19. Lorken
Lorken
I’d never been a deep sleeper, and training to be a raider had honed my ability to wake at the slightest sound or the subtlest change in the air. That didn’t mean my sleep was bad or tortured, but it did mean that I woke when Athena laughed.
Even though I was unaccustomed to sharing my furs, I had not been bothered to find her asleep when I’d returned to my quarters.
She’d looked so untroubled lying on my furs, her arm tucked under her head and one leg hooked over a cushion.
Untroubled and completely comfortable sprawled in the center of the furs with the towel still wrapped around her but considerably loosened.
I’d made a point of keeping my gaze away from her exposed leg and the swell of her breasts above the fabric wrap. She might have agreed to be my war bride, but I’d made a promise that nothing would be forced upon her. As much as my cock throbbed when I looked at her, I intended to keep my promise.
Turning away to quell the fire stoking in my core, I’d drawn the curtains to block the view of space and extinguished the lights embedded in the ceiling, using memory to cross to the platform where I slept.
I’d shed my boots and battle kilt beside the platform, dropping onto the furs and welcoming the softness against my skin.
It had taken little effort to fall asleep, but only because I could not see Athena in the dark.
I couldn’t see her dark hair spilling across pale fur or the creamy skin of her long leg that stretched toward me.
I could barely hear her breathing, but that was easy to ignore.
If I didn’t ignore it and the fact that the woman I’d been instantly drawn to was barely clothed and lying next to me, I would have never been able to close my eyes.
But I had closed my eyes and slipped into sleep, only to wake again at the soft sound of a woman’s laugh. I’d turned in my sleep so that I no longer faced her, but I could sense that she wasn’t laughing in her sleep. Her breathing was no longer slow and even. She was awake, but I didn’t know why.
The ambient lights that would start to illuminate before first watch were still dark, which meant that we should still be sleeping.
I closed my eyes, hoping to drift off again, but I sensed her shifting next to me.
Then I could sense her moving toward me, almost as if her stealthy movement was sending sonar pings off my body.
My senses instantly shifted into high alert. Was she attacking me? Was this part of a plan to strike me when I was asleep? Had Zarn been right about her? Was she a threat?
Then her finger touched my back, and I whirled around, snatching her wrist in my hand. “Don’t you know that you should never poke a sleeping beast?”
She let out a yelp, as she attempted to free her hand. “I wasn’t…I mean, I didn’t mean to…”
My heart raced as I held her wrist and turned to sit up fully. I could only make out the silhouette of her, even though Vandar vision was better than human vision, but I could tell that she held no weapons. “No? What did you mean to do?”
Her breath came out in erratic puffs. “Okay, I guess I poked you, but I wasn’t trying to wake you or bother you. I only wanted to…”
I waited for a beat. “What did you want to do that involved poking me in my sleep?”
Athena released a groan. “I wanted to see if you were wearing your kilt or not. That’s all.”
I slackened my grip on her wrist. “My kilt? Why would I sleep in my battle kilt and why would you care?”
Another groan. “I don’t know. I wanted to know if you were sleeping naked or not.”
I could not see her expression, but I could hear her embarrassment. I dropped her wrist. “I am. I thought I told you that Vandar do not sleep in clothes.”
“You did.” She blew out a breath. “I didn’t know if you’d made an exception because I was with you.”
I scowled into the dark. “Why would I make an exception? I did not require you to sleep unclothed, but I will not change how I sleep.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” she snapped back.
I paused and let the silence lengthen between us for a few beats before I remembered where she’d poked me. “Poking me in the back would tell you if I was wearing my battle kilt or not?”
“I didn’t think I was touching your back. I thought I was touching your hip.”
I grunted. “I suppose there are worse places you could have poked that would have provoked much stronger responses from me.” I leaned closer to her. “But like I said before, you should not wake a sleeping beast.”
“I’m sorry I poked you, but I didn’t think I’d wake you. I barely touched you, by the way.” She scooted away from me. “Why did you react like I struck you?”
“I am a Vandar warlord. I am accustomed to battle and bloodshed. I am not used to pokes from women who want to know if I am naked. I only knew that you touched me. I did not know if it was with your finger or with a weapon.”
“A weapon?” She sounded genuinely shocked. “How would I get a weapon and why would I use it against you?”
I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “Perhaps you do not like the deal we made. Perhaps you do not agree with the arrangement. Or perhaps this is exactly where you wish to be because you wish to take out a Vandar Raas.”
Now she laughed, but it wasn’t the gentle sound from earlier.
It was a startled bark. “Take out a Vandar Raas? I’m afraid you have me confused with someone else.
I’m an actress, not an assassin. And I also have no desire to harm any Vandar.
I’m the one who saved your kinsman, remember?
I’m the one who tricked the Zagrath and helped smuggle their prisoners off the planet.
Taking out a warlord of the Vandar would do nothing but benefit the Empire, and you will never find me doing something as despicable as that. ”
Her words were convincing, and my gut told me that she was not a threat and not a Zagrath sympathizer, no matter what blood coursed through her veins.
“And what was your plan after you determined that I was not wearing a kilt to sleep?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t have a plan beyond that. I’ve always been too curious for my own good.”
I hummed as I studied the dark outline of her that was incrementally lighter. “You are not curious why my people sleep naked on furs? You don’t wish to know how it feels?”
She drew in a quick breath and replied too quickly. “No.”
I laughed and the deep sound echoed off the hard surfaces around us. “I do not believe you, Athena.”
“Now I do wish I had a weapon,” she whispered darkly.
“You think you could strike me?” I teased.
Her eyes flashed through the haze of darkness, defiant once more. “You think I couldn’t?”
I moved so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. I looped one arm around her waist and pulled her down, so she was flat on her back and then I pulled her hands over her hand and pinned them flat to the furs above her. “I think you could try.”
Her chest heaved, and even in the dark that was slowly fading to light, I could tell that the fabric wrapped around her had loosened to expose even more of her. She glared at me, her eyes sparking heat that was all fury.