Page 27 of Legend

“I was not…” I spluttered, but he was already turning and unfastening his pants as he headed toward his bathroom, giving me a full view of his muscular back and the long column of nodes that ran the length of it. I didn’t wait for him to drop his pants before I spun away and stormed off down the hall. “Infuriating, arrogant Drexian.”

I rubbed my fingers together where they’d touched his slick chest, my skin betraying me by tingling. It wasn’t lost on me that he’d said “next time,” and it wasn’t lost on me that I didn’t mind.

Chapter

Twenty-One

Vyk

Icould not reach the shower fast enough, shedding my clothes as quickly as I could, flipping on the water, and stepping behind the stone half-wall before it warmed. The cool stream poured down my shoulders as I planted my palms on the wall and bowed my head.

I opened my eyes to see if the spot on my chest where Fiona’s hand had made contact had left a mark; not from the force but from the heat that had seared into me from her touch. Not even the woman who had been matched to me long ago and was supposed to be my ideal mate had provoked such a powerful reaction in me. I touched my chest, relishing the buzz even as the water cascaded over me and cooled my skin.

The water was gradually warming, and I slid my hand down the length of my body until I could fist my cock. Theclimbing wall had been an excellent distraction, but it could only do so much to burn off the tension that had been building inside me all day. If I was being truthful, the tension that had been building since I’d made the wager.

I groaned as I squeezed the base and felt my cock thicken even more. I was desperate for any release, even if it was not the touch I craved. I stroked my hand up and down my shaft as I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to wander. And it wandered right back to Fiona.

This time I stood beside the bed and did not walk away. This time, I tossed back the blanket. Fiona rolled over so that she was on her back, but she did not scream at me or sit up and slap me. She arched a brow and smiled, before nibbling her bottom lip.

“Grekme,” I husked, as even the thought of Fiona looking at me with anything less than rage made me nearly explode.

I curled the hand that remained on the stone wall, fisting it as I stroked my cock with my other hand and imagined a different Fiona. A Fiona who did not hate me, did not believe I reviled humans, did not know of my involvement in the trials. This Fiona still had the challenge in her eyes, but not the fury.

“What are you waiting for?” Her voice was a purr as she reached for me and pulled me on top of her.

In this alternate reality, I did not hesitate. I did not worry about old fears, new conflicts, or the ramifications of seducing a colleague. I only cared about that moment, and for that moment, that completely fabricated moment, she was mine.

I crushed my mouth to hers, startled by the softness of her lips and the eagerness of her tongue. Even in my imagination, Fiona was challenging me, which sent hot pulses of desire pounding throughme. When her soft moans matched mine, when she arched her back so that her breasts pushed against my chest, and when she curled one hand around my neck to pull me closer, my cock throbbed.

Squeezing my eyes tight as I slid my hand faster down my slippery, rigid length, I allowed myself to surrender to the fantasy, a fantasy I had little hope of ever realizing. Not when the woman could not speak to without spitting fire.

But the Fiona in my mind pulled back and whispered in my ear,“I hope you made that wager because you wanted to fuck me.”

I managed a mangled sound.

She let out a husky laugh. “Because I want you to fuck me hard and deep, Commander.”

Then I threw back my head as my cock jerked, pulsing hot against the wall as I trembled. My breath was ragged, and my legs were shaky. Even an imagined encounter with Fiona was better than most of my encounters at alien pleasure houses. The woman truly had me under her spell.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Fiona

“Where were you last night?”

I jerked my head up as I sat at my desk studying star charts, and my cheeks warmed instantly at Ariana’s question. How had I not heard her coming into my office in the School of Strategy? “What? Asleep in my quarters. Where else would I be?”

Her brows popped up high as she sat in the single chair across from me and leaned back. “Touchy, touchy. I only ask because you look like you slept in your clothes, and your hair could generously be described as windswept.”

I put a hand to my hair, cursing inwardly that I’d forgotten to brush my hair. I’d actually forgotten to do a lot of things, sinceI’d come directly to my office from Vyk’s quarters. There had been no point in going back to my quarters, not when I’d known full well I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. Not after that dream. I could never sleep after dreaming about Jack.

It hadn’t helped that Vyk had walked in all sweaty, making me wonder where he’d been and even getting irate that he might have been with someone else. That, of course, was ridiculous. There were scant few females at the academy, and the only ones who weren’t taken were cadets. He would never go for a cadet, and I knew for a fact that every female cadet was too terrified of the imposing Drexian to even look straight at him, much less sleep with him.

So, why had my mind instantly gone to that? Did I truly believe that every male was incapable of loyalty? Did I think they were all like my dad, so weak that they would run off when things got tough? That was what my father had done after Jack had died. My mother had been consumed with grief, and my dad had been determined to move on, which he did with a younger woman who wasn’t always sad. He’d moved on from Jack, from my mom, and from me. And I had never forgiven him for any of it.

I dragged a hand through my hair as I gave my head a shake and tried to rid my mind of thoughts of the past that had been bombarding me since I’d woken. “I didn’t sleep well, so I came here early to work.” That much was true.

---