“Yes. I barely ever use it. My mother forced lila lessons on me when I was a child.”
“Lila.” She rolled the word around. “I have a guitar. Had a guitar. It’s similar to this.”
“You play well.” He fingered her silky hair. He liked it loose like this. “Play me something else.”
With a small smile, she stroked the strings, playing a lovely song with a slow beat. He watched the way her eyes closed and she lost herself to the music. He liked seeing her like this—relaxed, at ease.
Finally, the song ended.
“The auroras are so pretty tonight.” She sighed. “There’s pink shot through parts of them.”
He stroked her hair, once again marveling at how soft it was. “You’re thinking of Poppy.”
Mal nodded. “Here I am having hot sex with a hot alien king, and she’s…”
“Hey.” He gripped her chin and made her look at him. “You will not feel guilty about what’s between us. We will find Poppy, but right now, we have no idea where she is.”
Mal’s face hardened. “If Krastin’s hurt her, I’ll…”
“Krastin is mine.”
She rose, setting the lila aside. She paced the balcony, agitated. “He wants to kill you.”
“My father wants me alive.”
“I don’t think Krastin cares. He’ll kill you, and tell your father it was a tragic accident.”
“I can hold myself against Krastin.”
She threw out a hand. “Says the man who was badly injured just hours ago.”
“This is my planet, my people. They are mine to protect.”
She ground her teeth together. “I think this is more personal than that. It’s about your mother.”
“Of course, it is.”
She spun to face him. “If you go into a fight with your emotions running high, you’ll get hurt, or killed.”
“Zavir my father. He’s a gorr, power-hungry. He doesn’t care how many people he kills. I have to stop him.”
“To prove you aren’t like him?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. We’re more than the genetic material of our parents, Rhain. I have no idea who my father was. He was a deadbeat dad who didn’t stick around. That’s what I came from.”
Rhain rose. “That power-hungry need for more, to kill to protect what’s mine. It’s what drives my father. And I feel it, too.” He turned and met her gaze. “That’s what my father gave me. I fight it every day.”
“Rhain.” She moved to him, rested her hands on his chest. “You could never become your father.”
“I hope not, for all our sakes.”
“Rusty used to say that we always know the right thing, but the hard part is doing it. Most things in life aren’t easy, Rhain. We’re always considering, weighing, and hoping we get it right. You’re surrounded by good people to help you do that. Thadd and your fighters would die for you. Thadd’s mom would kill for you.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Does that include you?”
She went up on her toes and kissed him. “I guess it does.”
The kiss deepened and he wrapped an arm around her. He tugged her closer and squeezed her ass.
She hummed into his mouth. “You know, I promised to find out what sounds you made when I was riding you hard.” A feminine smile curled her lips. “You haven’t given me the chance yet.”
He hadn’t. His need had been so great, all he’d been able to do was pin her down and thrust inside her tight body.
She nudged him back a few steps and urged him down. He sank onto the pillow.
Rhain opened his legs and she knelt between them. No woman had ever looked more beautiful—desire on her face, the light of the auroras on her skin.
She leaned over him, that shirt hanging open to give him a pretty view of her bare breasts. She kissed his neck, her hands sliding along his shoulders to push his shirt off.
“God, this chest.” She kissed across his pecs, her tongue laving first one nipple, then the other.
Rhain bit back a groan.
She traveled downward, then she pushed the waistband of his silky, black shorts down and pulled out his hard cock.
It was already throbbing. Rock-hard at the thought of her sinking down on it.
She made a hungry sound and pumped it.
“What now, Mal?” His voice was guttural.
“Don’t rush me. I want to taste you first.”
His cock jumped at the thought of her mouth wrapped around it. She lowered her head and licked.
He cursed. He leaned back as she licked, sucked, and bobbed her head. Her mouth was warm and she was clearly enjoying herself.
Any more of this and he’d come in her mouth.
He tangled a hand in her hair and tugged her up. “You won’t hear the sounds I make when you ride me if you don’t stop now.”
Licking her lips, her face flushed, she moved up to straddle him.
Finally. His abs contracted.
She notched his cock between her thighs, then her gaze locked with his, and she lowered herself down.
Auroras above. He growled. “Take me, Mal. So tight.”
She gripped his shoulders, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
“Ride me,” he ordered.
She did. She moved up and down, and soon he was bucking his hips up, trying to go deeper.
He cupped one of her breasts, listening to the slap of their bodies and the panting of their breath.
“Faster, Mal.”
“God, baby.” She arched her back. “You’re so big and I’m so full of you.”
He gripped her hip, then moved lower. He found that fascinating little nub. Her clit. He rolled it.
With a low moan, she moved faster.
“Mal.” He felt his release coming, rolling in like a storm.
“Rhain.” She thrust down and started coming.
He leaned forward and took her mouth.
With a low roar, he bucked up and poured himself inside her.
When he could think, see, and hear again, he was lying on his back on the pillow, Mal sprawled on top of him. His semi-soft cock was still inside her, and her breath was puffing against his neck.
He lazily stroked a hand up her back. “Now you know.”
She laughed. “Only a little. I was too busy with my own orgasm to hear all the sounds you made.” She lifted her head, eyes sparkling. “Guess we’ll just have to do it again.”
He pulled her closer. “I guess I can suffer through, somehow.”
She pinched his arm.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Are we talking about food now?”
“Yes.”
“Then, yes, I’m starving.”
He shifted to sit up. “Then I’d better feed my woman.”
As she smiled and tried the Zhalton delicacies he’d brought for her, Rhain knew this time—just the two of them, alone—was borrowed.
When the morning came, Krastin would once again overshadow everything.
And soon, they’d both wade back into a dangerous fight.
But one thing was for sure—Rhain no longer just fought to protect his people. He’d also fight for this Earth woman who’d crashed into his world and changed everything.
The next morning, Tavith dragged a reluctant Mal out of Rhain’s room.
“I need to run more tests on you, and assess how your changes due to the Zhalton environment are progressing.”
“Maybe later, Tavith, I—”
“Now,” the medica said.
Rhain finished fastening his shirt. “Go with him, Mal.”