“That’s right,” he groaned, “come for me.”

The world went on a spin at that point, but not because she was losing consciousness—although with all the sensations coursing through her, it was a wonder she didn’t pass out. But no, she wasn’t fainting; Boone was sweeping her off of him and rolling her to the side. With her bed only a modest twin, they had to shuffle arms and legs around so no one ended up on the floor, and then she wasn’t thinking about gravity.

He was on top of her, her thighs parting to accommodate his heavy body, his sex slipping back inside of her core like it was meant to be there and nowhere else. They stared at each other for a moment, and then he kissed her softly.

“Is this okay?” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed.

“You are so much more than I ever expected.”

Reaching up, she stroked his face. “And I would say the same back to you.”

Boone moved slowly at first, but that did not last. Before long, he was pumping into her hard, the bed banging against the wall, his pelvis slapping into the cradle of her own. Grabbing onto his shoulders, she tried not to score his skin with her nails and failed.

Helania had to hold on for dear life, and wasn’t that incredible.

Raw. Powerful. Dominating.

He was everything a warrior was supposed to be, shattering her previous awkward, largely unsatisfying, sexual experiences, blowing everything, even her fantasies, out of the water. And as her body absorbed his penetrations, her head went back and forth on the pillow, her view of the ceiling vacillating as he advanced and retreated with all the strength in his rugged body.

Even though it was not over yet, she couldn’t wait to be with him again.

* * *

No clue how long it lasted.

When Boone’s hips finally locked into Helania’s, and his sex kicked out one last ejaculation, he was utterly and completely spent. And as his arms abruptly lost their strength, he barely managed to twist to the side to avoid crushing her.

They both were breathing hard, their sexes still joined thanks to the torque of his spine, their skin covered in a sheen of sweat.

He had made a mess all over her. And given that sensuous smile on her face? She didn’t mind one bit.

Opening his mouth, he wanted to say the perfect thing. Express the awe and joy that was in his heart. Put together a combination of words that made her know how much all of this had meant to him.

Nothing came out.

There was just too much to be said, and he was too satiated to do anything other than mumble.

So he let his fingers do the walking.

Stroking her hair back from her face, he caressed her throat, her collarbone . . . her sternum. With a gentle touch, he drew circles around one of her breasts and then a line down her belly. Her body was as finely built as her facial features were, her curves and her straightaways subtle and perfect, and he took his time with his lazy, loving, exploration.

In response, she did some exploring of her own, running her hand up and down his arm, lingering over the bulge of his biceps and the slice of his triceps.

As their bodies cooled, they communicated by contact, everything shared and accepted, all thoughts and feelings out on the table, the experience they’d had memorized by the quiet, peaceful aftermath—

The banging sound had him jacking upright and reaching for a gun he did not have holstered on him—because, hello, he was frickin’ naked. When the banging happened again, he looked to the ceiling.

Helania laughed. “It’s the humans overhead.”

Creeeeeak. Boom, boom, boom.

“They’re getting in the shower.”

Boone glared at the sounds. “The hell they are. They’re square-dancing with concrete shoes.”

“We’re going to get about eight minutes of quiet next.”

Boone glanced at the digital clock. “You’ve timed it?”

“With the amount of noise they make every weekday morning, I’ve had to adapt and it helps to know the different stages. You can get through almost anything as long as you know it won’t last forever.”

Resettling beside her, he folded her in against him and stroked the outside of her arm. “Eight minutes?”

“Soap, shampoo and conditioner.”

“Is it a man or a woman up there?”

“One of each.”

“Oh, God, they could breed. And then there would be more of them.”

“I can always move out.”

Boone opened his mouth, but then slapped it shut when he realized he was about to suggest that she could come stay with him. Talk about moving fast—it was way, way too early for that.

Next week he could bring it up. Or maybe tomorrow night.

J/k, he thought.

In all seriousness, he had often overheard Craeg, Peyton, and Axe talk about their females at the training center or after hours when they were all chilling on the bus. It was like a constant, low-level preoccupation for his buddies: when they were seeing their mates, where they were going to go with them, how they were going to enjoy the time they had. He’d never understood it before. Sure, he’d appreciated a fine-looking female on occasion; take Rochelle, for example—even though he’d had his reservations about committing to a lifetime with her, he had not been blind to her obvious beauty and poise.

But he’d never come anywhere close to what he’d seen from his friends.

Now? He so fucking got that drill. And like his buddies, it wasn’t just about sex for him. He wanted to tell Helania about the Fade Ceremony. Find out how she was feeling about the investigation. Ask her advice about things pertaining to Marquist and his father’s household and the goddamn will.

This connection he had with a relative stranger was just like what the other three males had likewise been shocked by: Instead of time and experiences revealing a compatibility that led to a relationship, with Helania, it had been less a gradual evolution of feeling for him and more like a bank vault being opened by the correct combination.

An unlocking that was an instantaneous—

Boom! Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom.

Boone glanced at the clock. “Oh, my God, eight minutes. You’re right.”

“I’ve had some experience with them.” She pressed a kiss to his chest. “Next is dressing. It’s going to get louder because they’re right above us.”

Man, she did not underestimate the floor show. The banging and crashing, creaking and bouncing, made him doubt that clothes were the only thing involved.

“Are you sure they’re not playing jai alai up there?” As she giggled, he looked over at her. “Listen, I can take care of this for you. I can make this go away.”

“By doing what?”

“Breaking both their legs.” He winked at her. “Or if there are more than two, all of the legs that are up there. It’ll cut down on the noise huge.”

Helania smiled. “You’re joking, right?”

“Yes.” He got serious. “I’m not into hurting things unnecessarily.” The instant he said it, he knew that wasn’t exactly true. But lessers did not count. They weren’t even living, for godsakes.

“Can I ask you something?” she whispered.

“Please.” He tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “What do you want to know?”

“When you came here and I opened that door . . .” Her voice drifted. “You looked worn-out. Is everything okay?”

Boone twisted a lock of her red and blond hair around his finger. “I feel like I should choose my words carefully here.”

“Why?”

“My sire died, as you know. But I’m not . . . I’m not mourning him like you do your sister. He and I didn’t have a good relationship. I was an embarrassment to him, pretty much since birth, because I didn’t look like the proper aristocrat he was. I was always bigger, more muscled, not the whip-thin body type the glymera prefers.” He hesitated to share that he might have been the product of an affair. “Then, after my blood mahmen passed unto the Fade, he just moved another female in without talking about it. Like she was a sofa replacing a couch that had been stained. I couldn’t take all his superficial bullcrap anymore after that. I had tried to live up to his expectations, but you can only take so much of that kind of censure before you either separate yourself or . . .”

“Or what?”

“Kill yourself.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal. Even though it had been. “My final straw with him was the stepmahmen thing. His final straw with me was a broken arrangement that brought shame on the bloodline. And then me joining the Brotherhood’s training program, of course. So, anyway, when he died . . . it was a relief for me on many levels.”

“I am so sorry you had such a difficult time with your sire.”

“It happens. Particularly in the glymera, I think.”

“I’m not sure what is worse. Missing someone who I loved as much as I loved Isobel . . . or suffering through the relationship you had with your father.”

“Sad toss-up.” And probably one of the roots of their connection. “Suffering has many vocabulary words, doesn’t it.”

There was a period of silence. “You were arranged?” she asked. “I was. She ended it, and the truth was, I was more than fine with it.

I was prepared to go through with things to save face for her and everyone else in my family. But the true love wasn’t there for me, and it wasn’t there for her, either.”

Helania took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that I asked about the mating thing. And just so you know, I’ve never been even remotely close to something like that.”

Boone smiled slowly. “You can ask me anything. And if I’d known that you’d had a broken arrangement, that would have been something I’d focus on, too.”

“Your father must have hurt you very deeply over the years.”

“It’s okay. It’s just the way things were.”

Helania tucked her arm under her head and played with his hand.