Page 80 of Splintered Shadow
His mouth captured hers. The kiss started sweet, but quickly grew heated. He nibbled at her ears and kissed down her throat. He tugged at the bottom of her shirt, raising it to expose her stomach.
“Wait, let me.” She removed her shirt.
He frowned at the mottled purple and green bruises. Tenderly, he brushed a finger over the discoloration. “I dislike that you were injured.”
“I barely feel it now.”
“I will make them pay.” He leaned down, placing a soft kiss above her navel. “For every bruise, they will suffer. This is a broken finger.” He kissed her hip, where the bruising was still a deep purple. “This will be a fractured hip.”
His words were brutal, but they comforted her. “They’re going to run out of bones for you to break,” she said.
“Unlikely. There are several small bones in the inner ear. Those will be the bones of last resort.” His fingers and lips mapped the bruising across her abdomen.
“Backup bones,” she said, smiling and more than a little turned on. Well, Sarah learned something about herself that day. She was a bloodthirsty bitch.
Vekele hooked his fingers over the waistband of her sleep pants and panties, dragging them down. She settled onto his belly between her thighs.
The cabin door chirped. Someone wanted admittance.
“Ignore them,” he ordered.
“I don’t think we can.” The interruptions had been steady all day. Their few hours of peace had been a fluke.
The door rang again. Whoever they were, they weren’t going away.
“Prince Vekele? Your Highness? You’re needed on the bridge,” a voice said over the comms.
He groaned, rolling away. “The ship had better be on fire or I will have you scrubbing toilets.”
“How long until we get there?”
“Three more days,” he said.
Three more days of no privacy and no time together.
Chapter Seventeen
Vekele
The station was an insult.Stripped of useful parts, it was a hollow echo of its former self. Water dripped down some forgotten corridor. The air smelled musty. The lights flickered. He supposed he should count himself lucky that the station was habitable.
They did not have to be here long, just until the Starshade ship approached.
Guards carried supply crates off their ship. After days of being on the cramped ship, the crew would enjoy not being on top of each other.
Sarah’s head constantly pivoted as she took in the sights. “Wow, this is something.”
This station was a disgrace. It was beneath his dignity, and it worried him how much he wanted to dazzle Sarah with the riches of the Arcos kingdom.
The sound of dripping water grew louder.
The riches of the Arcos kingdom…such as they were, he mentally amended.
“It does not take much to impress you, Sarah of Earth,” he said.
She leaned into him, nudging him with her shoulder. Compared to him, her form was too slender to cause injury or even move him. There was no reason for warmth to spread in his chest, no joy to be taken from her touching him voluntarily.
“Was that a joke? Are you giving me shit?” she asked.
