Page 5

“If we were anywhere else, I would take great pleasure in changing your mind about that.”

He held her gaze and the breath caught in her throat. She was suddenly hyper-aware of the large, muscular body just inches from hers. The hard, familiar planes which fit so well against her own pliant curves.

She swallowed, her mouth dry.

“And how would you change it?”

“I would unlock your cell, strip you down, and lick every inch of your body until you begged me for release. Then, and only then, I would use my serpetri to fuck your sweetfereshuntil you came so hard that you would dream of it every night for the next month.”

The quiet intensity of his words set her heart pounding. Heat flooded between her thighs. For a long moment, neither of them spoke, locked into the erotic image dancing through both their minds.

Her eyes drifted to his mouth. His wicked, sinful mouth that had made her scream so many times in the months they’d been together. It took her a moment to clock what he was saying.

“But since I know that cannot happen, perhaps I could just hold your hand.”

She blinked,

“Huh?”

“Simple skin-to-skin contact. Your palm against mine. Please, Kara. It will make us both feel better, I promise.”

He held his hand out and she looked down at it, fighting an inner battle.

She would do almost anything to ease her insomnia and those infuriating night-time fever dreams. But holding his hand would also be an admission that she believed his ridiculous tales of fate and destiny.

In the end, curiosity won out.

She took his hand, not bothering to hide her scepticism, her fingers tiny against his huge palm. She paused a beat.

“You see? It’s utter…” She shivered into silence.

A feeling of calm and wellbeing, ofrightness, washed through her from head to toe. Her heartbeat slowed and the dull, persistent ache in her chest receded. For the first time in days, she felt at peace.

The relief was indescribable. And undeniable.

Startled, she twined her fingers more firmly around his, reveling in the sensation. Was this what it meant to be addicted to someone?

She looked up to find Vahn staring down at her, his yellow gaze so direct and commanding she couldn’t look away. Unspoken words danced into her head.

I love you.

The unbidden thought flew from her mind and hovered on her lips. Somehow she kept from saying it. Declaring love for her captor would be an unforgiveable weakness. And yet the feeling in that moment was so strong, it was as if her heart was connected to his by an invisible thread.

The impact on Vahn was no less pronounced. His pupils dilated as the chemicals and pheromones he’d been missing flooded back into his system, and his emotions surged.

She is my elixir. My reason for living. My kalehsha.

He vowed to make her understand. To lay his heart at her feet and beg her to take it back. But as he opened his mouth to tell her how he felt, the door to the detention wing opened.

He let go of her hand.

“What is it?” he asked curtly as his bodyguards came in. Kara’s eyes narrowed when she saw who was with them.

The bitch commander. The head of the Vraxian army, General Elaryx Solarun. A formidable military strategist and the bane of every SDF operation in recent years.

The stern female was as tall as Vahn and had a palpable air of authority about her. But as she approached, her face held an expression that instantly put Kara on edge.

The officer halted in front of Vahn.