5. Hazel

5

Hazel

"Are you out of your mind?" Valmore hissed in my ear.

"Not at all." I shook my loose hair out of my face and cast a backward glance over my shoulder. Jesse and the other crewmen watched us from across the mess hall. "Let's do it."

"I only said that to get them off you," Valmore whispered. "I only said it because I knew it would get their attention. We can't do this."

"Nonsense." I faced him. "Do you think I couldn't see you about to go berserk when they started touching me? I'd much rather sleep with you than have them take turns with me. This is the only way to get them to leave me alone, isn't it?"

Valmore's eyes skimmed the mess hall behind my back. He already calmed down now that I stood close to him. Jesse said Kavians multiplied their strength by ten when defending their chosen mates. And when Valmore called me his mate, he sure acted like it was true.

I wouldn't have been surprised. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that something felt like it had been developing between us these past few days. Sure, this would move things a lot faster than I had expected, but I was already working up the courage to ask him if he'd be interested in a date once this mission was over. We'd be skipping all of that, but I already knew how I felt about him.

I wanted him. And I wanted his carefree lifestyle, his devil-may-care attitude. He could show me the way, show me how to escape from under my parents' shadows.

Valmore shook his head in stunned silence, but I didn't wait for him to decide. I made up my mind, and I was damn well going to go through with it. I spun around. "Untie him."

Jesse didn't move, but the rest of the crew reacted instantly. They rushed over and unwound the cable holding Valmore, then stepped back from us like we were a live bomb.

I faced him to find him looking at me, but not in the cocky way he did when we first met. He looked like he was going to be sick. "I can't do this," he rasped. "This is wrong."

"You have to," I whispered back. "As soon as we do it, they'll believe I'm your mate. They'll forget about ravishing me and just ask for the stupid ransom. Because messing with a Kavian's mate is the last thing anyone would do, right?"

He shook his head again. He didn't seem to hear or see anything.

I laid my hand against his cheek and turned his face to look directly at me. "Listen to me, Valmore. We need to buy time. If this keeps us alive until the IPA retrieves us, then so be it."

"Not like this," he whispered. "Not like this."

I darted in and kissed his glorious lips. How many times over the last few days did I imagine doing just that? To hell with the rest of this situation. I had wanted this—wanted him—all along.

His lips didn't respond. None of him responded. When I pulled back, his eyes didn't register that I kissed him at all.

"Enough foreplay!" Jesse bellowed. "Get on with it! Fuck her—now!"

I whirled around in a heartbeat. "Will you shut the hell up? We can't do it like this. All of you back off—over there." I pointed toward the door. "What are you worried about? You all have guns and we're unarmed. Go. "

The others withdrew. They sure followed orders well, but Jesse didn't budge. "Don't give me all that romantic bullshit! He has to screw you—balls out—right here, out in the open."

"And you're such a gentleman, right?" I snorted at him. "I must have been temporarily hallucinating when I thought you were charming. As soon as you started bad-mouthing Valmore, I knew you were the snake in this crew."

A few of his comrades snickered nervously. His expression changed, and he glared at me in undisguised, murderous hatred. He drew a handgun from his belt and pointed it square in my face. "Quit stalling or I'll plaster that pretty mouth of yours all over that wall."

I didn't blink. "Get over there with your friends or there won't be anything left for you to play with."

He clenched his jaw, holstered his weapon, and stalked over to his crewmates. I turned my back on them and concentrated everything on Valmore. He started this, and now I had to convince him to finish it. He wanted to protect me, all right—from himself.

He glared past my shoulder at the crew gathered against the wall. I didn't want to know what he was seeing over there, but as long as he could see them, he wouldn't be able to think about anything else.

I took hold of his shoulders and rotated him the other way. I pivoted his back to them. All he could see was me.

I picked up his hand and cupped it against my cheek. His warmth radiated through me, and I wanted nothing more. Now that we stood eye to eye, I let go of every other consideration. I couldn't think about the crew. I had to fill my mind only with him.

He seemed to return to the present now that he touched me. His eyes cleared, and that rage faded. His pupils dilated and his lips parted.

I turned my mouth into his palm and kissed his hand. "I want this," I whispered. "I want you to do this."

I picked up his other hand and placed it on my chest between my breasts. I let go of his wrist and laid my hand on his shoulders. I touched his glorious chest, and he winced. "Don't!"

"Why?" I whispered. "Am I really that unattractive to you?"

"Of course not!"

"If you don't want to, I can…"

"I do want to," he rasped. "If I start, I don't know if I can…" He trailed off and gulped.

So that was it. He didn't trust himself. "You've always been kind to me, Valmore," I whispered. "You protected me. I know I'll be safe with you. "

"You don't want to do this," he hissed. "You don't want it with a beast like me… Not like this."

It felt like he wanted to confess something, like he knew more about all of this. Like they all knew more, and I was the only one left in the dark. I looked directly at the crew standing across the mess hall. A twisted grin bent Jesse's mouth the wrong way.

"You aren't a beast, Valmore," I insisted. "You're much less a beast than those men over there." I locked my eyes on him and him alone. "There is no one else in the world I would rather give myself to. I've wanted you since I first met you. I was just too straight-laced to say so."

I bent in and kissed him. Jesse was right. We were just stalling now.

I slipped my arms around Valmore's waist and let my lips melt against his mouth. That sensation electrified me. It set my nerves on fire to feel him and keep on feeling him. Nothing would ever be enough.

At the same time, I wanted to heal some part of his injured soul. I wanted to be the one person who didn't hurt him or take something from him.

I gave myself to kissing him, letting my mouth open as my tongue touched his. I ran my fingertips up his back, and his muscles tensed. He was so unlike any other man I ever found attractive before. He might look like a beast, but he couldn't be farther from one.

His sweet kiss flooded me with warmth and passionate desire. Heat throbbed between my legs. My breasts swelled against his chest and a faint whimper of agony escaped me. Why did I try to hold it back?

I let the walls crumble a little more, and I moaned. Just holding my body against his drove me out of my mind. I needed so much more.

I sobbed in abject hunger when his hands came to rest on my hips. What was he waiting for? Didn't he believe me when I said I wanted this?

I opened my eyes to find him staring at me from beyond my nose. I searched those deep pools for an answer. Was I violating him by pushing him into this?

I pulled back to give him the chance to end it if he needed to. Instead, he dove in and seized my lower lip gently with his teeth. A primal growl rumbled from deep within his chest as he pulled me back toward him.

Before I could stop him, he pressed his mouth onto mine and kissed me. I melted into him, exploring the mouth I had fantasized so much about. Beneath me I could feel his hot, hard cock that I couldn't imagine fitting inside me, yet somehow I knew it would .

I grabbed his shoulders and reared back, but that only played into his hands. Lighting quick, he dove for my breasts and tore off my bra, taking one of my nipples into his mouth.

I seethed in his arms and struggled against the devastating energy burning me up from the inside. Every flicker of his tongue sent jolts of pleasure through me, making me more and more desperate for release. But he was intent on taking his time.

He looked up at me from my breast. I couldn't get enough of gazing into his eyes while he ravished me. His lips spoke to my heart and soul of the person hidden inside those eyes. I saw him beyond the rough, barbarous exterior.

He pulled away and lifted me up. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as he carried me to the edge of one of the mess tables and sat. He eased me down on his lap, and his raging bulge rubbed between my legs. God, I wanted him so damn bad!

I sat down on his length and let my weight grind his length against my pants. My eyes drifted half-closed as I pumped my hips against him. I didn't try to hold back the passion erupting from me.

His fingers found their way lower between my legs, leaving a tingling trail wherever he touched me. He rubbed me through my pants until I whined in hunger for him. He kept trying to kiss me, but I couldn't make my lips respond. I could only gasp and moan into his mouth.

My mind kept repeating the same words. Please. Please. I need you. I really need you…

Did he hear me? Did he hear what I was trying to tell him through these cries that refused to form words?

I couldn't stand the intensity of his mouth migrating lower, lower, lower…

He took his time getting there. He dropped molten kisses down my neck and across my chest. When he finally found my breast for the second time, he took it almost as an afterthought, but it produced an even more explosive effect on me than before.

I heaved and rode down hard on his hard length. I felt myself spiraling into something unstoppable, something beyond comprehension. And for the first time, I fully let go, fully let myself be in the hands of someone else.

I knew Valmore would take care of me.