Shock made her lips part.
“There were times when I suspected you wanted more,” he continued softly, reaching out to touch her cheek. “But sometimes, you’re sovaukinghard to read, Val.”
“You thought I didn’t want you?” she whispered. Just the thought, the realization, made tears pool in her vision again.
“I could never be certain,” he told her, smoothing the tears away. “I thought it was easier to remain friends. I didn’t want to ruin anything between us. Sex always has a way of ruining things.”
Of course, he would think that.
She wanted to be honest with him?
Well, now was her chance.
“I’ve always wanted you,” she told him, her heart throbbing in her chest. He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Always. But I didn’t want you to think—I didn’t want you to think that I was like your clients. Like all the rest.”
“You believed I would think,” Dravka said, his tone incredulous, “you were using me for sex?”
When he said it like that, it sounded strange. But he was a Keriv’i male. He’d told her that even before Madame Allegria had brought him to Everton, Keriv’i males were always sought out for sex. He’d been groped in cantinas and bars on various colonies. He’d had strangers murmur dirty things in his ear, in hopes of arousing him. He’d been pursued and harassed endlessly by packs of females—and sometimes males alike.
They all had. Tavak had been a sex worker long before Everton. Because it paid to be a Keriv’i male.
It made her sick, just thinking about what they’d all experienced, but she didn’t want to be another female in his eyes, just angling for sex.
Dravka’s jaw was tight.
“I thought that maybe things had changed between us,” he told her. “Four months ago.”
Valerie felt her flush blooming. She knewexactlywhat he was referring to.
“Do you remember?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Of course, I do.”
She saw Dravka’s lips twitch.
It had been during one of his Ruts. All the Keriv’i were usually chained to their beds during the most intense parts of it. Dravka especially, though she’d never known why.
Until a few months back.
Khiva had chained Dravka up and Valerie had gone in to check on him and keep him company. She’d found early on that talking to him while he was in a Rut helped calm him down. And—she’d thought—made theneedless intense.
But during that particular Rut, Dravka hadn’t wanted her anywhere near him. And she’d been hurt, wondering why. She’d started crying when he yelled at her to get out, all while straining against the chains on the bed.
Desperation had crossed his face when he’d seen her tears.
* * *
“Why doyou want me to leave?” she asked him, kneeling beside the bed, frowning through her blurry vision. Khiva had told her to leave the door open, but she closed it regardless.
He wasn’t fully naked. His chest was bare, but he wore thin pants that did nothing to shield the erection straining against the material. The whole front of him was wet, which had surprised her when she’d stepped inside. And there was a scent in the air that made her nipples tingle and her belly squeeze.
“This one is bad, Val,” he growled. “If you stay…”
All the while, his eyes had run over her. Running over her breasts, her waist, her hips, her legs. She felt his gaze like it’d been his fingers instead.
It shocked her, his possessive gaze. He’d never looked at her like that before. She was only wearing a simple shift dress but the way his gaze heated made her feel like she was wearing nothing at all.
He’s in his Rut, she reminded herself. He’d probably look at any female who stepped inside the same way. His control was already very thin.
