Page 18 of A Delicate Conquest

SEVEN

Almighty Goddess,help me.

As soon as he was out of Zharek’s rooms, Mavrel found a spot in a quiet side corridor.

He leaned against the wall and sank onto his haunches, dropping his face into his hands.

He took a deep, shuddering breath.

What wasthat?

He’d been so incensed that he’d stormed right into Zharek’s labs without thinking—well, there had been a fraction of thought which boiled down to something likeI’m going to kill him—but his rage had been white-hot, his rationality burned to a wisp.

The memory of her scent had imprinted so hard onto his consciousness that he’d been unable to differentiate it from the real thing until it was too late.

He hadn’t noticed…

Until she was standing before him, leaning in the doorway, one arm raised, her hand pressed elegantly against the Callidum frame. She’d balanced her weight on her good leg, causing one hip to jut out slightly, accentuating her sublime curves.

Lit up by the glow of Zharek’s machines, her outline in the doorway was etched into his mind’s eye.

She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

She’d dressed for the occasion. He’d never seen anything like it.

Mavrel shook his head and made a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a growl. Humans and their outlandish fashions. How could such a simple garment turn her into a walking piece of art?

The dress was a sheath for her divine figure. It skimmed her curves and accentuatedallof her. It was tantalizingly revealing in some places and wickedly concealing in others.

She’d arranged her hair in an elaborate knot, revealing the elegant column of her neck and the alluring sweep of her shoulders.

She looked nothing short of regal.

And yet, when she’d seen him, her expression had softened, and her face had lit up—even when he’d been about to strangle Zharek into the next dimension.

His arousal had flared instantaneously, erasing his anger and filling the void with euphoric hunger.

She’dsmiledat him.

The spark in her eyes had ignited a different kind of fire inside him—wild, brilliant, vaporizing any sort of worry for the consequences.

Seeingherin the flesh…

Suddenly, he didn’t want to be anywhere but beside her.

The problem was he didn’t know if he’d be able to control himself.

“Fuck,”Mavrel hissed, slamming his fist into the floor, welcoming the sharp jolt of pain. Anything to cut through this haze of madness.

What was he supposed to do now?

Go back, fix her shoe, and return?

Stick to his original plan and not do anything until he saw fit?

No. That was impossible now. Zharek and his infernal meddling had blown that particular intention of his into stardust.

Suddenly, the Universe was well outside of his control, and she was right here on the Fleet Station itself, expecting him to return.

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