Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Okay, he also looks pretty badass at the moment and it’s making me go sploosh in my non-existent panties. Because seeing that arrogant swagger? That angry stalking thing he’s doing? It makes me think of our intense little round in the storage room, and my body is screaming for round two.
I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly man-hungry sort of girl, but Hassen? He does it for me. Which is why I fooled around with him despite knowing it was a bad idea and knowing that he was the douche that stole my sister.
Plus, out of this entire happy tribe of do-gooders and mommies, he’s an outcast. And boy, can I relate to that. He’s the one that doesn’t fit in, that doesn’t belong when couples are gathered around the fire and being cozy. He’s the one that never gets what he wants, and he sure isn’t the hero.
That kind of makes him my people, though, because I know how all of that feels.
So it hurts that he’s angry at me after what we shared. What we had yesterday was pretty awesome. I’m down for more awesome, but not if it comes with him trying to claim me. God, what would Lila say? She’d look at me like I’d lost my mind. And maybe I have. A quick throwaway fuck is one thing. Shacking up with a guy as a replacement to my sister is another.
And no matter what Hassen says to me, I know what it’ll look like to everyone else.
It just reminds me that I’m making the right choice. That he might be good to sleep with on the down-low, but it can’t mean anything—to him or to me.
As he approaches, I try to look cool. Like I’ve got things all handled and I know what I’m doing out here. “Oh, hey, Hassen. How’s it going?”
“What do you do out here, Mah-dee?” He crosses his arms over his nearly bare chest, emphasizing the pectorals I didn’t get enough time to lick yesterday.
I smile brightly. “I’m going hunting, of course.”
“Again you are by yourself? What games do you play?” Hassen’s frown is so dark, I swear people cringed three states over. “This world is dangerous.”
“No games. I want to help out. I want to learn to take care of myself. There’s no one at the cave except for pregnant ladies and elders. Everyone else is busy. And I had a teacher, but he got all butthurt and changed his mind about showing me how to hunt, remember?”
He steps even closer to me, and now we’re practically touching. My breathing becomes quicker, because I’m thinking about yesterday. About his big body covering mine. About his cock pushing into me, and the way he kissed me, and—
“You changed things between us, Mah-dee.” His voice is low, husky. Wounded.
Damn it. “Don’t guilt me. You could have said no.”
“How could I say no?” The look he gives me is devouring. It makes me prickle all over, and a familiar pulsing starts between my thighs. “I wanted it.”
“You want a mate. I just want a bit of fun,” I correct him. “It was never about commitment. It was about mutual need and pleasure. That’s all.”
“I do not want one night of you in my furs. I want you in them every night.” He reaches out and caresses my cheek. His fingers are incredibly warm and feel delicious against the biting chill.
“I’m not saying it just has to be one night,” I amend quickly. I know I wouldn’t mind another round. “But I’m not committing. No girl in her right mind is going to sleep with a guy once and then move in with him.” When he keeps touching my cheek, it takes everything I have not to lean into his caress. “Haven’t you heard of casual sex?”
“No,” he says bluntly.
Gah. “People don’t sleep with other people just for fun in your tribe?”
“Sometimes they do. I am not one of them.”
No, I guess he’s not, considering he was a virgin until yesterday. Still, the whole ‘needs commitment’ thing could have come up before I had my hands on his dick. He could have said something and then I would have found someone else to play with.
Except…I don’t think I would have. Hassen’s perfect for my needs because he’s solitary. He’s not heading back to the hunter cave to bro-down with the others to gossip. And he’s an exile, so he knows what it’s like to be lonely. And with this timing…it just made sense.
All right, the fact that he’s the hottest guy on the ice planet doesn’t hurt things, either. I mean, overall as a race, the sa-khui are good-looking. They’re tall, muscular, well-formed, and if you can get past the blue, the tail, and the horns? Oh, mama. In my eyes, Hassen puts the others to shame.