Page 33 of Shielded Heart 1
Samantha’s eyes were rounded and glimmering, filled with desire andfear.
This sudden turn, combined with her vague answers to his questions and her overall timidity, sparked a realization in Arcanthus.
She was deeply hurt by someone she trusted.
His jaw clenched and his brows fell as anger rushed through him. He thrust the emotion aside as quickly as it had come; he couldn’t risk Samantha mistakenly thinking he was angry ather.
Arcanthus eased his hold on his mate and leaned back, removing his hand from her backside as he gently ran the backsof his fingers over her cheek. “It’s all right, Samantha. I mean you no harm.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “I’m sorry. I just c-can’t—”
“No, no. Shh. You don’t need to be sorry.” He wiped away the first of her tears. “This has been one of the most pleasant days I’ve ever had. I simply wanted to thank you in the best way I knew how.”
She released a shuddering breath. Arc’s gaze moved over her face; her lips were red from his assault on them, and her cheeks were stained pink. Despite the situation, he was tempted to kiss her again.
He moved his face closer to hers. “Iwantyou, Samantha. I’ll not hide that. And even if you don’t see it, I know a simple truth about you—you’re worth waiting for. Take all the time you need to understand that you want me, too.” He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. “I won’t be going anywhere.”
Samantha searched his eyes, and her fingers twitched against his chest. Indecision strained her features as she dropped her gaze.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere,” she said softly. “It’s just… I can’t. Not…not yet.”
“I know, little terran, I know. Just remember thatthis”—he took hold of her wrist and smoothed her palm over his chest—“is yours, whenever you are ready.”
Her cheeks reddened further, but she moved infinitesimally closer, tracing part of hisqalwith her fingertip before nodding.
Arcanthus smiled, and he couldn’t keep his tongue from slipping out to lick her lingering taste from his lips. He knew what he had to do, but it was hard; he’d never imagined it could be so difficult to walk away.
He released his hold on her and stepped back. “Thank you for the tea, Samantha.”
She leaned forward as though she meant to follow him, stopping herself by grasping the edge of the counter. “But you didn’t like it.”
“I very much enjoyed it from your lips.”
She brought her fingers to her mouth.
“Dream of me, my flower. I’ll dream of you again tonight.”
Arcanthus left the apartment, ignoring the painful ache in his groin, ignoring the instincts demanding he go back to her, demanding he give her the pleasure she deserved. Demanding he erase the bad memories weighing so heavily upon her.
When her door closed behind him, he paused to glare at her neighbor’s apartment. The borian was scared for now. How long before Rakkob’s fear turned to anger and resentment and pushed him to make another move on Samantha?
Growling, Arcanthus forced himself to walk along the hall. As he rode the elevator down, he activated his holocom and sent a message to Kiloq and Koroq.
Borian living across the hall from the terran is a problem. Rakkob. Needs to be removed by the authorities.
Just as the elevator reached the ground floor, their reply arrived.
On it, boss.
Someone had harmed Arcanthus’s mate. Someone had done lasting damage to her. He doubted it had been Rakkob, but the borian had only added to her emotional burden. Whether he had learned his lesson or not, Rakkob had not paid enough of a price, he’d not suffered enough for his mistreatment of Samantha.
As Arcanthus moved down the corridor leading to the exit, Koroq walked past, heading toward the elevators. He and Arc exchanged a nod; nothing more was necessary.
Arc’s anger simmered while he walked to the car, and a fine layer of frustration gradually settled atop it. Thebest he could hope for was that Samantha would grow comfortable enough to tell him what had happened to her. Learning who had scarred her heart wouldn’t necessarily enable Arcanthus to avenge her pain, but it would be a start toward helping her heal.
It only annoyed him more that, despite the complicated logistics, part of him was seriously considering a trip halfway across the universe—to Earth—to find the one who’d wronged her…
“I don’t know anything about her situation,” he muttered.
