Free Dusk by Erin M. Leaf

out.”
    “I know, Lucinda. I did not say my worry is rational.” He kissed
her again, coaxing her lips open with his mouth. She tasted like coffee and
mint. He groaned when she slowly slid her arms around his shoulders.
    “This is crazy,” she whispered.
    “Yes. It is,” he agreed, flushed with arousal. I can’t fight
this anymore, he thought, and then she curled a leg around his, grinding
her hip into his cock. Her emotions were bright and alluring. He couldn’t keep
his empathy under control. The energy stretched out, enveloping her as he
caressed her with his mind as well as his body.
    “Solomon, what is this? One minute you’re pushing me away, the
next you’re kissing me.” She sounded so confused he had to answer her.
    “Affinity,” he murmured, taking her mouth again. He pushed her
harder against the ship as heat flared between them. Her arousal beat through
his empathy, rousing his energy even more. Suddenly, his healing ability triggered
and he moaned as pleasure rushed through him. He sucked in a deep breath,
fighting for control, but she writhed beneath him, grabbing his shirt in her
fists.
    “God, what are you doing to me?” she asked brokenly. Solomon
nibbled down her jaw, inhaling her sweet scent. “What about the Spiders? Is
this safe?” She gripped his shirt tighter.
    Solomon rolled his hips as he answered her, pressing his cock into
her softness. “They are gone. Greyson and I took care of them. That’s why I had
to leave so abruptly earlier,” he said, running his hands down her back to cup
her ass.
    She went still as his hands lifted her into him and his empathy
crackled. She was aroused and yearning and frightened all at the same time.
    “Wait, what?” She jerked her head to the side. “What do you mean
they’re gone? They were gone months ago!”
    He eased away slightly, using his healing energy to soothe the
worst of her fear. “There was an infestation. The new sensors I installed
picked it up.”
    “Oh my God,” she whispered, hand going to her throat.
    Solomon frowned and cupped her cheeks. “You are safe. We
eradicated the infection.” He didn’t like the way she’d gone pale. Her sudden
terror prickled through him like static as his empathy ramped up even higher.
His instincts told him to grab her and take her home. “Will you come home with
me?”
    She stared up at him. “What about my parents?”
    “The infestation is gone. They should be fine. And the sensors are
still active,” he assured her. He knew there was no reason to take her to his
tower, but he was tired of fighting himself. He wanted her in his territory. In
his bed. He gritted his teeth as his healing energy surged again, responding to
her emotions.
    She licked her lips. “I’m scared.”
    His heart nearly cracked in two. “I know,” he said, gently
brushing a curl away from her temple. “But I can keep you safe. I promise.”
    “How?”
    He kissed her. He had to. “Do you trust me?” His mind reached out
to hers.
    She nodded. “Yes, of course.”
    “I will not let you die, Lucinda.” She trembled as he kissed her
again, licking inside her mouth. He needed to be closer.
    “I feel strange,” she whispered. “Like I’m on the verge of a
migraine, but instead of pain, it feels good.”
    Solomon shivered. He knew exactly what she meant because he was
feeling it with her. “I know. I feel it too,” he said, swallowing hard.
    She kissed him then, and he moaned as she delicately explored his
mouth. “Let me in,” he murmured.
    “You healed me,” she said, breathing hard. “I felt you inside my
body. Your energy—”
    He nodded. “Yes.”
    “Is that what this is?”
    He didn’t know how to answer that. Instead, he kissed her again,
passionately, barely able to think. Lucy cried out and suddenly, her inner
barriers faded and his mind surged forward. She grabbed him as he groaned. “Fuck!”
    “Sounds like a good idea to me,” she muttered, shaking so hard he
could barely keep her