Page 85 of Stars in Nova

Yet, logic faltered in the face of her growing emotions.

Kisan gave her a slight nod, acknowledging her from across the room, and her cheeks heated.

She glanced away, forcing herself to focus on anything other than him.

Nevertheless, her heart betrayed her, pounding against her ribs with a steady insistence that reminded her of just how much he affected her.

He wasn’t just a man—he was a force. How he commanded attention and seemed to carve through the space around him with effortless confidence left her breathless.

She didn’t just admire him for his strength, though.

She respected him for his conviction.

The way he had taken her people’s cause as his own. For how he appeared to carry the sadness of the galaxy on his shoulders yet still found time to smile and play with her children.

Perhaps, most of all, she admired him for how he made her feel. Alive, in a way she hadn’t thought possible since the war began.

He turned, his gaze locking onto hers again.

This time, he didn’t just nod. He stalked toward her, his boots making soft thuds against the stone floor of the subterrane.

‘Samira,’ he growled, his bass-rich expression unreadable but his eyes warm.

‘Kisan,’ she whispered in a husky tone, working hard to distill the erraticism from her utterance.

He stopped before her, his towering form blocking the world behind him.

For a moment, neither spoke, the silence between them filled with unspoken words and the sounds of the bustling cavern around them.

‘You have a habit of watching me,’ he rasped, his mouth quirking.

Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t look away, raising her chin with defiance. ‘So if I have?’

His smirk deepened, and he leaned in just enough that she perceived his heat and tagged his masculine scent—leather, musk, clean skin. ‘Then I’d say I’m flattered.’

Her lips curved into a small smile. ‘You shouldn’t be. I’m just taking all precautions with you, searching for any chinks in yourarmor, any telltale signs that you might back out of our little arrangement.’

He growled. ‘I never back out of anything I commit myself to.’

For a moment, they just gazed at each other, the significance of their connection pressing in on them.

His hand cupped her cheek as if drawn to her by some invisible force. She leaned into his touch, her heart racing as his thumb brushed her skin.

‘You’re dangerous,’ she whispered.

‘So are you,’ he rasped.

Then his lips were on hers, firm, warm,fokkin’ consuming.

She melted into him, her hands clutching the fabric of his gear as he pulled her closer. The world faded, leaving only the two of them and the quiet fire that burned between them.

When they tore apart moments later, her breath was ragged, her exhalations short gasps, teetering on the edge of losing her shit.

‘Tell me something, woman, he grated. ‘Were the feelings, the intimacy we shared on Eden II true or only part of your plan to hold me to ransom?’

She tilted her head and gazed at him. ‘I can’t lie to you, nor do I want to. They were real, handsome.’

His eyes warmed, and those sensuous lips of his lifted.

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