she whispered that he could have all of the cake. His legs tightened around the female, keeping her from running or fighting.
Reality snapped back into focus. EJ. The chocolate dessert he’d used to bribe her into cooperating. And then he saw how he gripped her wrist and tightened his fingers around her throat, how his thighs practically crushed hers, and immediately released her.
She gulped for air, wheezing just a touch, and winced as she rubbed her throat. “Damn. Remind me not to sneak up on you.”
“You should not sneak up on me,” he said, still struggling to find the right words to express the maelstrom of thoughts whirling through his mind. “Are you... finished?”
Her eyebrows rose, then she looked around the quarters. “Well, I don’t know what else you want me to do.”
The feel of her in his arms and the way she’d been balanced over him, in his lap once more... gave him some ideas. Nokx tamped down lust as it raged to the surface. His heart pounded from the nightmare and the adrenaline of finding her near, but that wasn’t a reason to let his emotions run away with him. Particularly when he could scare her off without meaning to. His voice came out as rough as sand gritting up an ancient combustion engine on Xarav. “Do you take suggestions?”
She blinked, then laughed loudly enough it took him by surprise. It was a mesmerizing, captivating sound, like bells. It sent shivers racing through him and cracked through some of the shell around his hearts. He wanted more of it. He wanted more of the way her head tilted back and her mouth opened and her eyes sparkled, the way she clapped her hands together at her waist and laughed with her whole body.
EJ’s mirth spilled over into giggles as she studied him, shaking her head. “That depends.”
Nokx couldn’t seem to look away from her mouth. “On what?”
“Whether you give me that cake or not,” she said, half of her mouth still quirked up. Her eyes flashed with a light he couldn’t interpret.
Invitation, perhaps? Nokx’s hearts beat faster. Her cheeks looked pinker than before, slightly flushed. When Faros’s mate seemed to enjoy his attention, her face reddened.
He picked up the plate and kept each movement deliberate so he didn’t startle her or break the spell that simmered between them. He’d been wrong about a female wanting to mate before, and if he were wrong in the moment at hand... it would be a very awkward, uncomfortable night for both of them. Nokx studied the cake, though he kept her in his peripheral vision. “How much do you want it?”
“A lot,” she said, taking another step forward. She stood almost between his knees. Her hand dropped and drifted against his leg. Teasing.
His lust roared back to the surface. She was willing. He let his legs fall farther apart, watching her expression. EJ smiled a touch more and shuffled closer. Nokx closed his thighs, trapping her gently, and fought down the urge to throw the dessert across the room and haul the Earther into his bed. Slowly. He had to go slowly.
EJ breathed unsteadily, her hand stroking absently along the side of his thigh, and eyed him the same way she looked at that cake.
“If you want it,” he said, holding the dessert out of her reach and to the side, so it wouldn’t end up smeared into his furniture, “Kiss me.”
Her cheeks reddened more and her attention drifted to his mouth. She worried her lower lip between her small white teeth. Nokx held his breath but tried to remain indifferent. His hearts thundered against his ribs and he swallowed a groan of pure need as her clothes shifted and the scent of her skin tangled around his thoughts. He needed her with a fire he’d never felt before. He just hoped she felt the same way.
Chapter 11
EJ
She didn’t entirely know what she was doing or what she wanted to happen. True, he’d scared the shit out of her when he woke up and grabbed her, but it also highlighted how amazingly strong he was. How firm his grip was, how hard the rest of his body was... EJ stood between his knees as he held the cake just out of reach and watched her with flashing silver eyes.
“You want me to kiss you,” she said. It came out breathy and soft, and EJ realized she had a hard time breathing at all. He was so large and male.