I watched her face as my hands slid over her outer thighs, under her skirt, and then over the tops of her legs. I didn’t stop there. Oh no, the palms of my hands made their way along the insides of her legs. The bedside lamp flickered, and it wasn’t from me.

“Kitten…”

“Hmm?” Her hands fisted the covers.

“Just making sure you’re still with me.” I kissed the inside of her leg, above her knee.

“Don’t want you falling asleep or anything.”

Her chest rose sharply.

“You know what,” I said. “Give me two minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Whatever,” she said. “What are you going to do with the leftover eighteen minutes?”

“Snuggle,” I offered.

Kat’s answering laugh was cut off sharply when I found the band along the top of her tights. I dragged them down. They got bunched around her ankles. “Dammit.”

“Need help?” she asked.

“Got it,” I muttered, balling them up and throwing them somewhere over my shoulder.

Kat’s breath caught as my hands now glided over bare skin, and I blazed the same path I’d taken earlier, but this time, with absolutely nothing between us, my lips trailed down her skin. Her body trembled with each kiss, each touch. I kept my eyes open, one hand curled around the outside of her thigh, unwilling to miss even the slightest flicker of pleasure.

Not that anyone could miss it.

A faint luminous glow surrounded her body and limbs as she moved. Damn, she was beautiful, and her response, everything about her, from the softest breath to the feminine breathy sounds she made, completely awed me.

Her arms and legs went lax, and I was barely able to hold it together as I stood. Shit. My hands were shaking. “You glowed a little.” My voice was rough. “I’ve only seen you do that once.”

Kat sighed.

My lips curved up in the corner as I wrapped an arm around her and lifted her so she was fully on the bed. I stretched out beside her, my own movements a bit stiff, as I kissed her parted lips.

“Wasn’t even two minutes,” I reminded her. “Told you.”

“You were right.”

“Always.”

Kat smacked me lightly on the chest as she rolled into my side, throwing a leg over mine. She was quiet for several minutes as we did exactly what I’d said we’d do with the remaining time. Cuddle.

“I can’t move,” she said finally, her voice muffled against my chest.

I laughed. “This is how we snuggle.”

“I really should head next door.” She yawned, making no move to get out of the bed. “Mom will be home soon.”

“Do you have to leave now?”

She shook her head, and I prepared myself. We really needed to talk about Sunday, and she wasn’t going to like this conversation. I placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head back. “What?” she asked.

My eyes searched hers. “I wanted to talk before you leave.”

“About what?” The lethargic haze faded from her stare.

“Sunday,” I said. “I know you feel like you got us into this, but you know you didn’t, right?”

“Daemon…” She tensed. “We are at this point because of the decisions I—”

“We,” I corrected gently. “Decisions we made.”

“If I hadn’t trained with Blake and had listened to you, we wouldn’t be here. Adam would be alive. Dee wouldn’t hate my guts. Will wouldn’t be running around doing God knows what.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she flopped onto her back. “I could go on and on. You get my drift.”

“And if you hadn’t made any of those decisions, we wouldn’t have Dawson back. It was kind of a stupid-smart move.”

She laughed drily. “There’s that.”

“You can’t carry this guilt with you, Kat.” The bed moved under me as I rose up on one elbow. “You’ll end up like me.”

She peeked at me. “What? An extremely tall and douchey alien?”

I smiled. “The jerky part, yes. I blamed myself for what happened to Dawson. It changed me. I’m still not back to where I was before everything happened. Don’t do that to yourself.”

Kat nodded, but I doubted it changed how she felt. “You don’t want me going Sunday.”

“Hear me out, okay?” When she nodded, I continued. “I know you want to help, and I know you can. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. You can be pretty scary when mad, but…if things go south, I don’t want you involved.” My gaze held hers. “I want you to be somewhere safe.”

“I don’t want you involved, Daemon. I want you somewhere safe, but I’m not asking you to stay out of it.”

I frowned. “That’s different.”

Sitting up, she tugged at her skirt. “How’s that different? And if you say it’s because you’re a guy, I’m going to hurt you.”

“Come on, Kitten.”

Her eyes narrowed.

I sighed. “It’s more than that. It’s because I have experience. That simple. You don’t.”

“Okay, you have a point, but I’ve also been inside a cage. With that intimate knowledge, I have more reason than you not to get caught.”

“And that’s more of a reason why I don’t want you doing this.” Suddenly I was thrown back to that horrible night when I saw her, heard her pitiful whimpers. “You have no idea what went through my head when I saw you in that cage—when I hear how your voice still rasps when you get excited or upset. You screamed until there—”

“I don’t need a reminder,” she snapped. “Shit.”

She placed a hand on my arm. “One of the things I love about you is how protective you are, but it also drives me crazy. You can’t protect me forever.”

Oh, I could so do that.

She exhaled roughly. “I need to do this—I need to help Dawson and Beth.”

“And Blake?” I spat out before I could stop myself.

“What?” She stared at me. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” I moved my arm away. “It doesn’t matter. Can—”

“Wait. It does matter. Why would I want to help Blake after what he pulled? He killed Adam! I wanted him dead. You were the one who was, like, turning over a new leaf or something.”

I stiffened as her words settled over me like a coarse blanket.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I know why you didn’t want to…do away with Blake, but I have to do this. It’ll help me get past what I caused. Like making amends or something.”

“You don’t—”

“I do.”

My jaw clenched as I looked away. I knew she could handle herself. I knew she was strong, but dammit, she didn’t have to prove that to me. I couldn’t bear the idea of something happening to her. “Can you do this for me?” I paused. “Please?”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

Of course not. Tension crept into my shoulders. “This is stupid. You shouldn’t be doing this. All I’m going to worry about is you getting hurt.”

“See! That’s the problem! You can’t always be worried about me getting hurt.”

I arched a brow. “You’re always getting hurt.”

She gaped at me. “I am not!”

I laughed. “Yeah, try that again.”

Kat scrambled off the bed, her cheeks flushed with anger, which thoroughly amused me despite how angry I was. “God,” she muttered. “You tick me off.”

My smile was slow. “Well, at least I got you—”

“Don’t even finish that statement!” She snatched up the forgotten socks and tights. Rolling them on, she hobbled on one foot. “Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

I sat up. “Not too long ago, you were really, really loving me.”

“Shut up.” She moved on to the other leg. “I’m going with you guys on Sunday. That’s it. End of discussion.”

Throwing my legs off the bed, I stood. “I don’t want you going.”

Shimmying the tights on, she glared at me. “You don’t get to say what I can and can’t do, Daemon.” She grabbed one of her boots. “I’m not a frail, helpless heroine in need of your rescue.”

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t a book, Kat.”

She yanked on the other boot. “No, really? Crap. I was hoping you skipped to the end and would tell me what happens. I actually love spoilers.” She spun around and stomped out of the room, heading downstairs and then outside.