He snorted and pulled her down beside him. “No. We’re lucky if that’s all your mother chooses to do. Frankly, I’m a little surprised she hasn’t bombed Northern California yet, but that’s probably because you’re still here.”

She chuckled. The sound was wan.

Hungry to touch her and to feel her in his arms again, he pulled her against his chest. With a big sigh, she laid her head on his chest. He put his face into her soft hair. She smelled like his shampoo, and he loved that so damn much.

He said, “You don’t have to confront Bailey right away, do you?”

She lifted her head to consider him. Her expression had turned grim. “What do you mean?”

“You love your sister. I know you do.” He looked at her steadily. “Would you say that she loves you?”

A series of emotions flashed across her face. Fury, hurt, puzzlement. Even calculation. Finally, she said, “Yes, she loves me.”

“Here’s the thing,” he told her. “While we may have pieced together some information today, in reality, everything happened over twenty years ago. The truth is, we don’t know exactly why Bailey did what she did or if she regrets it. We don’t even know for sure that she did it.”

“She did it,” Melly said. “You know it, and I know it. It’s the simplest, most obvious explanation.”

He sighed. “Okay. But the only thing we really know for certain is that it’s old news. You can take time to think about things and decide what you want to say, or how you want to act. The past isn’t going anywhere.”

As he spoke, he took a curl and wound it around his finger. He loved to touch her. He simply loved it.

“Why are you saying all this?”

He responded slowly, so he could feel out his words. “Because you do love her, and because she loves you. If you and I can draw a line between now and what has happened in the past, maybe you can do that with her too.” He shrugged. “If you want to.”

She rubbed his chest, an absentminded caress that soothed his soul. A sense of well-being stole into him. He was enchanted at the exotic sensation. He and well-being… They were not well acquainted with each other.

After a few minutes, she asked, “What would you do?”

I would grind her bones to dust.

He was quite proud that he did not say it.

“That doesn’t calculate,” he said. “I don’t have a twin with whom I’ve been connected all my life. Relationships are breakable, Melly. It would be smart for you to be sure you know what you want to do before you break them.”

One corner of her mouth lifted. She cocked her head. “You’re so adorable when you’re being openhearted and wise.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I can honestly say nobody has ever said that to me before.”

“It was worth it just for the look on your face.” She grinned, but it faded again quickly. More soberly, she said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He brushed his lips on her forehead.

“You would totally destroy her, wouldn’t you?”

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation. “Her, along with anybody else who might have been involved.”

Groaning, she collapsed so that her full weight lay on him.

Hooking an arm around her neck, he murmured, “But I can see how things might be different for you. After all, she’s family. You have a golden opportunity, baby. Don’t do as I do.”

She stretched to kiss him lingeringly.

“Mmm,” she murmured against his lips. “I want to stop thinking about other people. We have… What do we have, forty minutes before Bailey and the troops show up? We could do an awful lot in forty minutes, soldier. Dirty, dirty things.”

The tip of her tongue tickled his lower lip in invitation. Instantly, he grew hard as a rock. He groaned against her mouth. “We have something closer to fifteen minutes, I’m afraid. Gregoire told me telepathically that Xavier will arrive very soon.”

“What?!” She collapsed on him again.

“I’m a guy. I could totally make it happen in five minutes.” He cupped her breast. She wasn’t wearing a bra underneath her fleecy top, and the full softness of her round flesh filled his hand. As he molded and caressed her curves, she let out a shaking moan. Wickedly, he whispered in her ear, “We could cut loose, you know. Every man for himself. I look after my orgasm, you look after yours. Right here, right now. Quick and dirty.”

As he talked, her breathing deepened. With a sexy roll of her hips, she ground her pelvis against his erection. She groaned, “Quick and dirty. Oh God, I could almost do it. No, I can’t. Not down here. Xavier’s such a gentleman – I know he knows about sex, but if we happened to get carried away, I really don’t want him to see me like that.”

“Upstairs,” he growled.

She raised her head. Her beautiful eyes had glazed, and a dark wash of color tinged her cheeks.

Suddenly, she moved. Rolling off him, she raced for the hall.

For a second, he held frozen. He had been teasing.

A crack of laughter snapped through him, and he leaped after her. Even when he was young, he hadn’t felt this young. Their mischievousness made him feel buoyant and recharged.

He pursued her up the stairs and into his suite. Once they were both inside, he slammed the door. She was already tearing off her top and kicking out of her pants. The feminine hourglass of her body was magnificent. The tuft of private hair at the juncture of her thighs was a dark gold, and her plump nipples were rosy pink.

He lost the impulse to laugh, and his need became aggressive. He didn’t think he could ever get enough of her. Yanking the fastening of his jeans open, he snaked an arm around her waist and carried her to the wall, flipping her so that she faced away from him. A breathless whine broke out of her.

Pulling her back against him, he spooned her and whispered in her ear, “Is this okay?”

Nodding, she wriggled back against him. “You’ve got some catching up to do, soldier,” she gasped. “I’m starting without you.”

That was when he realized she was fingering herself, bracing herself against the wall with one arm.

A growl ripped through him. With a greedy, irrational sense of jealousy for those fingers, he sank to his knees to watch her pleasure herself. She had a heart-shaped ass that was begging to be bitten. He rubbed his teeth along her skin, hissing with frustration. He had bitten her too many times already in the past few days.