His mouth opens against mine. His tongue slides along the seam of my lips. The heat of his mouth fills mine. His tongue moves inside with a slow, careful pressure, and I feel the faint scrape of his fangs. Not enough to cut. Enough to know they’re there.
He draws me to him. One arm bands across my lower back, and the weight of it is solid and unyielding. His forearm spans the width of my spine. His torso is smooth under my forearms, solid muscles beneath the thin fabric. His breathing rises and falls against my ribs, slower than mine, deeper than mine.
I’m losing myself to this kiss. My thoughts thin out. I stop tracking the seconds. The exits disappear with them. All that’s left is the pressure of his mouth, the sound he makes, and the way his arm tightens around me like I’m something he won’t let go of.
His other arm comes around my shoulders. Both arms lock behind me now. My own arms are still wound around his neck, and insidethe cage of his grip, I’m small. His biceps press against my sides. The muscle there is dense and thick and tensed. He’s so much bigger than me. My head tilts back to meet his mouth and my neck is bared and my throat is exposed and I know that his jaw could crush my windpipe. His hands could snap my spine. Those claws could open me from sternum to hip. All that power, housed in one body, wrapped around mine, and I wouldn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t fight him off.
I couldn’t get away.
He could do anything to me and…
And I’m… I’m not safe here. I’m nothing here.
Sethrak saw me. Helix saw me. I’m in the deep warrens of House Sethrak without a way off planet.
And I know things now. Things that are private and will need to remain a secret.
I’m nothing here. A speck of meaningless flesh. No one would know if my existence was snuffed out. No one would bat an eye, and the male in my arms holds all the power.
Even if this kiss isn’t a lie. Even if he means it. Even if everything in his face right now is real.
The outcome is the same.
I pull back. Drop my eyes to his chest. If I look at him I’ll see whatever he’s feeling and I’ll want to take it back and I can’t take it back. I need the wall. I need the exit.
“We can’t do this.” My voice comes out hoarse. “Whatever this is between us, it can’t happen. This was a terrible mistake.”
His scales rise and fall under his breathing. I make myself keep talking.
“You don’t have to kiss me to get me to work for you. I’m not that type of worker.”
The weight of his stare lands on me. His muscles lock and then he takes his arms off from around me. The space where his body was goes cold.
He stands. I keep my stare on my hands in my lap. My lips are throbbing. I press them together and the ache sharpens. The words I want to say to him crowd my throat, but I choke them back down. I’m nothing if not realistic. He has all the power. The only leverage I have is not to complicate anything between us. I have to survive. I have to get back to my parents.
Against every instinct, I glance up.
The line of his jaw shifts. Just for a second. Something crosses his face—hurt, maybe. Then it’s gone. His mask slides back into place like it never left.
“I want the distribution channels set up before the end of the day.” Even. Professional. Empty. “Don’t sleep until it’s done.”
He picks up his jacket. Doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t pause. Closes the door behind him—quiet, deliberate. And gone.
Chapter Eleven
ZAVIN
The door slides shut behind me and I don’t move. The corridor stretches empty in both directions. Stone holds cold down here, the silence pressing in until I hear my own blood. Miro calls it a mistake while her scent tells me the opposite.
Her arousal is still in my nose. Still on my tongue, the way a flavor lingers after you’ve swallowed. My receptors don’t lie. The female wants me. Her mouth says mistake and every other signal her body broadcasts says more. She is so truthful in her needs it undoes me, and I am too weak to stop myself from kissing her. I never should have done that.
Going back in there would be easy. Demand we finish what we started. She’d let me. She’d let me and we both know it.
I want her back.
Stupid. Too stupid. Having her means painting a target on her back. Knowing better doesn’t seem to matter. She might be smart but she’s also too trusting. Especially of me. The last thing I need are more consequences over my head. More failures of control.
Another death on my conscience — I will not be responsible for it.
