“Tell me again,” he growled.
“I. Love. You.”
He kissed her lips. Each eyelid. Then her mouth again. He couldn’t get enough. “So now you know I mean it when I say nothing you do could ever change how I feel about you.”
She stilled. “You promise?”
“I promise to love you until my last fucking breath. Until I’m so old that gray hairs grow on my balls, and my horns droop.”
She shoved at his chest. “Such a romantic.”
He held her fast. “Got you to smile, though, didn’t it?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Bet I can get you to feel good even during this rotation’s performance and trials.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t think that’s possible. Even for you.”
“Did you just issue me a challenge?”
“Maybe.” Her lips tilted upward.
His heart rolled over.
He leaned in close and brushed his lips against her ear. “I’ll take that bet.” He set her down on her feet and made sure she was steady before lifting his hands. “Stay right there.” He was across the room, digging through the crates, and back in a flash.
She eyed the item in his hand. “What’s that?”
“The way I’m going to win the bet. And prove you should never doubt me.” He ripped open the packaging.
She stepped closer to study the translucent rod in his hand, its length shorter than his pinkie. “What is it?”
“A little care package from home. From my sister.” Anya was the only one who knew where he actually was, though as word spread about his fighting wins, his brothers would hear soon enough. “She’s always giving me shit about my lack of experience and sending me crap like this. Says it’s her way of helping out her future sister-in-law.”
“I can’t wait to meet this female.”
He wrapped one arm around Scarlett and hugged her close. “I can’t wait for that either.”
He could already picture his return home: finally enough money in his pocket to help his brothers, his reputation as a formidable fighter established, and Scarlett by his side. Everything he’d ever wanted.
But for now, that meant keeping his cool—and his female happy.
“In the meantime,”—he rolled the device between his fingers, warming it up—“let’s take advantage of Anya’s outrageousness, never say her name in relation to this item ever again, and have some fun.”
Scarlett laughed. “Deal… but I still don’t know what it is.”
As a prize, she really had been sheltered from so much fun.
“A toy. For you.” He pressed a button, and the small oblong rod sprang to life, vibrating against his palm. “For your pleasure.” He turned over his other hand to reveal a small metal sphere. “And this is the remote. For my pleasure.”
She shivered, her eyes growing glassy. “Show me more.”
He fucking loved it.
He pressed the toy to her shoulder, stroking it against her skin, allowing her time to acclimatize.
“Mmm.” That purr he lived for vibrated softly from her throat. “That feels good.”