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getting quite chilly in here. He had kept her so warm. Dryness prickled in her throat. Her heart

felt extremely heavy as she backed away from him. Looking down at her feet, she reached down

to pick up the elastic that had slipped out of her hair. He was still looking at her by the guttural

sound he made.

Before she knew it, he had closed the distance between them. He reached out for her. She

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didn’t draw away but suddenly; he stopped as if he’d been burned by real fire.

“What is it?”

He looked at her, his face flashing with a myriad of emotions. “Your eyes are so

beautiful. I never told you that before, did I?”

“No,” she whispered.

“They are,” he reaffirmed. “I have always admired them, as I have always admired your

beautiful breasts.” His eyes rested on her tits. He looked like he wanted to stroke and kiss them

again. Her nipples puckered so much they almost turned purple. She reached for him. He

remained impassive.

“Sit down, please, Samantha. I’ll help you get your stockings off so you can shower.”

She opened her mouth to speak and then stopped. Obediently, she went over to the chair.

Her big mouth wasn’t so big now that she’d been with Devlin. Maybe it was her pent up

frustration that had turned her into such a walking mouthpiece.

He smirked at her, getting down to his knees in front of her. “I like the fact that you’re so

spunky.” He stopped in mid-reach for her stocking. “May I touch you?”

She just stared at him. “What have you been doing for the past hour, Dev?”

He sighed heavily. “I told you I would not touch you again until you gave me

permission.”

“Oh, I thought you meant you wouldn’t touch my…. Oh, go ahead; feel free to touch me

whenever you want, Devlin. I didn’t think I told you hands off or anything. I didn’t even think

it.”

“No, you didn’t.” He grinned at her. “Us talking like civil people…I like it…but I still

want your feisty attitude to rear its head from time to time, Samantha. If you lose that....”

She leaned forward and raked her hands through his hair. “You know what, Dev…you

are such a gentleman. I know I always hinted at the fact that I thought you were a...,”

“Crude criminal or a big asshole.” His eyes hardened. He rested his hand on her knee.

Shit. She needed to get to her shower fast before she asked him to.... Too late, he’d caught the

thought. He moved his hand up her thigh. She squirmed, as he put his hand on her stomach.

“Not now, Samantha. I will take you to such a peak later that you will be begging for me to give

you mercy.” He gave her a devilish grin.

Her heart raced. “Why not do that to me, now?”

His eyes softened. “Have you been that love starved, Samantha?”

She shook her head. “You’re not going to lure me into that trap so you can get up and put

me over your knee. I know whom you want me to talk about and I am not falling for it. I will

tell you this…I only had one man in my bed before you.”

“I know,” he ran his hand up and massaged her breasts making her burn even more. “I

knew you had saved yourself, I only wish....” He stopped. “I didn’t deserve you back then, and I

probably don’t deserve you now. You have your whole life ahead of you. I am already in my

forties.”

“Hey, don’t tell anyone but I am not the age I tell everyone either.” She smirked. “Still, I

am younger than you. But I don’t care, Dev. Tyler was a lot older than me.” She stopped, she

gasped for air.

Devlin quickly took off her second stocking. “Samantha?” Her eyes started to roll in her

head. Something was wrong.

“Samantha, forget about him. Block him from your mind.” He gripped a hold of her,

reaching to touch her face. “Let it go!”

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She fought against whatever invisible force was causing her to fall into the state she was

in. “Devlin,” she said weakly.

“Should I call for Charlotte?”

“No,” she cried.

She didn’t want to tell him what had caused her little fit, and she quickly pushed it to a

region of her mind where he couldn’t hear it. “I only want to see you for the next twenty four

hours, promise me you’ll keep everyone else at bay. I am so screwed up, Devlin. I need time to

sort out what’s rolling around in my head.”

“Is it something left over from the Triad Telepaths?” he asked, standing up, he picked her

up and held her in his arms. She marveled at his strength. She should have realized how large of

a man he was before but she’d been so busy hating him. “Don’t shower on your own. Go into

the bathroom and gather your wits, while I take that call,” he groaned as the chime on the

communication system chirped again.

“It’s Jewel and you probably do not want to tell her you have me in here.”

“Why not?” he asked. “She won’t mind.”

“I am not old enough to be her mother.”

“She won’t care.” He smiled. “You worry too much, Samantha. Let me take care of

things for the next twenty-four hours. You’ve spent the last few years trying to take care of

everyone in your life and I bet that Johanna, Charlotte, and the rest of your family want you to

take a rest.”

“They are always asking me to take it easy.”

“Then, take it easy. We have a day before we have to go after the Triad…and in that

time I can amass my forces. You didn’t marr...,” he stopped. “That’s right. I feel like we’ve

been together forever. Strange isn’t it? We have been with each other for almost two hours and

yet, I feel like you’ve been with me for years.”

“You were going to say you didn’t marry a pauper, weren’t you? Devlin, I don’t know.

This is going a bit fast to put it mildly.”

“I know, I know. You don’t know if you can marry me yet, even though you are no

longer a Cassidy, Samantha, you do know that! And since you have had no children with

Tyler...,” he stopped mid-sentence.

“I won’t be pregnant with Tyler’s child if that’s what you’re worried about. He was not

really keen on the idea of having kids. He always maintained he wanted children with me and

that he wanted to have that happy little family life and yet, he always insisted on...,”

“I get it. Now I know why you were a bit worried when you realized that we had

unprotected sex. You were worried that I would have a hissy fit when I realized that you....”

“Tyler always took care of that part, he never forgot.” She grimaced. “I guess he couldn’t

see me with a kid. And I should have told you before. You already have two kids. Oh, shit. I

have fucked up your life.”

He smiled at her. “You didn’t fuck up anything, Samantha. Like I said earlier, I am not

mad. I had unprotected sex with you not once but twice, darling.” She was taken aback by his

endearment and yet, it sounded totally different coming out of his mouth. “And if you give me

time, I will do it again, and again and again. You are the one in control of whether or not you

want me to....”

“I get it. It’s fine. I like to feel you inside of me without anything shielding you…it’s

not that bad having you, well, fill me with your seed. I don’t really think I am that fertile

anyway.” She looked at him. He knew she was probably lying given what she’d seen of them in

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the future, but she didn’t really know if she’d end up with a kid in nine months or sixteen.

“Good to know you’re looking into this for the long term,” he said softly.

“Just as long as you don’t ever take a powder and leave me high and dry, Dev. And don’t

even think about seducing my twin! Been there done that.”

He kissed her walking with her toward the bathroom. “I don’t leave when the going gets

hot, Samantha. If I did I never would have come into this room with you in the first place.”

He slowly put her on her feet. “Wait for me until I take care of answering Jewel. I don’t

know if you’re in any state to get into the shower, you could fall and break your head.”

She laughed. “You do know that I get into some pretty tough situations and that I always

get out of them.”

“Yes, but still, you can’t be too careful. By the way, those tough situations you get

into…you won’t be alone anymore. I’ll be right behind you.”

She thrilled at his words. “You mean you are not going to tell me I have to quit the

hunt?”

“Why ever would I think I could tell you anything? I’m not a stupid man, Samantha.

Don’t ever think I am.”

“Then, I won’t tell you to stop your mobster ways.”

“Good. We have an accord.” He bowed to her and closed the door softly.

“Indeed, we do,” she murmured, knowing he would hear her. Turning away from the

door, she smiled. Her life had gone from bad to good. Love surged in her heart.

* * * *

Devlin sat down, looking longingly at the bathroom door. He wanted to make love to

Samantha as many times as he possibly could within the next twenty-four hours. She was the

woman he’d always thought she could be. He understood why she’d pushed him away.

Cassidy hadn’t deserved her loyalty.

Devlin had many women in the past that had never wanted to be faithful to him; he’d

even entered an open marriage with the last Lady Devlin to keep from wondering whom she’d

been screwing when his back was turned. As it was, he had never thought she’d go and screw

Cassidy. He knew that Tyler had told Samantha that nothing had happened between him and his

whore of a wife. How Tyler could bold faced lie to Samantha without her knowing it. That only

confirmed his suspicions that Tyler had someone shielding his mind for him.

Samantha might not have the open bond with Tyler that she now shared with him, but she

was no slouch when it came to the psychically gifted department. She could hold her own and

she would have known that Tyler was gadding about on her if she’d been able to penetrate past

his shields. Tyler had worn the protection for a reason with Samantha. He hadn’t wanted any

accidental pregnancies because he’d always known there would come a day when he’d have to

leave her.

“You vile little son of a bitch, Tyler. I will get you. I almost got you six months ago and

Samantha saved your hide but you won’t be so lucky this time.” He grimly set his jaw in a severe

line. He wanted to punch the table but if he did, Samantha would come running and then he’d be

delayed getting back to Jewel because he couldn’t resist Samantha.

He didn’t know how they were ever going to leave these quarters. He just wanted to be

with her all of the time. Already, he could feel his passions stirring again.

Shaking his head, he calmed himself. Business first, pleasure later.

“Computer, open the call that waits for me.”

A moment went by and then, he heard Jewel’s voice.

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“Dad, are you okay? I have Johanna, Charlotte and Dylan all wanting to talk to

Samantha but I told them you had your quarters locked down. You and Samantha aren’t tearing

the place up are you? I don’t feel like having to do repairs.”

He chuckled. “No, we haven’t wrecked anything in my rooms. But we have gotten

physical.”

“By the way that Johanna talked I wondered if Samantha was killing you in there.”

“Oh, I died a few times,” he couldn’t help but chuckle again.

“Oh, okay.” Pause. “I get it…too much information for me, but don’t worry, I’ll cover for

you and tell them that you and Samantha are okay but that you’re duking it out together, I’ll say

you’re training her in a new fighting technique.”

He smirked. “You do that, Jewel. I don’t think that Charlotte will believe it and quite

frankly, she can come down here and try getting in but I don’t think Samantha will be very

excited to see her. In fact, Samantha told me she wanted to spend the next twenty four hours

with me.”

“Really?” Jewel sounded surprised. “How serious are you two?”

“While I would love to stay on here and chat, I thought you had something important to

discuss like the movement of enemy ships or new Intel.”

“No… we haven’t found out anything new. Charlotte is so close mouthed, I swear no

one could get her to talk and I have a feeling she knows more than what she’s willing to share.”

“I know,” he muttered.

That’s why he’d kept a close eye on Charlotte; he’d hoped that she would have given him

some much-needed information. Unfortunately, Charlotte was a sly little woman and she wasn’t

telling any tales to anyone but Tyler.

A loud crash split through the room. He jumped up.

Samantha.

“What happened, dad? Are you okay? Should I send security?”

“No…as long as no one as breached the lock down I put on these rooms....”

“No one is getting on my ship, now. Fool me once and all that Jazz.”

He smiled. “Good girl. Now, I have to run…I am sorry to cut you short.”

“Don’t apologize. I would cut you short if I had a man in my room as well.” She

laughed. “Just go and take care of Samantha. She helped me so much. I will never be able to

repay her.”

“You can start repaying her by keeping everyone away from us for the next twenty-four