Gemma stood, slipping her soft fingers between his. “It is what it is.” She squeezed his hand. “You’ll find Nadine, and I’ll find a cure for this . . . whatever is happening to me. It’ll be okay.”
“No, I’m going to talk to Rami.”
She held tight to his arm when he tried to march out of the flat.
He glanced at her, and those big blue eyes made his heart skip a beat.
“Let it go,” she said. “We’ll only be separated until you find Nadine, and there’ll only be a few days of walking distance between us if anything were to happen.”
He squeezed his eyes closed and sucked in a deep breath through his nose. She was right. He shouldn’t be this fucking emotional. After spending half of his life protecting people, though, how could he just stand by and not defend the person who meant the most to him in the entire galaxy?
Gemma faced him and placed a warm hand on his chest. “You’ve taught me so much. I don’t need you to fight my battles, Christian.”
He sighed. “I know.” She really had come a long way since the day she’d fallen face first into the dirt during their first simulation.
“Just . . . promise me you won’t let them kill Nadine.”
Christian swallowed. “I promise.” She hadn’t even needed to ask.
He took a deep breath, blinking slowly as he released the wave of anger. If he had only one more night to spend with Gemma before they were apart for weeks—or, stars forbid, months—he wasn’t going to let his temper ruin it.
He took her face in his hands to place a kiss on her forehead. “You know I’ll only be a message or call away. And if you tell me you need me, I will race to wherever you are. Blast the consequences.”
“I know.” Her voice shook, but when he looked at her, he’d never seen such determination in her eyes. They might be forced to separate, but she wasn’t going to let it defeat her.
Stars, she was amazing.
The fear in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. Gemma knew about Christian’s nightmares, though they didn’t wake him up screaming in the middle of the night like hers did. But after a few mornings of seeing dark circles around his eyes, she’d prodded and realized just how much her almost-death had affected him.
She was seeing that same look on his face right now, and she almost wished she’d let him convince Rami to send him with her to the temple. But then, who could she trust tonotkill Nadine on sight? At least Christian knew that Gemma yearned for a chance to talk to her sister before the Systems sentenced her. Gemmaneeded him to be there, in Perileos, more than she needed him with her at the temple.
Christian let out a long, deep breath, her face still in his hands, and his panic-stricken face morphed into resolve. He stroked her cheek as his gaze bore into hers like he was trying to memorize every speck of color in her eyes. Supper may have been ruined by her idiocy, but that didn’t mean they needed to waste the rest of the night.
Gemma wrapped her arms around Christian’s neck and eased his lips to hers.
The kiss was slow and deliberate, a far cry from the heated make out sessions they’d had over the past several weeks—which always led to fiery sex that left them both sweaty and breathless. But right now, in anticipation of being apart for weeks or months, unhurried and passionate was exactly what she needed.
Christian tugged gently on her hair as he opened her mouth with his, sending a hot wave of chills down her spine. She breathed in the musky smell of his aftershave and reveled in the feel of his lips on hers. They were soft but strong, and the things he could do with them . . .
Gemma hastened her kisses, slipping her tongue between his lips and drawing him as close to her as possible. Already, he was hard against her abdomen, and just the thought of the way he felt inside her created a deep longing in between her legs.
So much for slow and passionate. She wanted him now.
Hurriedly, she slipped her good hand beneath Christian’s shirt and into his trousers, but he grabbed hold of her wrist before she got far.
“Not yet. I want to take my time with you,” he purred in her ear.
Her legs weakened, and she couldn’t stop the quiet noise that escaped. When she removed her hand from his trousers, he lifted her off the floor. Gemma wrapped her legs around hiswaist and nibbled at his neck as he carried her to their bed. His pulse raced beneath her lips.
Christian sat Gemma on the plush white comforter and stood against the mattress between her legs. Slowly, he took off her shirt, a small smirk on his face, like he knew how much the sluggish pace would drive her crazy. She was about ready to tug him onto the bed when he gently pinched her nipples, rolling them between his fingers.
Gemma moaned, arching her spine. “You’re such a tease.”
With a mischievous grin, he coaxed her to lie back. “You know you like it.”
Oh, shesodid.
Christian tossed his clothes onto the floor, and at the sight of his hard cock, her heart skipped a beat.
