Page 30 of Titan’s Mate

This was crazy, but he couldn’t make himself stop like he had last night. Gently, he took her wrist and pulled her toward him, between his splayed legs. One more kiss couldn’t hurt. Probably. Just to see if she really tasted as good as he remembered, if her lips could possibly be as soft as his memory told him they were.

She stepped closer, and Titan removed Horney and his lettuce from her hand and set them back in the turtlearium too. Then he moved his hand to cup her cheek, sliding it to the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair.

She swayed forward, hands on his chest. There was a breath, suspended in time.

And then her lips were on his. Soft as clouds, burning like fire. Something clicked into place inside him, as if a part of him had always waited for this.

Fiery chills chased over his skin, like a fever. He deepened the kiss, wrapping his other arm around her and drawing her in.

Her curves molded against him like she’d been made especially for him. He slid his tongue across her lower lip, making her gasp and then open herself further.

He loved her response, loved how she pressed against him, one hand still flat on his chest, the other around his neck, her fingers in his hair, her mouth devouring his.

She tasted like fire and honey, igniting his insides. He grew instantly hard, instantly hot, instantly addicted.

So much passion underneath her soft, sweet exterior. A lifetime’s worth of passion, that a man could lose himself in.

Or find himself.

The music system kicked on. Marvin Gaye’s voice blared out of the wireless speakers, crooning, “Let’s Get it On.”

They both jumped, separating. Titan ran his hand through his hair, his brain kicking in. And his guilt. What was he doing? This couldn’t end any way but badly.

Mari looked around, her face flushed in a way that made him want to kiss her all over again. “Wow,” she said. “Did you make that happen? Like, with your kissing superpowers?”

He shifted his hips slightly. He had a boner as big as the Eiffel tower, which she almost certainly knew because it had been pressed up against her a minute ago.

It was distracting, and made it harder to think of words. “Um, I’d like to say yes? About the superpowers? But it’s on a timer. For the turtles. To make them feel romantic.”

Her eyebrows went up. “I did not know that turtles have romantic feelings.”

He had to keep saying things, so she wouldn’t want to talk about what just happened. “I’ve never talked to them. The turtles. So I’m not sure they do. But they fuck a lot.” Shit. He was supposed to be leading the conversation away from boners. And fucking.

“Get out,” she said. “They do? When the music is on?”

“Look for yourself.”

She leaned over and looked into the turtlearium. As usual, Horney was halfway up on Tiger Slut’s back and they were going at it, turtle style.

Mari’s eyes went round. “Whoa,” she said. “I guess they really like 70s music.” There was a pause, and then, “Should we be watching this? I feel like we’re invading their privacy.”

“They have no privacy. There’s a—” Oh, shit.

“What?”

“I forgot. Colt put in a turtle cam.”

They both looked up over the turtlearium. Sure enough, there was a camera up there.

On cue, he got a message from Colt. Because naturally he’d been watching the turtle cam at that exact moment.

Colt: Is that her?

Titan sighed. He was not having this conversation. Especially not in the crew message feed. He went for the ‘play dumb’ option.

Titan: Is that who?

Colt: Sigh