyes met. There was a moment of hesitation, a feeling of something unspoken passing between them.
“Maya?”
She remembered another night he’d looked at her the same way, looked at her with a question in his eyes. She’d avoided him then, preferring to hide from him, fromthis.
Now, she answered his unspoken question by taking a step toward him. In response, he surged toward her, and a moment later they were in each other's arms.
The first kiss was all lips and tongue and teeth, but the second was slower; his mouth clung to hers, breaking away and returning again and again, almost as if he was stoking the fire in her.
Luka drew away from her with an irritated grunt when his hair got in the way, and she panted as she ran her fingers down one of the long strands until they rested on his chest.
Maya flicked the other locks of hair away from his face, raising her eyes to his. Silently, she pushed him back against the table behind him, raising her hands to his collar and pulling the first button of his jacket loose. Her hands made quick work of the rest of them, and soon his jacket gaped open over his chest.
She made to move further, but he caught her hands in his, bringing things to a halt.
“What’s the hurry?” he murmured, kissing her hands. “We’ve waited this long; I want to do thisright.”
When she groaned, his answering smile was slow but utterly sinful.
Slowly, he shrugged out of his jacket, then, he put his hands on her, and drew her close again. His mouth moved to her neck, leaving open mouthed kisses, licking and biting until she was moving restlessly against him. Maya was sure he had left a mark that would be visible at breakfast tomorrow.
As she tipped her head back, his clever fingers wound their way through her hair, pulling it out of its usual style until it hung around them in a perfumed cloud. The strands tangled in his fingers as he wrapped one fist in it and pulled her closer to him, sealing his open mouth over the gasp that dropped from her lips.
He broke away to murmur in her ear, his voice a low, impassioned rasp.
“I can’t get enough of you Maya, I want to taste every inch of you, put my mouth all over your luscious body—”
She shivered and felt him smile against her cheek.
He moved to her ear lobe, nipping at the delicate flesh, and he groaned at her answering shudder.
“What are you doing to me, Maya?”
“The same thing you’re doing to me,” she panted, meeting his gaze. His eyes were wide and dilated so much that they appeared nearly black. His brows were lowered as he fixed his intense stare on her before he leaned down to claim her mouth again.
She arched her back, and he shivered when she pressed her hips into his, her own hands moving to his shirt and pulling it open. He cursed when her fingers traced his waistband, and she chuckled. He made her pay for it with a nip to her neck that had her sighing and leaning back against the arm encircling her waist.
Slowly, he pushed her back against the cool stone wall behind them, and his hand moved to her collar, tracing the cloth with his fingers as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
