Zoey woke with a headache for the second morning in a row. Though this one wasn’t nearly as intense or painful as her hangover headache, it was in some ways worse — this time, her heart ached, too, enough so to prevent her from falling back to sleep. Her eyes were swollen from crying the night before, and she was miserable.

You made your bed, now lie in it.

Oh, she’d lain in it, alright. Alone and filled with regret.

After tossing and turning for a long while, she finally glanced at the clock. The glowing green numbers taunted her — 4:45, and you sure as hell aren’t getting any more sleep.

Giving in to her frustration, she tossed the blankets off and slipped out of bed. She brushed her teeth, took a shower — acknowledging in some part of her mind that the fancy system of hidden showerheads provided an amazing experience, though she was unable to enjoy it in her current state — and got dressed. With nothing else to do, she tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen to occupy herself.

Twenty minutes later, a second-floor door opened. The stairs groaned to announce their displeasure at supporting Rendash’s weight. He entered the kitchen and stopped just inside the doorway.

Zoey slowed the whisk and looked up from the large bowl of powdered eggs tucked in her arm. She made eye contact with Ren, but his expression was unreadable. He sighed softly and walked to the table, seating himself in a chair that faced the glass doors, giving her his back. The snow was three-fourths of the way to the top of the doors today.

At least he put on some pants this morning.

Way to look on the bright side, Zoey.

She frowned and looked down at the bowl, resuming her whisking. “I couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d come down and start breakfast.”

“I heard you pass in the hallway,” he said.

“Sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t.”

She pressed her lips together. What a mess. How could sex complicate things so much when they hadn’t even had it?

He turned his head slightly, his leftmost eye shifting toward her. “Whatever you are cooking, it smells good.”

She placed the whisk in the sink. The aroma from the oven had spread sweetly through the kitchen. “It’s a surprise.”

Rendash twisted in the chair, looking at her over his shoulder. “A surprise?”

“Yep.” Turning her back to him, she poured most of the egg into the waiting skillet and picked up the spatula.

“Even if you tell me what it is called, the word will be meaningless to me. You can give me that much, at least.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s a surprise, which means you’re going to have to wait to find out.”

“Zoey…”

“Don’t you growl at me.”

The wood of his chair creaked, conveying his impatience even before he spoke. “Well how long do I have to wait?”

Zoey glanced at the oven. “Ten minutes. But then it will need a little time to cool.”

“What should I do until then? I…I do not wish to be of no use.”

“You…could tell me about yourself. Or about your planet, or how you got here.”

She peeked at him as she moved the clumping eggs with the spatula. He turned back toward the windows, leaning forward with all four elbows on the table. His silence stretched, leaving only the sound of the wind over the roof and the gentle sizzle from the skillet.

“You don’t have to. It was only a suggestion,” Zoey said.

“My Umen’rak was traveling through this system because it was the shortest route home,” he said after a few more seconds. “We had completed our Nes’rak and struck a korvaxx staging point elsewhere in this galaxy.”

“What do nezrack and korvaxx mean?” she asked.

“Nes’rak is…duty. I think the word mission is the closest in your language. A task of great importance that is given to an Umen’rak to complete. And the korvaxx are an alien species we have warred with for a long while. After raiding an outpost on a world in the korvaxx’s control, we obtained intelligence on their war effort, and had learned of many more worlds they meant to conquer and enslave. That is what the korvaxx do; take and take until nothing is left. But with that information, we would’ve had the chance to stop many of their assaults before they were underway.”

She looked at him again; his posture was hunched, his head bowed.

“While we were on the enemy world, our ship must’ve been…sabotaged, or something of the sort,” he continued. “I was jolted from stasis by an explosion that destroyed a large portion of our ship. Our pods were automatically jettisoned to this planet, and the command module was separated from the wreckage. That module can function as a ship of its own, though its defenses and weaponry are somewhat lacking. That is what I’m trying to reach. I don’t know if it landed safely or if it crashed, but it is my only chance to get off this planet.”

“Was your Umen’rak captured with you?” she asked, frowning.

“Many died in the explosion or did not survive the fall to the surface because their pods were too damaged. But yes…some of them were captured with me.”

Zoey stilled the spatula, keeping her eyes fixed on him. “What happened to them?”

“I…” He lifted his head for a moment before sagging down again like a great weight was pressing down on him; she understood why. “I do not know. Not with any certainty. A couple were likely too wounded to have survived long, even with their nyros. The rest…the scientists were eager to learn our anatomy and had no qualms about inflicting harm upon us. Some of what I’d heard indicated that at least one of my companions was cut open while still living. The leader of the operation implied that the rest were killed due to similar experiments, but I was never offered any solid information.”

Annnnnnd you just made him relive all that. Way to go, Zo. You’re really crushing it lately.

Without paying much attention to what she was doing, she removed the skillet from the stove and scooped a pile of scrambled eggs onto one of the plates she’d set out.

Zoey didn’t want to imagine what he’d been through while he was in captivity. She didn’t need to. As big and strong as Ren was, the horror and trauma he’d experienced was evident in his voice, in his body language, in the thickness of the air around him. She was glad that he’d confided in her, but seeing him like this made her chest hurt and her stomach flutter anxiously.

She carried the plate of eggs and a fork over to the table, setting them in front of him. He made no move to eat.

“What will you do if the command module doesn’t work?” she asked.

“Attempt to get the communications into working order to call for rescue.”

Zoey nodded and returned to the stove to cook the remaining eggs.

“Thank you for the food,” he said after a long silence.

“You’re welcome.”

A few minutes later, the oven timer beeped. Turning it off, she grabbed a pot holder, opened the oven, and removed the pan of blueberry muffins from within.

She wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or concerned when Ren didn’t turn to look at what she was doing. He sat hunched forward, lower elbows on the table, eating his eggs with slow, stiff movements. His fork occasionally clinked or lightly scraped against the plate, but he was otherwise quiet.

Zoey plucked two muffins from the pan, hissing at the heat on her palm, and dropped them on a small plate to top each with a bit of butter. She brought the muffins and her plate of eggs to the table, sitting across from him. She placed the muffins on his side.

“Surprise,” she said half-heartedly, forcing a smile as she pushed the muffin plate a little closer to him. Her smile quickly faded. “I don’t want us to fight.”

Ren reached forward with one of his lower hands and picked up a muffin, drawing it closer for inspection. He gently poked it with a finger. “I don’t want to fight, either,” he said softly, meeting her gaze. “It’s all I’ve done for my whole life, and I am tired of it. Even when it does not involve bloodshed.”

Zoey bit the inside of her bottom lip. “Forgive me?”

“Yes. So long as you forgive me. I did not mean it the way I said it.”

“I didn’t mean it the way I said it, either.”

“I suppose we are a pair of fools, you and I. But…” He extended an upper arm and placed his hand over hers. “I have greatly enjoyed your company, despite the unpleasant circumstances that brought us together.”

She stared at their hands and brushed her thumb against his. “Me too.”

Using his lower hands, he tore off a chunk of the muffin and slipped it into his mouth. A smile, small but genuine, crept across his lips as he chewed. “Somehow, it tastes even better than it smells.”

Zoey grinned. “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

“And this does taste very good,” he replied, smile widening.

She placed a hand over her chest. “Aww.”

Despite her overacting, the fire inside her had rekindled. She’d tried to force distance between them, had tried to tell herself there was nothing to pursue here, that there was no future for them. That it would only end in heartbreak.

But she couldn’t stay away from him.

Maybe…she didn’t have to.

The day was a good one, and they passed it as though the night before never happened. They talked in the kitchen as the sun rose, which, thanks to the continuing storm, only meant a shift from black to gray outside. Afterward, they watched a couple more movies. Zoey found popcorn in the pantry, and Rendash partook eagerly until the skins started getting stuck in his teeth. He scowled so darkly at the bag that she thought he was going to murder it.

When the end credits started rolling on the second movie, Zoey stood. Rendash moved to join her, but she stilled him with an extended hand. “Stay here, Ren. I’ll be right back.”

She hurried upstairs to the master bedroom. Kneeling on the floor beside her suitcase, she opened it and dug through her clothing until she found her little photo album. It was her most treasured possession. Her fingertips trailed over its worn, familiar front cover, and she felt a single moment of doubt. She hadn’t even shown Joshua these pictures, even after almost a year. Would Rendash care? Her father meant nothing to him, and his relationship with his parents hadn’t exactly been close.

But it will mean that dad’s memory, at least in part, is with one other person in this universe.

Zoey returned to the media room with the album clutched to her chest and smiled at Ren.

“What is that, Zoey?” he asked.

She sat next to him and lowered her arms, holding the album on her palms. Taking a deep breath, she cast aside her lingering anxiety.

“This,” she said as she opened the cover, “is my dad.”

The first picture was her father fresh out of high school — a young man, hair cropped short, face as bare as a baby’s ass. He wore a huge, proud, goofy grin.

“And this,” she pointed to the newborn baby in his arms, “is me.”

Ren leaned down to study the picture more closely before pulling back to glance at her again. “That was really you?” he asked. “You were so tiny. And wrinkly.”

She chuckled, eyes on the picture. “Yeah, that was me.”

Rendash tilted his head. “Ah, but there you are. Your eyes were just as beautiful then as they are now.”

Zoey looked up to find Ren staring at her. Her heart did a little flip, and she blushed. She’d received so few compliments since her father passed that she couldn’t accept them easily, but his conviction made it impossible to reject his words.

Though her eyes blurred with tears, Zoey smiled as she turned the pages, sharing each photo with Ren. Her as a baby; posing with her dad on her first day of kindergarten; her and her dad eating ice cream at the zoo; the two of them dressed as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask in hand-made costumes on Halloween when she was nine. With each picture, she shared a little bit of herself with Ren, shared a little bit of her father. He hadn’t been a perfect man, and even as a child she’d understood they had struggled financially, but they’d been happy.

Her tears didn’t spill until she reached the final photograph.

She gently brushed her finger over the plastic sleeve holding the picture. “It was his birthday and he was stuck in the hospital, so my grandma helped me bring him balloons and a cake. One of the nurses took this picture for us because grandma couldn’t figure out how to use the camera.”

Little Zoey had climbed onto the bed behind him, smiling over his shoulder. Her father — emaciated and with a sickly pallor — had smiled just as wide, eyes sparkling with happiness despite his pain.

“This was last picture we took together. He, uh—” she hurriedly wiped the moisture from her cheeks to keep it from dripping on the page and sniffled. “He died a few days later.”

When she blinked away her tears, she realized Rendash was staring at her again.

He lifted his hands and covered her cheeks, stroking them gently with his thumbs. “It seems to me that he had the heart of a warrior,” he said, “just like his daughter. He deserves every honor you give him. Thank you for sharing this with me.”

Fresh tears flooded her eyes as she felt that pain, that loss, all over again. She knew it would never go away…but that was okay, wasn’t it? That was part of loving someone.

Zoey slipped her arms around Ren and silently cried. He embraced her, sliding one hand up and down her back soothingly, and said nothing.

“Thank you, Ren,” she whispered when her tears slowed. She turned her face toward him and rested her head on his shoulder, inhaling deeply. His scent reminded her of sandalwood, with a rich, earthy undertone. “Thank you for listening. For caring.”

Without thinking, she pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.

His hand stilled, and his muscles tensed, but his only move was to lay his cheek on her hair. “Thank you for trusting me enough to share him.”

They remained like that for a while, and she let herself melt into his embrace, relishing the comfort he provided. He didn’t push her away, didn’t take anything for himself.

Finally, she placed her hands on his shoulders and drew back with a soft smile. “I’m going to go wash up, and then we can make some dinner.”

“King me!” Zoey plopped her piece down on a black square at Rendash’s edge of the board.

He frowned, staring down for several seconds before finally picking up one of the discarded red checkers and crowning her new king. “How do you consistently penetrate my defenses?”

“Guess I just have that effect on you.”

After they’d eaten and cleaned up, their exploration had led Zoey to a stash of board and card games in one of the closets. Her excited shout had brought Rendash running. She hadn’t played such games since she was a little girl.

Because Ren couldn’t read English, their choices had been limited, but they enjoyed the simple games as much as they would have anything else — it had taken several hands of poker before he was able to remember which card combinations were the most valuable, but he’d understood dominoes and checkers almost immediately.

This was their fifth round of checkers. Zoey had won the first four, and each time she’d jumped his final piece, Rendash demanded a rematch.

“The game is so simple, and yet I am unable to overcome you.”

“I’m just that good.” Zoey grinned. “Maybe you need the right incentive.”

He lifted his gaze to meet hers and tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Zoey toyed with the small stack of checker chips she’d captured from Ren, lips pursed. “What if…every time you capture one of my pieces, you can ask me a question, and I’ll answer truthfully. If you get kinged, you can ask me to do something. Anything.”

A mischievous gleam sparked in his eyes. “Anything?”

“Anything at all.” She leaned forward. “But the same applies to you.”

He rested his upper arms on the table and grasped the edge with his lower hands. As he held her gaze, a faint smile touched his lips. “Very well, little human.”

Zoey shifted in her seat, a bit unnerved by his sudden confidence. But there was no way he was going to beat her. She’d already won four times, and she was well on her way to another victory. “Let’s do this, then.”

There was a new intensity in the air as he made his move, and excitement danced low in Zoey’s belly. She couldn’t have realized that upping the stakes could turn the game into something so much more exciting.

They each took another turn before Zoey jumped one of his chips. “Ha!” She added the checker to her pile and looked at Ren. “How many relationships have you been in?”

“Based on my understanding of the term, according to humans, none.”

Zoey furrowed her brow. “None?”

“None.” Without breaking eye contact with her, he settled a finger on one of his pieces and slid it forward.

She mulled over his answer as they played. How had he never been in a relationship? She knew he’d been raised as a warrior, but shouldn’t he have had something along the way? Did his answer mean he’d had sexual relations without emotional attachment?

Two more turns passed before he jumped one of her chips. He claimed the red checker slowly, staring down at it as though in deep consideration. “How many males have you had sex with?”

Zoey blushed. That was what she should’ve asked him — how many females have you had sex with? “You go right for the throat, don’t you? Two.”

Palm up, he gestured to the board.

Zoey moved her piece, not realizing until she’d already lifted her finger that it was a mistake. “Shit.”

Rendash took his checker between two long fingers. It came down once, twice, each drop a rumble of thunder. One of his lower arms stretched forward to pluck two of her chips off the board.

“King me,” he said.

Reluctantly, Zoey set one of the captured black pieces atop his newly anointed king.

“That’s two questions and an action, correct?” he asked.

“Yes,” Zoey replied, bracing herself.

“Are you attracted to me, Zoey?”

She lifted her gaze. Her eyes roamed over his body of their own accord. She took in his broad shoulders, his strong arms, the rippling muscle of his bare chest and abdomen, and his hands. Zoey remembered exactly what those hands felt like upon her body.

Arousal ignited deep within, flooding her core with sudden heat.

She looked into his eyes. “Yes.”

The corners of his mouth lifted in a small, satisfied smile. He spread his arms a little wider and leaned back in his chair. “What do you want, Zoey? What do you really want, to make you happy?”

Zoey swallowed, her heart skipping.

I want someone to look at me like you are right now for every day of the rest of my life.

She dropped her attention to the table, absently tracing the tiny, raised crown on the top face of Ren’s king.

“I want stability. I want…a home.” she answered.

“Explain, human.”

“You’re out of questions.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

Zoey glared at him but couldn’t hold back a smile. “Bossy alien.” She sighed and shrugged as the seriousness of the explanation settled over her. “After my dad died, I never had a real home. I went to live with my grandmother for a little while, but she passed away the next year. After that…I had no one. I was put in foster homes with strangers, moved around from place to place — some good, some not so good. That was my life until I was eighteen. Then I got a job and saved up to get my own place.

“My friend Melissa, the one who I was driving to meet, was in the last foster home I lived in. We became friends and shared an apartment for a little while but I…I wanted to see things.” More like I wanted to run away before everything fell apart, because why wouldn’t it have? “So, I hit the road and left Des Moines behind. I always wanted to see the ocean, and when I ended up in Santa Barbara, California, I just kind of…stuck around. I didn’t mean to stay, but traveling was expensive, so I got a job.

“And then I met Joshua.” She frowned, sitting back in her chair and settling her hands atop the table. “I thought I had a future with him. We both had jobs, we found an apartment for a decent price, and I thought… He lost his job not long after we moved in together. We weren’t doing great, but we were making it, so I told myself it was okay. We’d make it work. One day at a time.” Zoey scowled. “But I found out the truth, eventually.”

“And then I forced my way into your life, at that lowest point,” he said softly.

Zoey smiled at him. “My time with you has been the highest point in my life since my dad passed.”

“I am glad to give you something in return for what you’ve done for me. Though now I feel the mood may be too serious for what I was going to ask you to do.”

Zoey had completely forgotten about that part of their deal; she owed him an action.

“Well, a deal is a deal,” she said. “Lay it on me.”

He stared at her for a few moments, lightly tapping three of his fingers on the table, as though hesitant to tell her. “You’re sure?”

“Would you back out of our deal it was me asking?”

One corner of his mouth rose in a half-smile, displaying his right pair of fangs. “No. I wouldn’t.” Keeping his upper arms on the table, he settled his lower hands over his abdomen, twining their fingers together. “I want you to remove your harness — your bra — and hand it to me. You don’t have to take off your top covering.”

Zoey stared at him blankly. “You want my bra?”

“I’ll return it later.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “Okay. You sure I can’t just go and grab one out of my suitcase?”

“Only if you wish to incur my wrath, human.”

“Of course not.” Zoey stood up and turned her back to Ren. She pulled her arms into her sweater, reached behind her back, and unhooked her bra. After sliding the harness off, she passed it between her hands as she slipped her arms back into her sleeves.

She turned to face Ren and held her bra out to him. “Your prize.”

Ren leaned forward and plucked it from her grasp. He raised the bra to his face, inhaled deeply, and smiled. Zoey’s jaw dropped. That small action, combined with the smoldering intensity in his eyes, made her body react instantly. A flush spread throughout her body, and her breasts, now free of restriction, felt heavy and full. Her nipples tightened as they brushed against her sweater.

He draped her bra over the empty chair beside him. “Your move, Zoey.”

“You’d better hope I don’t get another king,” she said, sitting down.

“Part of me hopes you do.”

They played a few more turns, and it felt like a cat and mouse game — she’d move her king up, then he’d crowd her and force her back. Her brow fell as she studied the board. His moves grew bolder with each passing turn; he had her on the defensive, and he knew it.

He slid another piece into a square at her end of the board. “King me.”

She stacked one of his fallen checkers onto the new king and met his gaze expectantly.

“Let your hair down,” he said.

Zoey released a slow breath and did as he instructed. Not so bad. On her turn, she jumped one of his few remaining pieces.

“What are you going to do when you get home?” she asked.

“I will honor my fallen Umen’rak as my final duty, and then I will have earned the right to claim a mate and live out the remainder of my life in peace.”

“Oh.”

Claim a mate — those few, simple words were like a punch to her gut. But what had she thought was going to happen? He was going home to live his life on another planet. If it included a…a mate, and a family, that was his business. Just like she’d be moving on with her life when he was gone…

The thought of him having that life proved a powerful distraction; two turns later, he jumped another of her checkers and landed on her end of the board. He demanded she king him again.

Maybe she shouldn’t have given him an incentive to play better.

“You are troubled,” he said. “What are you thinking about?”

“You.”

“Me? What specifically?”

“I answered you honestly. You only won a single question.”

Mischief lit in his gaze again. “Is that how we’re going to play, then?”

“Haven’t we already been playing it that way?” she asked, arching a brow as she glanced at her bra.

He placed all four of his hands on the edge of the table, lifted himself slightly, and scooted his chair back. When he eased down again, he spread his arms to the sides. “Come and sit.”

“What?”

Rendash patted his thigh with one hand and smiled. “Come sit with me, Zoey.”

“Like, on your lap?”

“Yes.”

“No way!”

His smile fell. “But you said anything. Are you breaking your word to me?”

“Oh, you are so…so…” Zoey pushed her chair back and rounded the table, stopping next to Ren. He had his head turned to watch her and wore such a smug smile on his face that she wondered if he’d been playing her all along.

“Well? Sit, human. The game will not complete itself.”

Zoey glared at him — she felt like she’d be a pro at that, before long — and turned. She eased her bottom onto his thigh, leaning most of her weight on her feet.

Rendash encircled her with his arms, brushing the underside of her breast with a forearm. She yelped as he pulled her fully onto his lap with her legs hanging to the side. He settled his left arms over her lap and placed a hand on the outside of her thigh.

“I believe it’s your turn,” he said.

Zoey went still. She’d always been self-conscious about her weight. Girls like her didn’t get to sit on men’s laps. It didn’t matter how big Ren was, she was too heavy to sit on him.

He slipped a hand between her thighs, jarring her from her thoughts. “Ren!”

“You haven’t lost. Yet. Make your move.”

She looked back at the board. Despite the relatively small number of chips remaining for either of them, it was difficult to concentrate. All she could focus on was the heat radiating from his body, the hand between her thighs, fiery as a brand, and the prominent erection beneath her backside.

As she leaned forward to reach for a checker, her nipple scraped against Ren’s arm, and the material of her sweater only enhanced the friction to send a thrill through her. She inhaled sharply.

“Something wrong?” he asked. His nose brushed against the side of her neck, and his breath was warm against her skin.

“You are not playing fair,” Zoey said, making her move in a hurry.

“I am simply making use of the tools you provided to me.” He extended his arm and slid one of his pieces. Zoey scanned the board. His checkers were closing in on hers like a net; one of his kings had two of hers blocked in. “What do I get when I win?”

“I don’t know.” She took her turn. “What do you want?”

Rendash moved another king into place. She’d lose a piece after her next turn, no matter what she did. She was running out of moves.

“A kiss,” he said.

“Okay,” she replied; a peck on his cheek would be quick, simple, and at least somewhat innocent, and it’d be his fault for not being more specific.

“Like the one we shared the night before last.”

Suddenly, her heart was pounding.

He made another casual move, and the circle grew tighter.

They continued their turns; one by one, Zoey’s final pieces were jumped or trapped against the edges of the board. Ren didn’t bother with questions, saying he was more interested in the prize at the end.

Zoey stared woefully at her final checker. It was over, but Rendash hadn’t claimed his victory. She knew he wanted her to make her move, as futile as it would be; he had a piece waiting to pounce no matter which direction she chose.

With a sigh, she placed her finger on the piece and slid it up to meet its doom.

Rendash moved with nonchalance, taking one of his kings between two fingers and a thumb and lifting it in a little arc over her last piece. It came down like a meteor in slow motion to smash her winning streak to pieces.

“This battle has its victor,” he said.

“So it does. I guess that means game over!” She leaned forward to slip off his lap.

He held her firmly in place; his grip wasn’t painful, by any means, but it was clear she’d never break it on her own.

“I believe there is the matter of my prize to be settled, little human.”

Well damnit, if I’m going to kiss him, I’m going to give him a kiss to remember me by.

Zoey turned her torso toward him and placed her hands on his shoulders. His grip yielded as she shifted her legs, swinging one to the other side of his lap to straddle him. It placed her sex right up against his hard, constrained cock.

Ren’s smug grin vanished, his expression becoming something she could only describe as a lustful smolder. His eyes burned with desire, with intent, with promise. He slid his lower hands to her outer thighs while he moved his upper hands over her ribs to brush the undersides of her breasts with his thumbs.

Just one kiss. One incredible, unforgettable kiss.

But could she stop herself there?

Zoey reached up and cupped his face. “You wanted a kiss? I’ll give you a kiss.”

She parted her lips, pulled his head down, and claimed his mouth with hers. Electric jolts coursed through her as their connection sealed. His hands tightened on her, urging her on, but she didn’t need any encouragement to give more, to take more.

She flicked her tongue against his lips and he opened to her, but this time she did not allow him to take control; she set the pace, and she explored him firmly, boldly, and at her leisure.

Of their own accord, her hips undulated against him. His hard shaft stroked her clit through her pants, and she moaned as a bolt of pleasure pierced her core. Moisture flooded her. She knew her panties would be soaked by the time the kiss ended.

His nostrils flared as he inhaled. Body tensing, he groaned against her mouth and raised his hips to meet her gyrations.

Zoey gasped. She was wracked by a shudder, and dropped her hands to his shoulders, digging her fingernails into his scales. She was so close, just a few strokes away from coming.

But this needs to stop.

Grasping for the willpower that she knew was buried somewhere deep within, Zoey pulled away from him, catching his lower lip between her teeth as she broke the kiss.

Rendash growled, head falling back and chest swelling with a deep breath.

“You got your prize,” she said.

He didn’t release her when she tried to climb down.

“Why stop there?” he asked huskily.

“A kiss, Ren. That was the deal.”

With a frustrated sigh, he released her, curling his hands into fists and letting his arms dangle at his sides.

Zoey slid off his lap, making sure to brush his cock with her leg in the process. He shivered and groaned.

“You are not playing fair,” he said.

“Here’s another Earth saying for you — all’s fair in love and war.” She grinned and stepped away from him. He wasn’t the only one suffering. She was paying for her teasing, too, but hell if she was going to let him see it.

“Where are you going, Zoey?”

“It’s late, and kicking your ass five times in a row wore me out. I’m going to bed.”

“Five times in a row? I won the last match.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, dropping her gaze quite deliberately to his groin. “Oh, did you? Goodnight, Ren. See you in the morning.”

Slowly — as though it pained him — he leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “In the morning? You’re making me sleep in a separate room again?”

“It’s for the best.” She settled her hand on the banister. “Sleep well.”

“Maybe my understanding of the word best is incorrect,” she heard him mutter before she climbed the steps.

Once in the safety of the master bedroom, Zoey closed the door and sighed. Her skin was flushed, and she ached between her legs. Torturing Ren had turned out to be self-inflicted punishment.

A cold shower will help.

But even after standing under icy water for several minutes, she discovered that the moment she thought of Ren — which was essentially every moment — her desire flared back to life.

She wanted him. Needed him. It didn’t matter how many times her brain said no, her pussy was screaming yes!

“Traitor,” Zoey muttered, looking down.

There was only one thing she could do. It wouldn’t be the same, wouldn’t be remotely close, but at least it would take the edge off.

She dried off, turned out the lights, and crawled naked into the bed. Blanketed by a soft, warm comforter, she gave her body one more chance to settle, but it was no use. She sighed.

Closing her eyes, she imagined Ren. She pictured his tall, broad body and his lickable abs, recalled the texture of his scales against her skin, the feel of his strong hands brushing over her.

She kicked off the bedding.

Zoey cupped her breasts and tweaked her nipples. It wasn’t his fingers, nor his mouth. It wasn’t the same and never would be. She bit her lip and pressed her imagination harder. She trailed a hand down her body, over her stomach and toward her pelvis. Parting her thighs, she ran her fingers through the short hair of her sex, hesitating only a moment before sliding her fingers into the folds of her pussy to find her clit.

“Ren,” she whispered in time with her first stroke.