I dropped the subject. “I admit my crime, and I understand if you wish to banish me from your island,” I said, starting to stand up.
Before I got an inch off the bed, Saffron dug possessive fingers into my thick fur and pulled me down. My fat bear bottom hit the mattress with athump. I was so startled that I rolled onto my back.
Saffron sat on my waist aggressively, like he wouldn’t tolerate another escape attempt.
“Yeah, no, I won’t be doing any of that banishing stuff,” he said. “You’re staying right here, Rorik.”
“Why?” I asked, stupefied. “Why aren’t you sending me away?”
He grinned. “You sound like youwantto be banished.”
How could he joke with his failed assassin? Didn’t he takeanythingseriously? Or was he so comfortable with me that he didn’t care?
“You make no sense,” I grumbled. “I confessed my plan to kill you, and you’re smiling about it.”
Saffron looked amused. “You’re not doing it, though. I’m clearly still alive. So it doesn’t matter, right? Besides, you could never kill me.”
I grimaced. He was right, but I didn’t want to admit how endearing I found him. It was treasonous to think of an enemy alpha this way—especially a damned dragon.
“No,” I agreed. “My mental state is too weak.”
“Well, that’s not what I meant,” Saffron corrected. “Youliterallycouldn’t kill me. I’m too strong.”
I’d still never seen Saffron’s dragon form, but maybe that was why he stayed as a weak-looking human. Saffron knew his own power. He felt no need to flaunt it.
Still, I was a proud polar bear. His overconfidence slighted my ego.
“Hmph. I’m the strongest fighter in my clan,” I pointed out. “You think I couldn’t land a blow or two?”
Saffron suddenly burst into cackling laughter.
“What?” I asked.
His grin was mischievous. “You saidblow.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Like… blowjob?”
“What is that?”
His eyes went wide and sympathetic. “Oh, you poor guy. Want me to demonstrate?”
As the gears in my mind turned, I squinted at him. “Is this a sex thing?”
“Yes, Rorik,” Saffron said angelically. “It is a sex thing.”
The room suddenly felt hot again, despite the air conditioning on blast.
Saffronwantedto do a sexual act with me? Why?
I cleared my throat, ignoring the sudden warmth flaring between my thighs. “In my clan, sex is not for pleasure. It is only for breeding omegas,” I explained. “Omegas are child-bearers. That is our purpose.”
An inferno blazed across Saffron’s eyes. In a swift motion, he swooped down, slamming his hands into the mattress on opposite sides of my head. His face hovered an inch above my nose.
“Don’t let me hear you say that ever again,” he growled. “I won’t have you reduced to awomb.”
My heart lurched. Saffron’s words robbed me of breath. His intensity made me shiver. There it was again—Saffron’s dragon power, now simmering right below the surface.
