Vikan almost smiled and he reached out to squeeze her hip.“You cannot give up now.”
They were standing on the edges of the shore.The sky was a dark indigo, a million stars glittering high above, next to Luxiria’s moon.
“I would never let any creatures harm you,luxiva,” he murmured when she hesitated yet again.
And Vikan felt a warmth in his chest when she eventually nodded, tossing him a small smile.She trusted him to protect her.That knowledge made him feel higher than any fix ofyikavaever could.
“I will go in first if you’d like,” he murmured, remembering their afternoon at the inlet.How’d she’d made him turn until she entered the water.
She put a hand on his arm.“No, it’s alright.”
And then, Vikan went still because slowly, as if unsure of herself, his female tugged up the hem of her tunic, before pulling it over her head and off her body.
The soft, thin material hung limp in her fingers before she let it drop to the sand, baring her body to his eyes for the first time.
Vikan’s breaths came quickly.His pupils flared until he was sure his eyes looked black, devoid of all color.And a steady growl rose up in his chest, unable to look away from his female.
She was perfect.Utterly perfect.
Her pale skin shone in the silver light, revealing full breasts tipped with dusky pink nipples, a narrow waist that led to lush, rounded hips, before ending with long, shapely thighs he imagined wrapped around his body in the aggressive throes of mating.
His Instinct pushed into the forefront of his mind, making him feel on the edge of madness.But he hung onto that thread of control, not wanting to scare his mate by letting his Instinct make itself known.
Taylor was giving him this…thisrightness.Nothing had ever felt more natural to him than gazing upon his lush mate in this way.
She didn’t know how close he was to falling on her like a crazed beast.But instead of that, somehow, some way, he slowly untied the laces of his leg coverings before baring himself to her, for the second time that span.
And just as she’d done that afternoon, her eyes traced his body—her arousal rising up so he could scent her—gliding over his chest and abdomen before resting on his cock.It pulsed for her, more drops of pre-cum shimmering at the broad head.
Taylor’s tongue swiped out to wet her bottom lip and Vikan groaned.
“Female,” he rasped.“I only have so much control.”
His voice sounded nothing like his own, another indicator of how close his Instinct was to the surface.
“One time,” she murmured, “I’d like to test the limits of that control.”
It took him a moment to realize she was teasing him.
He growled.“You already are.”
Taylor smiled, her blunt white teeth flashing.He liked it when she smiled.
That smile turned into a shocked gasp when he reached out and snagged her around the waist, hauling her up into his arms.The feel of her skin against his…was unparalleled.
Even with Nitav, he had never felt his intense connection, this intenseneed.
He waited for the guilt to plague him at that realization.But to his surprise, he felt only desire for hisluxiva.
He was purring as he led them both into theLopitaxsea and the sound deepened when Taylor wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself even further.
She shrieked when a cresting wave splashed up and hit them both on their bare skin.
“It’s freezing!” she exclaimed, but then she laughed, pressing closer to his warm body.“Oh my God, whose idea was this?”
Vikan’s face pulled into an expression he hadn’t made in quite some time at the sound of her genuine, pleasing laugh.
When Taylor saw it, her lips parted and Vikan swore her eyes softened.“You’re smiling,” she breathed.
