Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
His mouth was warm and slightly sweet, from the fruit juice they’d been having with dinner as he sucked teasingly on her tongue. Penny found herself thinking he tasted as good as he smelled as she pressed closer to the big Hybrid, wanting more…more…
God, I shouldn’t be doing this! she told herself even as she deepened the kiss. I’m getting in too deep! It’s one thing to let him suck the nectar out of my breasts and pretend to breed me. But kissing is too intimate. I can’t let myself fall in love with him—he’s dangerous!
The memory of the silver blade thunking into the bloody butcher’s block rose to her mind and she broke the kiss abruptly, pulling away from his seeking mouth.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” V’rex brushed her hot cheek gently, just as he had earlier when he was showing her how to do the “flirt-pick.” “God, I wish I knew what you were thinking,” he murmured, more to himself than to her.
“I’m thinking we shouldn’t be doing this,” Penny whispered, hoping she wouldn’t make him angry. “I mean I know there are…certain things we have to do here out of necessity,” she added, glancing up at him and then back down again. “But, well, we’re going to go our separate ways after…” She glanced up at the ceiling and was glad to see the red light was off. “After we get out of here, right?”
V’rex frowned. “I guess you’ll want to get back to your life on Earth, huh? And a big-ass Hybrid with a bad rep probably wouldn’t fit very well into your routine.” He grinned, one corner of his mouth quirking up. “Unless you’d rather hang around with me for a while and explore the universe.”
Penny bit her lip.
“V’rex, please. It’s not that I don’t find you attractive because I do. God, I really do—way more than I should,” she admitted, her heart thumping. “But, well, you’ve got your life and I’ve got mine. I’m working for the Kindred of the Mother Ship right now—”
“The same ones that declared me an outlaw. Right.” The smile turned into a frown.
“There is that,” Penny admitted. “But also, we’re in a really difficult situation here. The Compound is basically forcing us together. And I’m just not sure…” She cleared her throat. “Not sure you’ll still, uh, feel the same way about me once we get away. Also, we haven’t known each other very long so maybe we shouldn’t…”
“Shouldn’t kiss?” V’rex rumbled, raising his eyebrows. “So it’s okay for me to suck your sweet nipples and pretend to breed you but you don’t want us to kiss?
Penny shrugged helplessly, feeling her cheeks get hot again.
“It’s just…kissing is too intimate. It’s—”
“Too much like falling in love,” V’rex finished for her, softly.
“I…we hardly know each other,” Penny protested. “And both of us are under the influence of all kinds of hormones and chemicals. I mean, who knows what we’ll think if we ever manage to get out of this place?”
“Oh, we’re gonna manage,” V’rex promised her. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “But hormones and chemicals or not, I’m still going to want you, little girl. Still going to feel for you when we get out of here.”
Penny bit her lip. If only she could believe him! And if only she wasn’t still scared of him—of what he might do. Her ex, Garret, had been as bland as stale toast but he had also been predictable. With V’rex, Penny never knew what the big Hybrid might do from picking a pocket to kissing her to chopping off the finger of a man who had insulted her.
Well, isn’t that part of his charm? whispered a little voice in her head. The uncertainty? The not knowing?
Probably, but Penny had been a practical girl all her life and though she loved going on adventures for her work, she was a lot more conservative when it came to matters of the heart. She—
“You’re over thinking this, sweetheart.” V’rex’s deep, rumbling voice brought her out of her reverie.
“Huh?” Penny looked up at him. “Over thinking what?”
“Us,” V’rex said simply. “Sometimes what’s right is right. You feel it here.” He put a fist over his heart. “And you just know.”
“Are you saying…what are you saying?” Penny asked. Was he declaring his love for her? When they’d only known each other a few days?
“I’m saying that I know,” V’rex replied obliquely. “That I’ve known almost from the first minute I saw you. But it’s all right if it takes you a little while to catch up. I can wait.”
“I…” Penny shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t have to say anything, sweetheart,” he rumbled. “Just let me take care of you.”
“Take care of me?” Penny lifted her eyebrows. “How?”
Wordlessly, V’rex nodded down at her chest. Penny followed his eyes and saw that two wet spots had appeared on the blue fabric over her nipples.