Lily’s skin prickled as if she had stepped into a predator’s territory. The air felt heavy, charged, thick with something unspoken. Like the moment before a storm breaks.
He waited.
Testing her.
She forced herself to lift her chin and meet his gaze.
Slowly, Khar smiled. He dimmed the lights, letting shadows pool around them, then advanced with unhurried certainty.
When he stopped in front of her, Lily had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. One claw traced a path from her thigh upward, over her stomach, between her breasts, to her throat, until her chin rested in his palm.
The touch was agonizingly slow.
Even through fabric, it unraveled her.
Her body responded instantly, heat blooming low and sharp, more intense than anything she remembered with human lovers. She inhaled sharply.
Only then did Khar speak.
“Such courage,” he murmured. “From such a small human. Very well. Tell me what you want.”
She wanted him now, closer, without restraint, but the words tangled in her chest. She had never been seductive by nature, and Khar was overwhelming in a way no one else had ever been.
So she chose honesty.
“What do you want, Khar?”
He leaned closer, his hand sliding to her waist, holding her in place.
“I want to see what happens when someone as controlled as you loses it,” he said softly. “I want to know if you taste the way you smell. I want to hear my name on your lips while I am inside you.”
The world narrowed to breath and heat and that dangerous, perfect voice.
Lily felt like she was standing at the edge of a cliff. One step forward meant there was no going back.
She stepped anyway.
“Then it’s time you found out, Khar.”
Chapter 15
Leap Into the Deep, Faith as my Wings
Lily
“And remember, young star-citizens: thanks to nano-injections, two consenting adults can enjoy each other freely without ever worrying about STDs.”
Excerpt from Ner’fol Vas Gorg, Universal Dating Guru: Love with Another Species
Khar lifted Lily with one hand braced at her nape and the other under her hips, careful not to hurt her, yet making the message unmistakable.
She was prey, entirely at Khar’s mercy. She had never been so turned on in her life. Lily knew she liked giving up control in bed. But Khar’s confidence was something else entirely. There was no performance, no uncertainty. He simply claimed her with his hands as if it were the most natural thing in the universe.
Even through her uniform, his touch made her shiver. When his mouth found the curve where her neck met her shoulder and his teeth grazed the thin skin, a helpless sound slipped from her lips. That spot had always been sensitive, but now it felt like lightning, a direct strike that ran from his bite straight down into the aching center of her body.
“Your scent,” Khar murmured, voice low and rough. “You are driving me mad.”
His voice came from somewhere deep enough to sound like the beginning of an earthquake. Lily felt helpless before it the way one was helpless before a calamity. He felt too overwhelming. Too elemental. All she could do was let him want what he wanted.
