Page 41 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector
I hate being bitten. Absolutely hate it.
Greer kept walking, his jaw tight, ignoring the questioning glance from a passing Thropp’ian male. He didn’t stop until he’d rounded another corner, out of sight, out of earshot. Only then did he let himself breathe—though the breath came out ragged, as if something had lodged deep in his chest.
So that was it. All this time he’d been telling himself there were a hundred reasons why Sunny could never be his—why she shouldn’t be his—and now he had the biggest one of all.
She hated being bitten.
And he was a Pitch Blood Kindred. His bite wasn’t just part of his nature—it was the only way he could truly claim a mate. The only way to Bond for life. Without it, he had nothing to give her but half-measures and frustration.
Well, that settles it, he told himself grimly, lengthening his stride toward the hut. She might want me now, in the heat of a moment, but there’s no future in it. I can’t change what I am. And I’ll be damned before I ever sink my fangs into a female who doesn’t want it.
The image of her on her hands and knees the night before, panting, moaning, begging for more as he fucked her with the toy, rose unbidden in his mind. He crushed it ruthlessly. That wasn’t the same. Lust made people reckless…desperate. Lust didn’t mean she wanted what he had to give.
She was never going to want it—never going to want him.
Greer raked a hand through his hair and clenched his teeth. He would protect her, guard her, and keep her safe until this mission was over—which it nearly was. Then he’d go back to the Elite Corps, and she’d go back to her research, and that would be the end of it. They would never see each other again.
Better for her. Better for him.
So why did the thought feel like a blade twisting in his chest?
30
SUNNY
The mission was over and they were heading home—Sunny had all the data she needed to finally write her paper.
The shuttle hummed quietly as it slid through the fold in space, the strange reddish light glimmering outside the viewscreen. Usually, Sunny would have been fascinated, feeling the way time seemed to stretch and compress at the same time. But right now, she barely noticed.
She was too aware of the man sitting just a few feet away.
Greer.
Her Protector.
He was at the helm, massive hands resting on the steering yoke, his pale eyes fixed firmly on the viewscreen. His jaw was tight, his broad shoulders set like stone.
Sunny had tried—twice—to speak to him since they’d left Thropp’ic Sigma. The first time, she’d asked how long the flight back would take. He’d answered with a grunt that could’ve meant anything from “two hours” to “leave me the fuck alone.” The second time, she’d thanked him again for saving her from Lowhung’s disgusting trap the night before. That had earned her another grunt.
And that was it.
Now he sat there, silent as a statue, as though she wasn’t even in the shuttle with him.
Sunny’s chest ached with hurt. After everything they’d been through together—after the way he’d protected her, after the way he’d tasted her in the Chair of Female Pleasure, after the way he’d made her body come alive in ways she hadn’t known were possible—she’d thought surely something would change between them. She’d thought, once they were alone, he’d touch her again. That he’d admit that he wanted her—wanted to be more than just her Protector.
Or at least that he’d talk to her.
Instead, it was like someone had flipped a switch inside him. Protector mode—on. Lover mode—if it had ever been real—completely off.
Sunny blinked hard, fighting the sting of tears in her eyes. She refused to cry in front of him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he was hurting her.
So she swallowed down her questions and her shame, turned her head toward the viewscreen, and forced herself to stare at the swirling lights of folded space.
Fine. If he didn’t want to talk to her, she wouldn’t beg for his attention.
Still, her heart whispered traitorously, Why?
Why had he touched her that way, why had he tasted her…made her believe there was more between them, if now he was just going to shut her out?
