Page 77 of Owned By the Hvrok

For now, it was enough that she trusted him this far.

Enough that she had given him this.

And he?—

He would protect her, not because she was fragile… but becauseshe was his.

No being in any system would take her from him now.

As he continued to study her quietly, she looked up at him.

He hadn’t expected her to look at him.

Not so soon.

Notlike that.

Her face was still flushed—cheeks tinted with the afterheat of release, her lips slightly parted, her skin warm where it pressed against his chest. But her gaze—when it lifted to his helm—was not soft. Not timid.

It wasdefiant.

Steady. Clear.

There was knowledge in her expression now. A silent challenge. A glimmer that said:I know what I do to you.

How long can you resist me?

He stiffened slightly.

Because her scent had changed again.

It was no longer simply pleasant or intriguing. Now it wasintoxicating.Rich. Potent. Layered with satisfaction and something deeper—something primal. The chemical aftermath of pleasure clung to her skin like a second pulse.

Through the helm’s filters, he only caught fragments, and even that was almost too much.

He hadn’t known humans could be like this.

So volatile. So reactive. Sopotent.

She reached up, hand trembling only slightly, her fingers brushing along the hard plane of his chest, up the center of his sternum—curious, exploratory.

And then…

Her touch found the edge of his helm. The place where skin met metal. The vulnerable seam between his collar and throat.

He froze.

She said something in her language, her words soft, almost coaxing.

He couldn’t understand the words, but he didn’t need to. Her meaning was clear.

She was asking him to remove it.

To show her his face.

He shook his head gently.

And behind the mask, for the first time in what felt like eons?—

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