Page 72 of Rebirth

He stares at me for a long moment before speaking. “My ba’clan urges me to claim you. To mark you as mine.” He looks away. “I have never experienced such an impulse before. But your scent, your touch…they stir something primal within me. And…there’s a part of me…a part…”

He trails off and I wait for fear to rise within me, but instead, I only feel curiosity and something else that calls to that part deep within me that I’ve ignored all these years. Longing. Curiosity to know this strange being more fully, and longing for whatever we could share.

Because I noticed something while on that ship with the others. Those females with their Vullan mates… There was something different about them. A surety they shouldn’t have in a world such as this. They were no longer alone.

“Then claim me,” I say, the words escaping before I can stop them.

He’rox’s head snaps up, his ears sticking off the sides of his head once more. “You…do not know what you offer. My nature is not like yours. I could harm you.”

I rise shakily to my feet and step towards the shelter entrance. The rain soaks into my clothes but I ignore it.

My voice is but a gentle whisper as I move closer. “You have not harmed me yet. Even when you say your instincts drive you to. That tells me there is more to you than primal urges. There is kindness…and care.”

He’rox stands now as well, towering over me with an unreadable expression on his face. I continue. “I trust you, He’rox. And I…” I falter, then summon my courage and continue, “I care for you too. More than makes sense or I can explain.”

For a moment he is still, then in two large strides he is in front of me, his hands hovering inches from my face. “You are in danger.”

I meet his gaze. “Perhaps I am.”

He lets out a deep shuddering breath and slowly, hesitantly, presses his fingers to my cheeks. His skin is cool and pleasant and even though his touch is feather-light, it sends shivers down my spine.

He leans closer, his breath fanning my face. “You honor me by trusting me. It is foolish, for I am not worthy of it…and yet…”

“And yet what?” The rain pours down on us and I couldn’t care less, my voice a breathy gasp as it leaves my lips.

He’rox lets out a soft growl and suddenly he is wrapping his arms tightly around me, lifting me off my feet. I’m dimly aware that he’s crouching down with me in hand, causing me to straddle him as he goes to his knees. His skin grows warmer and I nestle closer, breathing in his scent, no longer caring about logic or instincts. There is only this moment. And him.

He finally pulls away enough to look at me, and at that moment, I realize I really do want this. Wherever this is going, I want it. I want it more than anything.

He’rox stares into my eyes, his face only inches from mine. The intensity in his gaze makes my heart race, and I can feel my body responding to the electricity between us. It’s a constant thrill that makes anticipation flutter in my belly and heat warm my veins.

A rumble emits from his throat as he watches me, and without a word, he leans in and captures my lips between his. It’s a hot searing kiss, completely unlike the first time our lips met. This time, his tongue presses against my mouth, demanding entrance and when I open up to him, a deep growl rumbles through his frame as his tongue slips into my mouth.

It’s unlike any kiss I’ve ever had before.

His tongue is huge. Thick. Thicker than I imagined, and it searches my mouth brushing over my own tongue in languid strokes before reaching the back of my throat.

“Sophie…” He calls my name in a way that makes me shiver with need. “I have waited a long time for the end,” he says. “But now that it is here…I am not sure I wish to embrace it.”

I have no clue what he means, but he continues.

“For now, you’re here…and all I want to do is consume you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

HE’ROX

I’ve scented female arousal before from the hyu’mans…but it has new meaning when that arousal is meant for me.

Soh’fee wants me.

It’s a shock and a delight.

My ba’clan pulse, eager for me to mate with her and I’m glad the showers from above rain down on us, for it dampens her scent, and that’s possibly the only thing keeping me sane enough. Holding me back from pinning her into the wet earth beneath us and tasting her, taking her to the oblivion that just the thought of her is sending me to.

But even with the rain, her faint scent still makes my sazi throb in its pouch. It presses upward, eager to extrude, and I wonder if she can feel it pressing into the soft flesh of her behind.

I’ve never felt it this hard before. This insistent.

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