lamplight, Evyn’s features were soft, almost blurred. Color smudged
her cheeks, probably from the cold. Wes had a hard time looking away
from her mouth, remembering the softness, the taste. “I’ll take your
coat.”“Thanks.” Evyn passed her jacket to Wes and turned slightly to
take in the living room and kitchen. “Looks like a pretty good place.”
“My mother says it needs plants. Or a cat.” Wes held Evyn’s jacket
in one hand, oddly unable to move.
“Mothers always think we need plants.”
“Yours too?” Wes didn’t know what to do with herself. She’d
never brought a woman back to her quarters before. She searched her
mind for the right thing to say, the right thing to do, and realized she
had no idea. Evyn wasn’t just any friend, and thinking Evyn might be or
could be was ridiculous. She had friends. She loved Emory. She didn’t
want Emory to kiss her—didn’t ache to see her the moment they parted.
Didn’t lose her concentration thinking about the way Emory tasted, the
small sounds she made when they kissed. “I’ll make that coffee.”
Evyn moved closer and brushed a stray lock of hair from Wes’s
forehead. Her fingertips were warm but Wes shivered. “Why don’t you
take your coat off first.”
Wes swallowed. Nodding, she shrugged out of her topcoat, grateful
for something to do, and hung it up with Evyn’s in the closet next to the
door. When she turned back, Evyn was standing right in front of her.
• 219 •
RADCLY
“Coffee keeps me awake if I drink it after twenty-two hundred,”
Evyn said.
“It’s almost zero hundred.”
“I know. Honestly, the coffee was an excuse. I wasn’t ready to say
good night. Sorry.”
Wes watched Evyn’s lips move, straining to hear the words while
her body flooded with the memory of soft kisses and a knowing mouth
and unbearable pleasure. She pressed her fingertips to Evyn’s lips,
amazed when she realized she’d moved. Touched her. She hadn’t meant
to. “No need to be sorry.”
Evyn grew silent, her eyes darkening, searching Wes’s.
“I keep thinking about being with you,” Wes said hoarsely.
“About touching you. About the way you touch me. Remembering…
everything…has been driving me crazy.”
Evyn covered Wes’s hand and kissed her fingertips. Drawing
Wes’s palm to the side of her face, she held it there, pressed Wes’s
fingers along the arch of her jaw.
Evyn’s skin was soft, hot. Wes throbbed inside. She held her breath,
held very, very still. Waiting. Searching for an answer she feared she
wouldn’t recognize.
“I know,” Evyn whispered, leaning toward her. Inches away now.
“I feel the same. I want you all the time.”
Wes backed up a step. Her shoulders met the closet door and she
leaned against it. Her thighs went soft and she locked her knees, forcing
her body to stay upright. They should talk, but her mind was seriously
disconnected. She clasped the back of Evyn’s neck, fearing she might
move away.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Evyn smiled, a knowing, ever-so-
slightly triumphant smile.
Wes kept her eyes open as Evyn slowly leaned closer, memorizing
the swirling shades of blue and purple in Evyn’s eyes, the flicker of her
ebony pupils, the golden sparks of color that danced around her irises,
like flames around the fire. She grasped Evyn’s waist with both hands,
pressing her thumbs into the muscles above Evyn’s hips. Evyn groaned
softly and excitement welled in Wes’s depths. She tugged Evyn to her,
but Evyn pressed her palms on either side of her shoulders, keeping
their bodies an inch apart.
• 220 •
“Do you know what you’re doing to me?” Evyn growled softly.
“What I want right now?”
“I want to kiss you,” Wes said.
“I want more than that.” Evyn’s lips skimmed Wes’s. Sweet, hot,
urgent. “Say yes, Wes.”
“Yes.”
Instantly, Evyn’s mouth covered Wes’s. Thought fled, instinct
ruled. Wes slid her arms around Evyn and dug her fingertips into the
hard muscles along Evyn’s spine. A pulse pounded in her clit. Groaning,
she parted her legs and Evyn’s tight thigh wedged between hers. Wes
arched. She wanted—needed—more too. “Yes.”
Evyn took the kiss deeper. Her tongue was sweet and sure,
sweeping over the inside of Wes’s lips, probing lightly in her mouth,
teasing her to surrender. Wes rode Evyn’s thigh, hips pumping, each
thrust sending spirals of pleasure twisting along her spine. She heard a
whimper. Registered distantly the sound came from her.
Pulling her head back, Evyn gasped, “Wes.”
Evyn’s voice grated, a register lower than Wes recognized, urgent
and hungry. Evyn’s need made her burn. Wes twisted a handful of
Evyn’s shirt in her fist and yanked it from her pants. Evyn found the
buttons on her shirt, impatiently worked them open, slid her hand over
Wes’s bare belly. Wes jerked at the sudden flash of heat. Her nipples
tightened. Need gripped her like a hard hand between her thighs. She
moaned. She was burning.
“Wes, God. Where’s the bed?” Evyn’s mouth seared Wes’s neck.
Her fingers slipped down Wes’s belly, restlessly searching beneath the