Page 33 of Guardian's Destiny

I was out of breath, sweaty beyond belief, and in total love with the robot.

"That is some machine." I took the towel and water Vraax handed me and wiped my face and neck before I took a long drink.

"That was quite impressive." Vraax praised.

I'd never fished for compliments, but I couldn't help myself. "Oh yeah?"

He nodded, his hand reached forward, and I held my breath as he moved some hair that was plastered to my cheek behind my ear. "Yeah."

I couldn't help it, but a warm feeling rose in my chest. I liked his praise. I liked impressing him. Fuck, I was starting to likehim. He was making it harder by the day to keep a clear head about our mission and not have the line blurred by deepening emotions. Shit, Tuck and I never had that problem, why was it so hard with Vraax?

I lowered my head so he couldn't read the emotions running through my mind and, shit! The bulge between his legs was a clear attestant to how much he must have liked my little performance. I grinned, liking the effect I had on him.

"Your turn." I looked up, meeting his eyes, and swallowed. BecauseIknewheknew. He had either sensed or seen where my gaze had wandered.

The swagger in his gait as he walked to the robot was telling how muchhelikedmewatching him. The game we were playing was becoming more dangerous, not in a life-and-death kind of way, but in a heart-be-still kind of way—which in my world was close to life and death.

I took the same position he had before, leaning against a wall—although my legs would have been truly grateful if I would have sat them down—crossing my arms over my chest and watching Vraax activate the robot.

Now and then, I drank some more, really liking the way the water tasted here. Orvepoas the Pandraxians called it. Water enhanced with nutrients. It was fresh, filling, and went down my throat like velvet.

I had watched many men train, but as I watched Vraax my empathy for his hard cock earlier grew, because… my pantieswere getting soaked. I mean, yes, I had gotten turned on by watching men train, who wouldn't? Every single one had been in excellent physical shape, but nobody compared to Vraax. It wasn't just the play of his enormous muscles—of course he had taken his shirt off again—or the silvery skin; it was in the way he moved. Every single step seemed synchronized, and his speed was as amazing as his technique. While I watched him fight with the machine, I realized how much he had held back yesterday. If he had truly tried, he could have had me on my back within seconds. Hell, he could have killed me with one jab. I also realized that the robot was going a lot harder against him than it had against me. Astonishingly, I wasn't mad at Vraax for not having done what I told him to do. If the other Space Guardians fought like him, I seriously needed to up my training.

I became alert when Vraax went down and the robot jumped on his back, putting him into a chokehold. I was about to give him five seconds before I intervened, having no idea if this machine could be set to kill or not. I knew the ones on the Pandraxian ships couldn't, but this one was a bit more high-tech.

Ash told me that when she and Xandros first met, she thought he was fighting some alien species when she first saw one of the fighting bots. It had been funny listening to her describing how she jumped in, thinking she was about to save his life, while he was annoyed that she interrupted his sparring time. Knowing Xandros, I could only imagine his annoyance. They said the Emperor had a bad temper, but Xandros was right up there with him.

A grunt from Vraax had me push myself off the wall, but before I could interfere, Vraax moved up like he was doing a pushup with the bot on his back. More agile than should have been possible with all that weight bearing down on him, he got to his feet and slammed his back and the machine hard into the wall.

Nice move. I doubted I would be able to do a pushup with that thing attached to my back while choking me, but it was something I needed to learn. Vraax would just have to suck it up. I leaned back against the wall, fully intending to enjoy the rest of the show while realizing that crossing my arms was now a necessary evil because my nipples were all puckered. The problem was by crossing my arms, I was applying friction to the little suckers and they enjoyed that way too much.

I knew I was in deep trouble. The question of if I would have sex with Vraax had just turned into when.

VRAAX

The lights were dimming again,and the female still wouldn't let up. It had been a long day. Between sparring, Sloane had added moremental sessions, peppering me with questions and using herchartto locate more of mytriggers.

Now she had me lay on the bed and close my eyes while she sat next to me. Her voice was low and seductive and I wasn't sure how much longer my cock would be able to keep up its perpetual hard-on state before I would lose my shit.

I tried to play nice, closed my eyes, and relaxed as she told me to, but all I could picture was her naked body writhing under mine.

"I want you to find a safe place," she said. "A place where you know nothing will hurt you."

Was she serious?

"Like what?" I mumbled.

"I told you to keep your eyes closed and quiet," she admonished.

"Well, when you saysafe space, what in the frygg do you mean?"

Her inhale was long and drawn out.

"This is not going to work," I warned her.

"If you just do what I say for once, it will," she snarled.

"How am I supposed to relax when you snap at me like this?" I complained.

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