Page 13 of The Alien Warrior's Vow

As soon as she had control of her hips, Eema wrapped both legs around his waist and jolted him toward her body. Unprepared for the assault, Lans fell on top of her.

Their bodies collided in a rush.

Her soft flesh accepted his weight. For a moment, her fingers rasped against his side, setting flames all over his skin and shooting straight to his pants. Eema wrapped her arms around his neck and rolled, using his distracted state and his own weight against him.

She straddled his waist, her body leaning over his and her long hair falling against his chest. “Bam.” She mimicked plunging a dagger into his chest. “You’re dead.”

“You fight dirty.”

“And the Heronas are known for playing by the rules?” She arched an eyebrow, looking pleased.

He set his hands on her thighs and rubbed his thumb against her calf. “Who taught you that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she taunted. Pushing herself forward, Eema started to get up.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She gasped, falling hard on top of his chest. The sweat on her body mingled with the sweat on his, turning their bodies slick and slippery. The warmth of her pierced his flesh and sank deep beneath his skin.

She balanced on both hands, her face near to his. This close, Lans could see the brilliant flecks of green swimming in her eyes. He saw slight dots—Sah-ah had called them freckles—brushing over her nose and cheeks. The brilliant pink of her lips made him lick his own.

“Kiss me again and I really will stab you,” Eema said fiercely.

Lans chuckled. The first time he met Eema was outside the beluda. He had stolen her from her owner and carted her onto his zapten, but the fragile thing had kept on screaming and hollering, nearly giving their location away. In an effort to quiet her, he’d swooped in close only for her lips to collide with his accidentally.

“If I recall correctly, human, you are the one who suckedmylips.”

She wiggled a finger in his face. “There was no sucking involved, Blue.”

Neh. There hadn’t been, but he wished there was.

Eema shifted a little. Her hands moved from the ground to his chest. The dirt on her palms mingled with his sweat, causing mud to smear over his tribal markings.

Lans barely felt the discomfort.

Every venas, every muscle was focused on the female straddling him.

Eema tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear. Always the left. “Why won’t you let me into your zapten, Lans?” Her gaze skittered away from him. “Is it because you don’t trust me?”

“Neh.”

“Then?” She frowned. “We’ve been training without it all day and we both know that I’m going to spend more time inside the zapten than out. Everyone else has some experience wearing those things. I’m the only one who hasn’t. What if I don’t even have a connection? What if it doesn’t like me?”

“The zapten is already linked to you.”

Eema’s jaw dropped. “What?”

He pushed up on his elbows so his face was eye-level with hers. Eema eased back, sliding away from him while still balanced on his hips. Continuing to brush her thigh with his thumb, Lans admitted, “She is already connected to you.”

“How do you know that? I mean… Korben told me that they’d have to mess with my neural implant to find the zapten’s frequency.”

“Neh.” He swallowed hard. “You do not have to do that because… the zapten found yours.”

“She found my frequency?”

He nodded.

“When?”

He glanced away, his heras threatening to burst. She was too close. Too tempting. Too much.