Tarek stared at the ceiling as he held Lyra in his arms, her head on his chest, her body draped over his. She was like a kitten, determined to get as close as possible in her sleep, curling around him with a sigh before she had relaxed into exhaustion several hours before.
He wasn't human. That had been driven irrevocably home on the stairs, his body covering hers, as it betrayed his sense of humanity. His belief in himself as a man, not an animal. A barb.
He closed his eyes as bitterness swamped him.
He pushed back the shudder of pure lust at the memory of the sensations.
Dear God, the pleasure. It had been unlike anything he could have anticipated. The extension had been highly sensitive, pulsing, throbbing in orgasmic delight as he poured his se**n into her.
He breathed in roughly, grimacing at the erection he still sported. He had a feeling he would never get enough of the feel of her silken cunt, with or without the Mating Heat. His hand smoothed over her hair, his fingers tangling in the soft strands as he relished the feel of her lying against him. She was warm. Precious. She was a gift he had never imagined lie would ever have.
And she liked him. He knew she felt at least some affection for him, though perhaps not as much as he felt for her. Hell, he had fallen in love with her during the first few months he had known her. He had known it was love. Known the
possessiveness, the joy, i he sheer delight he found in her could be nothing else.
He wanted to clutch her to him, tighten his arms around her and hold the world at bay forever. But he knew, realistically, it wasn't possible. He could only hold her for now and see how she reacted when she awakened.
And that part terrified him.
Would she be disgusted?
Hell, of course she would. What sane, reasonable woman could so easily accept something so animalistic? So outside the bounds of what she knew was human?
He felt her shift against him and restrained his growl of impatient lust as her leg slid over his thigh, her knee nearly touching the taut flesh of his scrotum.
Sweet Lord, she made him hot. And he wasn't blaming it on the Mating Heat. He had known what she would do to him from his first confrontation with her.
She sighed against his chest, a soft little sound that clenched his heart as her hand smoothed over his chest and then back again.
He stilled, his breath nearly suspending as she repeated the action, her body tensing.
"What happened to you?" Her fingers picked up the nearly invisible line of scars that criss-crossed his chest.
"Training." He hoped she would leave it alone. Prayed she would let it go.
"What kind of training?" She leaned up enough to open drowsy eyes, though her gaze was as sharp as ever.
He was willing to bet she drove her father insane. She was too curious, too independent, and too set on having the answers she demanded.
"Simply training, Lyra," he finally answered her. "At times, I was not the perfect little soldier I should have been." He heard the bitterness that laced his voice, wincing at the sound of it.
Her fingers moved over the abrasive scars once again as her gaze tuckered to his. A gaze filling with anger. Making her angry had not been his intention. He wanted only to shelter her from what he had known during those years. There was no reason for her to know the brutality, the mercilessness of those who created him.
"I hope they're dead." Her snarl surprised him, as did the bloodthirsty fury in those beautiful eyes as she stared back at him. "Whoever did this, I hope you killed him." He had. But it wasn't something he was proud of.
He was proud of this small sign of protectiveness from her, though. She was angry on his behalf, not with him.
"It's over. That's all that matters." He touched her cheek, amazed at her, just as he had been from the first moment he had seen her.
She snorted at that, a completely unladylike sound that didn't really surprise him as her expression conveyed her disagreement with him.
"I need a shower." She finally shifted from him, her moves hesitant.
"I'll show you the shower and get you one of my shirts to wear." He moved from the bed before turning back and lifting her into his arms.
She gripped his shoulders, staring up at him in surprise.
"You're tender." And she was as light as a feather. "Perhaps try a bath to relieve the soreness. I have some Epsom Salts in the cabinet that will make you feel better."
Jonas had suggested hot baths rather than showers to help ease the soreness as well as the building heat for a small respite. He knew the scent of her and could detect the change as she moved farther through the ovulation process. The pill she had taken would do nothing to stop the heat, only the end result of the ovulation process. There would be no egg, no conception. He ignored the small flare of regret at the thought of it.
"I'm hungry, too," she informed him. "And I don't want any of those nasty biscuits, either. I want some real food." He set her down in the bathroom, staring down at her in confusion. "Such as?"
"I'll call Liu's. She'll have one of her boys deliver." She stared around the large bathroom before looking back at him pointedly.
An invitation to leave. That one was hard not to miss. But not yet.
"Let me know what you want, I'll have a friend pick it up for us," he suggested instead. "For the time being, I would prefer not to let anyone I don't know into the house." A small tremor raced through her body as she glanced away from him for a moment and breathed in heavily.
"Fine. I can understand that. As long as I get my Chinese fix."
He listened carefully to the dishes she wanted ordered, restraining his smile. It was enough to feed an army. It was a damned good thing he had a near-perfect memory.
"Bathe. I'll call Jonas and have the food picked up. By the time you're finished, it should be here."
He could smell the heat building in her and wanted her to have the time to enjoy the food.
"Thanks. Now go away." She waved him away with a delicate gesture of her fingers. "I don't need you in here right now." His lips quirked at her irritated expression, but he did as she asked. And he prayed. Prayed she had forgiven him for the animal he was, rather than the man he knew she needed.
"I need to go to the house for some clothes and stuff." Lyra found her gown and robe in the washroom, folded neatly on the top of the dryer after they had consumed the delivered Chinese food.