“As long as I remain on his ship.”My heart sinks even more at hearing that.
 
 “Oh, okay. Thank—”
 
 “Enough.” The word comes out clipped, but his voice is soft. Then he reaches out, covering my knee with his large palm. I freeze, and my eyes drop to where he’s touching me. He gives my knee a light squeeze. “You’ve thanked me already; there’s no need to keep doing so.”
 
 “Sorry.” One side of my mouth twitches into a half smile that draws his gaze to my lips.
 
 When my tongue darts out to wet them, his slitted pupils flare wide, and bursts of gold over take the ring of emerald. His thumb begins to rub a slow circle on the inside of my knee, and the feeling is no longer comforting but intimate, as that small motion sends a wave of tingles up the inside of my thigh to settle between my legs. My breathing hitches, and a subtle warmth ignites low in my belly at the same time my palms grow damp.
 
 His gaze crawls down my body where it settles on my lap, where the heat between my legs is growing into an ache. My knees snap shut, capturing his hand between them to staunch the throb he’s started. His nostrils flare and…oh no. My cheeks must be bright red with embarrassment.
 
 A low rumble rolls from his throat, and both his hands are on my knees. I gasp when he pulls them apart, and a wave of shivers starts at my core before radiating throughout my body. He draws another deep breath through his nose, and his eyes shutter closed.
 
 “Whoa—wait!” I gasp, clamping my hands around his wrists.
 
 But he doesn’t wait. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge the fact that I’ve spoken at all.
 
 A rumbling purr, long and rolling, surrounds us. The sound makes my pussy quiver, and warmth begins to trickle from between my legs. I blink, and then he’s on his knees before me, wedging his shoulders between my spread legs, forcing them wider.
 
 “Rovos what are you—” I forget what I was saying when he presses his nose into the juncture of my legs.
 
 “Your scent,” he growls against me, the vibration lighting up the sensitive flesh between my legs. “Itcalls to me.”
 
 Whatever he’s doing, it makes it hard to think. I need to stop him! Ishouldstop him, but I can’t seem to muster up the energy to do so. I’ve never done something like this before, and my heart is pounding in my ears and in my chest and between my spread legs.
 
 I’ve touched myself before. Late at night after I’ve read one of my sexy books, but I’ve never done anything like this with another person, and certainly not with an alien.
 
 My trembling hands go to his head. The short hairs that run the sides and back of his head feel stiff against my fingertips. I mean to push him away, because I can’t think with him purring against my clit. Instead, my fingers sink into the thick hair at the top of his head. It’s softer than I expect. Silky and thick and long enough to grab by the handful.
 
 My legs fall to the sides as Rovos runs his nose along the seam of my pants. The pressure, coupled with each growl, sends flutters through my core.
 
 “Rovos!” I’m panting, not sure I can take much more. But not sure I want him to stop.
 
 He tilts his head back, and when he looks up at me, his pupils have eaten up all but a narrow band of glowing gold. With a growl, his lips pull back from his teeth, and I notice his canines have far more of a point than I’m used to. It makes him look savage, and I whimper.
 
 His hands slide from my knees, up my thighs, and the whole time he’s purring, the rhythmic throbbing in tune with my heartbeat.
 
 “W-wait,” I gasp when he grabs handfuls of my pants. I should really be putting more effort into stopping him, but the constant purring has electricity snapping and sparking through my body. My nipples tighten, and gooseflesh erupts across my arms and chest.
 
 “Annah,” my name rolls off his tongue like a moan as he tugs at the closure of my pants. His accent softens it, turning it into something foreign and sexy.
 
 When he growls at me again, I frown. Then I realize he’s not actually growling; he’s saying something. A word. Sounds like…off.
 
 Off?
 
 His fingers flick at the button on my pants and curl around the waistband.
 
 Oh,off!
 
 My mouth goes dry. Yes, yes,I need them off.
 
 Together we get my pants undone and down my hips. I barely get one leg out before Rovos is shoving himself between my thighs again, splitting them wide. His hands cup my bottom, and he pulls me to the edge of the chair and then his mouth—Oh god! His mouth—and his tongue.
 
 He licks me with broad strokes, from my melting center to my clit. Over and over, until my entire body is trembling and I can’t breathe.
 
 “Rovos!” I gasp when he circles my opening with the tip of his tongue. He drinks from me before spearing it into my tight channel, going much farther than I expect a tongue to go.
 
 With a cry, I clamp down on him. My walls flutter against the sudden intruder, and we both moan. His fingers dig into my hips as he pulls me closer, forcing more of his tongue inside of me, thrusting it in and out. His glowing, golden eyes watch me as he wrings shudder after shudder from me.