Page 52 of Fractured Souls

With this man, it was different.

He called the shots, and she couldn’t help but respond. Mixed in with her surprise and desire was a strange sense of relief.

She ran her obsidian hand down his neck, his chest, his stomach, feeling the sculpted contours of his body.

Alexis tugged playfully at his bottom lip as she broke away from his kiss. “I thought this training session was supposed to be serious.”

“It is.” His brow crinkled in amusement. “This is your reward.”

“For what?”

“For getting inside my guard.” His smile became devious. “Nobody ever does that.”

“But…” A feeling of suspicion grew inside her. “It’s true, I reacted a lot faster, but I didn’t think I would…” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you let me do that?”

Nythian offered an enigmatic shrug. “In such a short amount of time, you’ve improved. It’s impressive. You still have a lot of work to do, but with time, you’ll be able to take on a wide range of opponents.”

“Not you, though.” The note of approval in his voice did strange things to her. She wanted to work even harder, to show him that her first strike hadn’t just been a fluke.

Strange. Nobody else she knew could make her feel like this.

“You don’t need to fight to get close to me,” Nythian murmured. “Just give in. You can’t hide it from me.”

“Hide what?” Her hand was on his chest. She felt the steady ba-bump of his heart. Always steady. Never frantic. Never out of control.

Did he ever lose control?

“What?” She insisted. Now he was really driving her nuts. She could so easily burn away this frustration by jumping his bones.

They were alone. Nobody would ever know.

“Your body doesn’t lie.” He took her wrist and pulled her hand away, twining his fingers through hers. He lifted her obsidian hand up to his mouth and kissed her fingers. His lips were gentle, almost reverent. Brilliant red eyes locked onto hers.

Her heart pounded. She forgot to breathe. “We barely know each other. How can you be so sure? You’re my guard. Are you even allowed to…”

Sharp fangs gleamed. “Oh, I’m definitely allowed. You might even say that amongst our kind, it’s encouraged.”

He wanted her.

She found him utterly irresistible…

But there were too many barriers in her mind, and this was all happening too fast.

“Nythian, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to get attached.” The words felt like broken glass as they came out of her mouth.

Nythian’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you say this? You are already mated?” He looked a bit scary then. Did the mere thought of her being with another make him… jealous?

“No. There’s no other.”

“Then what is the problem? You do not find me desirable?”

“No. That’s not it. I… I mean, you’re definitely—”

“Then what point is there in holding back?” He almost seemed angry. “You have spoken with Abbey and Layla. You know they are mated. You know our species are compatible.”

“I understand that now. It’s just that…”

“What?”

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