Straik doesn't seem convinced. "I don't deserve praise. I still abandoned your friends."
"I know. And it still makes me upset. I haven't forgotten." I trail my hand down his chest as I sit up next to him. "It was devastating at first. But I've gotten to know you, and I understand you better. You were panicking. You're used to dealing with piracy and boarding ships, but you weren't expecting to find your family's ship full of slaves. You felt over your head, so you went to get help from your uncle. It's just that your mother got there first."
His eyes narrow. "Why are you making excuses for me?"
"I'm not. I'm just showing you that I love you despite your flaws."
"Flaws?"
Oh this man. Such a mix of ego and uncertainty. Right now the ego is showing through. "You're a terrible dresser. You're impatient. You're awkward when there's no need to be. And your mother is a sociopath."
He grunts. "My mother IS a sociopath. But how do you not like my clothes? They're very traditional for house lords."
"Great. Tell Gandalf I can't wait to meet the rest of the wizard crew."
Straik narrows his eyes at me. "That sounded like a jibe at my expense. They're very expensive robes. They command authority wherever I go, because people know my family is powerful."
I shrug. "I'm just thinking maybe be a little more your own person and a bit less Lord Straik, son of a sociopath?"
"And how would you dress me?" He tilts his head at me, his eyes full of teasing and affection. "Nothing see-through like what you're wearing, I hope."
"Tight clothes," I say immediately, and squeeze one of his tattooed biceps. "I don't mind the black, but I think you'd rock some tight clothes. Show off this gorgeous body."
"You want me to show off?"
"Why wouldn't I?" I lick his collarbone, moving up to his neck. "I like being with you. I find you sexy. You make my toes curl. Can't a girl appreciate the fact that her man is good looking?"
He puts a gentle hand to my waist and gives me an intense look. "Right now I want to do a little enjoying of my own."
And he pushes me onto my back, some of his confidence returning. I love seeing the swagger in his eyes, the sly look that comes over his face when he skims a hand down my body.
"Can I enjoy you?" he rasps, devouring me with his gaze.
As if I'd refuse. I've been wanting this for days and days. "I'm all yours."
71
STRAIK
It feels so right and so very natural that Ruth is in my bed. She smiles up at me, my scent all over her skin, and my heart aches with how much I want this moment to last forever. No one has ever looked at me like that. Like they just love the sight of my face. Like being near me gives them pleasure. Ruth looks at me like I'm her entire world…which is a relief, because she is absolutely mine.
I want to make her realize just how much I love her. I want to press my face between her thighs and feast, but I remember the last time I tried it, only to get no response at all. She was poisoned, true, but maybe it's not a thing she likes? I press my thumb to her chin, tilting her face toward mine as I move over her. I skim my lips over hers and the scent of my seed is still on her breath, and it fills me with an odd pleasure and possessiveness. My female had my cock in her mouth. My female's belly is full of my seed.
I kiss her again, my tongue flicking against hers. I love how soft her lips are. How plush her body is underneath mine. She has no plating, no horns, no fangs, nothing at all. As alien species go, she is the softest of the soft…yet I cannot get enough of her.
"Tell me if I do something you don't like," I murmur after I kiss her again.
"I'm going to like everything," she promises, her tone fierce. "You can't go wrong, I promise. There isn't a right way to touch me. As long as you do it with love, it's going to feel good."
I undo the loose knot that keeps her silk tunic closed. Do I bring up her past and remind her that I'm aware of it and that I want to make this a different experience? To wipe away that memory? Or is mentioning it a mistake? I wish I had the experience to know how to handle this. For the first time in my life, I wish I'd been with a dozen females, a hundred females, all so I'd know how to properly do this with Ruth. "I want you to enjoy what I do."