“I am sorry,rixella,” he said, his tone sounding a bit unsure, awkward even. As if he wasn’t used to apologizing. And Erin realized that he wasn’t. He’d lived alone all these years. “You should know I am sorry.”
His tone implied he was sorry about a hell of a lot more.
Erin believed that. She swallowed, looking forward. The fog bank was beginning to clear, though it was difficult to make out the landscape beyond that. “I know, Jaxor.”
She thought of him being alone out here, thinking how restless and sad that made her, especially now that she knew he had a blood brother in the Golden City, one he wanted to make amends with.
Before, when she believed him cold and detached and mean, she could see him living this life of isolation. But now, she wasn’t so sure. He was a healthy male in his prime. Didn’t he want companionship? A family of his own? Children?
Because Erin wanted those things. She’d always known that she wanted a family. She wanted a career, true, she wanted to be self-reliant and independent, given her past. But she’d also aspired to be a wife, a mother. But did Jaxor want those things too? Even then, if there were children, what kind of life could this be, living so alone in the wild lands of Luxiria?
Erin was stunned by the direction of her own thoughts. Children? With Jaxor?
Shaking her head, she ignored it, knowing it was dangerous territory. Territory that was impossible to reach, frankly.
The landscape was just now coming into view and the engine flared to life. Wind rushed through her hair as Jaxor picked up speed now that they were clear of the fog bank. Her head swiveled, but all she saw was empty land, stretches of mountains, and beyond them, to the north, a hint of glittering water. But she saw nothing else. No outposts, no signs oflife. Just them.
“Don’t you ever get lonely here?”
His arms tightened slightly around her. But then, because somethinghadchanged between them, he said, “Tev, often.” Her heartbeat fluttered pathetically at that. “When it becomes too much, I go to the outposts for a few spans. To trade, to drink and eat, and to…”
He trailed off suddenly, curiously, and Erin looked up at him again. “To what?”
But the look on his face made Erin suddenly realize what he was about to say. To have sex. To mate.
“Oh,” she murmured, whipping forward again. “Right.”
Of course he would. It was only natural and Erin knew that he would have his pick of partners. Yet, they hadn’t talked about this. How many past partners they’d had.
What Erin hadn’t expected was this overwhelming feeling of jealousy. She’d never quite felt anything like it. A little ball of flames that seemed to grow the longer she imagined how many Luxirian females had known him in that way, how many females had stroked his skin and dug their fingernails into his back and felt him sliding between their thighs.
There was a long, awkward stretch of silence.
“Rixella,I—”
“You don’t have to explain,” she hurriedly cut him off. “Of course, you don’t. I understand.”
What disturbed her the most was that she had no right to feel jealous. Absolutely none. Because while they’d both acknowledged what they were to one another, there were no promises made. They both knew what this was. Temporary. And what had happened last night was only a perk during their limited time together, wasn’t it? A way to relieve frustration and loneliness?
So why did Erin feel so empty trying to diminish their connection?
Her breath hitched when his clawed hand wrapped around her throat and turned her face to meet his eyes. Erin’s lips parted, her pupils dilated, the action strangelyhotand possessive and primal, though a bit high-handed.
Her clit pulsed, looking up at him. She knew he’d be able to feel the way her heartbeat thudded beneath his fingertips.
“Jealous?” he asked, his eyes narrowing, searching for something in her gaze. He wasn’t taunting her, only curious.
Her lips pressed together. The question sparked something rebellious inside her. Jaxor had called it her uncontrollable side, hadn’t he? The side that liked to fight with him. On purpose.
“Wouldn’t you be?” she challenged. “Imagining countless faces of males I’ve been with and—”
He growled and then silenced her with a kiss. Relief exploded inside her, but Erin wasn’t even sure why she was relieved. About what?
She didn’t know how long he kissed her—how had he grown sogoodat it, in such a short amount of time?—but when he pulled back, her eyes were unfocused and her limbs felt loose. All the fight had gone out of her and he searched her gaze, as if looking for more, and seemed satisfied when he finally released her throat.
Erin blinked, coming back to reality. “Did you…” she licked her lips, tasting him there. “Did you seriously just kiss me into submission?”
“Tev,” he rasped. “It worked, did it not?”
