#mail call

Never has he ever felt such a burn before. Not even when they first started being strictly physical. Not even when he had gotten married in what felt like a former life.

But Reaper knew that whatever stormy, craggy, possessive feeling he harbored toward his current bedmate was growing stronger by the day.

Mariana was young, bright like the very star the government turned her into. She was the opposite of him in every way and yet they were both drawn together in a way that shouldn't make sense. That shouldn't even have happened.

But it did happen.

And what was supposed to be strictly physical was becoming...not so.

He wasn't even sure why he did it. Maybe it was because he was seeing the same look in her eyes. The look of a woman who wanted to feel more than what it was supposed to be, but masked her emotions well. Even better than Reaper himself, really.

Maybe it was because he found himself looking at her that way too, until those brief glances and lingering touches wound them up a bit too long.

Reaper pressed Mariana against the wall of his quarters, mask gone and revealing the face she never turned away from. His lips devoured hers, clawed, gloved hands gripping her hip tightly to prevent any escape. Mariana melted against him, kissing back with a moan when he slotted his thigh between her legs.

"What's...gotten into you?" She was breathless, asking the question that's long plagued him.

And his answer was a growl. "You. You've gotten into me. Under my skin and making me act like some lovesick teenager, mariposa. I need it to stop even if I have to fuck it out of you."

Her fingers dug into clothed biceps, cheeks flushed a cherry red. "Is wanting this so bad?" she asked, her voice a whisper, but she didn't stop him from pushing his thigh against her heat. "I want you and you want me too."

"I can't have anything more than this," Reaper bit out.

"That's a lie you tell yourself... because you never kissed me like this when we fuck."

Which was true.

Instead, Reaper kissed Mariana with every, twisted, tangled emotion he carried; and he felt her return it just as enthusiastically. Unspoken between them was his need to have her close, to keep her under his skin, and that need was mirrored in hers.