Lani turned back to the view, seemingly unaffected by their brief conversation, as if they’d just spoken of how warm it was outside and not the prospect of them fucking.
Kirov now knew better. Her arousal still hung in the air and her fingers immediately set about the balcony, her graceful, long fingers moving across the stone like an intricate dance.
He grinned. He decided he would leave her alone, give her space to reassess their situation and how hopeless it would be to deny what was happening. The Fates simply wouldn’t allow it.
But before he left, he reached out a hand and curled it around the back of her neck, feeling the softness of her skin and her warmth. Her eyes went wide and her fingers stopped dancing on the stone, stumbling to a halt.
Against her ear, he rasped, “It is fortunate for me then that I am not a human man. I am a warrior of Luxiria and I have earned every scar that crosses my body. I have battled and warred. I am used to victory. Iexpectit.”
She gasped and he pulled back to look into her flustered gaze. Though Kirov could tell she desperately tried to steel her voice, it still came off breathless as she commented, “That sounds like a threat.”
“Nix,” he said, her eyes so blue and dark that he saw his reflection in them. “A promise. And I promise you this,luxiva…I will win you. I will win your soul, your mind…your body.” Her breath hitched. “And you willlikeit.”
Then he stepped away, leaving her swaying.
As he was walking back to the dwelling, he heard her yell, “Y-yeah…well…we’ll just see about that!”
Kirov grinned.
Chapter Eight
Kirov - 3, Lainey - 0,she thought, irritated.
Ugh.
Last night, that morning, and that afternoon, he’d gotten a leg up on her, had caught her off guard and used that to his advantage.
Damn him.
Lainey could feel herself pouting, like a petulant child, as she stared into the flames of the fire pit. When she looked up, she half expected to see Kirov, with his stormy gaze locked on her, but Vixron had returned in the early evening. Kirov had left a short while later, after ensuring that she and Crystal received their dinner on time.
Lainey would never admit it to anyone that she felt disappointed when he’d left. Disappointed but relieved, because without him around jumbling up her thoughts and sending her hormones into a frenzy, she finally felt like she could breathe.
When she could breathe, she could finally think, without being distracted by him.
And what she thought was that shemightbe in trouble. Big trouble.
She thought that maybe, just maybe, his Instinct—or whatever Cecelia had called it when she’d told them about it—had somehow been triggered. By her. Last night.
He’d alluded to her already knowing this, as if it was obvious.
What he didn’t understand was that she was human, not Luxirian. Humans didn’t have Instincts guided by these ‘Fates.’ Besides, she didn’twantto trigger his Instinct. She just wanted to go home.
Lainey sighed, watching the flames dance. Crystal was beside her, doing much the same. After being cooped up together for the past few weeks, without anything to do, silences were normal and common.
What she really needed was to talk to someone about what the hell was happening. Whether it wasevenhappening, or if her mind was just playing tricks on her.
“Hey, Vixy,” she called.
The warrior guard grunted.
“Are Cecelia, Taylor, or Beks in the city, or are they all still away on their honeymoons?”
Crystal cast her a sharp look, but didn’t say anything.
Vixron frowned. “All the mated human females are with their males at their respective outposts.”
“So…no?”
