at it some more. She was roasting some bulbous fire-red plants with spikes he never would have considered eating. However, the longer they cooked, the more the scent shifted from bitter to sweet.
Add “good with finding native food sources” to her list of impressive qualities.
It was damn peaceful. If not for her pain, the missing females, and the mob of pissed-off crewmates he suspected were combing the cliffs for him even now, he could have stayed out here with her like this forever.
But those were all matters that had to be dealt with. Along with the damn ropes at his wrists.
Shifting as if he was simply stretching, he rubbed his binds against the jagged rock at his back and felt another strand snap.
He’d put the time since she walked away from him at the water to good use and come up with a new battle plan. Because that’s exactly what this was: a siege of the highest order. One he did not intend to lose.
He did expect the upcoming skirmish to leave him bruised and bloodied. Sometimes, though, you had to suffer a few cuts to win the war.
With one last bracing breath, he went for it.
“You still look troubled, wild thing.” He took in her tense shoulders as she squatted near the fire, her hair was once more a wild tangle of curls around her lovely face. “You don’t have to be in my ropes to talk. You can say what you feel anytime.” He braced himself. “I can do the same if you like. I won’t close down again.”
“Food almost ready.” She ignored his offer.
He’d suspected it wouldn’t be so easy. Still, it was nice to hear her voice.
She’d kept her distance, tending the fire, rubbing paste on her ankle—an innocent act he’d devoured like it was porn. Everything she did made him hard as hells.
“I’m not hungry.” His denial was undercut by a low belly growl.
She raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“That was just my stomach saying hello,” he teased. “You eat it.”
Her ears twitched, her lips flattening. “We both eat. Travel hard. We need energy.”
He almost had her. “I want you to have it.”
Her chin jutted out. “You feed me. Now, I feed you.”
“Okay.”
She stilled, no doubt taken aback by his quick reversal.
But not all his traps were of the pit variety, and the monster in him was on the scent once more.
If he was another male, he might have backed off. Or found another way to reach her. But he’d been forged to push and fight and win, and so he would.
Since the moment she looked at him with her big wide eyes and told him she had no name, her fate had been set, and maybe so had his.
“You coming?” He shifted, lengthening his legs so they were straight out in front of him.
She sent him a suspicious glare. “What happened before not happen again.”
“Agreed.” This time, he intended to have her sweet taste in his mouth, his tongue in her hungry pussy, and those purring sounds of hers echoing in his ears. They both needed it bad. Because, sure, chemistry alone might not solve their current problems, but it was going to make them both feel a hells of a lot better.
Before that, though, there was a trap to bait and set—and some penance due.
“I mean it.” Wise female that she was, her expression remained wary despite his assurance.
He sealed her fate. “I’m the one tied up. It will be you who has to resist me. You’re the one in charge, right?”
“Right.” Resolve flared in her gaze. With a sharp jab, she used her rock to drag the roasted bulbs from the fire. A few delicate pulls on the outside blackened skin and the plump red meat inside was revealed. His mouth watered.
Batting the food from finger to finger as it cooled, she came to him, head held high, hips swaying, those gorgeous eyes full of so much she was still afraid to tell him. Fire danced across her skin—making it shimmer and glow—and his fingers twitched with the urge to reach out and touch her.
She’d said she needed change. She said she needed more. He was going to give that to her even if it killed him.
Still, he could tell she was remembering the rotation he’d fed her. Only this time, she was free. Coming over of her own accord. Her choice.
His cock thickened. They would get past her hesitations, just like they had before.
She sank down by his side, folding gracefully. Her knee