My hands unfurled on reflex as I reached down, clasping his arm. I fully intended to force him to let me go, but the skin-to-skin contact was jarring, like a static charge passing between us, shorting out my senses. The sense of familiarity, of many moving pieces finally clicking into place as the warmth in my chest beat in tandem with my heart, taking over. My grip on his arm loosened, and my fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They trailed down his granite-like skin to the tips of his claws.

I focused on that, on the feeling of him, as I took short, shallow breaths. I needed to get ahold of myself. Had to gather up those files and shove them back away. And I did just that, picturing myself running through the alley, snatching up files of memories and emotions. I gathered them to my chest and then forced them back into that cabinet in the recesses of my soul.

“Trin?” Concern rasped in his voice.

“I’m okay.” I struggled to catch my breath. “I’m fine. I’m all right.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yes.” I nodded for extra emphasis.

“If I put you down, will you make me a promise?” Zayne turned us away from the Raver, his large wings stirring the air around us. “You won’t run back and start hitting the demon like it’s your own personal punching bag?”

“I promise.” I wriggled against his hold and immediately felt a burn that spiked in my chest, right next to my heart. That burn dropped lower...and simmered below my navel. I stilled as my senses tried to sort out what I was feeling. It was like razor-sharp frustration that tasted of dark chocolate. A mix of desperation and indulgence.

Desire.

Forbidden desire, to be exact.

And I was pretty sure those potent sensations weren’t originating only from me.

Surprise rippled through me as I sucked in a heady breath. I hadn’t picked up on this through the bond before. My fingers pressed into Zayne’s hard skin as my eyes drifted shut. Even though we were pretending the night we’d kissed had never happened, the memory consumed my thoughts at record speed.

The ZAYNE drawer rattled insistently, cracking open the sliver I’d left before into a tiny fissure, and my heart went full throttle with it.

There was no stopping it.

I let myself feel.

8

The tumultuous thunder of emotions sent my heart racing and thoughts scattering. Anticipation and yearning took root, spreading through me like a flower seeking sun, and the feeling of this is right beat back the tiny bursts of fear.