My heart flutters recalling the tender regard Behtu had cast my way when he smoothed a reverent hand down my cheek, a warmth blooming within me, spreading like wildfire through my veins.
The sheets cling to my skin, damp with the heat of the tropical night and my restless energy. I push them away, yearning for a cool reprieve that never comes. Every nerve in my body is hyper-sensitive from the best sex I’ve ever had. My clit still pinging from residual climaxes.
Back on Earth, I would never be this brazen when it comes to men, but I wasn’t on Earth and none of the same rules apply out here. I’m not the promiscuous type, but after being abducted and then sold to an orc rapist, I decided to act on my attraction to Behtu. The glossy, blue Kaul is as sexy as they come.
As an ER nurse in lower Manhattan, I know how precarious life can be. I’ve seen death many, many times up close and at its most tragic. Facing mortality happens on a regular basis when ambulances arrive with gunshot wounds, stabbings, or hit-and-runs. You name it, I’ve seen it. I’ve stared people in the face who are my age or younger as they’ve taken their last breath, and death comes knocking when you least expect it.
After what I’ve been through and survived, I mean, why not partake of a little sumpin sumpin? What happens in outer space, stays in outer space. Am I right? No one will ever know mypussy was destroyed by a Kaul’s beastly alter ego before the Kaul himself had his way with me and this bitch doesn’t kiss and tell.
I let out a soft moan as I stretch my limbs. The feeling of satisfaction lingers, tempting me to seek out Behtu for another romp.
The murmur of Behtu and Qhix from the adjacent room draws my curiosity like a magnet. Behtu's deep timbre is unmistakable, even softened by the walls between us. I slip from the bed, my movements deliberate, silent so as not to wake Lena and Elle who sleep nearby.
Reaching the door, I pause. Breath held. Ears straining.
"I'm setting off,” Behtu says in a hushed tone.
My pulse thunders in my ears as his words hit me like a physical force.
"Off in search of treasures untold?” Qhix responds and I can almost see Darcy’s mate quirk a snowy eyebrow in question.
"There’s too much Maverick in me to linger in one place for very long.” Behtu’s answer stops my heart.
"Until again, brother,” Qhix says.
“Until again,” Behtu replies.
I run back to my bed and lie down, waiting for Behtu to come and tell me goodbye. Off in the main living area, I hear the whisper of the door open and close. Anger flares hot and fierce within me. After what we did together on the beach, he’s just going to slip away without a word.
My throat constricts as I seethe. Fists crumple the sheets tight enough to sting.
The memory of his touch lingers on my skin, a taunting echo. His eyes glowed, white-hot with lust—no, it was more than that. With something that touched my soul. A reverent yearning that seared me to the bone, binding us in an inexplicable connection that I can’t deny.
My heart clenches, aching with a blend of hurt and resolve. If he leaves Pryt, I know it in my bones he will never return. I know I will never see him again and I can’t live with that. Fueled by emotions, I act on impulse. Leaping from my bed, I quickly don a fresh pair of pants and pull a top over my head. I slip out the door, my mind whirling with frantic energy as I move quickly through the house and out the main entrance.
Barefoot, the night cloaks me in shadows as I follow in Behtu’s footsteps. The lush foliage of Pryt rustles softly around me, a spattering of whispers urging me onward. My senses are heightened, every leaf and vine etched sharply against the backdrop of darkness.
Behtu moves like a specter ahead. His long white hair, ethereal in the waning moonlight, cascades in a liquid sheet down his broad back. He's unaware of my presence, his steps carrying him relentlessly toward his ship—the vessel that promises to take him away from me forever. And he wasn’t even going to say goodbye!
I follow, driven by a potent mix of fury and longing. The dense underbrush is no match for my determination as I navigate the terrain, every muscle coiled and ready. He might be a space pirate, a rogue who wanders the cosmos, but I’m a New Yorker, damn it! And I refuse to be ignored.
The distance between us dwindles, yet I keep to the embrace of the jungle, moving with as much stealth as I can muster. I trail him, a shadow among shadows. My breathing is even, controlled, a silent mantra that syncs with the beat of my racing heart.
The metallic sheen of Behtu's ship glints under Pryt’s giant moon, a silent siren calling to my reckless heart. My feet carry me forward, the soft hiss of the hatch, as it opens, sets my pulse thundering inside the cage of my ribs.
I duck behind a large shrub, peeking through the prehistoric-sized leaves, and watch as he strides up the ramp. I figured after what we shared, he might turn and look back at the house where he thought he left me sleeping. Perhaps a wistful moment of regret will flit across his handsome face before he flies away.
Nope. Not even so much as a backward glance from the sonofabitch.
I make like a ghost flitting up the ramp, my breath stuck in my throat, every sense heightened. I slip inside, pressing my back against the cool wall of a narrow corridor just as the ramp begins its ascent. The hatch seals with a definitive click, and my chest tightens, not from fear but from a wild cocktail of adrenaline and yearning.
“You’re not gonna leave this bitch behind,” I murmur under my breath, the words barely a whisper in the hum of the engines coming alive.
I’m headed down the corridor to confront Behtu when the floor vibrates beneath my feet. It's a low thrum that resonates through my bones, syncing with the restless energy coursing through my veins. My hand hovers over the control panel beside the access door to the command deck.
Awestruck, I stop in my tracks, peering through the little window in the door as the command deck lights up with a kaleidoscope of colors, each one reflecting off Behtu’s majestic form as he takes the helm.
He's oblivious to my presence, his focus solely on the path ahead. There’s a certain grace to his movements, a confidence that speaks of his countless adventures navigating the stars. And it’s that untamed spark in his eye, that glow of his sivot lying dormant yet ever-present, which draws me to him like a moth to a flame.
