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M y world contracted to the pressure of Korvan’s mouth against mine. Heat spread from my lips down through my body, pooling low in my stomach. I clutched at his shoulders, his arms, needing more contact.

He lifted me with effortless strength. I locked my legs around his waist, not wanting to break the kiss as he carried me toward my quarters. His hands gripped my thighs, fingers digging in just enough to make me gasp against his mouth.

“What happened to planning?” I asked, as he shouldered open the door to my room.

“Plans change.” He set me on my feet beside the bed, his hands already working at the fasteners of my jacket. “Especially when you look at me like that.”

I grinned. “Like what?”

“Like you’ve been starving.” His hands moved to my waist, fingers tracing my skin. “And I’m the first meal you’ve seen in days.”

His fingers traced the edge of my bra, then slipped beneath to cup my breast. I arched into his touch.

“You’re one to talk,” I said. “With those eyes that never stop watching me.”

“Why would I look away?” Korvan bent, pressed his mouth to my collarbone, the hollow of my throat. “When you’re the only thing worth seeing?”

His words sent a thrill through me. I’d been seen plenty in my life—as a target, an asset, a means to an end. Never as something worthy of attention for my own sake.

“Korvan,” I breathed, as his lips traveled lower, over the swell of my breast. One hand slipped behind me, unhooked the clasp of my bra with ease.

“I’ve thought about this,” he murmured against my skin. “More than I should have.”

“Me too.” My hands found his hair, surprisingly soft between my fingers. “But I didn’t think it would happen.”

He looked up, the red of his eyes almost black with desire. “Why not?”

“People like us don’t get what we want.”

His smile was sharp. “Tonight we do.”

He straightened, capturing my mouth again as his hands finished undressing me. My boots, my pants, my underwear—all gone with methodical precision. I stood before him completely naked while he still stood in his pants and boots.

“This hardly seems fair,” I said.

He laughed, a deep rumble that vibrated against me. “Patience.”

“Not one of my virtues.”

“No?” His hands cupped my face. “And what are your virtues, Iria Jann?”

I pressed my palms against his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heartbeat. “Determination. Survival.” I met his gaze. “Loyalty, when it’s earned.”

“Have I earned it?”

“You’re getting there.”

He growled, a sound more animal than human, and pressed me back onto the bed.

I sank into the mattress as he knelt above me, his broad shoulders blocking out the dim light from the ceiling.

He leaned down, trailing kisses from my mouth to my jaw, my neck, my chest. My body responded to each touch, skin heating, back arching.

“Your scent is driving me crazy,” he whispered against my skin. His tongue flicked over my nipple, sending sparks through my nervous system. “Since the first day on your ship. Did you know that?”

I shook my head, words escaping me as his mouth closed around my breast. The slight scrape of his canines against sensitive flesh made me clutch at his shoulders.

He moved lower, kissing a path down my stomach, my hips, the inside of my thigh. Before I could form a coherent thought, he knelt between my legs and pressed his mouth to the most intimate part of me.

I nearly came off the bed. His tongue was unlike anything I’d experienced—slightly rough, textured in a way that intensified every sensation. He held my hips firmly as he explored, finding every sensitive spot with unerring accuracy.

“Korvan,” I gasped. “I can’t?—”

But I could, and I did. The orgasm crashed over me in waves, stealing my breath and my thoughts. Through it all, he didn’t stop, didn’t slow, drawing out pleasure until my body felt boneless, my mind emptied of everything but sensation.

“Stars,” I managed, when speech returned. “That was...”

He looked up, mouth glistening. “Not enough.”

“More,” I demanded, reaching for him. “I want you. All of you.”

He stood, finally removing the last of his own clothing. I drank in the sight of him—powerful muscles, narrow hips, and the unmistakable evidence of his arousal. His cock stood proud, the broad triangular head and ridged flanges along the sides marking him as definitively non-human.

“Still sure?” he asked, the question revealing a vulnerability at odds with his powerful frame.

I sat up, reached for him. “Very sure. Come here.”

He joined me on the bed, his weight pressing me into the mattress in the most delicious way. The heat of his skin against mine was intoxicating, his mouth hungry as it reclaimed mine. I tasted myself on his tongue, strange and intimate.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, hands mapping my body as if committing it to memory. “Everything about you.”

I ran my fingers along one of the orange swirls on his chest. “So are you.”

His laugh was soft against my neck. “I don’t think that’s what most humans would say.”

“I’m not most humans.” I pulled him closer. “And thank the stars for that.”

He positioned himself between my thighs, the head of his cock pressing against my entrance. The anticipation was almost painful. He moved slowly, carefully, giving my body time to adjust to his size and unfamiliar shape.

The sensation was overwhelming—the stretch, the fullness, the ridges along his length stimulating nerves I hadn’t known existed. I clutched at his back, fingernails digging into skin.

“Okay?” he asked, holding still despite the tremor I felt running through his muscles.

“Don’t stop,” I breathed. “Please don’t stop.”

He began to move, setting a rhythm that built gradually from gentle to urgent. Each thrust sent pleasure spiraling through me, the unique shape of him hitting spots within me that had me gasping, cursing, pleading.

“Iria.” My name sounded like a prayer. “Look at me.”

I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze as our bodies moved together. Something passed between us then—something beyond physical pleasure, beyond the simple release of tension. Something that terrified and thrilled me in equal measure.

For years, I’d kept myself apart. Safe. Alone. But here, with Korvan moving inside me, his eyes holding mine, I was neither alone nor safe. And I didn’t care.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, as if reading my thoughts. “I’ve got you.”

And just for a moment, I believed it.