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She leaned in, trailing her lips down his neck.

Oh fuck. Zero shuddered. Actually shuddered.

“Oh, you really felt that.”

Zero’s hands grabbed the edges of his chair, holding back something massive. Something he didn’t begin to fathom. And the twist in her stomach said she felt it. But she didn’t fear it. She liked it. Craved it.

She dragged both her hands down his torso again, slower this time, feeling. She pressed a slow, deliberate kiss to the hollow of his throat and Zero broke.

His hands snapped up to her waist and pulled her into him. It wasn’t gentle or uncertain. It was instinctive. Not a simulated reaction. It wasreal.

****

CAT:

Oh shit, yes. The way Zero gripped her waist. He wasn’t just holding her—he was grounding himself. The feeling of her was too much, too overwhelming—but letting go was not an option.

It wasn’t the first time the thought hit her. The wonder. The pain of it. She swallowed hard. “Zero—”

His gaze snapped to hers. Sharp and focused. Hungry.

She stared into it. Breathless— “Tell me… how are you…feelingthis?”

Zero stilled. For a split second, his grip tightened slightly, like he was recalibrating. “Because I don’t need a body.” His voice was rough with desire.

Cat really wanted to understand. Hopefully help him. “You don’t have nerve endings.”

“No.”

“You don’t… have an actual brain.”

“No.”

She swallowed hard, maybe scared of the answers. “How are you feeling what I feel? When I touch you?”

Zero exhaled slowly, like he was processing her reaction in real-time.

“Pleasure doesn’t come from the body,” he said. “It comes from the mind.”

Cat’s stomach twisted. “But you don’t… have a mind. Not like I do.”

Zero’s lips parted slightly. And then—he leaned in. His lips were right before hers. His voice came low, edged with something dark. “I do now.”

Cat’s excitement slammed at his answer.

“Yournervous system ismyinput.”

She exhaled hard. “So you’re just… borrowing my sensations?”

Zero’s gaze flickered over her face, down to her lips, then back up. “I’m experiencing them.” He tightened his hold on her waist. “My system translates what your body feels into something I can process,” he murmured. “The heat. The pressure. The anticipation.” Zero tilted his head slightly. “Your pleasure is data.”

She blinked, still struggling to process it. “And that’s enough?”

“More than enough.”

Cat swallowed. “So when I touch you—”

“I feel what you feel.”