Page 32 of Taking Jenny (Planet Orhon #4)

“I didn’t mean it like that, Jenny.” Slowly, I reached for her cheek, giving her the chance to pull away.

She didn’t. My fingers brushed her skin, and in that moment it was as though a perilous gap was bridged.

“What I meant was Longshot should have been more careful with you. You don’t heal like we do.

That’s all. I wasn’t implying any weakness.

You’re not lacking anything. You’re…amazing. ”

She stepped in closer, and I let my hand slide from her cheek down to the curve of her neck. Her hands landed on my chest, fingers splaying over the fabric of my shirt as she looked up at me.

“Every time I feel like I’m starting to understand you,” she whispered, “something goes badly between us.”

I smiled faintly. “I know what you mean.”

She exhaled a soft breath. “So, for right now—for this moment—I want to pretend there’s nothing but you and me.”

“I want that too.”

She curled her fingers between the buttons of my shirt and tugged me down to her mouth. Her lips brushed mine, soft and flavored with whickler. After a moment, she broke away, her breath catching, eyes wide as she waited for me to close the gap.

Fearful she might change her mind, I didn’t hesitate. I crashed back into her, kissing her deep and hard. She gasped against my mouth, her back arching into the railing as I pressed her there. There was no space left between us—no patience, no hesitation. Just want and need. Just her.

Her moan vibrated against my lips. My fingers slid into her hair, then down to cradle the nape of her neck.

Her hands slipped beneath my jacket, feeling all over my chest like she was memorizing my muscles or trying to find bare skin beneath my shirt.

If she managed to put her hands on me like that, I’d be lost.

I pulled back while I still could, my breaths heaving. “We should stop.”

Confusion flickered in her eyes. “Why?”

“Because until twenty minutes ago, you hated me.”

Her gaze searched mine. “I don’t hate you, Mal. I’ve never hated you.”

“Then why were you so angry at supper?” I asked, perplexed.

“You took Tiger to the palace!”

“I didn’t have a choice, Jenny,” I argued. “You know I didn’t.”

She pursed her lips and dropped her hands back down to her sides. “I thought you said you’re a good distraction.”

“Maybe I’m a terrible one,” I muttered.

She looked up at me and sighed. “Mal…what is this between us? I don’t understand you. I mean, at first, I thought you were with Discord—"

I burst out laughing. “What?”

She frowned at me. “I wasn’t sure before, but after watching you two dance? No doubt in my mind.”

“There’s nothing intimate or romantic between us,” I assured her, still amused by the assumption. “Discord is my friend—nothing more. Not ever.”

“I figured that when she didn’t kill you for sleeping with Tiger…but speaking of that, you’ve flirted with me since the day I met you, and then suddenly you’re in bed with someone who openly hated you. Can you really blame me for being confused?”

“No,” I admitted. “Not at all. But maybe if you’d let me finish what I want to say to you once in a while—”

“Oh, you mean instead of biting my neck?” she said in a sassy tone.

I leaned close enough to taste her neck again. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

“I didn’t,” she breathed, instinctively tipping her head back to give me better access. “Except I did. Because I thought you were with Discord, and I fully expected her to kill me for messing with her man.”

I grinned against her throat, breathing her in. “You smell like dessert.”

She shivered. “What do I taste like?”

I touched my tongue to her skin. “Like whickler and dreams of sweet things. But I want to know how you feel .”

“ Yes ,” she hissed, her hands gripping my arms.

Lifting my head, I stared into her eyes as I traced a line from her throat down to her collarbone with my finger, then lower, palming her breast through her dress.

So soft. So addictive. She moaned, pulling my mouth down to hers once more.

I kissed her hard, lost in the heat of her body and the sounds she made, like every breath was for me.

But I couldn’t fuck her. Not yet. If I let myself go there…I wouldn’t survive losing her if she did not survive Illiapol, but I could give her other pleasures.

Releasing her lips, I spun her around to face the railing and lifted her hair over her shoulder. I licked up the side of her neck savoring her tremble, then slipped my hand around her hip and dragged the hem of her dress up her thighs.

Her breath caught as my fingers brushed across her skin in a seductive tease. “Touch me, please,” she whispered, widening her stance.

“Are you sure?” I murmured into her ear as my hand slid into her panties, then stilled. “Or are you still mad at me?”

“Fucking touch me, you bastard.”

I chuckled right before I bit the side of her neck and dipped my fingers between her legs. She was hot and slick, and when I stroked her clit, she shuddered and moaned. I worked her in tight circles, her hips grinding for more. Then I slid lower, circling her entrance.

“So wet for me already,” I murmured huskily into her ear. “What happens when you’re fucked?”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself,” she taunted me.

I growled behind her, low and dark. “Bend over the railing.”

She obeyed without hesitation, gripping the cold iron as I shoved her dress up to her hips. I pushed her underwear down to her knees, then I fit my hand between her legs from behind, relishing her soft, slick skin, the heat, the way she shivered when my fingers caressed her pussy.

I had her exactly where I wanted her…and I still couldn’t do it. Couldn’t allow myself to be hurt by getting attached. Not when the odds of her surviving Illiapol were so slim. Not when it would ruin me to lose her.

So I did the only thing I could bear and slid a finger inside of her.

She groaned in frustration. “That’s not your cock.”

I crooked my fingers just right, hunting for the spot that would make her shake. “Complaining?”

She gasped. “Only if you stop.”

I fucked her with my finger, while my other hand returned to her clit, stroking her in rhythm. Her hips jerked. She whimpered. When I added both together, she nearly sobbed with pleasure.

“I want to feel you come,” I murmured against the back of her neck.

She pressed her ass against my aching, straining shaft. “I want…to come on your cock.”

“You have the filthiest mouth.” And I loved it.

“Mmm.” Her voice was wrecked as her head fell back. “So close…”

I drove her right to the edge and when she finally cried out, her body shaking against mine, I wrapped an arm around her to hold her upright as her orgasm swept through her.

Once her climax ebbed, I withdrew my finger and put her underwear and dress back in place. She turned around to face me, eyes half-lidded with desire.

A seductive smile curved her lips. “Your bedroom or mine?”

Gods, it would be so easy to say yes to either of those things. She looked flushed and radiant, her pupils blown wide, hair tousled by the breeze. She was everything I wanted in that moment. Everything I craved.

But she was also everything I could lose.

I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, trying to memorize the feel of her skin beneath my fingertips. I didn’t pull her close. I didn’t kiss her. I didn’t allow myself that pleasure.

“I can’t,” I whispered, my voice cracking on the last word.

Her smile faltered. “Can’t or won’t?”

“I want to. I ache to be inside of you. But if I do this…if I have you like that, I won’t be able to stop.

” I cupped her face gently, letting my forehead rest against hers.

“I’m already falling,” I said, almost too quiet to hear.

“And if you don’t make it through Illiapol, it will destroy me to lose you. ”

Her breath caught. “Mal…”

I kissed her temple instead of her mouth. A coward’s compromise. Then I stepped away, one pace, then another, until the space between us was enough to breathe, but not enough to stop the confusion and hurt I saw swirling in her eyes.

“Sweet dreams, Jenny,” I murmured, then turned my back on the only thing I’d ever truly wanted this badly.

I didn’t say another word. Just walked back inside, carrying the weight of everything I couldn’t let myself feel for her.