for me?”
“I had a lot of time to think,” she said. EJ’s heart pounded and her knees felt a little wobbly. Imagining all the things she wanted to do to him was one thing, but actually doing it was entirely another... Still. He looked at her like she was good enough to eat, so there was a good chance anything and everything she did would drive him wild. That gave her the courage to play with the buttons on her trousers as she locked gazes with him. “And I have a whole list of things you can do to make it all up to me.”
His legs spread just a bit more as he shifted his hips, adjusting how he sat. “Oh really.”
“Mmm.” EJ wanted to just rip her clothes off, then rip his clothes off, then jump on him and love on each other until neither of them could move. But anticipation could make everything so much... sweeter. “But I guess there are a few things I can do to make it up to you. Since I misjudged you and maybe hit you a couple of times, maybe threw stuff at you, on the Hollbrd when you weren’t looking.”
“You threw something at me when I wasn’t looking?” Nokx laughed, but his voice deepened as his eyes sparked silver. “Such a bad little marmox.”
She really needed to figure out what the hell a marmox was. Maybe Violet could help her look it up in the ship’s computers or something, because he’d need help from Degrasse Tyson, Hawking, and Lovelace herself to save his scales if the marmox wasn’t the most lovable creature on Xarav.
EJ pushed the thought aside. She needed to focus. She turned slowly and bent at the waist to loosen the laces of her boots, taking her time as Nokx groaned behind her. She straightened even more slowly and glanced over her shoulder to check his expression. All of his attention was on her ass and he’d grabbed a fistful of the sheets. Exhilaration rushed through her as he devoured her with that intense gaze.
Granted, the ship’s uniform of plain trousers and shirt wasn’t the sexiest costume to strip off, but she doubted Nokx could have described what she wore for anything in the universe. EJ faced him again and unbuttoned the trousers as she kicked her boots out of the way and let the fabric slide down one hip to offer a tantalizing glimpse of the soft skin underneath. She started to push them all the way down and Nokx growled, “Slowly.”
A shiver raced through her. Oh yes. His chest moved faster as he breathed, lips parted as he watched her. She’d never imagined being able to control someone as powerful as Nokx just by swaying her hips and shedding a few layers of fabric. A kaleidoscope of blues and purple and gold spiraled through his scales in a brilliant cascade. It mesmerized her until she nearly forgot to move at all.
But his command still rumbled through the air as everything grew slow and intense. EJ pushed the trousers down, one hip at a time, and revealed just a few inches with each breath. Nokx’s growling increased. She stepped out of the pants and kicked them aside. The shirt tail hung down to the tops of her thighs, not quite covering all of her ass, and Nokx sat forward from where he’d been leaning. “Turn. Slowly.”
Heat gathered low in her stomach and she clenched her thighs together in anticipation. She didn’t know how much longer she’d last. The stripping was supposed to be punishment for him, not for her. EJ rolled her hips as she did a pretty pirouette, fast enough that Nokx growled something about misbehaving marmox, and tilted her head back as she laughed and did it again.
EJ slowed as dizziness — and straight-up lust — made the room tilt and weave. She reached up and loosened the tie on her hair, unraveling the braid, and let it fall around her shoulders and her face.
Nokx made a pained noise and she looked over. He groaned, still on the bed but holding on for dear life as if he wanted to launch across the room. EJ shook her head so her hair slid against her neck and ran her fingers down her throat and into her cleavage.
“I thought you weren’t mad at me,” Nokx said in a strangled voice.
EJ paused, suddenly worried. “I’m not.”
“Then why are you trying to kill me, Earther?”
She laughed, so pleased she couldn’t