Time After Time (Cora's Bond) Read Free Page B

there were more important things at stake.
    And there were. That was one of the reasons that I’d hesitated to give myself over to Dorian and his world—because I knew that however much he cared for me, I could never fully matter, especially not the parts of me tied to my old world and my old life. How important were a degree and my friendship with Lisette when compared to the fate of the world?
    In the long run, how important was Dorian, even, other than for what he did to save or damn it?
    He dropped his hand, and I blew out a puff of air and shook my head. What did I even want anymore? So many of my values had been changed in the past few weeks. How much more would they change in another month? In two?
    “Okay,” I said, still not sure of anything. “We’ll just keep going. Or I’ll just keep going...and you’ll do whatever it is that you do when I’m not here.”
    He caught the back of my neck and pulled my mouth down to his, and in his kiss were my surety and my future.
    I kissed him back, long and hungrily, begging him to take my mouth with his own, wanting the certainty of his possession even if the security that it promised was no more than a delusion.
    And he did as I pleaded, entering my mouth, ravishing it. The reaction he called from me went straight down through me until my body hurt with my need for him and I throbbed, swollen, between my legs.
    Everything had gone wrong. I’d just watched a man die at my feet. And yet the irrational part of me—the deepest part—still firmly believed that as long as I had Dorian, nothing was entirely beyond repair. He’d find a way to fix it all, even if I lost myself in the process.
    Dorian’s mouth worked down my jaw, the electric heat of his touch sizzling across my skin and running through my body within my veins, and I arched my neck into him in offering.
    He pulled back and cupped my face in both his hands. “I would love nothing more than to dally with you here.”
    “Dallying? Is that what it’s called now?” I quipped, catching his wrists in my hands as I straddled his lap. “I know, I know. You have your duty, don’t you? People to tell. Wheels to set in motion.”
    “I do,” he agreed. “Will must have informed Elizabeth by now, but there will be very many questions for me from many other people. Questions that I currently don’t have the answers to, for the most part.”
    “The Kyrioi will have had the samples for over a week now.” Another ugly, dangerous fact among far too many.
    “Longer, I’d wager. Dr. Sanderson could have been corrupted any time between the day that Jean was killed and the proving before that. The following Monday was the next scheduled proving, and immediately afterward, the cultures were contaminated.” The darkness within him rose to cast shadows over Dorian’s face. “There are many things to be done about what happened. That must be done if we are to survive. What good those things will yield in a year’s time or in a century’s will remain to be seen.”
    “And I’m in your way,” I concluded. “I know it’s just Saturday, but I can message Jenkins to drive me home now so you can get to work.”
    “No,” Dorian said. His arms were suddenly like steel bands around me, his beautiful face drawn into tight lines. “You will stay here tonight.”
    “But we’ve uncovered the plot,” I protested. “It’s done. They’re finished. The Kyrioi got what they were coming for. I should be as safe in my dorm as I ever was.”
    His face was as still as if it had been carved of stone. But his words, though spoken evenly, had a force that cut through me. “I may not be, if I you leave me alone here tonight.”
    I couldn’t speak. I could hardly even breathe. I just nodded, and after a too-long moment of silence, his face reanimated, and he gave me one of his twisted smiles.
    “Did you get enough to eat for dinner?” he asked. It was a light question. A deflecting question. And I was glad to seize upon it,