The rooms turned out to be very comfortable. Very similar in a lot of ways to the rooms I’d had in the temple back home. They were small, with nothing special about them, but still we’d be comfortable. There were eight beds amongst the three bedrooms, with a main room and a bathroom. I supposed if we were going to spend any real time here, then I’d decorate it in some way like I had at home. Small touches of things that I could find and liked.

  I bet people had done that here.

  I looked around. “Where should I sleep?”

  If Dev had arranged this, then I imagined he had a sense of how things were supposed to go. He pointed left, and I went into the room that had the biggest bed. In fact, it was the only one with a solo bed in the room. The others had two and one had three, which meant two of them would sometimes be bunking in the main room. But that was neither here nor there at the moment. I caught on pretty quickly with what he was thinking.

  “I get this room and one of you stays with me?” I touched the bed. It was scratchy, but I wasn’t going to complain. Anything halfway soft would do after the bed in the med bay. My wrist still said eight, and as long as I didn’t inch up to nine, I supposed I wouldn’t have to go into the med bay here.

  “If that’s okay. It also allows you to say no to any of us and be alone. It occurred to me that you’ve had very little ability to have privacy in a long time. You might like to sometimes be alone.”

  I almost asked him how long we’d be here, but that was a problem question. Arguably, if we weren’t about to rob this place of its time thingy, then we would likely stay a while for sure. I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s thoughtful of you.”

  “I occasionally have my moments.” His self-deprecating smile was adorable and the first time I’d seen it on Dev. I reached out and stroked my finger over his mouth, and as his smile died, heat in his gaze took its place.

  Devil and I had happened fast. One second, I had been afraid of him, the next tentatively trusting him, and then—bam—he had been one of mine. But maybe that was sometimes how things went. The urgency of them, the rightness settling fast until you just instantly knew that it was right even if it was senseless and sort of impossible. I had little time. Truth was, I was dying. Everyone knew it, and they might be trying to reverse time and space for me to undo it, but there it was anyway.

  It might be that nothing worked. That my time had been shortened by decades, and I could rail against it, or I could get on with living just as fast as I wanted to without having to understand it more than that.

  “Just wanted to memorize what your smile felt like with my finger.”

  He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed the top of it, holding it there for a long time. “On Earth, there are these things called movies.”

  I’d heard of them, even seen a few that came every once in a while to our planet. Everyone would run to witness the event, even those of us living in a temple. “Yes.”

  “And in them, sometimes, they put on shows like they’re living in a different time. Old, pre-bombed times. Men were very polite, very restrained. It was a big deal to kiss a woman on her hand. I’ve wanted to do that with you since I first laid eyes on you. It just seemed like it would be appropriate to treat you like a lady from that time.”

  I went up on my tiptoes and kissed his mouth, gently. He tasted sweet, like the fruity dessert we’d just been eating. Dev closed his eyes and pressed back, his mouth surprisingly soft for a person who was as hard as him. He dropped my hand to cup my cheek, and I could have melted into him if such a thing were possible.

  He pulled back but just to kiss me again for a long moment. When we broke apart, we both panted as though we’d run a race. Our mouths were still so close I could feel his warm breath against my face. I loved the intimacy of this moment.

  “Sienna, did I do that okay?”

  I didn’t give him a second longer to feel insecure. This was a man who could kill in a heartbeat, but he wanted so much to be gentle with me. It was everything I needed, the lethal strength mixed with his sweet vulnerability. “You kiss like you were made to do it.”

  Dev scooped me up, not moving, just bringing me so that we were at eye level. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck.

  “I was made to be a killer, but I am so glad that I get the privilege of kissing you.”

  I didn’t think he was made to be a killer any more than any of us were actually made for any particular reason. But now wasn’t the time for that sort of discussion. He’d brought me back here, and I wasn’t fooling myself about what he was hoping we would do. I wanted the same in a major way.

  My panties were already soaked, and all this man had done was kiss me twice.

  He spun us around until he laid me down on the scratchy bed that suddenly didn’t feel quite so bad on my skin. Or maybe it was just Devil making everything better. I wondered if anyone had ever told him that he had that effect on the world. “You being here… it just makes life so much lighter, so much brighter, so much more… everything good.”

  I didn’t have the way with words that he did, although I doubted that mattered to him. When I said that, it was as though I’d lit a spark inside of Devil. He sucked in a long breath. “The fact that you could see me like that? The fact that I could mean that much to you when I shouldn’t have the right to even touch you is just amazing. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this, but I promise you, Sienna, I will never take a second with you for granted. You will always get the very best from me. Every second that I breathe, it will be to honor you.”

  I eased back just enough to take off my shirt. I wanted to be exposed in front of him, for him to see all of me. What would it be like to be worshiped by Dev? I was about to find out, and wasn’t I the luckiest person there ever was because of it.

  He widened his eyes. “Your breasts.”

  I waited for him to say more, but that seemed to be all that he was going to get out. I grinned. That was sort of fun. I’d rendered Dev speechless. I wasn’t bound up in undergarments like I usually was. Diana hadn’t given me any, and I couldn’t say at the moment that I cared very much. Better to be bare and let him see my skin. I swallowed, my breath catching in my throat.

  “The way that you look at me—”

  He interrupted. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Tell me what you like, how you would like things to be. Teach me.”

  That was funny considering how little experience I had with this. But it was obviously more than he had. I ran my hand over my nipple, feeling a jolt when I did. I was so turned on that every touch seemed like a lot right now. “Suck on this.”

  Dev visibly swallowed before he leaned forward and did just as I asked. The pinch of pain had me gasp, and then I let my head fall backward. My neck could suddenly not support the weight of it, and besides, I wanted to do nothing but feel every second of the pleasure-slash-pain his beautiful mouth performed on my nipple right that second. He squirmed above me in a way that was so un-Devil. He wasn’t a man who moved without a reason to do so. Devil was strong and steady. But I made him squirm, and that was amazing.

  He lifted his head but only long enough to take the other nipple in his mouth. I cried out, this time knowing the pinch that would come made the anticipation half the fun of it. He squeezed my other breast, hard. Dev took direction well, and just one instruction had told him I wanted it a little bit rough from him. Now, it was my turn to squirm. I needed my hands busy, or I was going to lose my mind.

  This was as much about giving as taking from me. I tugged at his shirt and threw it aside. He was big, maybe the broadest out of all the guys, and his muscles were defined as though he’d been sculpted from stone. All hard lines everywhere. He was also scarred, badly.

  Crisscrossing marks that looked like he’d been clawed by an animal marred his skin. It was hard to scar a Super Soldier. That much I knew. What had done this to him? He pulled back, watching my reaction as I let my gaze caress him before I touched one of the marks. “What did this to you?”

  “An animal.” He sighed. “I put myself between one and my men. Years ago. I thought I was done for. A big cat. Huge. We got too close to its babies, but Evander expected us to perform. I expected to be dead. No idea why they didn’t just let me die. But I got to have this moment, so I’ll be grateful.” He looked away suddenly. “Ugly?”

  There was no part of him that was ugly. “Not at all. You should know how striking you are, but if you don’t, let me tell you. You’re really handsome, and I’m glad the cat didn’t kill you. You make everything better.”

  I’d say that as many times as he needed to hear it.

  “I like how you see me even if you’re the only one in the universe who can view what you do.” He pushed me back down again onto the bed. It bounced slightly from our weight. We tore at each other’s clothes, Devil literally. While it was sort of funny that I clawed at his pants, he actually managed to tear mine to shreds.

  I giggled, and he stopped. “Did I do something wrong?”

  I shook my head, rolling him beneath me before I could overthink the act. “No. We just have to be careful. I don’t have other clothes.”

  “I’ll get you as many as you need. Fuck, I’ll figure out how to make them myself if I need to.”

  The thing was, I believed him. He would if that were what I required. We were naked and he was gorgeous beneath me. I didn’t know why I thought this would be better for him beneath me, but there was part of Dev that needed to be taken care of. I could see it every time I stared at him. Inside of Devil was a man not sure why he still existed in the universe. I wanted him to know just how much value he had to me, and how grateful I was that he’d decided he wanted to be one of mine.

  “Don’t move.” I grinned. “Much.”

  I kissed down his body until I got to his cock. This was as new to me as it would be to him. I’d not done this before, but I imagined I could work it out. My confidence grew with every sigh he made, every twitch of his muscles as I simply kissed his skin. How much was he going to like what I did next?

  I kissed the top of his cock, and it hardened. I smiled as that happened. There was the best sort of power in giving pleasure. It was my gift to give to him. My mouth watered, not sure what exactly would happen next but wanting every second of it just the same.

  “You know someone was the first to do this.” I spoke low, knowing he could hear me. “There was the first person out there who at some point said to themselves, I’d like to suck on that cock. And did.”

  He flared his nostrils. “Say that again.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Which part?” I wasn’t going to recite the whole thing again.

  “That word.”

  I knew which one he wanted. “Cock.”

  He nodded. “That’s the one. I love the way it sounds coming out of your mouth.”

  “Cock. Cock. Cock.” I sucked hard after I said the last one. Pleasure filled me at the same time it must have hit him. We both moaned. I moved my head up and down, struggling to take all of him but doing the best I could. He seemed to like it, and at the very least he wasn’t complaining.

  There was little to no noise around us except that which we made ourselves. His moans, my little sighs of pleasure. He tasted salty and male. I could get addicted to this. Dev needed to let me do this, a lot.

  He pulled himself out of me, fast. I gasped. What was going on? Why had he done that?

  “I know enough to know that I want to be inside of you, and before that, I want to feel you on the inside, Sienna. I need that more than anything. You can taste me, and so help me I can taste you.”

  “I…” Whatever I would have said stopped when he pushed my legs apart. His mouth was on me fast, kissing both of my thighs. I shuddered with anticipation. He’d never done this before, but I already knew he’d be an expert the second he touched me. This was Devil. He never failed.

  He kissed my pussy, breathing me in when he did. Lifting his gaze, he met mine. My cheeks must’ve been bright red for how hot they felt. This was such a personal thing to do, and if I wasn’t so transfixed, knowing what was about to happen, I might actually be embarrassed. I had no idea if that was normal for women to feel or not. My breath caught in my throat.

  “You have no idea how much I am going to love this, Sienna.”

  I loved how my name sounded coming out of his mouth, and I had nothing to say in that moment because almost as soon as he’d said that, he put his tongue on me. At first, it tickled, but quickly that sensation stopped and was replaced by pure pleasure. I leaned back. I couldn’t watch him, it was too much in that moment, but I could feel. Oh, by the universe, yes I could.

  He found my clit and sucked on it, moaning when he did, his hips jerking into the bed. The noise was my undoing. I squirmed. This was so much. Every nerve ending in my body was on fire. I wasn’t sure I could take anymore, almost wanting him to stop so I could breathe. But there was no halting this because the universe ceased to exist outside of what Dev was doing to me.

  I exploded. Tears came to my eyes, as though I was releasing more than pleasure, and it made my body shake. My muscles vibrated of their own accord, and I couldn’t make them stop, even if I’d had the wherewithal to try. He lifted his head and in a second was over me, kissing my mouth. It should have been weird to have him go straight from kissing my pussy to kissing my other lips, but it wasn’t. It was hot. Everything Dev did was.

  He kissed me slowly, as though he had every minute in the world. There was no rush in him right now even though the hardness of his cock must mean that he was in discomfort. But he acted like all he wanted to do was kiss me.

  I cupped the side of his face. “You made me shaky. Thank you.”

  He smiled down at me. “You make me shudder, too.”

  I kissed him hard, increasing the pressure as he kissed me back. I wanted him inside of me. Pulling back, I met his steady gaze. Dev was hard everywhere. I reached between us and stroked his cock once. “I need more.”

  “Inside of you?” His voice was low, he sounded hoarse.

  “Yes, please.” I nodded. “Deep inside of me.”

  He did as I asked, shifting so he could push inside of me. I sighed with his entrance. This felt so much like he belonged inside of me. The pleasure built every second that he stayed still, filling me fully and not rushing to move again.

  I squeezed him tightly between my legs, using my muscles to bring us both pleasure. He moaned, and it moved through me like he’d stroked my clit. I loved that he found so much pleasure with us being joined. It really made it like we were one in that moment.

  Then he started to gently pull out before he pistoned back inside of me. The time for gentle was over, and oh yes, I loved this, too. I held on, taking this ride with him. Every jolt of his body made me cry out until I was practically shouting. I didn’t even care. It just felt that good.

  Over and over we ground against each other until I was sure that I was going to explode into a million pieces they’d never be able to put back together.

  But when it happened, it was sweet, an easy surge that flooded me until I saw a white light in front of my vision. I caught my breath, bathing in the heaven of the whole thing. I drifted up, not sure I was going to come down. And that was okay. I’d be content to stay like this.

  He spoke my name in my ear, and it sounded like he loved me. I’d never known my name could be that way.

  But then again, everything about this man someone had named Devil seemed like love to me.

  It just was. I didn’t have to explain it. He was mine. He belonged with me.

  I didn’t remember falling asleep, but the loudest bang I’d ever heard roused me from my sleep. I gasped, coming to fast as Dev ripped me from the bed.

  He’d been next to me. I knew that because it was as though I could feel he’d been there, but he was out of the sheets faster than me. My head wasn’t clear. I’d been out cold.

  “What?”

  He wrapped me in the sheet that we’d just had covering us. “Someone is attacking. Bombs.”

  The door flung open, and Trenton rushed in. He was shirtless. Dev threw on his underwear.

  “Go. I’ve got her,” Trenton said as he tugged me toward him.

  “Yes.” Devil ran from the room. They had obviously worked out something while I still didn’t know what was going on.

  “Who is bombing us?”

  Trenton led me from the room. It seemed like it was just the two of us in here. That much I’d gathered fast. The door to one of the other rooms swung open, and one of the beds was unmade. The lights weren’t on anywhere except in there, and I guessed that was where Trenton had been sleeping.

  That changed fast, lights illuminating brightly while he dragged me and the sheet I was still wrapped in to a table in the corner.

  “Come on. Under here.”

  He wanted me to get under the table? Wasn’t there anything safer to do?

  “Trenton?” I finally found my voice. “What is happening?”

  He got under with me but only so he could place himself between me and the doorway. Finally, he answered me. “I don’t know more than you do. The others would know. Well, not Wade. But the Super Soldiers would know. They’re better out there. They’ll get this under control. And you and I will stay under this table until we know it’s safe, because I won’t be losing you in an explosion.”

  He hugged me tight to him. We had no weapons on us, or at least I didn’t think we did, and all we had was the table to protect us from the ceiling coming down on us. “Who would be attacking us? I thought… I thought the war was over now that we had Evander?”

  “Fuck. I don’t know. There’s always someone to hate us, right? Maybe this is those few soldiers who got away. That would be my guess. They’re trying a last-ditch effort to get you. Or maybe it’s just revenge. Or some new faction that wants to take this planet. I don’t know. And I don’t care. The only thing I know is that I will put my body between you and anything that goes boom.” His body vibrated, but he was solid against me. I believed he would try.