His kiss was warm, soft… exploratory. She leaned against him, lost in the moment, but she noticed the tension in his frame. Like he was holding back still. Scared of hurting her.
She didn’t want that.
She wanted more.
Sheneededmore.
Moving closer, she rested against him and parted her lips, offering more of herself to him. She needed to know he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Tentatively, she slid her hands over his bare chest, exploring the smooth, hard planes of his muscles. He tensed, his skin hot to the touch, like a furnace burning just beneath the surface.
He broke the kiss to look down at her. His breath caught as she traced the scars over his body with her fingertips, watching his expression. S’aad hadn’t been in an accident at all. He’d had this done to him. Deliberately. To prove how good a healer he was… that he’d earned the skills that had allowed him to save her life when M’lak had nearly killed her.
“S’aad.” She lifted on her tiptoes to breathe against his lips.“Please.”
His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and she could see the struggle playing out in his expression.
“Jade,” he murmured in a voice rough with need and desire. “I need to know… is this your first time?”
He pulled back, his eyes searching hers, and she nodded.
“Yes… is that a problem?”
Sudden nerves hit her. Did the Lathar prefer their partners to be experienced? If so… yeah, the most experience she’d ever gotten was watching old holo-porn movies and exploring her own body. And even that had been cautious and sporadic due to the risk of being caught by the Morgans. The last thing she had wanted was Mr. Morgan looking at her in that way.
He cupped her face in both hands, his expression softer than she’d ever seen it. It was an odd dichotomy with the raw heat and need in his eyes.
“No,kelarris, it’s not,” he murmured. “Definitely not. I just know to be careful with you.”
“You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”
His answering smile was so tender it made her heart ache. He pressed his forehead against hers. “You are so rare and precious to me, Jade. I need to care for you…protect you. Even…” He hesitated. “Even from me. I’m Lathar. I’m so much larger than you, than any human. If I lost control…”
She touched a fingertip to his lips to silence him.
“You won’t lose control,” she said firmly. “You’ve never hurt me, not in any way. You’re always so careful and gentle with me. I’m stronger than I look.”
She lifted up on her tiptoes again and brushed her lips against his jaw.
“I want you, S’aad,” she whispered by his ear, her breath hot against his skin. “I need you.”
He growled low in his throat, a sound of pure male need that made her toes curl as he bent and swept her up into his arms. Darkened eyes locked on to hers, he carried her into the bedroom.
He didn’t stop until he stood in front of the bed. She’d only been in here once, apart from to peek through the door when he wasn’t here curiously, but now she only had eyes for him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he let go of his grip under her knees and slid her slowly down the front of his body.
She felt everything.
Every hard ridge and hard plane of muscle.
The thick length of… she swallowed, her eyes widening… of his cock pressing against her lower belly. X-rated memories ofthe night she’d watched him in the shower tumbled through her mind, and her cheeks burned.
“I would love to know what put that look in your eyes,” he murmured as he reached for the ties at the neck of her dress.
With a slow, steady pull, he undid them, and the fabric slipped from her shoulders. She gasped, instinctively moving to cover herself with her arms, to hold the fabric in place. But… he’d seen her naked before, when he’d operated on her… or as near to it as possible. That thought and the warm reassurance in his eyes gave her courage, and she dropped her arms to her sides, letting the dress pool around her feet. It hadn’t come with any underwear, something he’d assured her Latharian women hadn’t worn, so she was as naked as the day she’d been born in front of him.
Biting her lip, she watched his gaze travel over her body, taking in every curve and line. The sudden, tight look on his face made her heart race. Feminine triumph rolled through her.Shewas the cause of that hungry look. Her. He growled low in his throat, a primal sound that sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine as he swept her up in his arms and laid her on the bed.
His gaze locked with hers as he began to strip, revealing his powerful body inch by inch. It didn’t take much since Latharians wore jackets but never shirts. He shrugged off his jacket, revealing the breadth of his wide shoulders to her, and then started undoing his pants as he toed his boots off.
Her eyes widened as his cock sprang free, standing tall and proud. She’d seen him in the shower, yes, but this was different. This time he knew for sure she was watching… he was showing off for her. It was raw and real, and he was allhers.