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purposes.”
    He assessed her, taking into consideration her pronouncement that she didn’t feel emotion. “I’d be glad not to have these memories. I know I’m screwed up over them and I’d rather not be. But how do you take out pieces of a man’s life and not fundamentally alter who he is?”
    “What do you mean? Don’t you want to be the man you were before this happened to you?”
    Was it really that simple?
he wondered. She made it sound like she could turn back the hands of time and maybe, in a way, that’s what she would do. Reset him back to where he’d been before his abduction. “But the world’s changed around me. Wouldn’t I become a man out of time?”
    She sighed. “It’s not quite like that. You would be the man you were before, a year later. If that makes sense. You still have to live with the external ramifications of what happened to you. Trevor Descansos is presumed dead; you can’t change that. But I can lessen the drive for you to want to.”
    “Whoa. Now you’re talking about changing the way I feel about things.”
    “I can’t do that. No one can do that, Trevor,” she assured him. “Your feelings are your own. But the motivation for your feelings can be altered slightly. Such as the desire to call your sister.”
    “How?”
    “If you know, really
know
, that she’s all right, you won’t feel an overwhelming need to contact her. You may still have the desire, but it won’t weigh on you.”
    He stepped closer to her, unable to resist doing so. “Is this about protecting me? Or protecting the Sentinels?”
    “See?” She shook her head. “You should be focused on getting better. Not this.”
    “Promise me you won’t mess with my memories without telling me. And that no one else will, either.”
    Her eyes widened. “It’s best when it’s done when you’re not thinking about it.”
    “Promise me, Siobhán,” he insisted. “This is important to me.”
    “Okay, yes. Fine. I promise.”
    “Good.” His breath left him in a rush. “Can you give me an update on my family?”
    “I requested some updated photos for you while you were healing. As soon as they come in, I’ll turn them over to you.”
    “But they’re okay?”
    “Yes. They’re well. Your sister’s last child was a boy. They named him after you.”
    He pivoted away as his eyes burned with tears.
Jesus.
That hurt like a bitch. He rubbed at the ache in his chest.
    Her hand came to rest on the top of his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Trevor.”
    He felt the sharp sting begin to ease, but couldn’t be certain whether that was simply from her touch or from what she could do with that touch. Setting his hand over hers, he kept her in place while he turned to face her. He caught her before she could pull away, hugging her. He felt her gasp and tense, but he buried his face in her neck and held on.
    Eventually, she relaxed. When she moved to put her arms around him, he circled her wrists and captured them at the small of her back. Knowing she could break free at any moment didn’t alter the effect of the dynamic—he felt a level of much-needed control and she consciously surrendered to that control.
    Sighing, she rested her cheek over his heart. “This sort of contact . . . it’s important to mortals.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Why? What do you get from it?”
    Trevor thought about it for a minute. “It’s comforting. It reminds us that even if we feel like we’re alone, we’re not. I don’t know . . . Isn’t that why Adam got Eve? Don’t you feel anything when I hold you like this?”
    “Well . . . it’s pleasant,” she said tentatively. “You’re very warm and that’s nice. And you smell really good. I like to hear your heart beating. And to feel you breathing. I’m not sure about it being comforting, but it’s certainly very comfortable.”
    “It’d be better if I had some meat on my bones,” he said drily.
    She snuggled closer, her firm belly sliding against his cock. He winced as