Chapter Fifteen #2
His glare would have sent most people I knew running, but after spending my life around men dedicated to the military, it didn’t intimidate me.
It was fake.
“Like you’re waiting for an attack.”
His expression tightened but he didn’t respond right away. He let out a breath and finished closing the bench, then turned and sat on it.
“I am responsible for your safety. The less secure the area you’re in, the more dangerous.”
One hand resting on my hip, I tilted my head as I studied him. He wanted to appear relaxed, but beneath the forced calm he was still wound tight.
“That’s not what I asked.”
His jaw flexed and tension built between us, but I wasn’t going to back down. If I was going to live with him and trust my safety to him, I needed to understand how he thought.
“It is easier to anticipate threats in regulated areas. The Markets constantly shift, and threats could hide anywhere. It would be too easy for someone to get close enough to touch you.”
That wasn’t what I had asked, but it was closer to an answer. I could guess the rest.
I nodded, letting my arm drop and taking a step closer. Trauma was a reality in war. It wasn’t an if, it was how bad.
“I understand, but we’re home now. I’m safe here.”
His eyes held mine for a long moment, something flickering in the golden depths. There and gone too fast for me to name, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Yes, you are safe from outside threats.”
I didn’t miss the careful wording. Something made him think he was a threat to me, and if I’d thought it was only sexually, I might have smirked, but it seemed to go deeper than that.
“I think I’ll be fine. Can you show me where the cups are?”
I moved past him, heading toward the kitchen in a bid to get his mind off whatever worried him. He rose and followed, his silent steps sending a shiver down my spine at the reminder that I might not hear someone sneaking up on me if he could be that silent.
I slowed by the table and Rhydek slipped around me, the warm brush of his tail along my thigh making me suck in a sharp gasp, but he acted as if nothing had happened. The heat of the touch lingered, spreading until it settled low in my belly, my core tightening.
Whether we ever turned into anything more, I couldn’t deny there was attraction on my part. Which was good, since I didn’t have a choice about fucking him.
With an audience.
My cheeks and chest warmed as I waited for Rhydek to fill the cup and hand it to me. He watched me lift it to my lips and swallow the tepid liquid, a satisfied tilt taking over his lips.
Would they be soft the way their plush curve suggested, or firm the way the rest of him was?
I turned away when I saw his nostrils flare, remembering he could scent things I’d rather he couldn’t. Putting as much room between us as possible, I dropped onto the couch with a quiet groan. My body still ached from the stairs. And the injection. And the tension.
“Remind me again why you can travel to other planets but decided stairs were a good way to get around your capitol?”
I’d closed my eyes but opened them again at his quiet huff as he took a seat across from me in a chair that had seemed massive until he sat in it. It hugged his frame as if it had been built for him, and I eyed what looked like black horns that made up the frame.
“They were carved before lifts existed.”
I groaned again as I leaned forward to place my water on the table.
“A terrible design choice. I think it’s time for an update.”
He laughed and looked around at the stone walls and the weapons hung on them.
“Humans adapt, but the Morrak endure. We developed technology to protect ourselves, but we live as we always have. With a few security updates. Thousands of years ago, and hopefully thousands of years from now, Korvashan will remain, unchanged.”
My brow arched as I debated how to respond without sounding like I didn’t appreciate tradition.
“Adaptability increases survival odds.”
His grin revealed the tip of a sharp canine and a shiver sent goosebumps racing along my arms, my nipples tightening.
I might not have known Rhydek well enough to guess his philosophical stance, but we’d interacted enough for my instincts to say he was a good guy, and the hint of a threat from his teeth only raised his appeal.
“True, but physical endurance is important when facing any odds. Fitness isn’t an option when your feet are the only way to get somewhere.”
Groaning, I let my head drop back against the couch. Silence settled between us again, but it wasn’t as heavy. Not as suffocating. Just… calm.
I closed my eyes and let it sink in, strain bleeding from my muscles. I couldn’t even hear Rhydek breathing, but I knew he was there. His presence was too large to miss even with my eyes closed.
“Thank you.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
I opened my eyes and lifted my head, Rhydek’s gaze focused on me in that intense way he always had.
“For what?”
Shrugging, I tried to find a way to explain.
“For the clothes. Taking me to the Market. Not letting me get lost or make a mistake.”
His brows furrowed at the last part.
“That would not happen.”
Twisting my lips into something like a smile, I let out a sharp laugh.
“I’ve made plenty of them, and I’m sure I’ll make more. Hell, I bet my entire life that I wouldn’t be chosen at the gala, and look where that got me.”
His frown deepened and I realized how that sounded to him.
“But thank you. For all of it. I—I needed a change. I was losing my job, and didn’t know what to do next, so…”
I trailed off, the words getting stuck in my throat. Rhydek stared at me as I blinked back unwanted moisture before dipping his head in a slow nod.
“You are welcome.”
It was simple, but it was real. And for some reason, that made my chest feel tight again.
I looked away, because if I hadn’t, I might have said something I wasn’t ready to admit.
Like maybe being with him on Morrakan wouldn’t turn out as bad as I had feared.
Because maybe he wasn’t really as cold as he tried to be.
And maybe…
I shook my head, shoving those thoughts away. It was too soon for ideas like that. It was just the hormones trying to trick my brain into accepting what was biologically necessary.
Choosing me had been the lesser evil to him. I was an obligation. He gave me a purpose. We were just doing what was best for our people.
I pushed up from the couch, needing to put space between us. Spending time with him encouraged the thoughts I wasn’t supposed to have. It could be pheromones, and clearing my head should make everything better.
“I’m going to lie down for a bit.”
His head dipped again, those luminous eyes tracking me as I walked to the doorway.
“I have duties to attend, but I will return with the evening meal.”
I hesitated, wanting to ask him not to leave, but swallowed the words. I wasn’t a child who needed supervision, nor was I ill enough I couldn’t tend to myself. There was no valid reason to ask him to stay.
“Okay.”
I walked into the bedroom, forcing myself to take even steps and slow breaths even though it felt like a gaping hole was growing behind me.
It was absurd to crave a person I barely knew, who I could blame for the situation I was in, but that didn’t change the fact that every part of me wanted to turn around and go curl up in Rhydek’s lap instead of the empty bed.
It looked the same as it had before.
Soft.
Inviting.
Too big.
I climbed in anyway, settling onto one side and pulling one of the silk blankets over my legs. The quiet wrapped around me again, pulsing and pressing against my ears until I took one of the pillows and put it over my head.
It smelled of leather and pine and something masculine.
I felt exposed, but it had nothing to do with the skimpy clothes or the thin sheet.
No, the inner me who had always hidden behind walls and routines and work was the part that felt raw and naked, because I no longer had those things to keep me blinded to everything I had been missing.
There weren’t any demands or expectations to keep me on track and force me to push on.
And I didn’t know if I could keep going without that.