Ring and outside it. Every part of him was honed by battle and hardened by life.
His gaze holding hers, he pushed her skirt up and pulled her panties down her legs. With an astounding gentleness, he fingered her until she was slick and panting. Only then did he slide himself inside her and thrust against her hips. This time, he was almost feral as he made love to her. Yet even so, he took care not to hurt her and to make sure that she came first.
Talyn growled as he felt her release and saw the ecstasy on her face. He loved the way she said his name whenever he was inside her. Loved how she clutched at him and gently clawed his back with her nails.
Best of all, he adored the scent of her skin and hair. It was as if she’d been made solely for him. He could forgive the gods everything they’d done to him if they allowed her to stay in his life.
And yet as he came in her arms, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen. Something that would tear her out of his world and leave him coldly solo again.
He buried his face in her hair and tried to tell himself it was an unfounded fear. But the past wouldn’t leave him alone. It tormented him with memories he didn’t want.
Tay-lyn No-kin,
Born in sin,
No matter what, you’ll never win!
Grinding his teeth, he tried to blot out the memory of the rhyme other kids had used to torment him when he’d been a child in school. He’d hated his mother for giving him a name that was so easy for Hyshians to mispronounce and rhyme with his bastard status.
While Felicia didn’t seem to mind the fact that he wasn’t Vested right now, sooner or later, that would change. She wouldn’t be in med school unless she wanted to better her caste for unification. One day, she’d want children – she’d said as much on her agency questionnaire. Something he could never legally give her.
They couldn’t even adopt.
And here he was stralen for a female he knew he couldn’t keep. Ever.
Damn them. His classmates had been right, after all. He couldn’t win. Even though thirteen members of his father’s family had once held back an invading alien army and saved this planet from the Oksanans, they hadn’t done it single-handedly.
They’d had each other to rely on.
Someone at their back.
One single Andarion couldn’t change anything. He’d stood strong his whole life against storm after storm. Vowing with each one that he would not be broken.
That was never supposed to change.
But as he looked down at the female in his arms, he knew that it had. And Felicia was the one thing that would ultimately break him. He was sure of it. In a life he’d carefully, meticulously carved in blood and stone, she was his only vulnerable spot.
The gods had never shown him mercy. Not once. There was no way they’d have sent her to him and turned him stralen for her unless they were planning to use her against him somehow.
That made sense.
Like some mindless pawn, he’d allowed her inside his heart. Now it was too late.
He was damned.
And he had no doubt she would be the angel of death that delivered the killing blow to his worthless heart.
Chapter 11
Felicia smoothed the collar of Talyn’s black shirt down. His mother had returned to her post yesterday, and it’d been the two of them alone ever since. Something she’d enjoyed a lot more than she should have.
“Remember, I’m having the dinner here, so that as soon as you’re sick of my brother, all you have to do is say you don’t feel well and I’ll eject him from the condo.”
Talyn laughed at her. “The way you say that tells me you want me to feel sick before dinner is even served.”
She wrinkled her nose at his perceptiveness. “He’s always been a bit of a booger with me. I’m hoping he’ll be on good behavior. If he’s not¸ I might be the one who starts feeling ill.”
He kissed her brow. “One frown and I’ll toss him out myself.”
The building intercom buzzed. Felicia stepped away to tell security that it was fine for her brother and nephews to come up.
Talyn took a minute to finish dressing. In all honesty, he dreaded this. He’d seldom had a decent encounter with other Andarions. And he’d meant what he told Felicia – if her brother said one thoughtless