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She was keeping herself under control for me.

“May I please come in?” she asked curtly.

I smiled then. I couldn’t help it, and instead of smiling back, this only made Ray’s jaw tense further as she gritted her teeth against giving me a piece of her mind for making her talk openly aboutfeelings. Oh, what torture that must have been to tell me her emotions.

“Of course, you can,” I said as sickly sweet as I could manage.

Stepping to the side, Ray swept past me, and I closed the door with a quiet click.

The moment I turned to face her, she was on me.

We lay there on the floor, not having moved far from the door since I let Ray into my apartment. My shorts were around my ankles, and Ray’s pants were open and yanked slightly down, the waistband sitting underneath the curve of her ass. Panting slightly, I swallowed heavily and rolled my head to look at Ray. She had her arms folded behind her head as though she didn’t have a care in the world. But as I watched, a slight frown formed on her face, subtle twists to her expression as she worked her way through whatever she was thinking.

She had jumped me the second the door was closed, and I absolutely didnothave the willpower within me to fight my desire for her. We came together, our hands shoved down the front of each other’s underwear, and when she forced her fingers into my mouth, making me taste myself, I returned the gesture.

Fuck, it was hot.

I was about to ask what she was thinking when she rolled her head to me, the intensity of her gaze taking my breath away and, for a moment, the flash of bright yellow passed across her eyes.

“Why was Kelly here?” she asked.

The anger from her earlier accusation had evaporated, resignation heavy in her tone, and I know which side of her I preferred. This quiet voice, the pressing of her lips together as if to stop further questions escaping, didn’t suit her. Ray was loud and proud, and I liked her like that.

I wanted her just as she was.

“She was worried about me.”

“Why? Did you call her? Did she stay the night?”

My eyebrow quirked at the same time I chuckled as her questions all tumbled out once the dam of self-control was broken. Reaching out, I rested my hand on her forearm. “She finished a late shift and stopped by to see me. I didn’t call her.”

“Why was she worried about you?”

“Kelly was providing me with police reports when I started trying to track you down, as you know. The lack of evidence was further proof to me you weren’t human.” Ray smirked, pride evident, and I rolled my eyes before continuing, “I hadn’t been in touch with her since I found you, and she was worried Ihadfound you, or maybe you had found me first, and I had been injured or killed.”

“What did you tell her?”

“A version of the truth.” I sighed out loud, blowing my hair from my face. “I told her I had lost interest, that I had been chasing a ghost and wasting my time, and I felt my chase for you was simply some way of trying to make myself feel needed and useful again.”

“And that’s the truth? What you told her?”

“Parts of it.”

“You’re useful to me,” Ray whispered, pouting when I laughed. I didn’t mean to, I knew what she meant. “I saw her with you through the window,” she continued. “She looked like she was flirting with you. It made me crazy.”

“Shewasflirting with me.”

Ray sat bolt upright. “I’ll kill the bitch.”

Laughing again, I sat up too, slower than she had and rested my hand on her leg, tracing small circles with my fingertips. It felt good to touch her again. Waiting until she looked at me, I said, “I turned her down, Ray, in no uncertain terms. Besides, it seems you may have scared her away for good.”

“Good,” she growled.

Getting uncomfortable at the twist of fabric around my thighs, I pulled my shorts back on and Ray followed suit. After a beat, I asked, “Will Emrick come after you?”

Ray shrugged. “Probably, but I’ll deal with him when he does.”

There was that wicked grin again, and I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Making even a dire situation seem like it was all one big game, and I supposed to her it was. Life on Earth was new and exciting to Ray, finding her place in a world she was still exploring the limits of. Maybe we could make a game of life together. It sure would be a nice change of pace for me. We sat in silence for a moment before Ray turned to me, and I was lost in her eyes again.