Page 30 of All for the Beast

She shook her head. Vharlk’s heart subsided back to its regular beat, soothed by her touch. It felt good, too good, to touch her. She squeezed gently, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Her touch pacified him in a way nothing else could. Was this what it was like to find his mate?

“I, um,” he started. He got lost staring into her eyes. He could sit at her feet for the rest of his life and watch her do nothing but talk about Monopoly. “I think we should keep eating. Are you still hungry?”

“You know what?” She smiled down at him, still holding his hand. “I could eat some more. I don’t want this night to be over just yet.”

He smiled back, feeling that swell of his heart again. It seemed his heart rate would never go back to normal. He was so used to the accelerated thump of it when he was around Katy. She was changing him every day in so many ways.

If this is love,he thought, gazing into her clear blue eyes.Then I’m in it for the long run.

THIRTEEN

KATY

Katy had meant it when she told V that she didn’t want the night to end. The scenery was tropical and similar to the places she’d been in the Caribbean on her liner, but on Nova Aurora, there was a drastically different inclusion … she had Vharlk.

Her walls were beginning to descend as the night went on, and she was no longer interested in keeping herself protected. She had come to the planet with adventure in mind, surely, so why couldn’t that include the possibility of an explosive sexual encounter?

Her body and mind were riveted, and she kept thinking to herself,what was the point in life if you weren’t going to take any chances?

A part of her heart whispered in the back of her mind that V was something more than just that chance, but the booze and bright lights and intoxicating scent of the powerful man before her muffled all of that out.

She grabbed his wrist and held it tightly.

“Why don’t you show me one of those clubs?” she asked.

V’s eyes swam beautifully with surprise and intrigue. Katy wanted to give him a reason to give her that look every day.

“You want to go now?” he said, frowning. “It’s quite late.”

Katy scoffed at him and pushed at his shoulders lightly. She wondered if there was something strong in Nova Aurora’s alcohol because she was feeling over the moon.

“You sound like my parents,” she teased. “Come on, take me out and show me those moves, V.”

He flashed her that devilishly handsome grin. She shifted her chair closer to him, feeling that magnetic, cosmic pull.

“Are you interested for strictly professional reasons?” he asked, tonguing his glass.

Katy slid her own pink tongue out between her lips, hoping it was just as distracting as his.

“There are going to be clubs on the ship,” she began. “I need an idea of what people here like, of course.”

“Of course,” V said, smirking.

A wash of arousal rolled through her, making her heart flutter and her stomach do back flips. The flirting was ramping up, likely to fall off the rails in no time, and she wasn’t going to do anything to stop it.

“It’s part of my job description,” she said, sliding her tongue out again and running it along her lips.

V stared at her for a long time, his mouth open, while her heart was beating in her chest like a kettle drum. Everything around them seemed to fade away, and they remained within their own universe of bursting energy and attraction.

After some time, he slipped his hand into hers. Katy thought she was going to disintegrate into a puddle.

“Let’s go then, Ms. Jacobson.”

V paid for their food and kept holding her hand as they swayed through the busy streets. People were drinking in public, laughing, and chatting as the stars glimmered above. Neon lights glowed above little restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs as shifters and humans alike let go of the weight of the expectations of their daily lives.

That was exactly how Katy felt. As V pulled her through the various beings and spills of ambient music, the panicky sensation that had plagued her vanished. Like a ghost left behind, it was her entire past, no longer lingering with the voice of her parents as a constant whisper.

Replacing it was an invigorating sense of empowerment that pushed her forward, taking charge of her career, her life, her body, her pleasure, her dreams, and her aspirations. It all was going to start with Vharlk.

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