Too late. Her lips twitched.
Those sweet, pouty lips. Mesmerized by the sight, he imagined those plump mounds sliding against his naked chest… and lower. Much lower. His dick twitched in agreement.
Sliding his eyes to look anywhere but her, Ari drank the now-tasteless juice as fast as he could. Putting the glass on the counter, he sat back and turned his attention back to Morgan when it was safe to do so. He watched her every move. Even though she wore baggy overalls, the fabric cupped and held her breasts like a lover as it draped over her succulent form and accentuated her round, firm ass. She’d rolled the pant legs up to expose her trim, shapely ankles and calves, along with her dainty feet encased in some kind of slip-on shoes made of a canvas material. Every movement she made was as smooth as a burning flame, smoldering and hot.
“So…” Ari cleared his throat. Back to business. “What’s first on the agenda for today,irnini?”
Morgan’s eyebrows rose. “Irnini? Sweet-smelling lady? That’s a weird name to call me.“ Her eyes narrowed. “Why would you use an ancient Babylonian name like that?”
All he could do was shrug. “Who knows?” He let his lips curl suggestively. “But you’ve got to admit I’m not lying.”
Her only response was to roll her eyes. She went back to her workstation after discarding her plate and cup.
Ari’s jaw tightened. He meant every word he said. “Why does it bother you when I say something nice to you?” He went over to her, bending so he could catch her eye. “I may not know a lot about myself, but I know I’m not a liar.” Leaning close, he caught a whiff of her sensual scent, an exquisite blend of sandalwood with a hint of earthy balsamic. Honesty, he was sure, had to the best policy. Why not admit it?
“I want you to know how attracted to you I am.” He grasped her hand and exposed her palm. With deliberate slowness, he traced his finger from her inner elbow across to the middle of her hand. Just this simple touch made his heart thunder. “Is it normal for me to feel like this when we touch?” His voice came out low as he searched her expression for an answer.
Morgan jerked her hand away. “I don’t know what you mean.” She scowled.
Ari flattened his lips, ready to make a retort when he looked closer at her. Her face and neck were rosy, her cheeks darkened. And the pulse at the base of her throat throbbed. When she licked her lips, his tense shoulders eased. She was either fooling him… or herself. An unexpected sensation of burgeoning desire slammed into him.
And that feeling didn’t come from him. Where did this… this passionate sensation come from? Well, it didn’t take an emotional genius to figure it out. Without a doubt it came from her. Interesting. She was as attracted to him as much as he was to her. But why did she deny how she felt? He ignored the question as to why he was sure he knew that.
“Do you have someone back home waiting for you?” Ari held his breath. That would explain her reluctance.
“What?” Morgan exclaimed before clearing her throat. “No. Why would you ask that?” She turned away from him and went back to the replicron. “Just drop it. We’ve got a lot of other things to worry about besides… that.” Waving a dismissive hand, she took out the small spider-bot from its hiding place in the wide machine. “Refraction replicron,” she said over her shoulder. Her attention was wholly on the small droid as the machine fizzled into invisibility.
Ari took a moment to study the now-busy Morgan. Crossing his arms, he brought his hand up and tapped a finger on his chin. It appears patience wasn’t one of his virtues. The urge to pull her into his arms to make her face what was happening between them was hard to resist. Especially when he envisioned doing so with his mouth, hands, and body instead of words.
He frowned. That wasn’t right. He was the last person who’d force someone to do anything against their will. It had to be voluntary. A challenge then. Get Morgan to admit how she felt about him… with a little nudge. Time to craft a carefully planned seduction.
Yeah, that’s right.He eyed Morgan nibbling on the corner of her mouth as she worked on the bot, seemingly oblivious to him.
The enticing woman didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter Five
Faceheated,Morgankepther head down and did her best to concentrate on the small spider-bot spread out before her.Damn man. Who did he think he was, touching her like that? All seductive-like. She shivered and pursed her lips. When his finger slid across the sensitive skin of her inner arm, she swore she could feel the heat of his flesh pour into hers until liquid goo pooled between her legs. As if the separate parts of herself ended up intermixed somehow. To top it off, through the tip of his finger, she experienced his throbbing heart pounding faster than it should have. Like touching her affected him as much as it did her.
Morgan sucked in an impatient breath. They didn’t have time for this.Shedidn’t have time for this. With the relic missing and now, with another unexplained dead Ozevroc, time was running out. The High Chieftain wasn’t a patient creature. He’d have no trouble making them an example for his merry little band of gangsters to keep control over them. Didn’t matter if she and Ari were innocent or not.
She snuck a peek at the seductive man as he went around the room, tossing the loose metal and discarded parts into the trash bin. Once again, his overt masculinity struck her as something unique. While there were plenty of good-looking men in Aethralis, none came close to Ari.
In addition to his obvious man-beauty, he had a lot of traits she admired. Here was someone who suffered from amnesia but remained resourceful in an unfamiliar world. His curiosity was second only to hers, even when he was in the middle of trying to protect her from the Ozevroc if he thought they threatened her. A small smile crept free.Silly man. Unlike other Aethralians who were powerful psychics, she’d taken self-defense classes from an early age. She could take care of herself.
That didn’t explain the strange things that had happened on the ship since he woke up. First Xalgrim, then Lurvath dead. Murdered by an unknown assailant. Now the surprisingly precious artifact of the Ozevroc was missing. Who would take that and why? She watched Ari fire up the incinerator and then throw in the items from the full trash bin. Sweat had broken out on him, giving his muscular torso a glorious sheen. She swallowed hard.
Damn. She had to find out who was behind all of this. Hopefully, before anything else happened.
“Hey, I’ve been thinking.”
Morgan jumped when Ari spoke behind her.
“Why don’t we see if the replicron can make a replacement for that sacred thing for the Ozevroc? That way, we’ll have enough time for you to fix that bot to getElemigoing.”
Morgan sat back and contemplated his suggestion. It didn’t take long to decide. She shook her head. “I don’t think we can do that without having the genuine artifact. While the machine can create something similar, without the original to copy, it’ll miss something, making it obvious it’s a fake. Nice idea, though.” She turned back to the spider-bot.
“Are the Ozevroc going to let us do some investigating? It’d be helpful if you could aim your doohickey around to see if we can find any more of the crystalline stuff.”
