That made her heart pound faster and sent a wave of frightening heat through her. “Your bed?”
He tucked her into his bag… then, to her disappointment, stepped back. “I’m not going to sleep tonight.”
She gaped at him. But for the circles under his eyes, there was no sign of fatigue. Even so… “When was the last time you rested?”
He didn’t answer as he called the lorina over to him and had it lie down between her and Thia.
“Hauk?” she chided. “You’re not invincible.”
He scratched at his jaw in a boyish gesture that made her smile. “I don’t need to sleep yet. I’m fine.” When he started to withdraw, Sumi caught his arm and gently tugged him closer to her.
Hauk dropped his gaze down to where she held on to his wrist. The heat in his eyes was searing. His breathing turned ragged.
Unable to put into words how grateful she was to him, she leaned in to kiss him for all he’d done for them.
Hauk couldn’t move as she laid her soft, gentle hand against his cheek. No female had ever touched him like this.
Like she wanted him.
At home, he was too scarred for an Andarion female to look at him with anything more than a contemptuous sneer. And that was far preferable to the human women, whose hatred, fear, and loathing were palpable. All his life, he’d felt hideous and undesirable.
Disgusting.
Like a mutant, mangy animal no one wanted to touch.
But that wasn’t what he saw in Sumi’s eyes. She stared at him as if she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
He held his breath, craving her kiss with every part of his being. He opened his lips to receive it, then remembered why he couldn’t.
Remembered what one single kiss would cost him.
Damn it to hell.
Grinding his teeth, he pulled back an instant before their lips met. “I’m pledged, Sumi.”
Still she kept her hand on his cheek, tormenting him with things he knew he could never have. “Has she ever kissed you?”
He looked away as he remembered the one time he’d tried. Dariana had moved so fast that he hadn’t even felt the knife go into his flesh, until she’d twisted it in his gut. Instead of tasting her lips, he’d tasted his own blood.
“You ever do that again, unworthy, repulsive dog, and it’ll be your testicles I slice open.” Coldly, she’d wiped her blade off on his sleeve before she’d stepped over his body.
He swallowed hard as he pushed that memory away. “No.”
Sumi brushed her delicate fingers over his mouth, raising chills all over him. “You should have a female who kisses you, Dancer. And often.”
Before he could stop himself, he ran his hand through those pale tresses that had been tempting him since he’d pulled her skullcap off. They were even softer than he’d imagined. Lifting a lock, he inhaled her sweet scent. “You smell like flowers.” And all he wanted to do was bury his face against her neck until he was drunk from it.
But he could never do that. Dariana was trusting in him to keep his vow to her. His body belonged to her and her alone. It was something his father had beaten into them from birth.
“I ever catch you with a female other than your pledged or wife, I’ll cut your cock off myself.”
And after the nightmare and infighting between his mother and grandmother, the last thing he wanted was to put any more drama into his already fucked-up life.
It just wasn’t worth it.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to leave her and take up a sentry post. It was, after all, the only thing he was good for.
Lying down, Sumi watched as Hauk finally grabbed a bottle of water for himself, and went to sit with his back against a small tree so that he had an unobstructed view of the surrounding terrain. It was weird, but she no longer saw his resemblance to Fain. He’d established his own identity to her.
While they were physically similar and shared some personality traits, there was a deep sadness to Hauk that Fain had lacked. In many ways, he was even more fierce.
More wounded.
And she wanted to gut Dariana for what she was doing to him. If the bitch was going to force him into a lifetime of celibacy, why not allow him to be an assassin? What would have been the harm?
Was it really so that he wouldn’t outshine Darice’s father?
It was so unfair that someone like him was tied to an undeserving whore like Dariana while Sumi would have sold her soul to have found a father for her baby with one-half his decency. Loyal and caring males were far too rare in this world to be taken for granted. They should be cherished.
Before she could stop it, the picture of him holding the unknown baby girl went through her mind.
A male so gentle should have his own children to dote on and protect. In spite of his protests and denials, he was amazing with Darice and Thia. Far more patient with Darice than the little snot deserved.
Damn you, Kyr.
And damn her for what she was going to have to do to someone who definitely didn’t deserve it. I have no right to hate Dariana. Not when she was going to have to do a lot worse to him before all was said and done.
His entire body aching and warm, Hauk came awake slowly. He grimaced at the throbbing, awful pain he felt as he realized he’d fallen asleep, sitting upright.
Then he remembered why.
Fully alert now, he jerked his blaster out and jumped to his feet as he searched for more attackers.
“You always wake up like that?”
His heart racing, he turned toward Sumi, who was sitting a few feet away. She was freshly bathed, her pale hair still damp and coiled into a bun at the nape of her neck. There was an amused glint in those beautiful hazel eyes as she finally watched him without fear.
Damn, she was a beautiful woman. And he hungered for her in a way that should be illegal, and it probably was in most galaxies.
By the sun’s position, he knew it was well past midday. Holstering his blaster, he toed the blanket at his feet that someone had placed over him while he slept. “You?”
She nodded. “You were awake when I brought it to you. Don’t you remember?”
His thoughts and sensations still fuzzy and dull, he rubbed at his forehead as he vaguely recalled it. Since she hadn’t posed a threat, he’d accepted the blanket and thanked her for it.
Sumi smiled as she watched the boyish way he rubbed at his face. He had to be exhausted still. He was much more sluggish now than he’d been the days before, and even last night.
He stifled a yawn. “Where are the kids?”
“Exploring the caves. I’m rather surprised you didn’t take us there last night to camp.”
“Bad defensive position.” Rubbing at his side, he grimaced again. “Too easy to trap us with no way out.”
A mistake she would have made on her own. “You know this place well.”
“It left an impression on me.” He crouched down to where she’d placed some of the meal they’d prepared for breakfast and a bottle of water. It was the first time she’d actually seen him eat anything other than snacks. His slow, studied movements were strangely savage and yet oddly beautiful.
He paused as he caught her staring at him. “Do I offend you?”
“Hardly.”
“Then why are you eyeballing me?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t seem to help myself. You are an incredibly sexy beast, Dancer Hauk. Full of strange incongruities.”
He snorted at her as he swallowed his food. “You sound like Mari.”
She laughed. “He come on to you a lot?”
A slow, charming grin spread across his face. “He teases, but I think he’d have run for cover had I ever accepted.”
She inclined her head to him. “Another surprise.”