Raashh Decisions (Xxan War Book 3) (14 page)

“Well, everyone is so concerned over a little cut. What other reason—”

Arren dipped his head and sealed his lips to hers.
How could she question why I want to protect her? I must have failed to make my intentions clear.

Sandy hesitated, then threw herself into the moment.

She understands this, at least.

It wasn’t enough. Arren broke off the kiss, his cock protesting the premature end to what they both clearly wanted.

Sandy pressed to him, her scent enticing.

“You think this is all I want,” he breathed.

She pulled at his tie, loosening it. “You don’t?”

Arren bit back a series of curses. “If you want me to bed you, I won’t deny you, but you are deciding something I will do everything in my power to convince you of.”

Her eyes widened.

“You are deciding whether or not you will let me bind you as my mate. If you believe a few days or weeks of a woman in my bed will ever be more important to me than having you specifically as my mate, you are sadly mistaken.”

Her breaths came in little puffs of air. “Are you saying you already know you want that?”

If I asked her now, she might agree. It would be said in haste, not a considered choice.
“I am fairly certain…if you prove willing, but we can’t make that choice without learning about each other.”

Sandy nodded, her eyes heavy and slumberous.

Arren stroked the backs of his fingers over the bandage on her knee. “That means I am going to treat you as much like you are my mate now as is appropriate. I am going to protect you from all harm possible. Do you accept that proposition, Sandy?”

She gasped out an affirmative response.

“Then we are going to eat, talk, perhaps touch…”

Sandy rose against him. “And then?”

“As always, it is your choice.” There was a moment of potent silence. “Any other concerns?” he prodded.

“Just one.” Her voice was low and breathy.

Arren raised a brow. “And that is?”

“You’re all wet. I think you should remove your shirt.”

He smiled at that and started to work the buttons open.

****

Sandy set her food aside, full nearly to discomfort. Arren smiled and tipped his chopsticks to her, chewing a bit of sashimi.

She ranged her gaze over his body. He was still shirtless, and after the guards had brought up the food and other packages, he’d removed his shoes and socks as well. Sandy licked her lips, considering what lay beneath his trousers. Unless the previous day was an anomaly, the trousers were the only thing he was wearing.

Arren went still. He turned his head, staring at her, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunching as if he was preparing to pounce.

On me.
The thought delighted her.

He leaned to her, brushing his lips across hers. Sandy cupped his face in her hands, tilting her head to open her mouth to his fully.

The kiss was full of promise and heat, and a heartbeat later, Sandy was in Arren’s lap. She untied the robe and pulled the sides apart.

He left the kiss, shaking his head. “Somewhere we can move freely,” he grumbled.

Arren stood, lifting Sandy with him. Just when she thought he was going to place her on the desk, he rounded it and went to the couch instead.

Their lips parted, as he deposited her carefully on it. He stood next to the piece of furniture, working at the button and zipper on his trousers. He let them fall, confirming that commando was his usual state of dress.

Sandy eased the robe off her shoulders, leaving herself nude. His gaze scorched her senses, moving from her feet to her face and down again.

Arren ripped open a condom without looking down at it and rolled it down the length of his cock. In a heartbeat, he was between her ankles, spreading Sandy’s legs around him. Then she was upright, in his hands, poised over the head of his cock. He lowered her onto him slowly, stretching her around his girth.

She grasped at his shoulders, her body on fire. One thrust led to another and a third. Sandy held to him, her head swimming in pleasure. Stars, but she’d never felt like this before.

The pressure built in her, coming to a keen edge before she pitched into the abyss. Arren followed her over, his muscles tensing. A growl escaped his lips.

They held to each other, breathing hard. Sandy settled her head to his chest.

“You are so beautiful,” Arren complimented her.

She shivered in the memory of Jason, when she told him it was over. Every word out of his mouth had been the opposite of that compliment. Jason’s words had been ugly.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just…bad memories.”

His lips caressed her forehead. “The man who hurt you?” he guessed.

“Yes.” She managed a smile that felt brittle. “But I don’t want to think about him.”

“I agree.” His voice went gruff. Before she could question him, Arren continued. “There are so many better things we could think of.”

Sandy pushed back a bit and looked up at him. “Like?”

“There are still a few places in your apartment I haven’t managed to make love to you yet.”

He was teasing, but her heart rate picked up at the comment. “That
is
a much better thing to think about. Or to do.”

His smile told her she’d made the right choice.

Chapter Eleven

Six days later

Sandy hooked her purse over her shoulder and headed for the elevator, her heart light. After her fall in the rain, Arren had all-but demanded to have a car available for her at the end of her work day.

He’d tried to insist on a driver for all her needs, but she’d balked at that extravagance. Unless she had errands to run for work or herself, there really wasn’t much for the driver to do. Why pay someone full time wages or more to sit around and wait for Sandy to find some work for him?

She’d halfway expected that Arren would try to offer her a car and city parking for it instead. Perhaps even he realized that would be too much, considering they didn’t know where their relationship was going from here.

She punched the call button and smoothed her jacket, hoping she looked passable for an evening out.

Or in.
Sex with Arren was fast becoming an addiction. Sandy found herself daydreaming far too often for her sanity or comfort.

The elevator opened, and she hurried aboard. The way down seemed to take far too long, and she realized she was already anticipating seeing Arren.

I am hopeless.
He was sending a car for her. Arren wasn’t picking her up himself. It might be half an hour or more before she saw him, and she was already wet and ready.

And I’m early.
She sighed. It would be even longer until she saw Arren, since she’d worked through lunch. The driver wouldn’t be there for the pickup until five, and it was only four fifteen. Sandy made a mental note to get the driver’s direct number, so she could let the man know if she would be early or late for his usual pick-up.

The elevator doors opened, and she headed for the front doors. The building had a small garden at every door, and it would be a nice place to pass the time until the driver arrived.

Again, Sandy cursed herself for not thinking to get the driver’s number. If she had it, she could just call him and let him know she’d be taking the subway over to Spice Industries today.

Maybe I could get the number from Betty.
That was even more ridiculous. Sandy knew from experience that the last thing a secretary wanted was someone calling with nitpicky little questions they could have answered for themselves.
Oh well. It’s a nice day, and sitting in the garden won’t be a hardship.

That thought came to a screeching halt at the sight of Arren’s hired driver vaulting from the car and rounding it to the passenger door.

She went to his side, taking his offered hand. Sandy slid into the car, and he closed her in.

The driver took his place again. “Where to, Ms. Butler?”

Now that he’d mentioned it, she wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. Arren won’t be finished with work for a while. Maybe you should just drop me at home, and he can meet me there later?” It wasn’t the way she’d wanted to unveil her surprise for him, but it would have to do.

“Just a moment.”

“Of course.”

He opened a cell phone and spoke in Xxan into it. After a moment, he nodded and shut the phone. He pocketed it. “Arren is ready to leave now. I can take you to the Spice Tower and leave you in Arren’s care.”

“Yes. Please.” This was much more like it. Sandy knew how she wanted to reveal her surprise to Arren.

It didn’t take them long to reach Spice Tower. The driver pulled into the garage, through a blast door, and down into a nearly-deserted area in the garage.

“Arren’s parking area?” she asked.

The driver nodded.

Arren appeared from an elevator. He came to her door and opened it for her. “Thank you, Beel. That will be all for today.”

The driver tipped his head. “Have a good evening.”

“We will,” Sandy answered. Her cheeks heated at saying something so bold in front of another Xxanian male. She didn’t even know if he was mated. What if he wasn’t?

Arren laughed and swung the door shut. Beel left them there.

He leaned down and laid a kiss on her lips. “So, where do you want to go for dinner?”

“Let’s go to your apartment.” That’s what she’d planned all along. Sandy reached out and touched his cock, needing him.
And I will have him.

****

Arren shivered at the stroking of her fingers along the line of his primary. “You do need to eat,” he reminded her.

“Later.”

The promise of more was all the enticement he needed. Arren took her arm and led Sandy toward his coupe. “That’s good. I wanted to take you to the penthouse. I have a surprise for you.”

“I have a surprise for you too.” There was something smug in that, something he couldn’t identify.

“Let’s go. We can get dinner later.”

“I agree.”

He helped her into the passenger seat, then took his own. By the time he was settled, she’d removed her suit jacket and deposited it and her purse on the floor. He darkened the windows and took off his glasses, just in case that was a sign she’d intended for him to pick up on.

They were halfway to the penthouse before he spoke again. “You really have a surprise for me?”

“I do.”

He ranged his gaze up and down her body, postulating on what it might be. “Please tell me you’re wearing some really interesting underclothes.”

Sandy chuckled and leaned closer to him. “I’m not wearing any.”

His primary came fully erect, and he ached to find out if she was telling him the truth. “Is that your surprise?”

“No.” She opened a button on her blouse. “Do you want to see?”

Arren licked his lips. “You know I do.”

Keeping his attention on the road was difficult. Button after button slid open, and Sandy’s pupils dilated in arousal. Her scent was sublime. Sandy spread her blouse, showing him her bare breasts.

Memories of their first day together made his mouth water. “Do you want me to eat you in the car again, Sandy?”

She pulled the blouse off and dropped it on top of her jacket. “I want you to eat me, but not in the car.”

A glance at her, wearing her skirt and stiletto heels…and reportedly nothing else, made his primary jerk against his trousers. “If you walk into my home dressed that way, I will eat you wherever you wish. However you wish.”

She opened the car door and stepped out. “You’d better,” she teased.

Arren followed her, his cock complaining at the wait.
Just a little longer. Just until we get to my surprise.

In the elevator, Sandy started undoing buttons on his shirt. Holding still and letting her do it took all his self-control. When she had it opened, Arren shucked the shirt off and let it fall.

The elevator door opened, and Arren guided her off of it. “So… Where am I going to be eating you?” he asked.

Sandy smiled. “The bathroom, I suppose.”

He tried to make sense of the request.

She rose on tiptoe and nibbled at his chin. “The mirror.”

“Then maybe I should show you my surprise.”

Her eyes lit in interest. “Maybe you should.”

Arren led her to the bedside.

Sandy looked around the room. “I don’t see anything different.”

He reached to the side of the bedside table closest to the bed and pressed the button. Sandy’s gaze snapped from the button to the ceiling at the sound of the panel moving aside.

Her eyes went wide, and she gaped at the sight of the mirror above the bed appearing from behind the panel. Her scent took on a potent edge.

“I take it the bed is acceptable for whatever you have planned?” he teased.

“Oh yes, it is. It’s perfect, Arren.”

It was the thing every Xxanian male lived to hear. Making his female happy with him was a dream come true.

“I can just picture it…all those golden curls between my legs.” A tremor of what he hoped was anticipation worked down her body.

Arren bit back a grimace at her description of his hair. It was so fine, he didn’t dare cut the curls off, lest he look like a toddler who hadn’t grown in adult hair yet. Still, he’d always felt the curls were too feminine. Oddly, his
seir
seemed fond of them, for some reason Arren couldn’t begin to fathom.

And it doesn’t matter. Clearly, Sandy likes my hair this way. If she likes it, it stays. Forever.

Or as long as she is my woman.
Losing her might well convince him to shave his head in despair.

Sandy stared at the mirror, lost in whatever daydreams and plans it engendered in her.

Curiosity ate at him; Arren had no clue what her surprise for him was, and he wanted to know. He needed to. “Sandy?”

She snapped her gaze to him, seemingly dazed.

“Your surprise?” he hinted.