Chapter 6

6

T he cabin door whooshed open, admitting a stumbling Evelyn and a blast of arctic air. Her frozen fingers trembled as she fought with the handle, relief flooding through her when it finally sealed with a soft pneumatic hiss.

“Life form detected,” a gentle female voice filled the space. “Initiating environmental controls. Current interior temperature: minus two degrees Celsius. Adjusting to optimal human comfort level.”

Three steps. That’s all it had taken for her feet to lose sensation during her dramatic exit from the plane. Now, pinpricks of pain shot through her toes as she limped to one of the practical metal chairs. The delicate straps of her heels might as well have been welded shut for all the good her numb fingers were doing.

The door crashed open again, bringing with it a swirl of snowflakes and Rhade’s thunderous voice. “What the hell did you think you were playing at with that stunt? You could have gotten us both?—”

The words died as suddenly as they’d begun. Evelyn kept her head down, refusing to acknowledge him as she wrestled with her shoes. A shadow fell across her, and he was kneeling before her. His large hands engulfed her frozen ones, pushing them aside with surprising gentleness. The heat of his skin against hers sent violent shivers through her body.

When she finally looked up, the intensity in his silver-flecked eyes stole her breath. The diplomatic mask he usually wore had vanished, replaced by something raw and unguarded. His gaze roamed her face like he was committing every detail to memory, and she felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with the cold or her thin dress.

“Let me help,” he murmured, his earlier fury dissolved into a tenderness that made her heart stutter. His fingers made quick work of the buckles, easing first one shoe and then the other from her feet. He cupped her icy toes between his palms, and the sensation drew an involuntary gasp from her lips. Without a word, he shrugged out of his uniform jacket and draped it around her shoulders.

Blessed warmth seeped into her frozen muscles, and she clutched the edges closer. His scent surrounded her – something alien and spicy, mixed with leather and metal that was uniquely him .

“Latharian uniforms are thermo-regulated.” His voice was a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through her bones. “I could survive the vacuum of space in this. Earth’s weather is hardly a challenge.”

“The weather satellites must be malfunctioning.” Evelyn tried to ignore how his jacket’s residual heat wrapped around her like an embrace. “It shouldn’t be this cold.”

“Current exterior temperature: minus fifteen degrees Celsius,” the cabin’s AI chirped helpfully. “Interior temperature now at fifteen degrees Celsius and rising.”

His hand came up, brushing snow-dampened hair from her face. His fingertips left trails of fire across her skin that had nothing to do with temperature regulation. Those silver-flecked eyes bore into hers, seeing past the carefully constructed walls of the Academy Commandant to the woman beneath.

“Are you alright?” Concern roughened his voice. “When K’raan grabbed you, I thought—” He paused, something dark and heated flickering in the backs of his eyes. “Was he right? Have you truly never taken a mate?”

She jerked away, anger flooding back through her veins. Surging to her feet, she forced him to take a step back. Then another, and another as she followed him, jabbing a finger into his bare chest. “That is none of your business!”

Her finger connected with warm, smooth skin, but she refused to be distracted. “I don’t need you or any other man to look after me. I’ve been handling difficult diplomats since before you showed up on Earth!”

His back hit the cabin wall, and he looked down at her.

“K’raan isn’t just some difficult diplomat.” His voice dropped to a dangerous growl. Despite his controlled stance, power radiated from him like a fusion reactor about to go critical. “He’s dangerous.”

“I know exactly how dangerous he is,” she snapped, punctuating each word with another poke to his chest. Her rational mind screamed warnings – she was poking a warrior who could snap her in half without breaking a sweat. But she didn’t care. If anything, his restraint, his careful gentleness, made her even angrier. “I also know how to handle him without resorting to violence!”

“He put his hands on you.”

Fury blazed in Rhade’s eyes blazed, the silver flecks flickering like flames. His gaze raked over her face again, his intense look making her skin tingle. No one had ever looked at her like she was the most fascinating but also the most frustrating thing in the universe, all at the same time.

“And I was dealing with it!”

She was close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. The cabin’s environmental controls said something in the background, but the words were lost beneath the thunder of her pulse in her ears. All she could focus on was Rhade... the rise and fall of his chest, the way his muscles tensed beneath her finger, and the intensity of his gaze that stripped away every defense she’d ever built.

Reality crashed over her like a bucket of ice water. She’d driven him into a corner, but he watched her like a predator watched its prey. His jacket still draped around her shoulders, surrounding her with his scent. Naked from the waist up, his tanned skin contrasted with his silver hair. The contrast between the obvious power in his heavily muscled body and his gentle restraint made her head spin.

The atmosphere shifted, and her breath caught in her throat. Her finger still pressed against his chest, but it wasn’t an accusation anymore. Instead, it was a point of contact that sparked electricity through her with every breath. His heart thumped beneath her fingers, strong and almost as fast as a human’s.

Which was hellish fast for a Latharian. Which meant his heart was pounding... at her touch. Her eyes widened as she lifted them to find him watching her.

“Evelyn.” Her name on his lips was barely more than a whisper, but it sent shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. The way he said it, like a prayer or a curse dragged from him, made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t in years.

Not as the Commandant, not as a diplomat... but as a woman.

He lifted a hand to wrap slowly around her wrist. His grip was gentle as he used it to pull her closer. And she didn’t fight him – her wrist caught in his grasp, their bodies inches apart, their gazes locked in silent challenge. His eyes burned into hers, filled with an emotion she couldn’t – or wouldn’t – name.

Then he snapped. Yanked her forward as he pushed away from the wall. Her smaller body crashed into his larger, harder one, his strong arm wrapping around her waist as his lips crashed down over hers.

He claimed her mouth with fierce demand, sending heat surging through her. The soft scratch of his stubble against her skin made her shiver as his scent, a blend of crisp cologne and something deeper, more primal, wrapped around her. Held her captive.

Every nerve in her body fired at once, a reaction as unexpected as it was intense. Her body pressed against his, her softer curves fitting against his hard planes perfectly, as if they were made to complement each other. Her hands found their way into his hair, the long, silky strands cool against her fingers, a contrast to the heat that radiated from his skin.

She responded to his hunger with her own, a deep, aching need that clawed at her insides, demanding more. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to sweep in, exploring, tangling with hers in a dance that was as sensual as it was intimate. A soft moan escaped her, the sound torn from the very depths of her being.

Her skin was too tight, too sensitive, like she needed something… more, something just out of reach. His breath was hot and ragged against her cheek as he broke away to kiss her jaw. His hands, strong and sure, gripped her waist, pulling her closer as if he couldn’t get enough of her.

“The moment I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen,” he admitted, his voice a low, sexy rasp. “You invaded my thoughts and nothing else mattered.”

What did she say to that? What could she say to that?

She bit her lip as he leaned down and kissed along her neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses that sent a shiver down her spine. Arousal and surprise surged through her, and she dropped her head back to give him better access. A growl in the back of his throat, he slid a big hand over the back of her hips and pressed her against him.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat as she felt him against her, the thick bar of his cock hard against the softness of her belly. God, he was huge. Like built on bigger lines huge.