Lily sobered and nodded. “Any more news on PRIC?”
Alice shook her head, a concerned look entering her eyes. “We haven’t heard anymore from them, but the idea of them hiding in plain sight is terrifying. Every city has made announcements about the humans, and the ones who’ve been found are safe for now, but what happens when a rescued woman comes across one of her jailors masquerading as a simple chef or something?”
Lily shook her head, worry making her throat dry. How many more women were still out there? How many, like her, were choosing not to make themselves known? How many hadn’t made it?
As if sensing her sudden upheaval, Verakko’s grip around her waist tightened, and he rubbed a palm on her shoulder.
Alice smiled at the gesture and waved her hand in the air. “Forget about it for right now. We’ll have hours to talk about it when you get back. Just enjoy your trip.”
Lily sighed, not sure it was possible to wipe it from her mind completely, but smiled anyway and bid the last of their visitors farewell.
When the door finally closed, she let out a long breath and plopped onto her soft green couch, sipping the last of her tury.
“Don’t worry, mivassi. It may sound callous, but now that the world knows how important humans are, they’ll be very well protected. I’m confident that if any Insurgents make any attempt to harm them, they’ll be caught.”
Lily nodded, but remained unconvinced.
Verakko rounded the couch and sat next to her. “Also keep in mind what impulsive creatures human females are,” he said, gazing out the window with mock sincerity.
A laugh broke from Lily’s belly. He always knew just how to make her feel better. She angled her body on the couch so her head rest against the arm, then raised her foot and playfully kicked his thigh. “Shut up.” She giggled.
“I mean, their actions will be so inconsistent and illogical…” Verakko shook his head, then raised his eyes to the heavens. He snatched both her feet and sprung onto his knees. “Any active PRIC members left won’t be able to keep up with their unfathomable thought processes long enough to catch them anyway.”
She laughed at the outrageous claims and tugged at her feet.
In one swift motion, Verakko pulled her legs until she was lying fully on the couch and then crawled over her.
Lily tried to smother her grin as he lowered onto his elbows and hovered above her. “You know none of that is true.”
With one hand, he gripped the collar of his shirt and tugged it over his head.
Lily’s pulse picked up at the sight of his naked chest. He gazed down at her, and his eyes locked onto her neck, making a jolt of liquid heat pool in her core.
Wedging his hips between hers, he ground against her, shaft already hard. Verakko lowered his mouth to the sensitive spot on the curve of her shoulder and tsked. “Ruled by emotions. That’s what you are.”
“Oh yeah?” Lily purred while running a hand down his firm stomach.
Verakko groaned into her neck in approval.
While he was distracted, she hooked her ankle around his leg, gripped the back of his pants, and shoved as hard as she could against the side of the couch. They rolled, and Verakko landed with a thud on the ground, Lily straddling him.
He growled low but grinned and raised his arms behind his head, looking pleased as punch at the change of positions.
Lily chuckled and rocked her hips, eliciting another rattling growl. “I guess we are a little unpredictable,” she joked.
Like a flash, Verakko sat up and slid her skirt up to her hips. With one quick tug, he ripped her underwear off. She arched into his hold as he lavished her neck with sharp nips from his fangs, followed by soothing kisses and swipes of his tongue. Despite their playful repartee, her mind muddled until nothing else in the world seemed to matter. She rocked her now-naked sex against him and frowned at the barrier still between them.
She sat back, but Verakko’s arm immediately wrapped around her waist to hold her in place. When she made her intentions known by reaching between their bodies and fumbling with the fastenings on his pants, he made a sound of approval and loosened his hold.
She eased back until he released her completely. His rapt gaze was hungry as he watched her move down his body and kneel between his legs. After Lily’s emotional declaration of love in Mithrandir, she and Verakko had barricaded themselves in the bedroom for days, exploring each other’s bodies. The first time she’d run her tongue along his shaft, a seemingly unheard-of thing for a Clecanian woman to do, he’d cursed, and every muscle had tensed in the most erotic way.
He reclined on his elbows, his glowing eyes now a darker shade of emerald, watching her every move.
***
Verakko stared in awe as his mate slid his pants down his hips, allowing his cock to spring free. She gave him one of her devastating grins and lowered her mouth until she was a breath away from the head of his shaft. When she wrapped a firm hand around the base of his cock, he hissed.
“Tell me again about humans,” she said in a false tone of confusion. “You said they were unpredictable?” She released his cock and lifted a brow at him.
He barked out a laugh. “Did I say that?”
With a smile, she licked a bead of precum off the head of his shaft. He barely prevented his eyes from rolling back.
“I misspoke,” he breathed, trying not to thrust into her soft palm.
“I thought so,” she agreed seriously, licking her way up the side of his shaft while working her hand up and down.
Verakko’s
