Page 38 of Vital Signs

"There's something you should know," I said against his lips.

Hunter went very still, waiting.

"I'm trans."

Silence. Then: "Okay. That it?"

Relief crashed through me. "You're..."

"Still interested. Still want you." His thumb brushed my cheekbone. "I was a nurse. You think I haven't seen every kind of body?"

"Maybe, but..."

"Shut up," he said, and kissed me again.

This time was different. Slower. Deeper. His hand gentled in my hair, cradling instead of controlling. The kiss tasted likeacceptance, like possibility, like maybe I could have this without it destroying me.

When we finally broke apart, we didn't move. Just stood there, foreheads pressed together, breathing the same air. Hunter's thumb traced my cheekbone with something like wonder.

"Fuck," he whispered.

"Yeah," I agreed.

His eyes searched mine, looking for something. Permission, maybe. Or confirmation that this was real, that I wanted it, that he hadn't just made a catastrophic mistake.

I answered by pulling him back down, slower this time. Purposeful. This kiss was a promise. A claim. An answer to every question we'd been dancing around since the funeral home.

Hunter made a sound low in his throat, somewhere between surrender and triumph. His hands slid down to my waist, pulling me flush against him.

The transfer bar hit 100% with a soft chime.

Neither of us moved to grab it.

"We should..." Hunter started.

"Not yet," I said against his mouth.

"Misha..."

"Five more seconds."

He gave me ten. Twenty. Would have given me more, but...

Footsteps.

We froze. Voices in the hallway, closer than they should be.

The spell shattered. Reality came crashing back, and I remembered there were security guards, stolen files, and the very illegal thing we were doing.

"Shit." Hunter grabbed my wrist, pulling me away from the wall. His hand was still shaking slightly, but not from withdrawal this time. "Move."

I yanked the device free, shoving it into my pocket as we ran for the opposite door. Behind us, the footsteps grew louder, echoing through the corridor.

"This way," Hunter hissed, dragging me down a service hallway.

His hand was still wrapped around my wrist from the kiss, from pulling me away from the wall where he'd had me pinned. The contact burned through the adrenaline, through the panic of running from security.

We'd just kissed. We'd just fucking kissed, and now we were running for our lives, and I couldn't tell which one had my heart racing harder.