CHAPTER ONE
Even through her closed eyelids, Polly could tell that daylight had begun creeping into the sleeping cave, but she refused to acknowledge it. She screwed her eyes shut and burrowed deeper into her pillow—her big, warm, breathing pillow.
Somehow she had ended up in Njkall’s bed again.
Not that she minded. His body radiated heat like a banked fire, and the steady thump beneath her cheek had lulled her to sleep the way it did most nights. She had her own little sleeping cave, tucked into an alcove off his quarters, with soft furs and a woven curtain she could pull across the entrance. She usually started the night there. She rarely finished it there.
She couldn’t quite remember making the walk across the cold stone floor in the dark. Her feet seemed to do it on their own, dragging the rest of her into the warm hollow of his side before her mind had a chance to object.
“I know you’re awake, little one.”
His voice rumbled up through his chest and into her ear, deep and unhurried.
“No, I’m not,” she mumbled into his fur.
“Yes, you are.” A hint of amusement warmed the words. “Your breathing changed a few minutes ago. And you stopped snoring.”
“I don’t snore.”
“A small, ferocious snore. Like a karlil cub.”
She cracked one eye open, then the other. His face swam into focus above her, all strong bones and deep-set blue eyes. His face could have been carved from stone, except for the way his eyes twinkled at her.
“That’s not a real animal,” she said.
“It is. And it snores exactly like you.”
She pressed her forehead against his ribs to hide her smile, and that was when she noticed how she’d draped herself over him during the night. Normally she curled into a ball by his side, but this morning one of her hands rested on the broad plane of his stomach, and her bare leg was hooked over one of his thick thighs. Every soft part of her seemed to be pressed against every hard part of him, and heat suddenly pooled low in her belly, unfamiliar and startling.
Oh.
She snatched her hand back as if the fur had scorched her.
“How did you sleep?” he asked.
Like she always did when she was in his bed. Deep and safe, without the nightmares that haunted her too often when she tried to sleep alone.
“Fine,” she said. “You?”
“Very well. Thank you for joining me.”
His big body shifted beneath her, and she realized he was achingly hard. Again. Her fingers twitched nervously, curiosity and fear and desire all jumbled together. She’d tried to touch him once. She’d gathered her courage and reached for him in the dark. But he’d gently caught her wrist and murmuredno, little one, and then the enormous, fearless clan leader had fled his own bed.
She still didn’t understand it. Her friend Yasmin said he was frightened, but the idea of Njkall being frightened of anything was absurd. The male had faced down raiders and beasts and offworld officials without so much as raising his voice.
“Time to get up,” he said, but his voice had gone lower. Rougher.
He sat up in one smooth motion, dislodging her gently onto the furs, and the sudden cold where his body had been made her shiver. She watched him swing his legs over the side of the sleeping platform. Over seven feet of powerful, white-furred warrior, with shoulders wide enough to blot out the light.
His size should have intimidated her. Instead, he made her feel safe, a feeling that still did not come easily. Then again, being kidnapped by aliens, sold, and thrown into a cell to be used by whichever miner produced the most ore that day did make you afraid of almost everything.
But I’m not afraid of him.
She never had been. Perhaps it was because none of the males who had abused her had been anything like him. Perhaps it wasbecause of his deep voice and calm presence. Perhaps it was simply because it was Njkall.
Her gaze traveled admiringly across his broad shoulders and muscular back as he reached for the leather belt that served as clothing for most Hothian warriors. As he picked it up and turned around, her gaze dropped to the patch of longer fur over his lower abdomen. She’d learned enough from Yasmin to know that a Hothian’s shaft remained concealed within his body until he released it.
Probably just as well,she thought. Despite her curiosity and the heat that still lingered in her body, she wasn’t sure how she’d react to the sight of it.
