few spans. To trade, to drink and eat, and to…”
He trailed off suddenly, curiously, and Erin looked up at him again. “To what?”
But the look on his face made Erin suddenly realize what he was about to say. To have sex. To mate.
“Oh,” she murmured, whipping forward again. “Right.”
Of course he would. It was only natural and Erin knew that he would have his pick of partners. Yet, they hadn’t talked about this. How many past partners they’d had.
What Erin hadn’t expected was this overwhelming feeling of jealousy. She’d never quite felt anything like it. A little ball of flames that seemed to grow the longer she imagined how many Luxirian females had known him in that way, how many females had stroked his skin and dug their fingernails into his back and felt him sliding between their thighs.
There was a long, awkward stretch of silence.
“Rixella, I—”
“You don’t have to explain,” she hurriedly cut him off. “Of course, you don’t. I understand.”
What disturbed her the most was that she had no right to feel jealous. Absolutely none. Because while they’d both acknowledged what they were to one another, there were no promises made. They both knew what this was. Temporary. And what had happened last night was only a perk during their limited time together, wasn’t it? A way to relieve frustration and loneliness?
So why did Erin feel so empty trying to diminish their connection?
Her breath hitched when his clawed hand wrapped around her throat and turned her face to meet his eyes. Erin’s lips parted, her pupils dilated, the action strangely hot and possessive and primal, though a bit high-handed.
Her clit pulsed, looking up at him. She knew he’d be able to feel the way her heartbeat thudded beneath his fingertips.
“Jealous?” he asked, his eyes narrowing, searching for something in her gaze. He wasn’t taunting her, only curious.
Her lips pressed together. The question sparked something rebellious inside her. Jaxor had called it her uncontrollable side, hadn’t he? The side that liked to fight with him. On purpose.
“Wouldn’t you be?” she challenged. “Imagining countless faces of males I’ve been with and—”
He growled and then silenced her with a kiss. Relief exploded inside her, but Erin wasn’t even sure why she was relieved. About what?
She didn’t know how long he kissed her—how had he grown so good at it, in such a short amount of time?—but when he pulled back, her eyes were unfocused and her limbs felt loose. All the fight had gone out of her and he searched her gaze, as if looking for more, and seemed satisfied when he finally released her throat.
Erin blinked, coming back to reality. “Did you…” she licked her lips, tasting him there. “Did you seriously just kiss me into submission?”
“Tev,” he rasped. “It worked, did it not?”
A sharp intake of breath whistled through her nostrils and she was just about to turn to give him a piece of her mind when he laughed. The sound was husky and warm. Erin’s insides felt like melted butter just listening to it.
So she let it slide. She faced forward so that he wouldn’t see the way her lips quirked up, so he wouldn’t see her little smile and her pleasure at listening to his rare laugh. She couldn’t be mad at him when he laughed.
Erin liked him, she realized. She liked him prickly and she liked him like this. And that was a dangerous realization. Because it meant she would miss him and she’d planned to leave Luxiria with her heart intact.
“You can kiss me into submission if you so desire, rixella,” he rasped in her ear, his lips caressing the shell of it, making her shiver. “I welcome it.”
Erin swallowed, the sound audible. “Duly noted.”
“Are you angry with me?” he murmured, now trailing his lips over her ear. Down and up, down and up. Her breathing went a little heavy and she shifted to squeeze her thighs together.
Erin tried desperately to summon her anger, but couldn’t. Not when he was pressed behind her, not when he was taking her to see the sea and pick the fruits that she really, really liked. Not when he’d given her two amazing orgasms that morning and the memory of his laugh was still ringing in her ears.
“No,” she whispered, her head tilting to the side as his lips trailed down her neck. Yes, she decided, he’d probably had many, many female companions in his lifetime. Because he was practiced in seduction and she didn’t know whether it made