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just eluded me again, and I have no doubt that he left the ship as soon as he knew Charlotte was

taking down his minions.”

Samantha sank into a chair. “We should just let Charlotte and her team of mighty

psychics get to it, I don’t know why I even tried to play the part today, I am not cut out for that

freaky kind of shit.”

“I disagree. If you didn’t have those freaky abilities, I would probably be dead right now

as would Jewel.”

She gave another heavy sigh. “You have to stop sighing,” Devlin muttered, “It’s getting

annoying.”

He sat down on the chair opposite to hers.

“He lied to me, everything I have ever known about Tyler has been a lie. What if his

love is a lie as well?

“I can’t understand why he didn’t use his clout within the Intergalactic Intelligence

Agency to just get away from me,” Devlin mused. “Of course, that is if he really holds the clout

Charlotte claims he possesses.”

“Because he wanted me to come after him, and get back into his life, that rat bastard.”

She shook her head, her hands shaking. They glowed with purple light.

“How’s about you calm down there, Samantha? Why don’t I call one of your sisters?”

He started to get up.

“Sit!” she ordered, a little more forcefully than she’d intended. “I want you to stay here,

and I want you to make sure we don’t have any one interrupting us for the next little while.”

He looked perplexed. “Why? If you think I am going to let you use me as a way to

assuage your frustration, I have seen what sort of damage your body can do to a man, and I

would like to say, I would like to pass on being worked over by you.”

“Not the way I intend to work you over,” she murmured, boldness working its way

through her body.

He looked shocked. “Listen, you kept telling me before when I was trying to seduce you

that you were married.”

“I am married to a stranger, who might not even love me, Devlin. Sleeping with my

former enemy seems like the perfect way to drive a wedge between Tyler and me, a wedge that

will never disappear.”

“You are not going to sleep with me, I am not going to sleep with you, not that I am not

tempted, hell, I would have to be insane to not be taken with your good looks, Samantha, but

really, we used to supposedly hate each other, remember? Not to mention the fact that my son

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adores you. Besides, I got used to the game we’d decided to play. So much so, I don’t know if I

want to stop.”

“Red doesn’t adore me, he is fascinated with me, he likes the way that I look and he likes

what I do, but I don’t think your son is in any hurry to get saddled with someone like me. I am

broken in a way, and it’s something that Tyler has never been able to deal with. I suspect that

you just might be able to.”

Devlin shook his head. “Not going to happen.” He stood up.

She groaned. “You’re really taking the spontaneity out of this for me.”

She pointed her finger at him. As if in a trance, he walked toward her. She could sense

his fierce attraction to her, she knew he was going to sleep with her, all she had to do was break

through his barriers and get him to touch her, once he did, he’d be lost.

Living with the knowledge of their attraction, she had treated him like crap so he would

reciprocate. Besides, he had never been meant for her sister, Johanna, Johanna and Dylan had

always been fated to be with each other, she’d made sure that had happened and now, she

wouldn’t fight fate anymore. She’d dreamt about being in Devlin’s arms long ago, problem was,

she’d still been in love with Tyler and she had been unwilling to betray his trust. But now, well,

hell, everything was different. He had been betraying her trust for a long time, now; she was

going to do the same.

She highly doubted that Tyler hadn’t slept with Lady Devlin as he had originally stated

back when she’d been trying to clear him for her murder.

Why had she been blinded by her love for him? Why?

Devlin was mere inches away from her. “Touch me,” she invited, watching his eyes flare

with desire. Before she could ask him again, he’d swept her into his arms. Electricity crackled

between them. “Sweet God in Heaven,” she breathed. Their bodies seemed meant for each

other. He touched her face tenderly and kissed her passionately. She shivered with delight and

put her all into the kiss. His breath was hot and his tongue swirled against hers, their bodies

pressed against each other and yet, she wanted and needed more. Her breathing was ragged;

memories of what she’d seen in Devlin’s mind haunted her.

She helped him get his jacket off, and then she started to hurriedly unbutton his shirt

while he kept touching her face almost in wonder. What was she doing? She smiled at him,

finally relieving him of his shirt. He stood bare-chested before her.

“Seems to be this is a one way street for you, Samantha, don’t I get to help you out of

your clothes?”

She laughed, “Of course you do, all in good time, I want to savor this as long as

possible.”

“I can see your going to push me to my limits tonight.” He smiled at her.

She moved again, her eyes catching the way the light glinted off her wedding band. “Just

give me a minute, Dev.” She stepped away from him, her body still ached for him, she needed to

feel him inside of her, and have his arms around her. She needed a man that wasn’t a lie. She

needed someone like Devlin, bold and brash and real as she was. He could be an ass, but at least

he wasn’t a lying ass. She pulled the gold band off her finger, and tossed it into a nearby

wastebasket.

“Are you sure you want to do that, Samantha?”

“I want to erase any memory of Tyler. He’s not my husband…not anymore. What if his

involvement with the Triad got Rory snatched? What if I am to blame?” Her voice broke. “I

have failed one family member already, I am not about to lose Rory, too.” Devlin came up

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behind her, and wrapped his arms around her.

“Maybe you don’t need to drown your sorrows in sex with me right now, Samantha…

maybe you just need someone to hold you.”

She turned around and let him do just that.

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“We’re going to make strange bedfellows you and I.” Her voice broke the calming

silence between them.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, not that I am not up for it, Samantha, I just do not want

to be your way of gaining revenge against Tyler. It’s not the right time. Before I wanted you to

be with me because you wanted me and you’d seen what a jerk Tyler had become, but now all

that seems to be driving you is your need to get back at Tyler. I have already lost you to Tyler

once, I really don’t want to walk down that road again, thanks.”

Her stomach flip-flopped. God help her, she still wanted Devlin, she didn’t know why

except that once long ago, she’d gotten a psychic flash of her and Devlin together, and now, she

wanted to explore that vision in real life. When they’d first met, she’d known instantly that they

were meant for each other and now…now, she could finally give into what she knew could

happen between them.

“Tyler told me that I could consider myself a divorced woman, you heard him yourself.”

“Not only did I hear him, Samantha, I saw the communiqué that came through to

Johanna, and your dear sister kept it from you with Dylan’s help.”

“What communiqué?” she asked her heart skipping again in her chest.

“He sent you through a New Reno divorce.”

“Bastard.” Her mind reeled, she touched Devlin’s temple briefly and instantly knew he

was telling her the truth. Despair plunged through her.

“Well, if I was hesitating before in throwing myself into your arms, that won’t be an issue

for me now. I think what Tyler and I had is basically blown to bits.”

Devlin released his hold on her slightly. “I know what it is like to be in a loving

relationship, Samantha, right now you are just confused, and you’re reacting with your hothead

instead of giving it time to digest. You need to sit down and think before you plunge head first

into something you can’t take back. Sleeping with me will destroy your life with Tyler. Even if

Tyler wanted to take you back, I would not let you go.” His eyes blazed with passion. “Once I

taste the forbidden fruit, I will not want to let the apple of my eye go. It won’t be like my

relationship with Johanna. Johanna and I never consummated our relationship. We merely

courted.”

“Courted, how quaint that sounds coming out of someone like you.”

He snorted. “It’s true, we never took our relationship to the next level. True, I was going

after her to get your goat, and yeah, I might have asked her to marry me just to make your head

explode but Johanna and I would have been bad for each other… even though I still care for her,

we would not have worked as spouses.”

Samantha slipped out of his grasp and walked toward the large window. The blackness

of space met her. “I feel like I am lost in space,” she murmured, her heart burning. “I don’t know

if I can ever go back to the way I was with Tyler. His deception ruined what fragile trust I had in

him. I never thought he’d cheat on me, and I never thought he’d be affiliated with the Anasazi

Triad.”

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“You seemed like you adored him above all others.”

“Love can sometimes be an illusion, Dev.” She heard him walking toward her. “Tyler left

me once. He walked away claiming he couldn’t take my dangerous lifestyle, but now I think he

walked away because he couldn’t bear living with me anymore. What if his superiors told him to

ally himself with me by becoming my husband? If it was a carefully plotted ruse,” her voice

cracked. “I am an ass kicking woman but I am not made of steel.”

“I know you are not, Samantha. Who is?” he asked, putting his hand on her lower back.

She trembled at his touch.

“I feel as if I am not only lost in space but that I am standing on the edge of a cliff, and if

I jump I jump toward you, if I stay, I stay rooted to a man I don’t even know anymore. If he

wanted to reconcile in the future I don’t know if I would be open to it, and if I stay the way I am

now, I’ll grow into a bitter woman who resents what she’s become. There is so much I have to

figure out. So much I am not sure of. I do know one thing, Tyler and I are irreparably

damaged—we can never go back, not that I would want to given what’s happened between us.”

He sighed. “I could throttle Tyler right now for you, Samantha. I never really liked him,

and I guess I didn’t hide my dislike. I always felt he was hiding something. I hate to say I was

right especially considering the circumstances.”

“What is done is done. Tyler betrayed me, by not trusting me with the truth. Whatever

his superiors told him, he could have trusted me enough to tell me who he really was! Did Dylan

even know?” She groaned with frustration. “And the biggest damn joke is on me!!! I am

supposed to be charmed. I am supposed to be just like Charlotte but I am bloody useless,” she

screamed, several light bulbs in the room exploded. “And,” she added bitterly, “I am not enough

like Charlotte to suit Tyler’s tastes.” She bunched her hands into tight fists. If Tyler were here in

the room with her right now he would be facing an ever-loving world of hurt.

“Whoa. Settle down, Samantha.” Devlin walked toward her, opening his arms for her.

She jumped back. “Stay where you are until I reign the power back in. I don’t want to hurt you. I

have already screwed up way too much in my life.”

“Since when were you ever concerned about my well being?” he joked, his laughter

growing short and being replaced with concern. “Come here,” he invited. “You were calm before

when I held you. As much as I know you used to hate me....”

“I never hated you,” she admitted, feeling embarrassed at her confession. “If I hated you I

would have found more ways to stay out of your way. I was attracted to you like a moth to a

flame, and I think you always knew that.” She shifted uncomfortably. “We’re ill-matched on the

outside, but....”

“But what?” he prodded.

“On the inside we are the same. We are both haunted by our pasts. We each know what

it’s like to live with a suffocating guilt that nearly consumes us each day.”

She walked toward him. “If I have to walk into the flames I am glad you’re the one that

will make me burn.” She let him fold her into his arms. “You smell pretty good for being through

what we were both through today,” she murmured.

He chuckled. “I bathe regularly and use really good body hygiene products,” he

murmured.

“This could be bigger than the both of us,” she mumbled against his chest. “We are going

to light a fuse on a very big bomb. When Tyler finds out…when my sisters find out....”

“Charlotte already knows,” Devlin muttered. “She was trying her best to keep you from

being burned by me, but with all of her power even she can’t stand in the way of fate. I guess