I’m not ready to trust him fully yet... but I’m also not ready to leave those arms. I’m not ready to put my fate into someone else’s hands. Not again. I don’t know him well enough. Yet. Exhaustion wars with caution, and for now, exhaustion wins. I let my eyes drift closed, my head nestling against the steady thump of his heart.
Just for tonight, I’m going to pretend the monsters can’t find me here.
ChapterFive
SUTEK
“You need rest, bravi,” I rumble, the gravelly words scraping my throat.
My heart softens every time I look down at the little human female. She’s adorable. The way she ate my terrible cooking as if it were the best thing she’s ever tasted sparks a primal need inside me. I yearn to provide for her in the future. The way her nose wrinkled when she was deep in thought, how she looked up at me through dark lashes—I’m captivated.
I can’t fall in love with her. I’m a killer. I don’t know the first thing about caring for a mate. For once, I wish I had paid more attention in class when they taught us these sorts of things.
I wish I were a better male. Elana makes me crave a different upbringing, one where I wasn’t forced to hone my body for fighting to survive.
Prince Rist constantly reminds me that I’m more than my past. For the first time, I yearn to become more. Mere hours with this little human, and my thoughts race toward endless days and nights by her side.
I truly understand why my friend Voltair didn’t choose to join us in building the hotel—he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his mate. Just her and him, together forever. At first I felt jilted that my friend had rejected us, but now I can’t find any fault in his actions. I’d have done the same in his situation.
No matter what, her needs come first. The medical pod warned of an impending energy plunge, and now it’s happening. Far faster than I had expected. She swayed in her seat, barely able to sit upright. Even her speech has developed a drunken slur.
I sweep her slight weight into my arms. She gasps, looping her arms around my neck for balance. Fortunately, she can’t see how my cokas swells painfully in my pants in response. What warm-blooded male wouldn’t lust for such a delectable female clinging to him breathlessly?
“I’m too heavy,” she protests weakly, already half-asleep.
I chuckle, amused that she sees herself as a burden. “I spent all last season carrying supplies to the building, helping to build and repair this place. You are nothing compared to those weights.”
She frowns skeptically at me, pursing her lips. How I ache to brush my mouth against those pouty lips, to trace their shape with my tongue.
I shake the thought away. I can’t seduce the hotel critic, not if it risks everything we’ve worked toward.
I carry Elana to the finest chamber our hotel offers. We all assumed Prince Rist would claim it, given his taste for grandeur. Yet he surprised us by insisting on a simple room in the staff wing.
Shoving the door open, I head straight to the sleeping nook. My cokas hardens further as I picture Elana lying on the bed, hair splayed out. Shaking my head, I lower her onto the bedding and quickly pull the cover over her.
To distract her, I flick the covers over her head. She splutters and laughs, trying to shove away the offending material, while I quickly tuck my erection into the band of my pants; hiding the hardened bar beneath the length of my shirt. She was panicked when she first awoke, and I don’t want her to fear anything ever again; even me.
Finally, Elana shoves the bedsheet from her face, looking at me with a radiant smile that makes my heart skip a beat. She’s gorgeous. If I were a better male, I’d claim her in a heartbeat.
“You’re just leaving me?” she asks with a playful pout. Already, I can see the heavy burden of exhaustion bearing down on her. Her eyelids droop to half-mast and her body goes limp and relaxed against the pillows. This is how she should always look when lying in bed, preferably mine.
I know I should leave and let her rest, but the magnetic pull to stay by her side is overwhelming. I’m shocked by the traitorous thought of sneaking back into her quarters after she falls asleep, just to watch over her. To protect her, I rationalize to myself. After all, I know just how easy it is for danger to enter unannounced.
I shake my head furiously, my hair flying around me. Elana just survived a spaceship crash. She needs rest, not a mating call.
“I will wake you in the morning,” I say with a roguish grin.
“What? Not even a kiss goodnight?” She laughs, eyes glinting.
Unable to resist, I lean down and press my lips to hers. She freezes beneath me for only a moment before gripping my arms as I brace myself above her. I plunge my tongue into her soft mouth, groaning at the silky heat. Her tongue retreats, but I chase it down until our slick flesh rubs against each other. She tastes phenomenal, like the sweetest dessert. I immediately know I’ll never get enough of her, that I’ll crave her taste for the rest of my life.
I nip at her lips with my sharp teeth, savoring each shudder of her body and catching her gasps with my mouth. More, I need more.
It’s not a gentle kiss as she deserves, but a demanding one. I’m not a kind male. I’m not considerate. If I want something, I take it. Right down to taking someone’s life.
Elana’s life could be mine.
I yank back from the kiss, breathing heavily. Elana looks up with half-lidded eyes, her lips plump and flushed from our passionate embrace. My body strains toward her, like she’s a drug I’m hopelessly addicted to. Even my tail has found its way onto the bed and curled around her ankle, as if it has a mind of its own.
