“Please,” she begged, standing next to the pooled pink gown on the floor. “Dravka.”
He hesitated, his hand rising between them as if reaching for her.
When she saw it, she took another step back.
Then she took a deep breath and said quietly, “If you love me, Dravka, if you’ve loved me at all, you’ll leave right now.”
His jaw clenched, his expression no doubt thunderous and dumbstruck, as his hand dropped.
Of course, he loved her. But that word had never been spoken between them. Not once. Not in the five years they’d known each other.
“P-please.”
That was what broke him. That quiet, broken plea coming from her lips.
Dravka backed out of the room, keeping his eyes on hers. It killed him to leave her when she was obviously hurting, when she was in distress about something.
Before he could say anything, she rushed forward the moment he was over the threshold of the room and close the door behind him. Blocking her from his view.
Within, however, he could hear her shuddering gasps and sniffles. Next came her gentle sobs.
And as he listened, Dravka realized the last time he had felt that helpless, that useless, was the day his home planet had been destroyed.
Chapter Six
Two years earlier…
* * *
“Stop,”Valerie whispered, trying to hide her smile but failing.
“Stop what?” Dravka asked, his tone lazy and innocent as he took another bite of his meal, spread out on his bedroom floor.
Valerie was sitting against the wall, her legs straight in front of her, crossed at the ankle. She’d taken off her shoes and her toes twitched whenever Dravka’s gaze alighted on her. She hoped he didn’t notice.
But who was she kidding? This was Dravka. He noticed everything. Especially everything about her.
“Stop doing that,” she said.
“Doing what?” he purred, his voice warm and amused.
“Looking at me!”
His lips curved into a grin, one that sent her heartbeat racing. “Why would I ever want to stop looking at you?” he teased.
Valerie’s cheeks heated and she could do nothing about it. Dravka enjoyed watching her blush. Case in point, a husky laugh escaped him, further heating her face.
“You’re being annoying,” Valerie mumbled, looking away, down to the heaping mounds of food sprawled out on trays across his floor.
Keriv’i only ate two or three times a week, so their meals tended to be gigantic. In order to distract herself from the tingling buzzing that seemed to fill Dravka’s bedroom, she asked, “Did you have a favorite food on Kerivu?”
Dravka’s lips twitched, which told her he knew exactly what she was doing. Changing the subject. Ignoring the tension between them…as they always did. Valerie kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her legs pressed together, though more than once, she’d caught Dravka’s gaze on the hem of her black dress, which ended just above her knees.
“My sister made a dish calledlivuru’ky.”
Valerie repeated softly, “Livuru’ky.”
“Pax,” he rumbled, his eyes flashing. Valerie had the strangest suspicion that he liked hearing his language from her lips.
