“Dravka, stop,” Valerie whispered. “Please.”
He took a deep breath but she pressed her fingers to his lips.
“You know how powerful she is. How many connections she has. She won’t let me go,” she whispered. “You know she won’t. Not when she needs me this much. She can and will find me anywhere in the universe if I try to leave.”
“I’ll take care of this, of you,” he continued, shaking his head. “You don’t need to worry. And you certainly don’t have to worry about Gabriel Larchmont.”
Celine Larchmont was one of Ravu’s clients. One who had a booking with him in two days’ time. They had a plan. Because sometimes, Celine Larchmont only visited Ravu to talk, according to him. He cared for her and he believed she cared for him. Ravu even believed them to be friends. He believed she had reason to help them, that shewouldhelp them if he asked.
“You don’t believe me,” he murmured, though a small smile quirked the edges of his lips. “But in time, I’ll show you that I am a male of my word. And I promise that I will make everything right.Pax?”
Valerie pressed a small kiss to his jawline. She gave him a small smile and Dravka hated the doubt in her eyes.
“Will you hold me tonight?” she asked softly, the words so sweet in his ears.
He inhaled a deep, long breath.
Then he maneuvered them on the bed, placing both of them underneath the blanket on his small bed and stretching out next to her.
He reached under the covers and slid out of his still-wet pants, using the material to clean the remaining pre-cum from his cock before he tossed the bundle to the floor.
Valerie was watching him in the darkness and he swore he caught her small blush. Now she knew he was naked—and she only wore that little patch of material between her thighs.
His hand slid across, pulling her into him. His palm rested on the swell of her ass, squeezing softly, eliciting a small gasp from Val. He tucked her close, as she’d requested, threading his arms around her.
Cold hands rested on his chest, which he quickly warmed. She sighed, a puff of hot air blowing across his neck, and she buried her face there.
They lay in silence for a brief moment. Her breath was beginning to even out, her heartbeat beginning to slow.
At least until he said, “And when we are settled on Dumera, in our little house with your garden…”
He felt the way her lips parted against his neck.
“I’ll hold you like this every night. Only, on Dumera, it’ll be after I’ve mated you thoroughly and filled you with myteela. I’ll hold you through your orgasms. Just like this. Every night.”
He grinned when he felt her heartbeat double in pace against his chest.
“The wicked things I’ll do to you there,mellkia. I can hardly wait,” he rasped into her ear, rubbing the little tip of it with his chin. “Now, sleep.”
Dravka heard her swallow. For long moments, her heartbeat never slowed.
Then she asked, “What doesmellkiamean?”
He clutched her closer. He’d wondered when she would ask. He’d called hermellkiafor years now.
“It means,” Dravka told her, “my love.”
Her heart sped even more.
Chapter Seventeen
45341.
Valerie repeated the numbers in her mind, numbers she’d memorized the moment Eve Tesler had told her them.
Winding through the Downtown District, she dodged a group of businessmen on their lunch break. A couple of their heads turned to regard her, one even smiling. But Valerie paid them no mind, continuing on her way on the busy street.
Driverless cars slid past in endless lines. Shouting and boisterous laughter from the seemingly hundreds of people on the streets at that time made her feel antsy and jittery. Her heart was pounding, short gasps escaping her.
