When Shivon Roxtin tries to incite a rebellion among the human females on the Outcast planet, she’s sent to the Relentless. The ship’s commander, Warlord Torak Payne, thrives on challenge, so he’s looking forward to taming the fiery human. Still, war with the Sarronti is creeping ever closer, and the last thing he needs is an unruly mate. Tempers flare, and sparks fly from the moment they first meet. Their battle of wills is quickly surpassed by their consuming need for each other, but can they channel the emotional intensity into something constructive before they’re consumed by the flames?
Copyright © 2019 Cyndi Friberg
His gaze narrowed and he set his mug aside, then closed the distance between them with two long-legged strides. “Didn’t you learn your lesson in the cage? If you challenge me, I will respond.”
She grasped her mug with both hands, holding it in front of her as if it had the power to keep him away. “I learned my lesson.
“Then why do you keep provoking me?” He took the mug from her and set it next to his. “Do you need another demonstration?”
She shrugged, avoiding his penetrating gaze. Yet her heart pounded, and her skin felt strangely sensitized. “If the first one didn’t work, why bother with another?”
He caught her upper arms and dragged her even closer. “Because this is what you really want. You want me aggressive. You want me to kiss you senseless while you wiggle and protest.”
She raised her arms between them, palms pressed against his chest. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Are you sure?” He pulled her to the balls of her feet, then wrapped one of his arms around her waist, anchoring her lower body against his while her upper body arched away.
“This is not what I want.” And yet her nipples tingled, and her core ached as it had never ached before.
Bending slightly, he grabbed her ass with both hands and slid her up his body until their faces were on a level. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, and he guided her legs around his waist. Their gazes locked, clashed, his intense and searching, hers defiant.
“You’re aroused, Shivon,” he whispered against her lips. “I can sense it, smell it. In fact, that’s all I can smell.”
There was no point in denying it. She was soaking wet, and her inner muscles kept clenching as if they were searching for something to squeeze. “I didn’t feel this way until you… You did this when you kissed me.”
“I haven’t kissed you yet.” Supporting her weight with one arm, he pushed his other hand into her hair and splayed his fingers across the back of her head. “What happened in the cage was a warning, not a kiss. Would you like to feel the difference?”
She shook her head but didn’t turn away as his face slowly lowered toward hers.