Free Darkness on Fire by Alexis Morgan

room. Thanks to his enhanced Paladin DNA, he could feel Jora moving around inside, hear her heart beat, and even sense her pain. Or maybe it was his own that he was feeling. Suddenly the night air seemed a whole lot better than spinning his wheels in nowhere land.
    He slammed the bar that opened the door to the parking lot. Abusing a piece of metal was better than punching someone—or taking Jora to bed because he so desperately needed to feel something besides pain again.
    He hit the parking lot with no destination in mind, already breathing as hard as if he’d been running for miles. To the right lay quiet neighborhoods, with only pools of light from the streetlights. Down to the left he could see the flash of neon lights, maybe from a bar.
    Well, if he couldn’t hold a willing woman in his arms, at least he could drown his sorrows. But the tiny voice of his conscience reminded him that his duty was to stand guard over Jora b’Larth, and he kept going past the neighborhood tavern, counting off the minutes until he figured it was safe to return. Surely Jora would be sound asleep by now. With luck, he’d be able to slip into their room unheard, snag a pillow off the bed, and curl up on the floor, with the extra blanket.
    Come morning, he’d get Jora her own room or at least one with two beds. Her alien bloodlines should’ve been enough to mark her as off-limits, but what his mind was telling him and what his body was demanding were two separate things.
    He trudged the last block back to the motel, taking satisfaction in knowing that the miles he’d walked had left him numb and ready to sleep. Once Barak and Larem were there to act as a buffer, it would be easier to control this burning need to bed Jora.
    Jora sat up to straighten the tangled sheets and blanket. Despite the long, hot bath and cup of herbal tea, she just couldn’t unwind enough to sleep.
    Where was Penn? She wanted him—not just back in the room, but in her bed. Which was stupid, since he’d obviously lost interest in her. He couldn’t wait to get away from her fast enough.
    It was amazing how much that rejection had hurt, even though she’d been having second thoughts, too. But she now knew exactly how it felt to be wrapped up in those powerful arms, to be cuddled up against his chest, and her body wanted
more.
Badly.
    She tried to concentrate instead on what she was doing, and got out of the bed to pick up the pillows that had fallen to the floor.
    The door opened with no notice, surprising a small shriek out of her. She spun around, clutching the pillow in front of her as if it would protect her from an attack. The light next to the door flipped on, making her blink against the sudden brightness.
    “Penn?”
    “Yeah. Sorry if I woke you.” His voice sounded rough. Tired, maybe.
    “You didn’t. I had trouble relaxing, and managed to tear the bed up.”
    His dark blue eyes looked past her at the bed, then back to her face. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”
    How should she answer? Well, she’d been honest with him until now and saw no reason to change that. “I was waiting for you.”
    “I’m sorry to have kept you up.” He moved farther into the room.
    She took a few brave steps forward herself. “Why did you stay gone so long?”
    “I thought you might want a chance to . . . I wanted . . . I was afraid . . .”
    She wasn’t going to let him off easy. “What were you afraid of, Penn? That I was going to jump your bones first chance I got? A simple ‘not interested’ would have been enough.”
    “It’s not that.” He was but a few feet away, his hands fisting.
    She flung the pillow at him in frustration, leaving her standing there in her new oversized sleep shirt. “Then why?”
    Penn snagged the pillow out of the air and tossed it aside, staring down at her bare legs. “Because I want to be fair with you, Jora. Yes, I wanted to crawl into the bed with you and see where it took us. I still do, but I can’t offer you anything but