Page 18 of Primal Vow

Rhys's heart pounded. He'd been joking, but the look in Jorah's eyes was dead serious. "Like what?"

Jorah looked away again, his cheeks coloring slightly. "Like anything else."

A hot, uncomfortable flush spread across Rhys's skin. He'd been expecting some kind of scientific explanation. But the way Jorah was talking...

It was ridiculous. It had to be. Rhys was a nobody, a human from the dregs of the galaxy. He was too skinny, too worn down from a lifetime of work and stress, too poor. No one had ever found him attractive before, and the idea that an alien warrior could be affected by his presence was laughable.

The idea that he was affecting someone — let alone an alien, let alone a strong, powerful warrior like Taryn — was shocking. It sent a strange, dizzying thrill through him, a heady feeling that was equal parts disbelief and something else. It couldn't be true.

And yet, the embarrassment in Jorah's eyes was undeniable. The young Borraq might be polite and well-mannered, but he wasn't a good enough actor to fake the flush that colored his cheeks, or the way his gaze flicked down to Rhys's mouth before he caught himself and looked away.

"And all of you are wearing that salve to block it out?"

A rueful smile tugged at Jorah's lips. "All of us... except Taryn."

Rhys's brow furrowed as realization set in. "He's not using it? Why?"

"He needs his senses at their peak to track the remaining humans." Jorah's expression grew serious once more. "He said he doesn't want to miss a single thing. But that means..." He trailed off, leaving the implication hanging heavily in the air.

Taryn was struggling against his own instincts, fighting the allure of Rhys's scent every moment they were together. No wonder the Borraq seemed so tense, so eager to put distance between them — he was battling his most primal urges with every encounter.

When Rhys had signed up for this mission, he'd expected that his troubles would be the ordinary type. Bad coworkers. Back-breaking work. Scant pay.

Not 'making alien warriors too horny to function.'

As the day ended and Rhys huddled down to sleep, staring up at the stars, a new kind of thought wormed its way into his mind.

There was more to the Borraq than the war. There was more to Taryn, and his men, and their culture, than just the desire to hunt down and kill humans.

And there was more to their interactions with humans, too. The way they looked at him, the way they treated him, the way that his presence affected them...

It was all too dizzying to think about. Rhys was a nobody, a human caught up in a dangerous game that was far beyond his station. He was just a worker, a laborer, trying to survive and pay off his debts in a galaxy that didn't care about him.

But for just a moment, as he stared up at the unfamiliar constellations of Vasz, a thrilling possibility teased at the edges of his thoughts.

Here, he was also something else.

And for the first time in his life, that something else had nothing to do with debts, or work, or survival.

It had to do with desire, and the heady, dizzying feeling of being wanted.

As the day ended and exhaustion pulled him under, that something else filled his mind, crowding out thoughts of debts and dangers and the vast gulf of space that separated him from the Borraq.

For the first time in his life, Rhys allowed himself to entertain the possibility that, at least for now, he was something other than a forgettable nobody.

And the idea was intoxicating.

Chapter eight

Taryn prowled through the woods, his feet silent on the packed earth. The first light of dawn was just beginning to filter through the trees, promising another hot day on Vasz.

The others were still asleep, deep in the heart of their temporary camp. It was a rare moment of peace and quiet for Taryn, one of the few times when he could be alone with his thoughts.

And right now, those thoughts were nothing but trouble.

That human's scent — it was still stuck in Taryn's mind, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

Rhys smelled… delicious. It was the only word for it, a distracting mix of something sweet and spicy that set Taryn's instincts alight.

---