I rock into her deeper, harder. My bulge slides inside of her, filling her tight tunnel so wonderfully. The pressure is intense. It takes all my willpower to not explode immediately. No, she will enjoy this experience more than me. I will see to that.

Zoe’s eyes snap open, her gaze focusing on mine.

Her fingers thread through my hair, brushing against the stubs of my horns. I snarl down at her, at the sudden reminder of my failing… Instead, she pulls herself up for a kiss, her lips soft against mine.

“More, please,” she begs me. She doesn’t care. She doesn’t reject me. She just wants… me.

I don’t break her stare as I ram into her, my thrusts bordering on violent. She arches her back, her soft breasts pressed against my chest.

“Yes!” She cries out. Her need, her desire, is addictive. I slide in and out of her with each thrust, slamming my entire length inside of her.

It’s not enough. I need more of her.

I gather her in my arms, lifting her until she’s seated in my lap, and then I’m pistoning into her. Her hips buck as she wildly moans, and I grip her hips tight to keep her in place. My claws prick her skin. I slam her over and over down onto my cokas, reveling at the way it makes her sob out her pleasure. I’m buried deep, deeper than ever before.

Her entire body stiffens in my arms, and she shatters. Her core clamps down upon me, drawing out my own release with an intensity I’ve never experienced before. My roar mingles with her cries as I fill her with my seed.

And not once do we break our stare. Even as I lower us back to the bedding. My body draping over hers, I lean heavily on one arm to keep my entire weight from crushing her. She doesn’t even seem to notice, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me flush against her.

“How… how are you still hard?” She laughs, a look of disbelief and awe on her face.

Her fingertips brush the scar along my cheek with a gentle caress, startling me. I lean into it, longing for just a bit of tenderness in my life. Everything about Zoe is soft and caring…

She’s what I’ve always wanted.

My heart stops beating, and my entire body, once relaxed and languid, goes cold.

No. I can’t do this. I can’t find pleasure with a female. I definitely can’t mate a human. Not after…

“We shouldn’t have done this,” I hear myself say as I pull away from her warmth and comfort. “This was a mistake.”

I snatch up my clothing and flee from the room. My pride won’t even let me claim this as a strategic retreat; I’m running from a female. But then again… haven’t I been for a while now?

Chapter

Ten

TARUK

Ipause my pacing only to watch the tiny female storm from my private room. She looks absolutely furious, glaring at the world around her like it’s personally insulted her. No, that would be me. She might not be a warrior, especially with her soft and defenseless form, but I’m suddenly realizing that I have reason to fear these humans.

Good. That is an emotion I can work with. It’ll help me keep my distance because I am never going to find myself vulnerable again. I’m never going to be caught off-guard again.

“Are you still hunting, Taruk?”

I jump, spinning to face the speaker. My heart hammers so loudly in my chest that I fear they can hear it. Well, so much for that sentiment.

“Rist?” I cough a couple of times to try and discreetly hide the way my voice emerges as a croak. At least I didn’t squeal. Apparently, my space-traveling friend Voltaire did that once when he stumbled across his first human female.

I lean casually against the wall. “So, how can I help you?”

The male, infuriating one that he is, raises his brow at me. “You’ve been avoiding any and all socialization for months now, and suddenly you want to just act like nothing’s wrong?”

I glance away, clenching my jaw. The familiar feeling of guilt eats at me all the more in his presence.

“Something is very much wrong, and it has been for quite some time,” Rist states. As profound as ever, our Prince.

He’s not wrong though. I’ve struggled a lot these past few months, ever since we left our homelands. Some of that had to do with healing and being bedridden. The rest of the time…