“I veck you wherever I like, and you say thank you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Get off me, you arrogant lug.” Her words might have meant something if she hadn’t been undulating her hips against his in the lewdest possible manner.
“Naughty girl. I can feel how much you want my cock.”
Her gaze flicked to the open door.
Lundric bit her ear. “Don’t worry, little rebel. I’ll shut the door. Do you really think I’d allow any other being to see you?” He eased her to the floor and shook his head with a dark look. “Never.”
She sucked on her lip and watched his broad back as he walked to the door and shut it. It was hard not to feel like royalty around Lundric. Every day she fell further under his spell. The one that made her forget her miserable past, the loss and loneliness. The need to be ready to defend her life at every moment. Even though she knew it was a false sense of security, an illusion she’d soon be horribly divested of, Lundric was like the magnet that kept drawing her closer.
~.~
Lundric turned back to his aroused female, the need to satisfy her making his blood hum. He relished the way she’d softened to him over the past week. His little rebel was beginning to trust him, beginning to receive everything he wanted to give her. Pleasure. Satisfaction. Protection. He wanted to provide for her, to make her life easier, even though she was the toughest, most capable female on the pod.
Even though he still scented her arousal, he saw he’d half lost her in the moment he left. Her face clouded with some inner conflict. What was she thinking? It had something to do with him, he’d bet his last crystal. He didn’t believe she feared him, despite her play at resistance.
He stalked back to her, taking his time, predator approaching his beautiful prey. When he reached her, he picked her up by her narrow waist and plopped her on top of the long, industrial-sized washing machine.
“There’s no getting away from me now, little female.”
She kicked up her chin. “Is that a challenge?”
A surprised burst of laughter erupted from him, echoing off the walls of the small room. He touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “It was not so long ago you refused to be closed in a room with me,” he said softly. He brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “The old Venusian said I need to know the secrets of your heart.”
Her smile fell away, wariness returning.
A chill washed over him from his neck down to his boots. What was his little female hiding? What didn’t she want to show him? He vecking hated uncertainty. He needed to know Cambry belonged to him. Forever. He couldn’t stand a repetition of his mother’s fickle love. He’d recovered from maternal abandonment, but he wouldn’t recover from losing Cambry. He refused to ever accept her leaving.
His fear had already morphed to aggression, his masculine pride demanding he claim her here, now, but he drew a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. The prince said he had to win her. Force was not an option, not that he’d ever allow Cambry to be hurt or unhappy on his watch.
He pushed her knees open and curled his hands under her thighs, yanking her hips forward on the machine.
She gasped and fell back on her hands behind her.
Without waiting a moment, he thrust his head between her legs, biting at her pussy through her leggings. Her wanton moan made his cock turn harder than stone. “Do you want me to lick your pussy, beautiful female?”
“Y-yes,” she breathed, her inner thighs trembling against his ears.
He rubbed his knuckle over the seam of her pants, stimulating her clitoris. “Tell me three secrets.”
She stilled. “What?”
He continued the slow knuckle treatment. Her pussy dampened her panties and pants, and the scent made it hard for him to maintain control. “You heard me. Three secrets.”
She rocked her hips to meet his knuckle, and he smirked. “You want my mouth there, don’t you, pretty girl?”
“What kind of secret?”
Again, foreboding twisted in his gut. He cocked his head to the side and locked gazes with her. “I don’t know. What are you hiding from me, Cambry?”
Her face went pale, confirming his worst fears. Now she played at sounding casual. She tossed her long ponytail back over her shoulder. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ll answer three questions. You ask them.”
He reached for the thread holding her hair back and broke it with his fingers. The thick mane fell down in riotous waves. Gorgeous locks of brown, red, and copper wove in and out in soft curls. He wanted to see it all the way down—the little braids around her face unwound, as well. He wanted to make rules for her about her hair—that she must always take it down for him, or that he’d be the only male to see it unbound. But he wasn’t in a position to make demands like that. Yet. Stars, he needed to be.
He pushed the fingers of one hand into the braids, bunching them up to gently tug her head back. With the other hand, he continued to massage her pussy. He struggled to think what her secrets could be. What were his worst fears? “Have you already been mated, Cambry?”
Her lips fell open with pleasure, lids drooped. He couldn’t wait to bring her to orgasm, to watch that beautiful face contort as she toppled over the peak. But not until he had answers.