When she’d asked how he was doing, he’d responded with either generic or missing you.
Nothing else.
But then, he was a Ring fighter and had been one half of his life. Having someone routinely beat the utter hell out of him was normal. Yet for all that, he wasn’t the beast others accused him of. There was a kindness in him that was unfathomable to her.
And the more she saw the real heart of the Hammer, the more she wanted to be with him.
“I think I’m in love with you, Talyn,” she whispered, knowing she’d never dare say that to him if he could hear her. Honestly, she’d been infatuated with him the instant he’d gone from confident to bashful the night they met. And it’d turned to love the moment he’d refused to embarrass her with an inspection in front of her broker and guard. That amount of compassion and regard for her feelings… she’d known then just how rare a creature he was. How decent.
And as she held him in the dim light, she wanted more than to be his companion.
She wanted to be his lady. In every way. An impossible dream. Without a paternal lineage, he couldn’t legally marry.
Ever.
If she stayed with him, she’d never be able to have children. They would arrest him for it, and it would be wrong to bring them into a world that would never hold them with any regard. His life showed her exactly the misery that would be theirs.
And still she wanted that dream of a family with a ferocity that scared her.
“Stop with your useless dreaming, Felicia! The world is harsh and ugly. The sooner you accept it, the better off you’ll be.” Her mother’s bitter words were implanted in her mind.
But she wasn’t her mother. And she didn’t want to be her. What she wanted was to be Ger Tarra Batur. Talyn’s beloved and revered wife.
Most of all, she wanted Talyn to have what he deserved. A home he could go to every night and be held by her.
Talyn came awake to his wrist alarm buzzing. Thinking he was in the barracks, he cursed. Until he realized there was a warm body pressed against his bare back and a tiny hand tangled in his braids.
For one second, he was in heaven.
Turning over, he smiled as he met the sweetest gaze he’d ever imagined. Then he remembered that his alarm was still going off.
“Shit! I slept the whole time?” Gah! He wanted to kill himself for wasting his precious hours with her.
“I tried to wake you, but you were sleeping really soundly. Sorry, sweetie. I fell asleep, too.”
Savoring the endearment, he turned off his alarm.
Felicia nibbled his jaw as she dropped her hand to stroke him through his pants. “Do you have five minutes?”
His breathing labored, he clutched her to him. “I would love nothing more, but I don’t want our first time to be hurried like that.” Since he was as virgin as she was, he wanted to have time to make sure he did it right and to savor it and her.
She nipped his chin before she unzipped his pants.
“Felicia —”
“Shh,” she breathed as she kissed her way down his bare chest.
I really need to go. If he was late getting back, Anatole would bring down the wrath of —
Hello!
Talyn cried out as she slowly drew his cock into her mouth, with astounding skill. Oh to hell with his CO. Bastard could rot for all he cared. There was no way he could leave here while she was doing this to him. His senses reeling, he buried his hand in her soft curls while she gently tongued and teased him to a blinding ecstasy.
No wonder males killed for their females. He totally understood that now. Biting his lip, he’d never felt anything better than her mouth on his body. Unable to stand it, he came in a blinding wave of pleasure that was so fast it embarrassed the hell out of him and made him glad he wasn’t inside her body.
That would have been useless for her.
Felicia smiled as he relaxed completely. Wiping her mouth, she met his gaze. “Better?”
He cupped her cheek in his hand and stroked her lips with his thumb. “No one’s ever done that for me before.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “You’re the only female who’s ever touched me, Felicia.”
Felicia sat back. Her jaw went slack at his disclosure and she remembered him telling her that when they’d first kissed. Andarion males had very specific physical needs