“Not as beautiful as the one I have right now,” Dra’vik told her, smiling as he looked into her face.
“Dra’vik…” Her creamy brown cheeks got a little darker as she blushed and her eyes sparkled. He thought she had never looked so lovely.
Gently, he reached out and brushed his knuckles along her wounded cheek.
“You ready to let me heal you now, little girl?” he asked softly. “I don’t like leaving you in that condition—you must be in pain.”
“Oh, it doesn’t hurt as much as it did. But, if you’d like to heal me, I won’t say no.” She looked up at him from under her lashes.
“Of course I’d like to,” Dra’vik growled. “Come here, little girl.”
She tilted her chin up and he cupped her cheek, leaning down to place warm, gentle kisses over her wounded cheekbone. He could feel his healing powers—which every Monstrum possessed—coming into play as he erased her pain and knitted her flesh back together.
At last he drew back. Iyanna’s skin was as smooth and perfect as it had been before Baronet Sin’estor’s brutal attack and her eyes were half-lidded with pleasure as she looked up at him.
“Why did you stop kissing me?” she whispered.
“Because you’re healed,” Dra’vik told her, keeping his voice a soft rumble, for her ears only. “Of course, I could think of other places to kiss. Your gorgeous mouth for one.”
She didn’t answer in words. Instead, she reached up and encircled one of his horns with her little hand. She tugged him down and raised up in her seat to capture his mouth with her own, her sweet lips pressed boldly to his.
Dra’vik loved that she was taking the lead. He went willingly when she tugged at him and when he felt the tip of her small, soft tongue tracing his lips, he opened for her at once.
Fearlessly, Iyanna darted her tongue in to taste and explore him. Dra’vik growled softly and leaned closer, deepening the kiss. Gods, she tasted sweet! She was so small and yet so bold, pressing upward to give her all to tasting him.
Dra’vik’s shaft felt like a bar of hot lead pulsing in his trousers. He wanted her so damn badly he was tempted to put her on his lap and breed her here and now. After all, she had that triangular hole in her outfit that made it imminently possible and it was clear she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
If they had been in the Premium compartment with the privacy shield up, he might have done it. Three hours was a little short for a first Bonding, but they could make it work. By the time they got back to the moon where he’d parked his ship, they could be tied together for life.
But no—he really couldn’t, Dra’vik reminded himself. For one they weren’t in the Premium compartment—they were in Economy and even though the lights had been dimmed, other passengers could still see what they were doing. Plus, he still hadn’t explained to Iyanna exactly what bonding with a Drake Monstrum entailed. He had to at least do that before they could go any further.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from the kiss.
“Why…why did you stop?” Iyanna looked up at him. She was nearly panting with desire—he could smell her feminine need and it nearly drove him crazy. Gods, how he longed to taste her again! To put his tongue deep inside her and open her for his cock…
No, slowly, he reminded himself. Gently.
“Just thought we could talk for a while, little girl,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “Is that okay?”
“Sure, I guess.” She leaned against him, nuzzling her cheek against his arm. “But can we put the arm rest up while we do it, so we can cuddle at the same time?”
“I’d love to cuddle with you,” Dra’vik told her. He found the control on the armrest between their seats that lifted it out of the way before pulling her against his side.
“Mmm, you’re so warm.”
Iyanna sighed contentedly and snuggled against him. She felt so soft and curvy and perfect in his arms. Dra’vik wished again that they could have gotten a seat in Premium. He wanted badly to cradle her against him as he had on their first trip. A trip that hadn’t even lasted two solar days, he realized. And yet somehow, he felt that he and the little Elite had grown amazingly close in that time. It was like they had been meant to find each other.
“So what do you want to talk about?” Iyanna asked, drawing him away from his thoughts.
Dra’vik wished he could just come out and say that he loved her, but again, he was afraid of scaring her off. He needed to take things slowly—approach it from a round-about angle, he thought.
“Just wanted to know that you’re okay, little girl,” he murmured, squeezing her shoulders gently as he pulled her closer to him. “I know this has been a really rough trip.”