Oh, god . . . what he’d done to her. She’d never allowed a man to touch her that way, bring her to climax like that. Her cheeks burned. And she’d liked it, too.

Alejandro walked out of the bathroom, with only a towel around his lean waist. Water droplets beaded on the muscular expanse of his chest and on his powerful arms—arms that had held her down on the bed while he’d fucked her silly the night before. Twice. Forward and backward. While she moaned and begged him for more. She glanced up at him, frowning.

He spread his hands. “Look, Daria—”

“Alejandro.” She frowned even more. Soon her face would crack.

He sighed. “I’m sorry, but I had to release my whole veil over you. I couldn’t hold anything back. You were too tense, understandably so. I had to do it.”

She looked away. “I know.”

“It was a necess—” He paused. “You know?”

“I don’t like it, but I understand why you did it. I don’t want anything to jeopardize this mission, Alejandro. Anything.”

“I did what I had to do.” He took a step toward her. “But it was a risk.”

She looked up at him, trying to meet his eyes, but failing. God, how many times had his name spilled from her lips the night before? “What do you mean?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I played on my bet that you wanted me but had been holding yourself back for . . . whatever reasons you hold yourself back. I could have been wrong. That’s why I mean it was a risk. Once I broke down your walls with my veil, you could have just as easily kneed me in the balls, if that’s what you’d truly wanted to do.” A grin spread over his lips. “I think that would have given us a fail.”

She blinked. “Does it count that I want to kick you in the balls now?”

“Daria you can’t blame me—”

“I don’t. I’m glad you did what you did. The rest, well, those were my desires free from my misgivings and fears right? Can’t blame you for those. Anyway, I know I pushed you . . . afterward. After Sante left.”

“You did push me.”

“I know. It was all my doing.”

“I appreciate that.”

“It’s the truth.” She dropped her gaze, feeling miserable. “So now you know just how badly I’ve wanted you.”

“Yes.” He grinned wolfishly. “Pretty damn bad.”

“Yeah, but I’ve had you now. A couple of times.” Anger flared and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t be looking for more where that came from.”

All Alejandro did was grin at her response. Clearly, he didn’t believe her. She looked away from him. Hell, she didn’t believe herself. Just looking at him, standing there with water droplets running down his body, she wanted him. Wanted to lick every one of them off his skin. Wanted to take his cock into her mouth and see if she could make him as crazy as he’d made her last night. Heat flushed her body, and she closed her eyes.

“Daria, it’s the Choosing that’s making your libido run this hard. Damn, I’ve never seen anyone with as much control as you have. Your will is very strong, but it’s not as strong as the aftereffects of the change.” He took a few steps toward her. “Just give it up.”

She sank her teeth into her lower lip. After a moment, she said, “I never give up.”

He sat on the bed beside her and traced the bare skin of her back above the line of the sheet that wrapped her. “I gave you last night and, fuck, it was sweet. Te deseo. That means I want you. I want you now, I want you always.” His voice was a low, silken rasp. It made her shiver and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

She wanted him, too. It seemed that having Alejandro once was not enough. Her body—if not her mind—desired him again.

The question was, what did her heart want?

“Maybe,” he continued, still caressing her back, “maybe you should just let this be what it is, Daria. Just for now. Let this attraction between us play out for the duration of our time here. After it’s over, we’ll go our separate ways. No problem. The advantages are that we convinced Sante and the Shining Way that we are truly a mated pair and we also get to sate our lust for each other. No strings once this is all through, just lots of sex before we part ways.”

“The disadvantages?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Disadvantages?” He laughed, and the sound of it rolled over her. “Honey, for me there are no disadvantages.”

What if she fell in love with him? That was the disadvantage for her. It would be so easy to fall in love with this strong, good-natured, protective man. She drew a shuddering breath. “Let me think about it.” She stood. “Right now I have to take a shower and get back to making teddy bears.”

He nodded. “You think on it, Daria. Go ahead and think all you want, but I’m going to do my best to sway you in the direction I think you should go.” He slipped a hand under the sheet. His palm was warm on her skin. “Understand?”

She tried to back away, she really did. In the end all she could do was stand there and look up into his warm, dark eyes.

His pupils dilated. “I had a taste of you last night and it wasn’t enough. Not enough by a long mile. So the gloves are off. When I want someone, I go after them.”

Daria forced herself to take a step back, away from that very dangerous hand and the more dangerous response her body was having to the look in his eyes and the words coming from his lips. “You can try.” The words were good, but her voice was a bit shaky.

Leave it to Alejandro Martinez to make her feel vulnerable. She turned and escaped into the bathroom.

Alejandro wanted more than just her body; he wanted her love.

He watched her disappear into the bathroom, her conflicted emotions clearly displayed on her face and in her body language. He fisted his hands in his lap, forcing himself to not go in there and tease her into sexual submission once again. She was very susceptible to him right now. He knew he could do it, but Alejandro wanted her for the long haul, and therefore, he needed to show restraint.

Daria had been betrayed badly and it still affected her at a deep level. Alejandro knew he had to win her trust before he could win her love. In fact, Alejandro could sense the beginnings of that lofty emotion in her already. She fought it, but it was there. He knew he needed to seduce her, not overwhelm her, gentle her to him slowly and with patience.

Patience not being one of his better traits.

The water started in the bathroom and he shifted on the bed uncomfortably, his cock happy with the image of Daria in the shower, water sluicing over her curves, beading on her nipples, and running between her thighs.

It wasn’t just her body that he loved. Daria was strong and intelligent, a woman who could meet him head-to-head and come out the winner. She was caring, too, beneath the gruff exterior. After all, here she was at the Shining Way, having altered her life irrevocably, in order to gain satisfaction for the death of her friend.

Long ago Alejandro had recognized that Daria Moran was the woman for him, and nothing had changed except his resolve. This time he wasn’t going to let her walk away, no matter what he said about meaningless sex with no strings attached. With Daria, there was nothing meaningless about it.

With effort, he pulled himself away from thoughts about what might happen if he entered her shower. If he used his hands and mouth to physically show her just how much he cared about her. Sex was the only way he could do it right now without making her cut and run. He couldn’t say he minded. Having her climax while he’d been sheathed deeply in her cunt the night before had been the best goddamn thing he’d experienced in years.

Daria was his. He’d make sure she was his, heart, body, and soul by the end of this game.

Jia Ying shrugged and shot her a shy smile. “Not a whole lot. I know he is one of the old ones and lucky he hasn’t gone insane with the press of age on his mind. Know he’s a little bit idealistic and that’s why he created the Shining Way. He wanted to create a place just for Chosen, where we could be free to be ourselves. I respect his vision. Other than that, he’s a private man. Talk is he’s pretty serious about a woman right now.” She smiled. “I think she’s lucky.”

Daria’s head snapped up. “Really?” That was news to her.

“Oh, yeah, but they’re being secretive about it. She stays in his house, never comes out, never sees anyone but him. No one at the Shining Way has ever even caught a glimpse of her.”

Interesting. Sante was in love. Was he even capable of that? The idea didn’t jibe with the Sante she remembered. Cold. Merciless. Murderer. Loyal to none but his bitch of a blood mother.

“Why is that?” Daria asked.

Jia Ying shrugged. “I don’t know why they’re keeping it so shushed. There’s speculation, but I think he’s just protective of her. Some of the members are overly zealous in their devotion to Christopher Sante. Personally, I think he’s just trying to keep her away from all that.”

“Sante’s a real star around here, isn’t he?”

Daria tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but Jia Ying still caught the edge of it since her answer was a little on the defensive side. “With good reason!”

Daria put her head down and stuffed teddy bears, unable to answer that one and keep any semblance of Valerie in place.

“Where’s your man today?” Jia Ying asked after a while.

“They needed some help with the bees, so he’s spending the day out there. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

Brandon had hooked Alejandro with a temporary “in” over there, which was good since there had been a rash of full moons in the dome lately. They could have as many as they wanted, of course, and apparently someone wanted a bunch. It almost seemed like they desired extra light or something. Maybe to prevent people from sneaking around at night trying to see if they were trafficking blood slaves? It made Daria a little paranoid if she thought about it too much.

One of the factory managers approached them as they worked. “Your presence has been requested at Christopher Sante’s home,” he told Daria.

Her body jerked in shock and she dropped the teddy bear she’d been working on. She turned to face the foreman. “Excuse me?”

“It’s just what I said. Sante requests your company. Now.”

“Yay!” Jia Ying clapped. “You get to see inside his house! You’re so lucky! I wonder what he wants.”

Yes, Daria wondered, too. “I feel like I’m being called to the principal’s office.”

“Oh, no, Valerie,” Jia Ying replied with a warm smile. “Don’t worry. Sante is no one to be afraid of.”

If only Jia Ying knew.

A short time later Daria walked up the charming cobblestone path to Sante’s front door. It all looked different in the daylight, when she wasn’t sneaking around breaking and entering. The house was white, a throwback to Earth in the early twenty-first century, considered by most to be the planet’s heyday. That bit of history fueled an enduring retro craze.

Daria knew Sante had been born during that time. So beyond the popularity of all things early twenty-first century, he probably had a preference for architecture of that style. Flowers bloomed along the path on either side of her, and overflowed from the boxes under the windows. Their scent drifted to her nose and calmed her a bit.

What the hell did Christopher Sante want with her? Alone. At his house in the middle of the dome’s workday. Gah. At least, if Sante didn’t kill her, she might get a glimpse of this woman he was hiding away. The female succubare she’d felt the night she’d broken in.

The door opened and Sante stepped out. “Valerie! Welcome to my home.” He ushered her inside. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.” She gawked a bit at the retro furnishings of the living room, as though it was the first time she’d seen them. Valerie would be awed, of course.

“Come, sit down,” Sante said, leading her further into the living room and motioning to a plush chair. “I just want to chat a bit.”

Chat a bit? Daria tried not to look wary and sank down onto the expensive piece of furniture. “I appreciate you inviting me over, Mr. Sante. Frankly, I wasn’t sure how I stood with you after the events of the other night.”

“Please call me Christopher.”

“All right . . . Christopher.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk. I know what I did was very intrusive, but you have to understand that I can take no chances here. I spent a lot of time and money building this community and must be very careful about who I allow to live here. There are those in the world who would like to see this place taken down, those who want to destroy all Chosen.”

“You’re talking about Richard Templeton and The New Covenant Church.”

“They’re one organization, perhaps the most activist, of several.” He paused and pursed his lips. “I have many enemies, Valerie. People who want to destroy what I care about, those Chosen I have come to love. I cannot allow that to happen. Hence, the surprise visit to you and Alejandro the other night.”

“I understand.”

“I’m not a voyeur. I just needed to find out if the allegations lodged against you were true. That was the only way I knew, short of taking your blood myself, to determine if they were or not.” He grinned. “Not that I didn’t want to take your blood. You’re a very attractive woman.”

Hmmm. “Why didn’t you have Alejandro meet us here, Christopher?”

He smiled. “I will meet with Alejandro separately. I thought you and I could get to know each other better if we were alone.”

“I have no interest in sex.”

Sante’s body jerked a bit with surprise. His smile went icy for a moment. “I find you attractive, Valerie, but I don’t want to have sex with you.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Is it possible for a man to find a woman attractive and not want to have sex with her?”

His smile tightened. “For me it is.”

She inclined her head a degree. “Then I apologize. I didn’t mean to offend.” Damn it. She’d gone fishing for evidence of the female secreted away in his house and had come up with nothing.

“No offense taken. I can understand why you may have thought that, but, really, Valerie, I saw ample evidence that you’re mated to Alejandro the other night. I would never intrude on such a strong bond.”

Daria blinked. If she hadn’t known what a slimeball he was she might be inclined to like him. She saw how he could inspire loyalty at the Shining Way if he always behaved this way. Well . . . apart from barging into people’s rooms at night and demanding he observe them in intimate acts.

“Now that we have that settled, tell me about yourself, Valerie. Tell me about your parents and your upbringing. As Alejandro’s mate, I would like to get to know you better.”

She’d been fishing, and now it seemed like he was, but she had no idea for what. Good thing she’d memorized Valerie’s story front and back. “I was born and raised right here in the Logos Territories. My mother was a secretary for the water company in New Chicago and my father was a miner on Songset. He left early on and my mother died in a gravmetro accident when I was seventeen. To avoid being raised by my aunt, I quit school and went to work as a waitress.”

“It’s kind of a tragic story.”

“I don’t think so. It’s just my story.”

“But then you met Alejandro and fell in love.”

She nodded and smiled. Frighteningly, it wasn’t hard to smile when she thought of Alejandro. “Yes. I was very scared when he decided to Choose me. I didn’t think I’d make it through the succubare.”

He smiled. “And then you did. Quite amazing.”

“And then I did.”

“You know that only 1 percent of all humans lacking the Chosen gene make it through the succubare.”

Oh, maybe that was why he’d taken an interest in her. “Yes, I’ve heard that. My mother used to always tell me that I had a stubborn streak. I guess it served me well during the Choosing. When I started to feel tired, started to feel like giving up, I forced myself to push harder.”

“That kind of resolve is admirable. I may have need of you, if you don’t mind playing a special role here at the Shining Way.”

“I’m nobody special.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” A slow smile spread across his lips. “I’ve never met anyone who pushed through the succubare and didn’t have the gene. You’re not just special; you’re exceptional. In fact, I would like to have someone like you close to me, someone who has the drive and will that you do.”

Her heart went pitter-pat. Getting into Sante’s inner circle would be valuable. She’d thought maybe Alejandro had a shot, since he had a history with him. She’d never dreamed she’d have a chance, but she’d grab onto this one with both hands. “If you think I can be of value to you, Christopher, then I humbly offer my services.”

“Good. I will summon Alejandro after you’ve left. When I need you, I will call.”

That seemed like a dismissal, so Daria stood. “I’m glad we had this opportunity to talk.”

Sante rose and escorted her to the front door. “I am, too.” He clasped her hand warmly in his, and she suppressed a shudder of revulsion. “I’m very glad to have you at the Shining Way, Valerie.”

Walking down the path away from the house, Daria couldn’t stop the huge smile that had spread across her face. She was one step closer to her goal.