Balm Read Online Free Page A

murmured next to her. He was flat on his stomach, but his tilted head made his starry gaze point toward her.
    She grumbled and shifted to lie on her side, facing him.
    He did the same.
    “So, how do we tell if we have an assignment?” Quinn blinked and stretched, keeping the sheet over her otherwise naked form.
    “We glow. The Orb gives us the hint and will start feeding us details, flickers of scenes that we have no reason to know. We will understand them in context but usually not before.” His tone was low and lazy.
    “Was there a reason for the nudity?” She deliberately kept her gaze on his face. The rest of him was far too tempting.
    He chuckled and reached out to caress the curve of her hip. “The best reason of all. I wanted us to speak with no barriers.”
    “I thought that is what we did before I slept.”
    Iskanu shifted closer, giving her plenty of time to object.
    Quinn kept her mouth shut and watched him approach, his velvety skin growing closer with every small shift.
    “We did not discuss one very important matter.” He dropped small kisses against her shoulder and down to her elbow.
    She shivered as he took his time with the tiny caresses. “What matter was that?”
    He rolled her to her back and nipped at her lower lip with his teeth. “The matter of my no longer being your commanding officer and you being in my bed.”
    Quinn blinked and stretched under him, her body arching a centimetre away from him, his body heat making it through the light sheet.
    “Oh, that. I am up for a discussion.”
    He brought his body weight down on her, and she enjoyed the feel of his skin where it touched her own.
    Iskanu delved between her lips with his tongue. Despite their just waking, he tasted like mint, and when she analyzed the coolness of her own mouth, she tried not to smile that he had cheated. Breath tabs were commonly used on Enforcer assignments when they were overnighting it. Sneaking them into the most offensive mouth in the squad while they slept was a bit of a sport.
    She returned the caress of his tongue with her own, taking in the slick slide with enjoyment. Iskanu stroked the side of her face as they kissed.
    She slid her fingers through his hair and mentally sighed at the cool feel of his locks against her hand.
    He rolled her to her back and pinned her arms over her head. “I have wanted to do this since you were first assigned to my unit.”
    Quinn grinned as he slowly stroked her skin with his own in a catlike arch of his torso. “Tell me more about your unit.”
    He narrowed his eyes and chuckled at her turn of phrase, repeating the stroke that sent shivers through her.
    “I have heard that our skin texture is pleasing to your species.”
    She bit her lip and nodded. “It is wonderful, hot, soft and hard all in one package. Velvet wrapped around steel.”
    Her hands clenched, but he was still restraining her, and she couldn’t stroke her hands down his chest and back the way she wanted to.
    “Why the restraint?”
    Quinn closed her eyes as Iskanu licked and tasted his way from her throat to her collarbone. She could feel him smile against her skin.
    “If I remind myself that you are helpless, I will keep track of my actions. If you start to touch me, I may lose control and that would end this first time too soon.”
    She shivered as his words were spoken between her breasts. Iskanu’s tongue had catlike qualities and the light rasping against the undersides of her breasts made her squirm.
    Her body dissolved into a confusion of tension and pleasure as he slowly and carefully built a fire in her senses. When she inhaled, his own arousal amplified hers with the scent he was producing. She would have been seduced with a simple kiss, but this was far more than she needed to get her motor running.
    Quinn closed her eyes and let his touches drive her slowly to the edge of release or madness. She didn’t care which.
    With her eyes closed, she concentrated on each small touch, a lick here,