Page 70 of Shielded Heart

“I’m dancing!”

“You are.”

“I never dance.”

He chuckled and slightly tightened his hold on her hips. “Can’t say that anymore, can you?”

“Nope.” She turned to face him, forcing Arc to release her hips for a moment, and settled her hands on his shoulders. She beamed up at him. “Are you here to dance with me?”

Her breath—like the room itself—bore the scent ofgurosh. It was no wonder she was acting and speaking so freely, no wonder her inhibitions had fled.

Arcanthus glanced at Razi. “How much has she had?”

Razi shrugged. “One and a half, maybe.”

“That’sall?” Arcanthus looked back at Samantha, arching a brow. “Are all terrans so susceptible to the effects of such beverages, or are you a special case?”

“No, not really. I just never touch the stuff.” She rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him with those big, bright eyes.

She was absolutely adorable.

“Did you mean it? Am I?” she asked.

“Are you what?”

“Special?”

Arcanthus smoothed a hand down her hair to cradle the back of her head. The sudden vulnerability in her eyes surpassed any he’d seen in them before—and she’d been shy and self-conscious from the moment he’d met her. “Of course you are, my precious flower. You are my once-in-a-lifetime.”

Samantha closed her eyes and smiled softly. “I like the sound of that.”

“But I’m not here to dance with you.”

She opened her eyes, and her lower lip puckered; Arc was struck by an urge to suck that lip into his mouth.

“You’re not?” she asked.

“No. I’m here to steal you away. I’ve something different in store for you.”

He couldn’t resist any longer; Arcanthus dipped his head and caught her lip between both of his, taking it into his mouth and nipping it with his teeth. He kissed her after he released it, relishing her taste despite it being layered with that of thegurosh.

Samantha moaned and returned the kiss without hesitation. Her hands slid from his shoulders, up his neck, and through his hair to wrap tight around the bases of his horns. A jolt of lust swept through him as she tugged his head closer, deepening the kiss, and he dropped his hands to her ass to pull her against him.

Fuck, Ineedher. Now.

Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her off the floor and guided her legs around his waist. She clung to him. The warmth of her core pulsed into his skin through their clothing. Arcanthus turned and carried her toward the door, keeping his hands on her lush ass.

“Arc, you’re supposed to be eating,” Drakkal said as Arcanthus passed.

Oh, I will be.

Breath ragged, Arcanthus entered the hallway. He left only his central eye open to guide the way as he hastened Samantha through the long corridors to his bedroom—totheirbedroom. Their tongues twirled in an intricate, instinctual dance, exploring each other’s mouths, sending tingling waves of pleasure across Arcanthus’s face and straight to his belly.

Samantha caught his bottom lip between her flat teeth, and Arc grunted, his cock twitching.

When he reached the entrance to his bedroom, he pressed Samantha’s back against the door and ravaged her mouth as he blindly felt for the open button. Samantha chose that moment to grind her sex against his slit and the tip of his shaft. A shudder racked him.

Someone moaned; Arc couldn’t tell if it was Samantha, himself, or both of them in unison.

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