Page 45 of Warrior's Captive
“No, not a harem, Vivian.”
“Because if you have any other human females . . .” She didn’t know what possessed her. She wasn’t a teasing type person, and didn’t have much of a sense of humor. Maybe it was the giddy relief of being alive and well, and the baby unharmed, and Tai’ri now home, that spurred her.
He sighed and lifted her carefully into his arms with a nod towards his team member. “You’re teasing me.”
“Yes,” she admitted, hesitating, and then wrapped an arm around his neck. “I’m glad you’re home.”
His breath stilled for a minute, then he brushed his lips against her forehead. “I’m glad I’m home, too.”
Tai’ri lifted her into his arms. She wrapped an arm around his neck, trusting in his strength and balance, though she supposed this wasn’t the first time he’d carried her.
He remained silent on the lift up to the first level, and into her room where he laid her with exquisite control on the bed. Straightening, he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
“I’m going to get you something to drink and eat,” he said.
“Nothing heavy, I’m a little queasy.”
He nodded, and she settled back onto her pillows, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, he was sitting at her side, a tray on the nightstand.
“You slept for an hour,” he said. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
She yawned, covering her mouth. “You didn’t have to sit here with me.”
“I wanted to.” He handed her a glass of clear liquid which turned out to be water flavored with something sweet and citrusy, lightly carbonated.
She sipped the chilled beverage, then set it aside and looked at the bowl of slightly steaming grain and vegetables in what smelled like a lightly seasoned sauce.
“There’s frozen cream,” he said after she’d eaten several bites then set the bowl aside.
“Only if you have some with me.” He was taking care of her, but the miasma of the evening he must have had lingered in the dark expression in his eyes, and the subtle tension in his shoulders.
Tai’ri smiled a little then left, returning moments later with two small bowls of the dessert.
“Can you tell me what happened to you?” she asked.
“Just work.” Then he grimaced slightly. “I’ll have to talk to you about it soon for reasons. But for tonight . . .” he hesitated. “I’d like to hold you.”
He’d set his bowl aside and waited, hands on the tops of his thighs. Strong fingers, long and surprisingly graceful. He held himself completely still, as if prepared to accept her no without protest.
It was so little to ask for, just a smidgen of contact. She found she didn’t want to tell him no. Of course she didn’t want to tell him no. Not the way he was slowly worming under her skin, into her daily existence. Becoming her new normal, her new sense of family.
“Yes,” she said. “But I’m going to get comfortable.”
Getting comfortable meant moving onto her side, and placing a pillow between her thighs.
Tai’ri settled at her back and his arm slid around her back. His palm rested lightly on her belly. She’d never had someone in the bed with her before, not since she was a small child and her mother slept at her side.
But then his hand moved up her arm, his fingertips lightly caressing her skin. She shivered.
“Stop that,” she said.
A silent laugh moved his chest. “Why? I like touching you.”
“It’s distracting, and I’m trying to sleep.”
“Oh, Viv. That’s not even close to distracting.”
He didn’t say anything else, but the promise in his tone was enough, and the brief, searing press of his lips on the side of her neck as he pulled her hair aside.
