Page 304 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

I was pretty sure I was going to get left out again, so I pushed around Eoin as soon as they were done and held up my hand.

Heat spread across my face, coloring my skin with a deep blush, but I held firm as the Rumicaron, Jaxin, keyed me to the lock, his shark mouth stretching into a dangerously wide grin.

We were left alone inside the small room, and I felt a weight drop from my shoulders.

I was relieved to be alone with Eoin again.

This space wasn’t big—about the size of a set of crew quarters like on the Vagabond, but there was an actual double bed in this one.

The walls weren’t that harsh metal like in the hallways, but instead a softer, white kind of paneling.

There was a small bathroom beyond an open doorway to the left, and cubbyholes lined one wall for our things—even though we didn’t have much right now. I still wasn’t sure what to do for Novalee in terms of a bed; there were no handy drawers, as far as I could see.

Eoin stepped around me, a frown on his face as he appraised the room just as I had.

His hands splayed on his hips and his stance wide, making it seem like he was filling up far more space than necessary.

“It’s small, but we’ll make it work,” he said, then turned around to spear me with those swirling mercury eyes of his.

I knew that look; I knew what he was going to say even before he said it.

My skin prickled, heat flushing the back of my neck in anger.

I jabbed out a finger and hit him square in the chest. “No, you’re not going to fucking say it.

Don’t ruin this.” I brushed past him to drop the cloak on the foot of the bed and untie Novalee from my chest, fuming on the inside.

He was quiet as he helped me pull the wiggling baby from the long swath of fabric.

“I’m guessing you’d like to have some playtime, don’t you, sweetheart?

” he said as he laid my baby down on her stomach on the soft bed.

Proving him right, she eagerly lifted herself up on wobbly limbs and attempted a determined crawl to the edge.

I could tell that he was ignoring what I’d just said, choosing to focus on Novalee for now.

In just a few moments, he had spread the blankets out on the floor instead, so that my girl could explore the cabin without risking a fall.

I didn’t miss the part where he scouted around the small room to make sure there was no way she could get herself into trouble.

Only then did he sit down next to me on the edge of the bed.

He sat down far too close for comfort, and the soft mattress dipped until I was pressed up right against his thigh, feeling the heat of his leg seep through my pants.

Then he shifted his arm, bracing his hand next to my hip on the other side, so I felt caged in against him.

I should move away if I wanted to maintain my boundaries, but I didn’t.

It was hard to fight my attraction to him, and I was tired.

His eyes were still on Novalee as she crawled to the nearest cubbyhole and stuck her head inside it.

“So I won’t say it,” he murmured. He dipped his chin until it pressed against his chest, eyes on his knees.

“It’s not that I want to cage you, Tori.

I just can’t stand the thought that anything could happen to you…

” He tilted his head just enough that I could see him looking at me from the corner of his eye.

I didn’t want to soften toward him. This didn’t resolve anything, he was just explaining why he did what he did.

I knew in my heart that nothing had changed, but when he leaned in and kissed me, I let him.

He slanted his lips against mine, his tongue swiping along the seam of my mouth.

I knew I shouldn’t, but I let him in anyway.

Heat tingled through my body from that single point of contact.

When his teeth grazed my bottom lip, a moan bubbled from my throat.

I could feel his satisfied smirk against my mouth.

“Let me make you feel good, Tori. You deserve it,” he murmured, spinning us until I was pressed against the bed and he was leaning over me.

I did deserve it—I had to agree with that—I deserved a whole lot more.

Eoin was good for it, too; I had no doubt about that.

I still started to protest, this was far more than just blurring the lines I’d drawn in the sand.

Then he nibbled on my earlobe, and I shivered, my brain hazing with pleasure. Of course, he knew just how to get to me. He knew all about what drove me crazy; that’s why it had been so difficult to stay away from him.

I spared a single thought for Nova, but she was still happily exploring the room, and with all of my objections pushed aside, all I could do was surrender—surrender to the masterful way he controlled my mouth, kissing me until I was dizzy from it, my body restlessly moving beneath his, feeling the hard bar of his erection grind against my soft belly and the cage he formed over me.

“Eoin,” I started to say, but then I got distracted by the feel of his hand as he slid it down my side and over my hip, until he boldly cupped me between my legs. I arched into that palm with a startled moan, which he muffled with another drugging kiss.

“Quiet, Tally. I need you to be quiet for me. Can you do that?” he demanded, his voice husky with his own desire.

The domineering tone struck all the right chords inside my body, making my passage spasm.

Nodding in response, I eagerly helped him unbutton my pants so he could slide his hand inside.

A groan escaped, despite my best efforts, when he curled a finger into my core and ground his palm against my mons at the same time.

“Tsk,” Eoin said, shaking his head, his mercury eyes sparkling at me.

“That’s not very quiet.” His palm covered my mouth, and my body jerked in his hold.

Despite having only done it once—that wild, crazy night a few months ago—Eoin seemed to recall exactly what set me off.

He curled his finger just right inside me, his palm providing friction over my clit.

My body was strung tight like a bow and ready to burst, an orgasm crashing over me fast and hard.

Panting beneath his hand, I stared up at his handsome face in shock.

How had things escalated this quickly? I’d never come this quickly, and Novalee was right there in the room with us.

Even if she probably hadn’t noticed a thing, that still made me feel uncomfortable.

I shoved his hand away to level him with a glare, but he was grinning from ear to ear, and suddenly I didn’t feel mad.

“Feel better, Tally?” he asked.