Stop it, she told herself fiercely. Stop it, Jodi—you are not getting off on this—you’re not!
“Now listen,” Vorn growled softly in her ear. “I’ll apologize again—I’m sorry I found your secret stash of playthings. It was an accident. I know you’re angry with me, but I think we just proved you’re not up to defending yourself if a hoard of angry Varians comes looking to find you, so I’m staying.”
“You bastard,” Jodi whispered, but her anger was changing into something else—something she couldn’t define. Maybe it was his low, growling voice in her ear, or the way she felt completely restrained by his big body. Or maybe it was his hot, animal scent invading her senses.
For whatever reason, Jodi found herself almost leaning into him as he spoke, his deep voice and hot breath blowing against the sensitive shell of her ear.
“You know your problem, Jodi?” he asked, still holding her tight.
“Besides that a huge…asshole is…is holding me against my…my will?” she demanded, but her breath came out in gasps and pants.
“No, baby.” There was humor in Vorn’s deep, growling voice. “You’re hangry.”
“What?” Jodi was so surprised she half twisted her head around, trying to look at him.
“Hangry,” Vorn repeated patiently. “It’s an Earth slang word I picked up last time I was down here—a portmanteau of hungry and angry. Meaning when you get hungry enough, you start to get angry.”
“I’m not hungry!” Jodi scoffed, both wishing he would let her go and somehow wishing the exact opposite at the same time.
“I’m not talking about being hungry for food,” the big Kindred growled. “Look, I’m gonna be blunt, sweetheart—you need to get off and you need it bad. You’re so sexually frustrated right now you’re climbing the fucking walls and it’s making you and me both miserable.”
“What?” Jodi twisted her head around again and he allowed it so she could see the look in his golden eyes. He was serious, she realized. “How dare you talk to me like that?” she demanded.
“Because I’m tired of beating around the fucking tree—or whatever that Earth saying is,” he growled. “Look, you might lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me—I can smell your heat, baby. You’re in bad sexual need and it’s making you really, really hard to be around.”
“If you don’t like my mood, you can get out,” Jodi snapped, wriggling against his unbreakable grip out of pure frustration.
“It’s not your mood I’m talking about—though you’re not exactly a ray of fucking sunshine right now,” Vorn growled. “I’m talking about your scent. As long as you stay as hot as you are right now, I can’t help noticing it and it’s driving me almost as crazy as your sexual tension is making you. You’re in need—deep in need—you’ve got to get off.”
“I’m not ‘in need,’” Jodi denied hotly. “If you’re using this lame excuse so you can justify raping me—”
“Whoa, no. Absolutely not!” He sounded almost angry at the suggestion. “Sexual violence against a female runs counter to everything a Kindred feels and believes—me included.” He shook his head. “I would never do that to you, Jodi. Please believe me.”
“They why won’t you let me go?” she demanded.
“Because you’re still angry. I’ll let you go when you calm down completely—when we finish our little talk,” Vorn told her. “Now listen, ideally your mate—or fiancé or whatever you want to call him—ought to come and take care of you.”
“What? You think James ought to be responsible for…for meeting my sexual needs?” she demanded, too angry to deny that she did, in fact, have needs anymore.
“Yes, he should,” Vorn said firmly. “If you were my female, I wouldn’t leave you wanting like this. He ought to meet your needs on a regular basis either with his tongue or with his shaft—otherwise he’s fucking neglecting you.”
“This is crazy—I’m a grown woman and I can take care of my own, uh, needs,” Jodi snapped.
“Well then do it—before you drive us both fucking crazy,” Vorn growled. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be in an enclosed area with you when your pussy is sending out ‘come fuck me’ scents like a female gleen in heat?”
“I am not!” she exclaimed, horrified at the idea that he was smelling exactly how horny she really was.
But Vorn only made a noise of irritation.
“Yes, you fucking-well are, little girl. My sense of smell is about a thousand times more sensitive than a human’s and you might as well be walking around your fucking domicile stark naked as walking around in need like you are right now.”
His imagery shook her to the core. Was her sexual frustration really that apparent—and that distressing—to the big Kindred? Was he really that bothered by her “heat” as he called it?
But she wasn’t about to give in.
“What I want or need is none of your business,” she snapped at him. “You’re here to guard me—not comment on the status of my sex life.”