Chapter 12
Nojan struggled to pull himself out of sleep, so pleasant did it feel to be snuggled beside a warm and supple female body. He could feel her even breathing beside him and in that moment wished he could press his ear to her chest to listen to her heart beating.
The thought put a smile on his face, and as he cracked his eyes open and took in the enticing woman in his bed, the smile widened.
She’s perfect, he thought. Her hair was molten, the most beautiful shade he’d ever encountered.Like the Vartik sunset.Skin like cream with limbs so long and lithe they left him aching.And that’s not even considering her breasts.
They were immaculate, so bountiful and round. He wanted nothing more than to expose them to his hungry gaze and even hungrier mouth. Beneath her breasts, her waist tapered away to almost nothing before rounding out to hips that made his hardening cock twitch in his pants.
His grip on her waist tightened briefly as he realized how truly small it was. In fact, her ribs were close to protruding, and when his gaze made its way to her face, he saw that her cheeks appeared slightly hollow.
His poor former slave had been severely underfed. Nojan was surprised at the level of anger that filled him. Moving carefully so as to not disturb her rest, he untangled himself from the girl despite his desire to remain by her side for several more hours. He padded into the small mess of the ship and began rummaging around, looking for items that might interest her.
As he began assembling ingredients, Nojan thought back on his encounter with the oracle so far. She wasn’t what he’d expected, even though he hadn’t really had many expectations. From his sister’s warning, he’d thought to find an ugly, suffering creature. Mayra had been suffering all right, but the worduglywould never apply to her.
He’d never felt such an instant attraction in his life. Part of that was due to his indifference to Vartik women. They were similar to men in their builds, with nothing that he would call curves. Mayra, on the other hand, had more curves than a planet with an unsteady orbit.
Talk about celestial bodies. Mayra’s was heavenly all right.
Grimacing at the ache in his lower region, Nojan began constructing a meal he hoped would appeal to her. Life as a slave could not have been easy for her. On Vartik, slavery had been outlawed for a hundred generations, but many other places in the galaxy were not so enlightened in their thinking. In fact, he would call the Vanfians in particular the opposite of an enlightened species. Their viciousness was legendary.
His brow furrowed as he considered what life must have been like for her. Perhaps it wasn’t too bad. She was known as an oracle in training. That must have allowed her some leeway, right?
The memory of Mayra’s treatment at the hands of the Vanfian king after her capture made him think otherwise. And the fact that he could span her waist easily with his hands, and that she didn’t have a spare ounce of fat on her body, made him realize that whatever special treatment she might have received as a future oracle did not mean she hadn’t suffered more than her share of pain. Her life would have been much different than his, as a pampered son of the king.
Nojan vowed to make things better for her. Never again would she have to endure endless degradation. He would protect her from anything or anyone that meant her ill. He would keep her safe, make her realize what a treasure she was.
Protect your heart. She will steal it.
His father’s words appeared in his head and gave him pause. He could tell now that the king was correct in his assessment. The amount of longing he already experienced for the poor little creature might only grow more powerful the more time they spent together.
Nojan was torn. Part of him welcomed the opportunity to lose his heart to the enchanting angel he’d rescued. She was everything he’d ever fantasized about physically, a girl from the pages of his book of dreams. And if she turned out as sweet and kind as his father predicted, then she would be the perfect woman for him.
In every aspect save one.
He couldn’t breed with her.
As a member of the Vartik ruling family, his duty was to produce further heirs for the family line. Having Vartik blood was dangerous, and although the universe thought their species extinct, it did not mean that the day might not come again when they were hunted down for their essence. As a result, all Vartiks, especially the royal ones, were charged with the sacred task of breeding for the good of their people.
And only a Vartik could mate a Vartik. With the exception of Jazmine.Leave it to my brother to find the one loophole, Nojan thought wryly.
Maybe if one loophole exists, another might as well.Still, the odds against such a find were astronomical, like finding a Vartik female that looked like Mayra. Near impossible.
Nojan had never sought the crown, had never had much ambition for ruling. He preferred his experiments, his books, and his research. A life lived in the mind was one that was familiar, one that he preferred. But now, his body was reminding him of the world outside his laboratory. It was unfamiliar territory, exciting and perilous. Would the adventure be worth the possibility of eventual heartbreak?
Who could say?
For now, Nojan decided he would see where this attraction could take them. It was perhaps doomed before it began, but the idea of not taking a chance, the thought of not exploring that delectable little body of hers, was anathema.
Besides, someone had to unlock those powers of hers. And if they were tied to sex as his father had suggested, then her virginity would need to be taken to transform her into the oracle they needed.
And he’d be damned if another male would claim that prize.
The thought of another man touching Mayra filled him with enough rage to make his hands shake. Nojan was a bit of a stranger to strong emotion, so it came as an uncomfortable surprise to him to learn that he was as susceptible to jealousy as his brother, Marek.
“Ouch,” he shouted, dropping the pan he’d been holding, not paying enough attention to the heat source. His hand was turning pink with the burn.Stupid, Nojan, he cursed himself, turning off the heat and setting the pan down.
“Are you okay?” Her voice was soft, and she was still blinking away the sleep from her eyes.
