In the meantime, they had to make it through the day, which so far had worked against him every step of the way. But he would get Lyssa alone, and he would tell her everything, just as soon as she slowed down long enough to listen. Needing his explanation to be both clear and believable, Aidan leaned his head back and closed his eyes, absorbing the feel of the morning air rushing over him.

It was a bit chilly, as she'd warned, but the warmth he felt inside from Lyssa's repeated heated glances kept him comfortable. Beneath his left hand, he felt the books he'd brought from the Twilight. He hoped they would give him the answers he needed to keep Lyssa safe. Something, anything that could prove without a doubt either that there was no Key or, if the Elders were correct about its existence, that Lyssa wasn't it.

Aidan cursed the fact that he hadn't paid more attention during history lessons, but he had been young and randy. Ready to fight and fuck to his heart's content. He hadn't been mature enough to consider the future in all its many facets. He certainly hadn't known that one day he would find someone who would remind him that he had deeper needs than carnal ones.

Lyssa kept her silence, making him wish he could read her thoughts as he had been able to do in the Twilight. Her conscious mind was understandably confused, but her subconscious remembered him. He could only hope that would be enough to carry them through his explanations. He was going to sound like a madman.

"Talk to me," he said in a low voice, just loud enough to be heard over the wind.

"Why don't you do the talking?" she retorted. "Tell me how you know so much about me."

He sighed. So that's what she was thinking about.

Where to begin? Did he start with the part explaining he was an alien? Or did he begin with her being the prophesied destruction of two worlds?

Either way, she had to understand who he was and what he was doing, before common sense overrode her gut instincts and urged her to kick him out. He didn't want to kidnap her or force her to do anything against her will. But he would, if doing so saved her life.

The Roadster pulled to an abrupt stop, ending that train of thought. Lifting his head and opening his eyes, Aidan saw the back door to the clinic just a few feet away. When Lyssa hopped out of the car, he leaned over and grabbed her wrist. "Can you get out of here early?"

She pursed her lush lips a moment and then nodded. "I'm going to try."

"Hey. What's going on?"

Aidan kept his gaze trained on the woman of his dreams as guilt and confusion clouded her lovely features.

"Shit," she breathed. "It's Chad."

Lyssa stared down at the half-naked wet dream in her passenger seat and told herself, Wake up wake up wake up… Talk about a nightmare in broad daylight. How the hell was she going to explain this, when she had no idea what was going on herself? She had damp hair. Aidan did, too, and he was bare-chested. They looked guilty of everything they'd done.

"Uh… hate to interrupt, but Mrs. Yamamoto is starting to get pissy." The sound of Stacey's voice coming from the rear door of the clinic was such a relief, Lyssa decided to give her a raise. "She and her cat have been waiting almost twenty minutes."

"I'm coming in now." Taking a deep breath of courage, Lyssa tugged free of Aidan's grip and faced a scowling Chad.

"What's going on?" he asked, his gaze looking over her shoulder and then rising above her head as she heard the passenger door open and shut behind her.

"Chad, this is Aidan. He's a… friend of my mom." She adjusted her stance to see both men at once, and then cringed when she saw their aggressive postures. "Aidan, this is Chad."

"Hi." Chad thrust out his hand. "I'm Lyssa's boyfriend. Nice to meet you."

The tensing of Aidan's jaw was audible, but he reciprocated the gesture.

When Chad pulled his hand away he was flexing it, and Lyssa could only imagine how crushing Aidan's grip had been.

"Well…" She cleared her throat nervously and caught up her purse. "I've got to get to work. Chad, did you need something?"

His gaze narrowed on her face. "I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you're free for lunch."

She nodded violently. "Yes. One o'clock, okay? I'll need to catch up before I can leave."

"Yeah." Chad looked at Aidan again. "I'll see you at one." Then he dipped his knees and kissed her. Full on the mouth. With a soft swipe of his tongue across her lips for good measure.

Lyssa couldn't look at Aidan as Chad walked back to his Jeep. Like a coward, she slammed her door shut, hit the alarm, and nearly ran to where Stacey waited with wide eyes.

"Holy shit!" Stacey hissed, as she passed her. "You are so fucked."

"Noticed that, did ya?"

Unable to help it, Lyssa looked over her shoulder and saw Aidan coming after her, his long-legged stride even and rhythmic, almost a stalk. Hunter after prey. When she saw the flaring nostrils and smoldering eyes, she knew if she waited for him to get to her, she was going to be in big trouble.

"Which room is Mrs. Yamamoto in?" she asked quickly.

"Exam Two." Stacey whistled, her gaze riveted and filled with a wholly feminine appreciation that made Lyssa's teeth grind. "Would you look at the abs on that guy? Talk about sin on a stick. He's delish."

"Damn it. Get a lab coat for him. And bring me one, too."

She went straight to Exam Two, purse and keys in hand, and got to work. Sometimes avoidance had its usefulness.

It took until a quarter to one to get caught up on her patients. The first few times she'd been forced to run past her office, Aidan had been waiting with wide-legged stance, crossed arms, and intimidating scowl. She had tried to look cool and collected, but she couldn't forget that he was commando under those sweats. It did strange things to her nervous system just to think of it. Later he'd been seated at her desk, studiously poring over his books. And now that she needed to clean up for lunch with Chad, the door was closed.

All morning long she'd debated what to do about her predicament and had finally come to have some confidence in her decision. Regardless of what happened with Aidan, Chad wasn't the guy for her. She'd always known it. She just hadn't wanted to admit it. Breaking it off was the obvious answer, but guilt weighed on her heavily. In a perfect world, she would have ended things with Chad before hooking up with Aidan. But life wasn't perfect, and she'd have to make amends as best she could. She hoped, in the end, they could remain friends.

But she hadn't yet decided what to do with Aidan. All she knew was that every time she had caught sight of him today, her pulse rate picked up. Even with that grumpy, scowling face of his, he still drove her nuts in the best possible way.

So she would take care of Chad, wrap up the workday, and then listen to whatever Aidan had to say. She hoped like hell it would fill in the gaps of her memory and remove all the doubts she had.

Resolved, Lyssa caught the handle of her office door, and velocity took her to the center of the room before she realized it was empty.

Oh god, had he left?

Her heart racing, she turned to yell for Stacey…

… and found Aidan leaning casually against the closed door. The lab coat was pooled around his feet, leaving him once again bare from the waist up. Her gaze lifted to meet his, and she found a gleam in his eyes that told her he knew what the sight of his bare chest would do to her. I

"Jesus!" she cried, her hand lifting to her chest, "You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing hiding behind the door?"

"I wasn't hiding," he said dryly. "I was about to hunt you down when you barged in. I barely got out of the way in time."

"Oh." She moved the short distance to her antique reproduction desk and leaned her butt against it. "Chad's going to be here in a few minutes."

"I know." He crossed the room with a sultry stride that made her mouth water. It wasn't blatant, like a swagger. It was simply predatory and sexually charged. Setting his hands on either side of her hips, Aidan caged her to the desk and nuzzled his lips against her neck. "I'm going to miss you."

Beneath her palms she felt warm, silken skin stretched over hard, flexing muscle, and she melted inside. She groaned inwardly when his teeth nipped her earlobe.

"Tell me I have no reason to feel jealous," he ordered gruffly.

Leaning back, Lyssa met his gaze. It was impassive except for the muscle in his jaw that ticced. "There's no reason," she assured him softly, appreciating him more for his honesty about his feelings.

He caught her close so that his big, hard body was literally wrapped around hers, his large hands holding her so sweetly. She knew how strong he was, yet he held her with such tenderness.

"Aidan," she whispered, her nostrils filling with his scent. There was no other scent in the world like his. It was spicy and exotic. Foreign. She loved it, craved it. "I won't be gone long."

"A minute is too long." His voice was dark as sin, his accent thick and delicious, a vocal caress.

Then Aidan kissed her with tightly restrained passion, his tongue gliding along hers expertly, reminding her of how good it was with him. The best. A rough, edgy growl rumbled in his chest as she melted into him. Just from a kiss.

She hugged him back with all the strength she had in her. There was so much she wanted to say, to ask, to know. But there wasn't time, and she hated that. Over his shoulder, she could see the clock. It was five minutes to one.

"I need to go." She pressed her face into his shoulder, feeling guilty as sin.

Aidan couldn't figure out what to do with his desire to snatch Lyssa up and take her far away.

A knock came to the door just as Lyssa slid to her feet.

"Yeah?" she called out, her voice husky.

"Chad's here." Stacey's voice through the door was more serious than any Aidan had heard from her today.

Lyssa breathed in sharply. "How do I explain to him," she asked plaintively, "when I don't know what's going on myself?"