He brushed his lips across hers, once, twice.
“You know why,” he murmured.
She looked into his eyes, licking her lips, tasting him there. Then Cruxan blew out a shuddering breath and pulled away, easily maneuvering her off his lap and tucking her next to him.
He was at his limit that night, she knew. So was she, judging by the way her whole body tingled. She’d told him she wasn’t ready for sex, not yet. So why did her body make a liar out of her?
“Sleep,luxiva,” he murmured, shifting so that he laid beside her. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and she let him. He was so warm and she pressed her forehead into his chest, felt his legs tangle with hers, felt the steady beating of his heart.
This intimacy felt new, yet it felt familiar, like they’d done this a million times, when in reality, she’d only slept next to him twice.
He would be returning toOtalasoon. Crystal told herself that she would give this a chance until he did, explore whatever connection they had.
A few days, she thought.
But she was worried. Would she ever be able to give him up?
She didn’t think sleep was possible right then. Her body was too wired, her mind racing from his kiss.
But Cruxan needed the rest, so she did her best. She closed her eyes and placed her hand against his warm side.
Before she drifted off, however, she murmured, “Cruxan?”
“Mm?”
“I missed you too.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
When Cruxan woke next, it was to grey light pouring into his sleeping quarters. He felt drugged as he pulled himself from sleep, from pleasant dreams, but his exhaustion was at least partially alleviated.
“Good morning,” came his female’s voice.
His breath hitched and his sleepy gaze fixated on her, his pupils contracting at the sight of her.
Vrax, she was so beautiful. He could look at her all span and all night.
She was sitting up in bed, her back to the stone wall, the furs tangled around her legs. In her lap sat her tablet. At the end of the sleeping platform, there was tray laden withKroratax’sbest cured meats and a goblet of fermented Brew, though, by the smell, it had long gone cold.
“Or I should probably say good afternoon,” she teased.
Cruxan reached out his hand to touch hers, which lay next to her thigh. He reminded himself to trim and dull his claws, so that they would not cut her flesh accidentally. Humans were delicate and he needed to be careful.
Cruxan was pleased when she intertwined her fingers with his. Last night had been…a turning point. Or at least he hoped. He’d never wanted something more in his entire life span.
Last night had also been erotic and tantalizing and a true test of his self-control when it came to hisluxiva. Just remembering it made hisvarxdraw tight against his body.
The memory of his female’s touch, as it blazed trails of fire over his flesh, the memory of her soft lips on his, of her taste on his tongue, of her scent of desire and need as she—
Vrax, he needed to stop.
Swallowing, he rasped, “Was I asleep very long?”
“You needed the rest obviously,” she said, frowning a bit, as if his lack of sleep worried her. “You were completely dead to the world.”
His eyes flicked to her tablet, to the tray at the end of the sleeping platform. “Was someone here?”
“Beks brought some things over earlier,” she told him. “She brought food, though it might be cold by now.”
