“Are you resisting because of your pride?” He studied her. “Or do you really not want to mate?”

Lans was about to combust from the need to have her, but if she did not want his invasion, he would stop immediately.

The teachings of his father had not gone unheard. All females were to be protected and honored. It was the responsibility of the male to ensure that his mate received everything she needed and more. For so long, they had lived without females, but these truths were the foundation of Plutonian culture and morality.

He would probably have to dive into a freezing damas to temper his lust, but he would not lay a hand on her if Eema rejected the coupling.

“You’re getting punished for pulling a prank on me.” She pouted.

Relief poured through his body and loosened the knots in his stomach.

So she was not rejecting him.

She was only trying to prove a point.

“A punishment?” He growled.

“Yes.”

“Am I the only one getting punished in such a case?” He slid his finger down her throat to the pulse at the base of her neck. Her breath shuttered and her back arched off the bed. He smirked at her response.

His Eema was so easy to read.

She would be so easy to please.

“Do you know all the ways I could make you scream, Eema?” His fingers dipped between her legs. “So, so many ways.”

“You… evil… jerk,” she panted. “You think you can seduce me?”

“I will only follow what you did to me.” He arched an eyebrow nub. “If I recall correctly, your leg was… here, I think.” He pointed with his tail. “And you were rubbing me as if your heat was—”

She slapped her hand against his mouth. “You should have told me you were awake.”

“And miss the opportunity to tease you? Neh.” He slipped a strand of her hair away from her cheek, keeping his touch whisper-soft. “Should I stop?”

She moaned.

Growing serious, he pulled his hands off her and said, “We do not have to mate now, but if you choose not to engage in the coupling, I must sleep in another room.”

“Why? Can’t we just,” she gestured to where his hands had been, “keep doing that?”

“If I start, I will not be able to stop, my heras. I do not trust myself to lie in bed with you and not taste your heat.” He paused, sensing her anxiety. She was nipping at her bottom lip with her flat, white teeth again. Her hands trembled slightly. “Is there a reason you want us to mate with our clothes on?”

For a moment, her eyes flickered.

Lans wondered if he had stumbled upon the very root of her concern, but the expression dissolved as quickly as it had come. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Eema pulled him down, sucking his lips as if she had no time to waste.

His weight pressed her harder into the cot. His lips took control of her frantic suckling until he had slowed her pace to the speed and rhythm that he wanted.

Neh.

His female wouldnotbe taking over their mating.

Not today.

He pulled back and studied her parted lips.

Her tongue slipped out of her mouth to slide along her lower lip and he stared at it.