and try to force it on you. As you said, I'm like a god to every gay man. I don't need your scrawny ass; I have hundreds to choose from. Thousands!”
Something clenched in my chest, something suspiciously like hurt, but I lifted my chin and said, “Good. Go rub your dick on one of them. I need to get some fucking sleep.” I shoved him away from me. “Now where's my damn cot?”
Kardri's eyes narrowed at me. “You're my valorian; you don't sleep on a cot. This is the bed you'll be sleeping in from now on. Get in it, Captain.”
“Fuck you, Leopard Lord.” I snatched a blanket and pillow off the bed and stomped out of the room.
Chapter Six
I woke up groggy but surprisingly good otherwise. I'd slept under the war table, simply because it was warmer there, and I knew no one would step on me. I crawled out from beneath it and stretched, then dragged the blanket, pillow, and towel out. I'd left the bedroom without putting something on, and I didn't want to get into my dirty clothes. So I'd slept naked, rolled up in the blanket, not wanting to risk going back into his bedroom. The murmur of voices and a trickle of light came in through the edges around the tent flap. It was darker now, but a soft glow still came from the back room. I wrapped the towel around my waist, picked up the pillow and blanket, and took them back to the Leopard Lord's bed. He was still sleeping in it.
I stood just inside the room, staring at him, remembering the things we'd shouted at each other earlier. The awful things. Damn, I felt bad. Did he really think I had sneered at him? He was my warlord; I respected him. I thought he was a freak—I glanced at the kinging stool—even more so now, but there was nothing wrong with that. Hell, some people prided themselves on being freaky. But I had made it sound disgraceful. I'd called him indecent. And it was all because he'd scared me.
“Fuck,” I whispered, my gaze going to his sculpted chest, then up the column of his throat and over that chiseled jaw to those beautiful lips.
The lamp above had been turned down but still gave off a soft glow, probably so he wouldn't brain himself on one of those bedposts when he got up. We had gone to sleep that morning and now it was evening, so the tent would have been pitch black without the light. And I wouldn't have been able to admire him.
Kardri was incredible. Stunning. Absolutely breathtaking. And I had a feeling that he was just as beautiful inside. He fought for us humans. He led our armies and gave up who knows what to do it. Of course, he was a good guy. He deserved to get freaky if he wanted to. But I had called him indecent for it. I felt like an utter asshole.
I went to the bed and set the blanket and pillow down on the foot, just to the side of his feet.
“Are you going to just stand there staring at me all night?” his low voice made me flinch.
My stare shot up from where it had been wandering over his bicep. His eyes glittered in the soft light, but they didn't look angry.
“I was . . .”
“Yes?” Kardri sat up. He wasn't wearing one of his smug expressions now. In fact, he looked a little sad.
“You're not indecent.” I glanced at the chair again. “I mean, you're kinky, but that's okay. To each their own. I shouldn't have said that shit. I'm sorry.”
Kardri blinked at me, his eyes widening. “I shouldn't have pushed you so soon either. You weren't ready.”
I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. “Look, I respect you a lot. I even think you're . . . you know, handsome.”
“You're you know, handsome too.” His lips twitched.
“I'm trying to say that you're tempting, but I just can't get past the penis.” I shrugged. “I'm not gay. You could do things to me that I'm sure I would enjoy, but I'm just as certain that I won't like the main act.”
“You mean anal sex?” he asked flatly.
I cleared my throat, trying not to blush. Wow, I hadn't blushed since I was a kid. “Yeah, I mean anal. I'm not going to like that.”
“How do you know?” Kardri bent his knee and sank into a more relaxed position, but he stayed