“Then I will have plenty of time to imagine how I will tear moans of pleasure from you, my prickly flower.”

“Right.” I try to keep my face blank and expressionless, but inside? Inside, I’m anything but blank. Who would have thought a huge, scaled alien dirty talking to me would be like my own personal catnip?

Bex, probably. A wave of sadness washes over me.

“What is wrong, Gen?” Kanuz’ brow wrinkles slightly as he lifts his brows, tenderness plain on his brutal face. “I did not mean to make you uncomfortable, my flower. I truly did not.”

“No.” I shake my head. “It’s not that.” It’s sweet though, truly sweet, that he thinks he’s made me uncomfortable even though I’m the one who started to play with fire only to immediately get burned. Affection wells in me, and I smile up at his unblinking face.

“Then why are you sad, Gen? Tell me. You have our words now. If you will not let me bring you to orgasm, then let me bring you solace. It is the very least I can do for my chosen female, for my princess.”

A hoarse laugh rips out of my throat at the reminder that I am, in fact, a princess, and then I sniffle a little.

“Tell me, my flower,” the Suevan prince says, then curls his big arm around me, pulling me into his lap in one fluid motion.

I’m tense at first, all that scaly green muscle caging me in, but he’s warm, so warm, and his touch isn’t searching or gross—it’s comforting.

It catches me off guard, and I do as he says and speak my worries. “Do you think the rest of my crew is safe?”

“I will not lie to you, Gen,” he says gravely, and my heart sinks. “I do not know if they are well or not, and I would not give you false hope. But what I will tell you is that each of your crew will be treasured by their mates, who are among the fiercest warlords Sueva has ever produced. If I had to guess, I would think that most are already safely ensconced in the myzas of Edrobaz. You are unlucky, to have been chosen by me, when another warlord may have been able to get you to safety sooner. As a prince, I did not receive the same training they did.” His smile lacks humor, and his fingertips run over the bare skin of my arm. Carefully, he tucks my feet under his arm, frowning.

“You are cold.”

“I’m okay. Food and fire for the win.”

“I won something?” he asks, confusion curling his lip. The expression is so human, so at odds with the alien planet and the thick armored scales I’m resting against, that I can’t help but laugh a little.

“It doesn’t mean that, but you know what?” I sit up suddenly, and his hands slide against my stomach as I twist in his lap, kneeling against his thick thighs and taking his face in my hands. “How about this as a prize?”

I hesitate for a split second, knowing this is a bridge I can’t uncross.

But right now, with his obscenely muscled chest pressed against mine, he’s too tempting a distraction.

Why not?

His gaze captures mine, curious and as warm as the rest of him. The chill seeps from me the longer I spend with my skin against his, and for a moment, it’s enough. It’s enough to be held, to feel the thrum of his heart against my chest, to hold his warrior prince face in my hands.

And for some reason, it makes me heady with power, with the knowledge that he has had every opportunity to prove himself less than noble. But he isn’t, and he’s waiting for me to decide how far and fast I want to move.

So I brush my lips against his, my eyelashes fluttering shut. His hands tighten on my waist, then slip to my hips. His talons stroke gently across my skin, and I lose myself in the simple sensation of his touch. Of the feel of his full mouth against mine.

And suddenly, it’s not enough.

I tease my tongue against the seam of his lips, and he opens his mouth with a groan. Desire rushes through me at the simple power of it, the tension radiating from him so at odds with the gentle pressure of his hands on my body. He’s keeping himself leashed.

I’m not sure I want to see what happens when that carefully honed restraint finally cracks.

I pull away, and he sucks in a breath as I study the firelight flickering over the planes of his face.

“What was that for, my prickly flower?” he says.

Satisfaction rolls through me as I note how hoarse his voice is, further proof of how the chaste kiss affected him prodding against my ass as well.

“Because I felt like it,” I say, and then confusion hits me again. This isn’t some one-night stand with a Federation base boy-toy, this isn’t even one of the semi-serious relationships I had before the Roth attack. I shouldn’t play with the alien prince, not like this.

Any fun diversions we might get up to here, in this ruin, mean something much more than I wish they did.

I like the big alien prince, and as much as he’s annoyed me, he’s also saved my ass more than once.

But am I ready to be his wife? To have his babies?

I squirm, dislodging myself from his lap.

Or, at least, I attempt to, before he tugs me back.

“Ah-ah, my little human female. You are not going anywhere.”

This time, he kisses me, and I melt against him, despite my reservations. His thick, rough tongue rasps against mine as he deepens the kiss, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

I turn away after a few seconds, feeling disheveled and frustrated and so confused about what I want.

“Now you will sleep, my wife, while I hold you and keep you warm. Because tomorrow will bring us many new challenges…” He runs a talon down the column of my throat, and there’s a vicious victoriousness in his eyes that makes my blood sing. “…and you will need your strength for all of them.”

I yawn then, the urge taking me by surprise. But what surprises me even more is how easy it is to relax against Kanuz, to let the lapping of the water on the walls and his steady breathing lull me to sleep.

And when he hums a low, haunting melody, my eyes drift shut, and I let sleep carry me away as the alien prince runs steady, gentle fingers through my hair.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TEN

OceanofPDF.com

KANUZ

I do not wish to fall asleep. I could stare at this small golden female for hours on end. The way her lips part slightly in sleep, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the way her eyes move under her eyelids.

What does she dream of, I wonder?

I brush the tips of my fingers across my lips, marveling at her trust, still shocked that she put her mouth on mine. That she wanted me enough to act on her instinct.

She is fierce and prickly as the cactus flower she told me about, but every inch of her is soft and so fragile.

My eyes close, and my grip tightens on the small human warrior.

Perhaps my father was right about me. Perhaps I am impulsive and lack what it takes to truly rule Sueva as it should be ruled.

Because now, with my heart’s desire in my arms, I still want to find the many-faced goddesses’ treasure.

What kind of husband does that make me, to risk the wellbeing of my chosen mate?

But what kind of husband would it make me to not take a chance to create a better future for her, for all of Sueva, if we can find the symbol of the goddesses’ blessing and unite our people?

I cannot risk losing her; I cannot risk tearing my people apart any more than they already are.

A heavy sensation tightens my chest, and I watch Gen’s breathing even out more as she falls more deeply asleep.

I will do everything in my power to keep her safe.

And right now, that means finding the treasure and ensuring we can have the future I so desperately want, the future Sueva so desperately needs. I can prove to my ailing father that I am fit to rule. I can prove to my Gen that I will be a good husband, the best mate. And I will prove it to myself.