Chapter 7 #2
But Niir was moved. That smile was for him. The pleasure she expressed at being reunited with these females soaked into him. For one moment, the primal beast inside him was soothed and silenced.
She said something in Rakolin and someone else giggled. Suddenly, fourteen sets of eyes were on him, assessing, sizing him up.
“My cousin Gilla thinks you look at me like you would like to eat me for dinner,” she said in the universal language they both understood.
Because she and he were the only ones in the room who would understand his reply, he grinned, wide and wolfish, flashing long, sharp eyeteeth. “Luckily for you, I shall refrain.”
Her gaze turned dark and alluring. “I’m not sure if my luck is good or bad.”
Niir’s throat had gone dry as dust. He couldn’t have replied if he had to, so it was fortunate that the females once again swallowed her into their group.
He leaned against the wall and watched them.
They paid him little mind from then on, talking amongst themselves.
One of them braided Calinae’s hair while she stroked the hair of another one who rested a head on Calinae’s shoulder.
They were a tangle of females resting and enjoying each other’s company.
It was a fascinating sight for Niir. It pleased him to see Calinae so relaxed and happy, so it was with regret that he had to step away from the wall and motion for her to come with him.
She rose to a chorus of displeasure. He didn’t need to know their language to hear their dismay.
Calinae held out her hands and shook her head and said something that seemed to soothe them.
She looked at him and gave him another of those smiles.
They would be his undoing; he was sure of it. “I can come back, right?”
“Of course.” With a nod, he left the room, again expecting her to follow. She did.
Niir didn’t linger. He walked toward the lift, weaving through the crowded residential corridor with an eye backwards to make sure she kept up.
On the lift, he let out a breath and tried not to look at her.
The effect she had on him was growing more potent, more difficult to resist. His cock was so hard, he had to adjust its length in his pants. He knew she saw the move.
Good, a vicious part of him thought. Let her see what she did to him. Let her know.
They stepped off the lift without a word. He brought her to her quarters, prepared to leave her there so he could retreat to his own room and clear his very chaotic head.
She touched his arm as he turned away. Long, soft fingers slid around his wrist. He stilled. “Yes?”
This was hard—harder than he imagined. Knowing she was attracted to him made keeping his hands off her the most strenuous exercise he’d attempted. His gaze fixed on that slim hand and slowly moved upwards to her lovely face.
Pale gold eyes blinked, bright with held-back tears. She licked her lips, nearly making him groan. “Thank you for bringing me to them,” she said softly.
“I apologize for not doing it long before now,” he said gruffly.
A shadow crossed her eyes. “I forgive you. The others will, eventually. They were afraid something bad had happened to me.”
He was going to lose his mind. He was sure of it. With every passing moment, his control slipped another notch.
“Remove your hand or something bad will happen to you.” His voice was an ominous growl.
She did not release him. “You would never hurt me, Niir.”
“How do you know it, Calinae?” he asked quietly, moving in, closing the space between them. “Do you assume I am just a big, harmless oaf? Like an overgrown buiree to curl up on your lap and beg for scratches behind the ears? If so, you have made a grave error in judgment.”
She slid her hand up his forearm, past his elbow, to his straining bicep. “I don’t think there is anything harmless about you, Niir.”
The way she said his name, like a caress, was his breaking point. Lust flooded him. His vision focused and narrowed to only her.
With one rough move, he shoved her up against the wall and tunneled a hand into the hair at the back of her head.
Full, pink lips, still wet from her tongue, parted.
He lowered his head and crushed his mouth to hers, swallowing her gasp, or his groan—who knew at that point?
It was not a gentle kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth and he devoured deep, taking what he wanted and losing himself in her sweetness.
Her arms wound around his neck as the purr of her moan wound through him. He pressed his hips into her belly, letting her feel his full length and hardness. Her acceptance of him rocked through him like a shock wave.
Arousal tightened every muscle. His limbs shook with the effort it took to hold back from ravishing her. He wanted to yank off that gray shift and plunge his cock into her warm, wet sex.
But that was the monster in him, whispering in his head to take what he wanted.
Niir maintained control, easing up a bit and sinking into her kiss, drinking in her taste and softness and hunger.
The weight of her hair slid through his fingers like thick silk.
His hands slid over her, learning the shape of her back, waist, ass.
The thick fabric of her garment slipped over her skin, tantalizing his senses.
A rational sliver of his mind sent a sharp warning that this was highly ill-advised—that he would have to stop this and sooner would be wiser than later.
She was promised to another, and she had not yet refuted that claim.
A mental picture popped into his head of the Sislus warlord spreading his hands over her, just as he was doing.
Niir froze. The thought filled him with disgust and a roaring need to protect her.
With a groan, he set his hands on her shoulders and pushed them apart.
She gazed up at him, sexy eyed and flushed, with lips swollen from their kisses.
A frown slowly creased her brow, growing deeper with each passing moment.
He held up his hands, palm out. “I am sorry, Calinae. This is…” Incredible. Intoxicating. Glorious. “Unwise.”
She seemed to agree, although belatedly, because her eyes cleared, her head nodded, and her hand covered her mouth with a little whimper. Without saying a word, she slapped her palm to the pad and bolted inside her quarters the instant the door opened for her.
Niir gazed at the closed door for a few moments, reliving the fresh memory of the horror dawning on her face.
With blood pounding through his limbs and a hardness in his pants that ached painfully, he trudged back to his quarters.
Why had he put her in a room directly next to his?
Oh yes, because he was the biggest fool in the quadrant.