Warlord's Mercy - Cynthia Sax Page 0,20

suggestively. “I continue to want that, to want you.”

“I’m not fucking you again.” His tone was severe.

“I didn’t say I’d allow you to fuck me again. Only that I continue to want you.” She hadn’t yet forgiven him for his earlier rejection…although she understood his reasons for it now.

He believed she couldn’t take his rough appetites, didn’t know she was strong, was as much of a freak as he was. The male had much to learn about her.

“I don’t like to be gagged or silenced in any way.” That unsettled her. “And I’m not a big fan of being tied up, either. I need to free myself if we’re attacked.”

She wanted the option to run. That had kept her safe in the past, might keep her safe in the future.

Her Warlord worked on her hair. She placed her hands on his knees, massaged them with her fingertips, and told him about all the things she’d like to try, preferably with him.

The stream rushed before them. Tolui’s breath wafted on her neck.

She relaxed once more, and he did also.

“I’m not fucking you again. But I will teach you how to protect yourself.” He inserted that into a break in their one-sided discussion. “You have a gun.” He brushed the smoothed tendrils of her hair over her left shoulder. “You should know how to use it.”

Once he taught her to shoot, he’d leave. She heard that in his voice.

Her plan was to leave also, to escape Daisun and his female-hating fiends, find a new home where she would have companionship and community.

She shouldn’t feel hurt by her Warlord’s intentions. “I would like that.”

Tolui completed the detangling of her hair, yet he didn’t move his hands from the now-freed curls. He petted the tendrils, stroking them over and over, saying very little.

Lea craved those light caresses, his caring for her. She didn’t mind the silence, was accustomed to it. She could carry a conversation on her own, chattered about random topics.

It was magical—that he was with her.

She was curious how that came to be. “You arrived in an escape pod. What happened to your ship?”

He didn’t respond.

“One of the languages on the ship was Dorian.” That had been unusual. Not many beings spoke Dorian. “Is that your home planet?”

“My clone brothers and I have no home planet.” Bitterness edged her Warlord’s words. “Not yet.”

He stood. Their interlude must be over.

“Not yet.” She jumped to her feet also. “You landed on Chamele 4. Are you claiming this as your home planet?”

She wandered back to her private chamber, not bothering to dress. If he and his clone brothers claimed Chamele 4, they might protect her from Daisun. She might be safe, might not have to leave the planet.

“Chamele 4 is a shithole.” Tolui followed her. “We deserve a better home planet.”

“There is no better planet than Chamele 4.” She frowned. “Your view of it must be warped because you had a fever when you first saw it.”

That had to be the explanation for his very wrong stance on the planet. Her home was breathtaking and primitive and supplied everything a being could need.

“You’re no longer feverish.” She flopped on the sleeping support. “When I wake, I’ll show you the full beauty of Chamele 4.”

“When we wake, I’ll teach you to shoot.” He was clearly in a rush to leave her.

“We’ll do that also.” She sighed. It appeared she was destined to be alone.

And in a constant state of sexual frustration.

The sleeping support dipped as he lay on it.

She rolled into his form. That skin-to-skin contact was wonderful, but he didn’t desire it. Not like she did.

Lea sought to return to the edge she’d claimed, her back positioned to him.

Her Warlord wouldn’t permit that distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his big body.

“You said we weren’t fucking again.” She wiggled her ass against his cock.

His hardness reassured her. He might reject her verbally, but physically he continued to want her.

“We aren’t fucking again.” He clasped her hips, holding her still. His grip was bruising, the bite of pain exciting her. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Not even a little?” Her voice was husky.

His answer was a sexy growl.

She should tease him more. A yawn escaped her lips. But she was tired, was bone-deep exhausted from nursing him back to health, from being thoroughly fucked.

Her breathing leveled. Her limbs grew limp.

She closed her eyes, comforted by the realization that, for now, in the moment, she wasn’t alone. Tolui had his arms