Pursued: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (Raider Warlords of the Vandar Book 4)

to look at me, her eyes closing briefly when she saw it was me. “I can explain, Raas.”
I walked slowly toward the bed, even as my cock swelled beneath my kilt. “I would like to hear it.”
She fisted her hands by her side as she pivoted to face me, her chin lifted slightly. If I’d thought she was appealing from behind, I was not prepared for the sight of her round breasts glistening with water, and the bare flesh of her sex. Her beige nipples were pebbled in the cool air, and I fought the urge to touch the bumpy skin that she made no attempt to cover.
I stopped at the foot of the bed, my gaze never leaving her. “I thought humans were known for their primitive modesty.”
Her eyes flashed at me. “Not all humans.”
Behind the flare of her pupils, I saw the flicker of pain, and a hint of the steely determination I’d detected on her ship. But was the pain from her life as a miner under imperial rule? I suspected there was more depth to her hurt, and that her strength came from more than a single escape.
She walked to the foot of the bed until she was close enough to touch, but I didn’t move. Even though my body throbbed with the need to run my hands over her smooth skin, I kept my arms stiff and clasped in front of me in a vain attempt to hide my cock’s traitorous response. As much as my mind knew that the human was the last thing I needed, my body did not seem to agree. Then again, never had a female presented herself so willingly who had not been a resident of a pleasure house.
“I am waiting for your explanation,” I managed to say, even though my voice was thick.
Alana smiled down at me. My head was at the level of her stomach, and she stepped so close that I could feel the heat of her skin. She placed her hands on my shoulders. “Help me down, Raas?”
Tvek. I gritted my teeth as my cock strained painfully against my clasped hands. I might be a disciplined warrior, but I was still a hot-blooded male. The sound of my pounding heart filled my ears like a roar, and I had to close my eyes to steady my pulse and regain my control.
“Raas?” she purred, her fingers feathering across my shoulders.
Without opening my eyes, I clasped her by the waist and swung her down onto the floor. When her feet were on the hard stone, I peered down at her. The female’s head was tipped up, and her brown eyes met mine, the lashes damp and dark.
I cleared my throat. “Do you think that your naked body will distract me enough that I forget my questions?”
Something flickered behind her eyes—anger? frustration?—but then she gave me a sultry smile. “What was your question, Raas? I’m afraid being so close to you has made me forget.”
Her girlish voice and shy laugh should have convinced me of her distraction, but they only made me wonder about this female who was so clearly trying to convince me that she was harmless.
“What were you doing standing on my bed?” I asked, forcing my gaze not to wander below her face. “Wet and unclothed?”
She inclined her head slightly, as if conceding to me. “If you must know, I was curious about your headboard. I have never seen one like it.”
I glanced behind her at the axes forged together to create a massive iron fan of blades, their edges still sharp enough to draw blood. Even though I knew that it had been created from the weapons of the earliest Raas’ who had taken to the skies, I did not share this with the human. “Curious enough to inspect it while naked and dripping water from the bathing pools?”
She shrugged. “Everything on a Vandar ship is new to me. Does me being naked and wet bother you?”
My heart thudded in my chest as she licked her bottom lip. If she wished to play this game, then I could play, as well. My hands still spanned her waist, so I moved her back until her legs hit the bed, then I forced her to fall back. When she was lying on the bed, her knees bent and dangling over the side, I hovered over her and braced my elbows on either side of her body, pinning her arms to her. “It does not bother me. I thought you might be the one who wished to be clothed in the presence of a Vandar raider. Do I need to remind you that I am Raas of this horde? I can do anything I wish, and no one would dare stop me. You could scream until your throat was raw, and no Vandar would help you. On this ship, you are the property of the Raas, and I can do anything I wish with you.”
She gazed up at me, blinking languidly. “I am not afraid of you, Raas, or wish I was clothed.”
I used my knees to part her legs and settled my body between them. Her pupils widened and the pulse in her neck throbbed. “I do not think that is entirely true,” I studied her face, “or entirely false.”
Her breath was fast and shallow, her chest rising and her hard nipples brushing against my bare skin. I bit back a moan. This human was not like the one Kratos had taken. She was not sheltered and scared. Even though there was pain and fear behind her eyes, there was something more, something stronger. Something that gave me pause.
Before I could pull back from her, Alana jerked a hand free, raking her fingers through my hair and crushing my mouth to hers. My shock quickly gave way to blinding passion as our lips moved roughly and our tongues battled. Pressing my body to hers, I ground my cock between her legs as she moaned into my mouth.
Need