Ved couldn’t be sated, not this night. As Isobel panted beneath him all he could think wasmore. He wanted more of her sweet whimpers, more of her walls clenching around him, more of her pleasure. He was drunk off the scent of her, off the feel of her finally in his grasp.
It’d taken all his self-control not to bury himself as deep as he could go within her. If he had, he knew he’d have lost himself—become more beast than Xaal. He’d have taken and taken until neither of them remembered their names.
Until they were both ruined.
Her tight heat was unwilling to let him go, and it took everything in him to finally pull out of her. Still, she was a vision beneath him. Curls wild, body slack in his hold. She was all supple brown flesh and delicate curves that yielded in his hands. But it was the way she looked at him that wrecked him.
Like she saw him. Fully.
Moving down her body, he let his touch linger—on her breasts, her soft, round stomach, her full hips—until he was between her thighs. He took in her sex, the pleasure bud that had made her whimper for him, her perfect hole that had his seed spilling out. Something scorching and possessive overtook him at the sight of the sensual mess left behind.
Stars damn him, but he’d already fallen into madness, and he wasn’t sure how to escape.
Isobel stared at him curiously as he pressed a finger carefully inside of her, pushing his seed back into her. She whimpered prettily even as her hips came up to meet his hand.
“This belongs here.” He hardly recognized his own voice. “And you’re so good for me, aren’t you, Isobel? So perfect. You’ll keep it there.”
She hummed in agreement. “Vay.”
He moved beside her and gently pulled her toward him. She melded against his side, fitting perfectly in the space between his ribs and arm. Her skin was so soft that he feared his own would mar hers, but she curled into him without thought. He breathed the scent of her in, lavender in rain, as her hair tickled his chest.
“Ved?” she murmured against his neck.
Nevskol. The way she said his name went straight to his cock. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the animalistic desires down. “Vay?”
“I wish we could stay here forever,” she confessed, her voice thick. “You didn’t even get to try tea.”
He grunted as he fought against unfamiliar emotions. “The stars are cruel.”
Silence overtook them as she drew letters into his skin with her fingertip and traced the scars on hischest.
When she spoke next, though, there was a sleepy contentedness to her voice that had his chest tightening. “I don’t want to think of tomorrow. What would we be doing if we were on Runus right now?
He allowed himself to think of her on Runus, of her with him in Cleave territory. In his home, his bed. “The first rays of daybreak would be creeping into my chamber. The days are growing colder there, and we would feel it in the morning air, that promise of winter. If we lazed around too long, and Kravis were alive, he would come and get me before long. He and I usually trained for several hours in the early morning. But you could do whatever pleased you—sleep, take a hot bath in my personal pools, read your favorite book in bed. No one would disturb you.”
“That sounds peaceful.” She yawned and placed her hand flat against his chest, right above the thick artery that connected his two hearts. “And your clan? Would they accept me?”
“They would.” Or they’d die. It wasn’t customary for Xaal to bind themselves to another species. Forbidden, even, in some edict forgotten to time. Ved liked to think his clan was loyal to him, would fight to the very ends of the galaxy for him, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think loyalties never changed.
Runus wasn’t peaceful, but if he could, he’d create the perfect place of solace. A safe haven for her and her alone. Even if it were in the middle of a stars-damned battlefield.
If only he could.
But he was not destined for such a life. His strength was the only thing he could rely on; that was what his clan needed. He couldn’t afford to be anything but ruthless.
He’d don his armor and become Qon again in a few short hours. But for tonight, he would simply be with her.
And it would have to be enough.
Ved waited for Isobel’s breathing to take on the rhythm of deep sleep before he took her home. When he’d safely tucked her into her bed, he apologized to her sleeping form.
He had promised he wouldn’t kill that despicable human Richard for what he had done to her.
He’d lied.
When he’d pulled down the layers of her dress and seen the bruises around her arm, he’d been angered anew. And when she’d fallen asleep in his arms, he couldn’t imagine her ever being in harm’s way again.
But there was another reason he needed to kill thisLord Richard Seymour—Ved didn’t want the male’s hands touching what washis.
