Page 24 of Ruin

She paused with a bite halfway to her lips. “Really? What is it?”

“I tell you that, and it isn’t a surprise.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but closed it and gave him a squinty-eyed glance. “That’s very logical, but… I still want to argue.”

He chuckled.

As they ventured deeper into the bazaar, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from buying her more trinkets and baubles. To be fair, he wasn’t trying that hard. Or at all.

A primal part of him craved seeing her draped in his gifts.

Another pair of shoes, boots this time that went to mid-thigh, came first. While soft and comfortable, they were made to resist even a point blank shot from a bio-plasma pistol, were thermoregulatory, and had mag-lock soles.

Black, buttery soft,siilovaleather pants were next. He was gonna stop there, but then they passed a stall selling hair adornments—sticks with hidden knives, decorative clips, metallic chains. He bought a couple of each to decorate that pale hair he liked so much.

Catching her peering up at him a little wide-eyed as he accepted the parcel, he reached out and tucked a stray lock behind her endearingly rounded ear, rumbling low in his throat when she leaned into his touch.

“You’re spoiling me again,” she whispered, a hint of teasing lacing the words.

“Every chance I get,” he agreed.

His heart leapt and his cock stirred when she laughed softly, then turned and nipped his palm, still cradling her cheek.

Groaning, he flashed his fangs. “Careful, little bird.”

The fear she’d cower from him didn’t have time to fully form before she sucked in a breath, pupils dilating as she stared up at him. “You liked that.”

“Too much,” he rasped.

Almost as much as he liked that look on her face.

A playfully impish glint sparkled in those pretty eyes and her full lips quirked up at the corners a moment before she flashedher teeth up at him, mimicking the expression he’d just given her.

Ruin barked a surprised laugh. She was mocking him, and godsdamn, he adored it. Shaking his head, he draped an arm over her shoulders.

“C’mon, my savage little female.”

“I’d be more savage if I had pretty fangs like yours.”

He slid her a glance as they navigated around another cluster of shoppers and smirked. “You think my fangs are pretty?”

Color flooded her cheeks. “I think all of you is pretty.”

Warmth spread through his chest and a broad grin across his face. “Is that so?”

She peered up at him, eyes squinted, one brow arched. “You couldn’t tell?”

Flashes of the way she’d touched him last night, hunger and appreciation in her gaze, had his cock twitching. “Oh, I could tell. I just find I like hearin’ it.”

As they continued their leisurely stroll, arms wrapped around each other, steps in sync, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this lighthearted.

“Ready for your surprise?”

Turning the corner, he slowed his pace, drinking in the awestruck expression on her face.

“What is this place?” she whispered.

Exotic plants hungin baskets and grew directly out of the plasiform ground. Some grew up the sides of the buildings, while others had thin tendrils swaying lazily in the artificial breeze. A few sported flowers the size of her palm, petals furling and unfurling as though grasping for something. Others bore fruits, their hides a range of textures from leathery to downy, emitting fragrances that had her mouth watering.

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