Page 23 of Fallen from the Stars

He held his gaze there even as she entered shallower water and more of her graceful legs emerged. She was hairless save for atop her head, and that confused him. He’d heard that humans all had hair covering their sexes — not that Theo was like any human he’d met. The top of her slit was just visible between her thighs, and for a moment, Vasil envisioned her legs spreading to reveal the delicate petals of her sex, pink and glistening with want — forhim.

His cock throbbed, straining against his slit. He held it back only by force of will — and that hold was tenuous at best. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. The sting of his claws digging into his palms offered no distraction from the sight before him. Perhaps it was because he’d been without sex for so long, but his want for Theo was so immense at that moment it caused him physical pain.

She reached the grassy bank and stepped onto land. Tilting her head to the side, she gathered her hair into her hands and twisted it, wringing out excess water.

Suddenly, she stilled, her body tensing briefly. “Do all kraken spy on bathing women?”

Vasil’s throat constricted, and his breath hitched. She hadn’t evenlookedat him; how could she have known he was there? A lucky guess, or were her senses enhanced beyond his comprehension?

Had Kane had something to do with it?

Despite her acknowledgment of his presence, she made no move to cover herself. Her stance — arms up with hands behind her head — forced her back to arch, jutting her chest forward and accentuating her breasts. It was as though she were flaunting her body the same way a female kraken would while seeking a mate.

But human females didn’t behave the same way as kraken…did they?

“Do all humans strut naked through the jungle?” he asked, immediately feeling foolish for his words. Heknewthey didn’t, and she hadn’t been strutting, she’d been bathing.

She turned her face in his direction, and the corner of her mouth quirked upward. “When we believe we’re alone.”

“You were aware of my presence,” he replied. His mouth felt dry; how was that even possible? He’d come from the sea only minutes ago.

She dropped her arms to her sides, and her wet hair fell around her shoulders. She turned, giving him her back, and bent forward to collect her clothing.

The ache in his pelvis deepened as his gaze dropped to her backside, continued down her shapely thighs and calves, and drifted back up again. The cleft of her sex was visible between her legs; he clenched his jaw and battled the urge to go to her. However much hewanted, he couldn’t forsake all his people’s ways. Females chose. That remained an important truth.

But…wasthis a show ofherinterest? Her behavior was at once forward and subtle, and he wasn’t certain how to interpret it. Was it a display of trust, of mutual desire, or simply of confidence and comfort?

She stepped into her underclothing and drew it up her legs. What would her skin feel like beneath his palms, brushed in such a gentle caress?

“Not for too long,” she said, tugging the material over her hips, hiding the flesh of her backside from his view.

Now that he knew what lay beneath her clothing, he found himself only more drawn to the way it fit her form. What would it be like to take her from behind, to slide his hands along her hips, her ass, up her spine? To twine his fingers in her hair as he thrust into her?

The image nearly broke his control.

He moved out of the foliage and closer to the water, forcing his skin to its normal color. “You do seem unconcerned.”

“As big as IDC cruisers are, they don’t designate much space for crew quarters. When you live so close to other soldiers for so long, sharing bunks and showers, privacy just…ceases to exist. And eventually, you stop caring.” She slipped her arms into the straps of her undergarment and looked over her shoulder at him. “Does it bother you?”

Vasil swallowed thickly. The way she looked at him poured fresh heat into his veins. He barely kept his cock restrained behind his slit.

He gestured down at his body. “Modestyis not an issue for my kind. But in my experience, it is for humans.”

Her gaze trekked down his body. There was curiosity in her eyes, but something else sparkled along with it. Interest?

She faced away from him again before he could determine what that gleam was. “Do your women look like me? Like human women?”

“From the waist up, more or less.”

“So half of me is nothing new, huh?” She bent forward again and tugged on her boots one at a time.

He followed the motion of her hands up toward her knee with his gaze, continuing beyond to her thigh. He’d watched the play of muscles in her legs as she walked, but he was equally interested in her soft curves. The thought of warm, yielding flesh held an appeal he’d never considered before and intensified his curiosity.

“Kraken females are not as soft.”

She glared at him. “I seriously hope you’re not saying I’m fat.”

The orb of light at her wrist pulsed as Kane spoke up. “Let me remind you, Theo, of the altercation you had on the—”

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