“You're not mad at me?" she asked.He leaned to the side and placed a lingering kiss on her neck. "If I pretended I was, would you make it up to me?"Another kiss landed on the sensitive skin of her collarbone, testing the edges of the coveralls. "Um," Jenna stammered. "No.""No?" He leveled his eyes with hers. They sparkled with amusement.She tried to think, but her body had apparently decided her brain was a nonessential system and shut it down. "Yes?”

“Jenna swallowed the lump in her throat. "Good evening, gentlemen.""You'll be hard pressed to find a gentleman in this bunch," a forty-something guy with close-cropped white hair said, laughing. She walked closer to the group and held out her hands in apology. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend.”

“Bright green eyes peered at her from underneath long lashes that curled toward Saturn. Despite the so very pretty eyes, he had a strong face with sharp angles that cast shadows from the harsh overhead cargo light. A slight overbite gave the impression of a permanent pout. Dark curls tumbled lazily from his head to his shoulders.In one word: gorgeous. Another word: dangerous.”

“How many times had she stared up at this same sky and marveled at the view? How many more times would it take before it got old? She hoped she would never know the answer to that question. The gentle gold of Saturn's surface was ever present like a muted eternal sun. The rings, with shades varied from the same gold of the planet's to a brown so dark it might've been black, swept across the planet's fluid surface.”

“In one motion, Connor shrugged off his jacket, flung it aside, and went to her. "Where's the bedroom?" he asked in a heated voice.She tipped her head toward the rear of the apartment. "Back there.""Too far. I'm not sure I can last." He kissed her, a blatantly carnal kiss that reawakened all their earlier urgency, brought it screaming back to life."There's a couch in the living room," Julia managed, pointing to their left and shivering as Connor began unbuttoning her blouse. "That's a lot closer." His lips burned a path from her collarbone to her throat. "Which is bigger, the couch or the bed?""The bed.""Then I’ll last." Connor was pulling her down the hall. "Barely.”

“You so f*ckin pretty, you got that?” The hand moved lower. “So pretty everywhere.”She swallowed. Her mouth had gone so dry it was hard to talk. “To you, maybe.”“Aye.” His lips moved further up her neck until he pulled away enough for their eyes to meet. “Aye, to me.”

“His hands on the sides of her face, on her neck, holding her there. "Chessie...shit, Chessie, I love you so bad." His teeth on her throat, biting hard, his lips soothing the spot. "So fucking much, so...so bad.”