lot more complicated than he wanted her to believe. “I—I like what you do to me.”
His nostrils flared, a shudder running through him. She could tell she’d surprised him. For an instant, something very human—something that looked a lot like regret and guilt and need—flashed in his gaze, but it was gone in the next blink. “Take out my dick. Put it inside you.”
He was definitely out to prove he was no hero.
But she remembered the way he’d put himself between her colleagues and the tigos. How he’d attacked the creature when he thought it was coming for her. The flash of hope in his gaze when she’d told him she was determined to survive. The fact that despite his anger, he’d come running back.
Fingers trembling, she slid her hands beneath his loincloth, the heat of his skin a brand against her palm as she gripped him. His cock so thick she couldn’t make it even halfway around. She stood on tiptoes, tilting her hips forwards, her back against the rock, as she worked to put him inside.
A groan of frustration escaped. He was so big. She was too small. The angle all wrong. All she could do was rub up against him. “I—I can’t.”
Before she could even finished, powerful arms slid under her ass, lifting her up so their bodies were in perfect alignment. But instead of sinking inside, he held her poised at the tip of his cock, a message all of its own.
Her gaze flew to his.
She wondered if he knew she could see the raw need he was pretending not to feel.
“Tell me,” he commanded.
She knew instantly what he meant. “I can’t do this on my own. I need you. I do.”
“Who?”
She should have known he’d win in this, too. “You. Convict. I need you.”
With a grunt of triumph, he guided her onto his cock, working her deeper, inch by inch, until she took all of him. His big hands moving her back and forth so that she was sliding in and out at his whim. Him using her to fuck him senseless. It was the hottest thing she’d ever experienced.
Her body, already so sensitive, tightened with need, tiny tremors whipping through her as her legs bounded wildly, his movements growing faster, jerkier, as his own pleasure built. Needing an anchor, she ran her hands down the slick, muscled plains of his back. Then his mouth was at her ear, “Come for me, fighter girl.”
Surrendering, her body shattered into a thousand pieces.
She was still trying to catch her breath when his strong hand gripped her chin and tipped it to meet his bottomless gaze.
“Lowlife Dragath25 criminals have their uses,” he all but growled. “Don’t forget it.”
Chapter Six
“We’ll rest here.” Convict’s declaration sent Bella looking up, her legs rejoicing. She’d been staring down at her feet, forcing one in front of each other for the last hour now.
“Can I help?”
“I’ve got him.”
Of course, he did. Bella watched Convict guide an unconscious Winthrop to the ground. He’d been carrying the man on his back at a near run—along with his spear and that backpack he refused to let out of his sight—over treacherous, rocky terrain for the last four hours. The hot suns beating down on them all the while.
Even so, Bella doubted this stop was for him. He wasn’t even breathing hard while every one of her leg muscles was screaming and poor Davies’ shirt was soaked, her face pale.
Still, it wouldn’t have killed the man to let her help in some small way.
“I’m going to backtrack and cover our trail. I’ve left some water and the last of the bars.” He held out a smooth, small rock with a hole at either end. “Any trouble, blow this.” He held out his spear next. “Don’t hesitate. Whatever’s coming at you won’t, either.”
She eyed the weapon. “If we have that, what will you use?”
His warning gaze bore into her. “Take it.”
Back rigid, she did as requested. He was already almost out of sight, his mouthwatering golden skin bunching and flexing as he sped away, before she realized she should have asked exactly what might be coming at them. But it was too late now.
After a wide, nervous scan of the surrounding rocky landscape, she dropped beside Davies, who was already checking Winthrop’s bandage.
Their gazes met then skittered away.
It was the first time they’d had a moment to talk. When she and Convict had returned from their argument, her face flushed, her hair tangled and wild, Convict had done