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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

Carefully, like she was afraid he might bite, she moved to embrace him. He grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, his body surging with endorphins. Without thinking, he pushed her onto her back, and moved himself on top of her, eliciting a surprised “Mph!” At first, she was the icicle, cold and tense and immobile, then swung hard in the other direction, throwing her arms around his neck and crushing her lips to his. He opened his eyes and saw that hers were already wide open. He broke the kiss and backed off.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“Yes!” she said, almost cutting him off. “You just surprised me.”

He smiled and decided to meter himself, kissing her cheek, then the skin next to her ear, then the skin of her neck, inch by inch, moving down to her collarbone. “Do you like it?”

“Yes,” she said, drawing in another surprised breath as his mouth found one of her breasts, and his hand found the other. “I just . . .”

“Hmm?”

“N-nothing. I like being with you.”

Engines fired up, he threw the rest of the sheet off her and tore off his underwear. This time, she was much more pliant, all soft and wet and warm and tight, and felt so, so good. He made sure she came before he did this time, then just relaxed inside her for a while, savoring the feeling of her body under his. He reassured her all the while that she didn’t need to worry in the short term, that mi casa es su casa, that he’d keep an eye on Ampersand and Nikola, and that more importantly, he’d take care of her.

After all, somebody needed to.

37

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37

Kaveh made it to Los Alamitos about three hours after Kaplan called him. They still had not reintroduced Nikola to Ampersand, but today’s activity instead was in some ways even more harrowing—introducing Nikola to Esperas and Brako, the two who apparently saw state-sanctioned killing as the cure to all ills? Well, cool. If nothing else, that meant they probably got on well with their buddies at the CIA.

When he asked, Ghasabian told him that they were still so-called because Esperas and Brako (and all the rest of the Fremda group) had not been rechristened from their Esperanto code names. Still, Kaveh got the impression that Kaplan, Ghasabian, and their ilk still didn’t quite see them as people. They were “introducing” them as if Nikola were a wild-caught elephant in a zoo being introduced to a herd that had been bred in captivity.