Lily shook her head and interrupted. “I don’t want to hurt any woman by doing this with you right now, in her house no less.”
Verakko scowled. “This isn’t hurting anyone. Ziri doesn’t see me or this place like that.” How to make her understand that the betrayal Lily thought Ziritha may feel was so far from the truth.
Lily stared at his mouth for a moment, and he thought she may reconsider, but then her brows drew together and she plucked his shirt from where he’d thrown it. “I hear what you’re telling me logically, but I still have a lifetime of Earth experience making me feel shitty about this. Until I see for myself that people who are married don’t have bonds like I’m used to, I don’t think we should do this.”
He growled and snatched the shirt out of her hands.
“Verakko,” she said in a warning tone. She reached for the shirt and missed, jiggling her breasts in a devastating way in the process.
Frown securely in place and balls aching with unrelieved lust already, he righted the shirt and held it above her head. He sent her a frustrated look and saw a small smile playing at her lips before she lifted her arms and allowed him to slide the shirt down. He’d committed a few crimes in the past week, but covering up her glorious body felt like the worst one yet.
He took his time pulling the fabric down to her hips, making sure to brush his knuckles against her nipples as he did. She shivered at the contact. When his shirt was on, he rested his balled fists on either side of her hips and focused on her face, letting her see his frustration. To be fair, he supposed he deserved it.
They remained silent for a while, just staring, the air between them tense.
“May I sleep here with you, Lily?”
She bit the inside of her cheek and considered him.
She neither agreed nor refused when she said, “I’m still mad at you.”
The small uttered statement stung more than it should’ve. Her words lacked venom, but he could hear the truth behind them. Mad wasn’t the right emotion. It was a mask for hurt. The type of hurt that would be the biggest obstacle against him. What he’d done to her for the past week might not have cut her deeply enough to sever ties with him, but it would seed doubt. The kind of doubt that would take longer than he had to squash.
To his mivassi, with all her considerable know-how and abiding confidence, doubt in her own feelings toward him would hurt his cause more than anything.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you let me.”
Lily swallowed but said nothing.
“I’ll start now by helping you fall asleep.” He straightened and watched as she buried herself under a mound of blankets. Removing his pants, he slipped into bed beside her and programmed the lights to dim.
Hoping beyond hope she’d allow it, he pulled her in close to his chest and swept the hair from her neck. If she minded his shaft, now fully erect again and cradled against her bottom, she didn’t say. He ran his nose along the column of her neck and felt goosebumps erupt over her arms.
“Ready?”
She hesitated a moment, each millisecond of doubt in him another blow to the gut. One day they’d get to a place where she trusted him implicitly again, and until then, he’d need to be patient. At length, she nodded.
“Sleep deeply, mivassi, and have only pleasant dreams. You’ll wake in the morning renewed and ready for a long day.” He continued to sway the last words after her body had grown limp and her breathing even.
Verakko remained in place, petting her hair and running his knuckles over her cheek, all while thinking of ways he could expedite her decision.
A thought struck him and he disregarded it, but it continued to flicker to the forefront of his thoughts, demanding to be considered. It may not go over well at first, but it could end up being just the thing she needed to understand. She might not believe him about the position he was in, yet there was one person she would believe.
Verakko slipped his arm from under Lily’s head and retrieved his communicator from the kitchen.
After a few moments, the call connected. “I need a favor.”
Chapter 21
Lily pulled a fluffy pillow into her chest and squeezed. The cool fabric felt heavenly against her warm chest, and she snuggled farther into her covers. Covers?
Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright. As her vision cleared and she saw the large bed, shining stone floor, and blue-gray walls, she recalled where she was. She flopped back down onto the mattress and took a few deep breaths to relax her racing heart.
The scent of flowers hung heavy. Lily scanned the room but couldn’t find any discernible source. Did it get vented in or something?
When she was sure Verakko was in fact gone, she pulled his shirt, which she was still wearing, over her nose and inhaled deeply. It was more faint than normal, but the smoky scent she loved so much clung to the fabric and soothed her.
She laid there gazing up at the ceiling with her shirt over her nose and mentally scanned her body. No soreness in her back, no lingering aches or pains from the forest. On the whole, she was deliciously comfortable and relaxed. Verakko’s sway was better than her ambient noise machine. Or Ambien, for that matter.
If I stay with him, I bet I could get him to do it
