We’re both close with Talia and Anna, but Lilly and I are like sisters to one another. Stars, I miss her, and I hope she’s safe with her alien dragon man.
Peeling away my clothes, I step into the bath and sigh in contentment as I sink beneath the warm water. All the muscles in my shoulders relax as I perch on the sunken ledge around the perimeter and tip my head back. A small basket near the edge holds what looks like several small bars of soap. When I pick one up and bring it to my nose, I smile. It’s just as fragrant as the alien roses outside.
When I drop the bar into the water, it dissolves immediately, filling the entire tub with pink bubbles and the delicious floral scent. Allowing myself to float in the center of the large pool, I sigh again. This is absolute Heaven. I’ve never experienced a real bath before; I’ve had to take showers as far back as I can remember. Water has always been a luxury and heavily rationed, both on Earth and the colony ships.
When I close my eyes, Raidyn invades my thoughts. My mind replays images of his bare form, the embodiment of masculine perfection. Before today, I’d never seen a man naked outside of videos and images. Not that Raidyn is a man, per se, but close enough.
The way he wrapped his wing protectively around me in the throne room and then flew us off to safety was like a scene straight out of the many fantasy romance novels I used to read on the ship with Lilly. Except this time, the dragon saved the damsel instead of a human knight in shining armor. And now that I’ve experienced it in real life, I prefer the dragon version.
Would you like help bathing? His question resurfaces in my mind.
To be honest, I was tempted to say yes. I’m attracted to him, without a doubt. He’s everything I would ever look for in a partner: kind, intelligent, handsome, and alpha-male protective.
I run my hands down my form, imagining they’re his. The soap allows my fingers to glide sensually over my skin. There’s something irresistible about him, those sharp claws, fangs, and horns, and that long tail and scar lending a lethal edge to his attractiveness.
I’ve never been wanted by a man before—not like this. Men have ogled me and asked me out, but I always knew they wanted only one thing: to spend the night with me. But my heart was fixed on forever, so I always turned them down.
The hopeless romantic in me waited for the knight in shining armor to appear and make me his forever. To proclaim his undying love and devotion, vowing to protect and defend me always.
Isn’t that what Raidyn did when he called me his mate? His linaya? He wants me for eternity.
At the thought, I’ve never been so turned on in my entire life. Gently, I dip my fingers between my folds and find them already slick with arousal. I tease the partially hooded pearl of flesh at the apex and inhale sharply while an image of Raidyn touching me like this fills my mind.
I’ve touched myself before, but always in hurried motions, a rush to bring myself to a quick, brutal completion before my allotted shower time ran out on the ship. Here, I can take my time. Indulge in my fantasy as long as I want and—
A splash in the water startles me abruptly and I jerk up to find Raidyn in the pool with me.
“What are you doing?” I practically screech in alarm, trying to conceal my naked form beneath the bubbles.
“I tried knocking to check on you, but you did not answer. When I saw you floating, I thought something was wrong.” His nostrils flare and then his ice-blue vertically slit pupils contract and expand as his expression heats. “I can scent your need,” he rasps. “Are you entering your heat cycle?”
“My what?” I ask, alarmed that he not only scented what I was doing but has joined me in the tub, still naked and completely turned on, by the look on his face.
He inches closer, his eyes locked on mine. “Are you entering your heat cycle?” He clearly enunciates each word as if he thinks I did not hear his question before.
My entire body flushes with warmth. I swallow nervously because part of me wants to pull him closer even though I know I should be pushing him away. It would be so easy to reach for him. And why not? What’s stopping me? Why am I hesitant to accept when he’s offering me the eternal love I’ve always dreamed of?
His gaze holds mine for a beat before I lower my eyes. “My people don’t have a heat cycle.”
He stills. “But your scent—”
“I was just bathing.” I quickly change the subject.
He nods. “Forgive me, then, for disturbing you. I will leave you alone.”
When he turns to leave, pulling his body from the water, I’m afforded a view of his perfectly sculpted backside. His long, tapered tail only adds to the appeal.
I shake my head in a tiny movement, chastising myself for my errant thoughts. I hardly know this man. I need to get ahold of myself.
Chapter 11
Raidyn
I curse myself inwardly as I leave the cleansing room. I am a fool. She probably believes I am treating her like a newly hatched fledgling. Drakarian females detest an overly protective male and judging by the look on Skye’s face, I surmise human females feel the same.
It is difficult, however, because my every instinct demands I protect her. Especially while my father wants to imprison her again. I could have lost her to his madness when he had her thrown in a cell. She could have become ill, or even worse, she could have died if she’d stayed there, exposed to the elements any longer. Judging by the way she
