“All right,” he said softly. “I’ll stay.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Robbie’s small mouth worked hungrily against Melissa’s breast, his tiny fingers curling and uncurling against her skin in a rhythm that had become as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. She shifted on the bed, finding a more comfortable position, and let her eyes drift closed for a moment.
Six days.
Less than a week before they planned to?—
She forced the thought away. Not now. Right now, there was only the weight of her son in her arms, the quiet of the dimmed cell, and the solid presence of Becsul standing near the door.
She opened her eyes and found him watching her.
It wasn’t surprising. He often watched her with Robbie, an expression of wonder softening his hard features. But something was different this time. His black eyes had grown darker somehow, more intense. His tail, usually relaxed when they were alone together, was coiled tight against his leg, the tip twitching with barely restrained energy. And his posture had shifted, everyline of his powerful body radiating a tension that had nothing to do with danger.
It took her a moment to understand what she was seeing.
Oh.
Heat flooded her cheeks. She should have felt uncomfortable—she was breastfeeding, for God’s sake, and they were trapped in an alien facility where she was slated to be forcibly impregnated. There was nothing remotely romantic about their circumstances.
But the way he looked at her…
Desire. Want. Hunger.
Not for just any woman. For her.
The realization made her breath catch. When had she last felt desirable? Before the pregnancy, certainly. Back when she’d still harbored hopes that her engagement to Vijay might become something more than a business arrangement between families? But even then, Vijay had looked at her like an asset to be acquired. A checkbox on his life plan.
Becsul looked at her like she was the sunrise after an endless night.
Robbie’s suckling slowed, his eyelids growing heavy. She stroked his cheek, encouraging him to finish, overwhelmingly aware of the alien warrior still standing by the door. She could feel the weight of his attention like a physical touch, warm and electric against her skin.
“You can sit down,” she said softly. “He’s almost asleep.”
He moved immediately, settling onto the far end of the narrow bunk with more grace than a male his size should possess. His tail unfurled from his leg and crept towards her across the thin mattress, stopping just short of touching her hip.
Such restraint, she thought, and felt her lips curve into a small smile. He’s trying so hard.
Robbie finally released her nipple with a satisfied sigh, his tiny body going boneless in her arms. She shifted him to her shoulder, patting his back gently until a small burp escaped him, then carefully rose to carry him to the crib.
Becsul’s eyes were on her the entire time.
By the time she’d settled Robbie in his crib and pulled the light blanket over his small form, her heart was beating faster than it had any right to. She stood there for a moment, looking down at her son’s sleeping face, gathering her courage.
This is insane, whispered the rational part of her brain. You’re a prisoner. He’s your captor. Nothing good can come of this.
But another part of her, the part that had been dormant since long before the Vedeckians took her, stirred awake and stretched with lazy anticipation.
When was the last time you wanted something for yourself?
She turned back to find him still seated on the bunk, his posture rigid with control. His hands rested on his thighs, his fists clenched, and his tail had wound itself into a tight coil beside him. Everything about him screamed restraint, discipline, the iron will of a warrior holding himself in check.
Everything except his eyes. Those bottomless black depths watched her with naked longing.
She walked back to the bed and sat down beside him, close enough that their thighs almost touched.
“You were staring,” she said.
