The insistent voice causes me to wake. Sweat clings to my brow, and I can feel the slickness between my thighs when I shift.
Fuck.
From the ebbing ache between my thighs and the frustration knotted in my chest, it seems that I stopped, quite literally, just in time.
I look at Ra’Sa over my shoulder, heart pounding and mind racing.I want to go to him.
Again,no.
When my mind finally clears from my intense wet dream, the reality of life crashes down once again.
We’ll arrive at Zlosa tomorrow.
And I… I can’t stop thinking about him. I’d thought all hope was lost after he told me he wasn’t interested if we weren’t mated, but he’s changed on the trek.
He held me last night.
Tightly. Sweetly.
And now, I lie next to him. He is close enough to roll over and straddle. If he’s started to change his opinion about mates—about me—then I risk everything by not solidifying this relationship before we set foot on giant soil.
I pull out the small gem that Estela gave me before we left. I admire its red color in the faint spell like Ra’Sa cast. Some growto hate the color they wear as a comfort woman, but I don’t. Red is pleasing.Lucky.
My fist closes around the stone, and my eyelids shut. The image of Ra’Sa holding me after my attack passes over the back of my eyes with excruciating detail. I feel the way his arms wrapped around me.
A flush creeps up my skin.
His care is gentle.
I see my dream again, riding him within an inch of either of our lives. The heat that had come over me was as exquisite as any night I’d gone to my bed and taken care of myself.
Mierda.?1
I take another deep breath, and my hand brushes down my soft belly. Nine months after the breeding pens, I wrapped my midsection and went to the farms to help prepare animals for the slaughterhouse. It was miserable. But, in time, a giant came looking for someone to warm his bed.
Eneko.
He passed by me every day for a week, and then guards showed up at Griselda’s house to take me away.
Griselda hated me for going willingly, but by not fighting back and controlling my emotions, I secured a measure of safety for three years. Making the choice to save my family helped me live with myself.
Ra'Sa had been right about something he said yesterday—that the attacks lessen when I feel like I'm in control.
Now, I'm in this tent with this Enduar man. I chose him for logical reasons, but my heart flutters at the nearness.
“You belong to no one.”
He doesn't understand that for a woman, belonging to a man is often the only way to have some semblance of safety. And for me, a person prone to falling apart when the world spins out, controlling this would be better than not.
I’d like to belong to him. But the rules still apply.
My eyes close to block out the images, but my mouth is dry, and my skin is oversensitive.
I breathe in and out.
The space between my legs throbs.
I open my eyes and grit my teeth. This problem must be resolved.