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“As a matter of fact, I am,” he said, his deep voice rolling over me like a rumbling purr.
My lips parted in shock. I’d meant to tease and taunt him. This brutal honesty left me speechless.
His smile broadened at my stunned expression. “Braxians do not dance as couples. Females perform erotic dances to entertain the males. And the males perform tribal dances, usually as part of ceremonial rituals or as a challenge before a battle. The latter hasn’t happened in decades.”
My eyes flicked towards Anton and Grace tightly wrapped around each other as they danced amidst half a dozen other couples.
I pointed at them with my chin. “As you can see, it’s not that complicated, even if you don’t have any sense of rhythm.”
Ravik tilted his head to the side, a lock of his black hair falling over his left eye. “I never said I didn’t have rhythm.”
“Then you have no excuse,” I replied. “As you won’t invite me, I’m asking you to dance and will take any refusal as a personal rejection.”
Ravik snorted, and his lips stretched further. Unlike Anton, smiling didn’t soften his features but made him look even more feral, like a hungry beast baring its teeth at its prey.
“Are you so eager to find yourself in my arms, little raven?” he asked, his eyes smoldering.
“What if I said yes?” I asked.
His gaze roamed over me with a possessiveness that made my stomach clench.
“Then it would be rude of me to deny your desires. Come on, then, little bird.”
His massive hand swallowed mine as he led me to the dance floor. His grip, gentle yet firm, reminded me how easily he could crush my bones just by squeezing a bit. My stomach fluttered, and my breath quickened with anticipation. I didn’t know him well enough to have any actual emotional attachment towards him, but the purely animal attraction between us overwhelmed me. I’d never responded so strongly to any male.
He stopped near the left edge of the dance floor and drew me to him. His right arm wrapped around my bare back, his hand slipping under the fabric on the side of my dress, his fingers resting on the naked flesh above my waist. His other hand rested on the small of my back, holding me tightly against him. Rough and callused, they felt like burning irons on my skin. I nearly moaned when my breasts, and then my pelvis, pressed against his hard body. My palms found their way to his shoulders and trailed over the rippling ridges of his muscles to rest on each side of his thick neck. The top of my forehead brushed against the side of his chin as I leaned in to inhale his earthy, male scent.
Ravik began to sway to the music, and I followed his lead. His movements didn’t have the fluidity that Anton had displayed, but he clearly had rhythm. I shivered as his thumbs began to draw slow circles on my skin. His chest vibrated against mine with a low chuckle. He knew very well the power he held over me. That should have irritated me, but it didn’t.
I lifted my head, and our eyes locked. Goddess, he was ridiculously tall and broad. Unless he bent forward or I got up on my tippy toes, my arms couldn’t reach far enough to clasp my hands behind his neck.
Ravik lowered his head towards me. “You are playing a dangerous game, little bird,” he whispered.
“I can be reckless and bold, but some things you don’t play with.”
He held my gaze as if attempting to read my mind, then his eyes dipped to my lips. They parted in response, inviting. A muscle ticked on the side of his square, jutting jaw, and he clenched his teeth. I couldn’t decide if I felt more frustrated by his restraint or elated by his obvious struggle to resist his attraction to me.
“I hear you are coming to my home world,” Ravik said. “Why?”
I stiffened at the sudden change of topic. His hand on my side moved up. If he’d stretch his fingers further they would brush against the side of my right breast.
“Personal business,” I said noncommittally.
He narrowed his eyes at me, and I barely resisted the urge to squirm. That response shocked me. Aside from my father’s stern stare, no one had ever made me feel like this before.
“I have reason to believe my brother was trying to set up a slave ring on Braxia,” I continued. “I’m going there to shut down whatever he’s started and hopefully retrieve something that will help me find my younger twin sisters, who were sold over thirty years ago to a bounty hunter.”
Ravik frowned, then nodded slowly. “What proof do you have of this slave ring?”
“In our family home on Guldar, I found documentation on equipment he ordered and construction work he had commissioned on Braxia,” I said, my thumbs tracing the rock hard curve of his sizeable trapezius muscles on each side of his neck. “I believe he also planned on setting up a lab to refine and distribute Bliss.”
Ravik bared his teeth in sudden anger. “He was behind that wretched drug?” he hissed.
I lifted my chin, trying to silence the inevitable shame I always felt when reminded of the terrible things my family had done. The highly addictive drug had caused ravages in the short time Varrek had managed to distribute it before his demise. No cure existed for that addiction, and withdrawal always led to death.
“Yes,” I said, my tone slightly clipped. “So you understand why I must go.”
He nodded again. “Braxia is going through troubled times. It isn’t a safe place for a female, especially one as exotic as you.”
