Page 27 of Taming Chaos

That had lasted around two months, then the week before her departure, Seph had been surprised to find the package in her delivery drone chute.

Stay safe.

That was all the message had said.

So far, Seph had done a spectacular job of screwing that up.

She was stuck in a freezing cargo box in deep space with a floating corpse and a lethal Kordolian warrior who kept stealing glances at her—silent, smoldering looks that she didn’t quite understand.

Who was both terrifying and considerate.

Who made her want to unravel him.

Who are you, really? Where did you come from? Why did you come after me?

She had a hard time believing that anybody, human or not, would offer to save her ass just because they were good and noble and kind, but when Torin said it, she wanted to believe him so fucking badly.

It was just that he seemed so damn sincere, especially when he did that look—eyebrows raised and slightly creased, lips curved downward in a half-frown, eyes wide with concern.

He was giving her a slightly muted version of that look right now. “You’re cold.”

“Y-yeah, a little.”

“Why do you humans always minimize everything? You are losing heat like a kilverk in the Vaal.”

“I don’t know what that is, but you’re probably right. They say the best way to keep warm is to keep moving, but I can’t exactly work up a sweat when there’s no gravity in this place.”

“I don’t like the color of your lips.”

“They’ve gone blue, haven’t they?” She wrapped her hands in the folds of her cloak, trying to coax some warmth into her fingers, which were going numb.

“You need to get warm.”

Seph nodded, her teeth chattering incessantly. “T-tell me something I d-don’t know.”

“Seph,” he edged closer to her until they were almost touching, but not quite. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she could almost feel the warmth radiating from his body. “You need to get warm.”

“What are you suggesting?” The cold had caused Seph’s heartbeat to slow down, but now it kicked into gear, fluttering wildly as if she were a teenager on a first date.

That was because a lean, powerful alien with a body made for sin and wet dreams was beside her, his heady masculine scent filling her mind with forbidden thoughts.

She had a fair idea of where this was heading.

“You’re not going to become hypothermic on my watch,” he whispered. “I don’t feel the cold, so you I can lend you my warmth. There’s plenty to go around.”

“Oh.” Words deserted her. All she could do was cling to her little handhold as Torin came around her, pressing his torso against her back.

She got the feeling this wasn’t a negotiation. Really, she had no say in the matter.

This was all Torin.

Heat instantly flooded through her, and it wasn’t just because he was warm.

No, there was something about having a big, dangerous alien curl himself around her that was completely, utterly arousing, especially when his arms found hers underneath all that fabric, his deft fingers gliding along her thermo-Syntech covered skin until they located Seph’s hands.

He rubbed her palms, working toward the tips of her fingers. “You are cold. This is unacceptable.”

Seph’s mind turned to mush. She was freezing and hot at the same time, both shivering and melting inside.

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