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Dad would be apoplectic at the idea of me fraternizing with an alien hybrid. Especially one who may or may not be attempting to torpedo Dad’s latest fortune-building scheme.

I contemplate that for a moment, then decide I stopped giving a shit what Dad wanted when he sent me to Eiris to disappear like the other eleven ambassadors.

Jalus sinks onto a boulder, wings fanned behind him, and I close the distance between us, unable to stop myself. I plant myself in his lap, knees on either side of his hips, my nose buried in the crook of his neck. Dimly, I’m somewhat embarrassed at my own daring, but the attraction of his scent pulls me in like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my whole life.

“What—what is that perfume you’re wearing?” I mumble into his neck. I want to lick it. Roll in it. Drown in it.

He tilts my chin back with his thumb and forefinger, and I close my eyes, ready to let him devour me.

Instead, he reaches for my mask and sets it over my nose and mouth, holding it there for my next two breaths.

My brain kicks back on, and I scramble backwards off his lap, mortified. “I amsosorry. Stars. The air—I must have?—”

“Forgive me,” Jalus says softly. His cheeks have a tinge of violet color, too. “I should not have taken advantage while you were in that state. I always wondered if you could sense…well, obviously you can.”

I narrow my eyes. “Explain?”

Jalus clears his throat, shifting in his seat. “Among the Kin, scent is very important. You might say it’s our first language, inherited from the Old Kin. Scent leads us to our intended mates. When we find someone with whom our scent mingles well, it can trigger…very strong instincts.”

Both my hands press to the mask, my eyes widening. “You’re telling me that smell ismating pheromones?When were you going to tell me you’re in…what, like, butterfly heat?”

“It is not me alone,” Jalus says, his eyes skittering away from mine. “Two scents must mingle to create the…pheromones, as you call it. My scent, mixed with others in the village, sparked no reaction. But when I’m close to you…Mother could sense it between us.” He bows his head. “I didn’t think you could tell. You gave no indication that you felt anything when we met years ago. I’m not even certain how it’s physiologically possible for an Earth Classic…”

“When we met?” I stare at him. “You felt this way about me when we werefourteen?”

His miserable shrug says it all.

“Stars.” I need to sit down, too. Somewhere other than his lap. “How the blazes did you resist? I can barely think straight when I…”

“How could I not?” Jalus says, hanging his head. “You don’t care for me. You made that quite clear. No matter how strong the pull between two people, there is always a choice. A woman may choose to distance herself from a man she will not accept. There may be another mate for him someday. Her as well. A physiological reaction does not mandate a relationship.” It’s obvious he’s thought about this a lot for the past ten years. “Your breather mask seems to mute the effects. Keep it on at all times, and you will not feel the urge to engage in anything unwelcome. I can…manage myself.”

Fuck.This beautiful man promising to respect a “no” might actually be the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me.

Jalus is still speaking. “I sincerely apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I can arrange for another guard, if you feel?—”

“I don’t want another guard,” I say. And, very deliberately, I pull the mask from my face and drop it on the ground.

Jalus sucks in a breath and stands, his wings unfurling to their full glory. “Nade, please consider this carefully,” he says in a low voice. His use of my childhood nickname sets wings fluttering in my belly. “The distance between our two worlds is great. It might be better if we don’t entangle them.”

He’s not wrong. I’ve been raised in a world of privilege and excess, of getting what I want the second I want it. And all along, I was desperately lonely.

Returning to Eiris has made me realize that all the money and power in the world are no substitute for a place I feel at home. For arms I feel secure in.

My hand runs up his chest and his words get lost in a groan. I slide my fingers around to the back of his head, beneath the warm silken mass of his hair, and pull him down for a kiss.

If he wants me as badly as I want him, then I can imagine what it costs him to pull back. “Nade, don’t tempt me unless?—”

“Jalus,” I whisper, in a voice I barely recognize. All my life, I have commanded. I have been groomed from childhood to take what is mine without a by-your-leave. But if he doesn’t give me what I need right now, I’m prepared to beg. “Please.”

The word has an instant effect on him, his pupils widening until there’s almost no purple left in his dark gaze.

“You like it when I beg?” I look up at him through my lashes. “Then I’ll get down on my knees.”

A curse tears loose from his throat. In a single smooth motion, he scoops me into his arms again. My back hits the soft moss carpeting the ground as raindrops patter around us. His upper hands hold my wrists on either side of my head, the rainbow glory of his wings enveloping us like a tent and shielding us from the rain.

“If we are going to do this,” he says, his voice roughened with desire, “I am not your bodyguard here. We are equals. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”