“Layla.” He seemed to delight in the sound of her name, rolling it off her tongue as he looked down at her, his eyes glinting wickedly in the soft light. Layla lay in the soft pod, her long arms and legs entangled in sheets of liquid silk that smelled faintly of jasmine and morning sunlight on linen. How Kordolians had ever figured out that particular combination when they lived in perpetual darkness was beyond her, but right now, she didn’t care, because Enki was prowling over her, his unbelted robe falling open to reveal a body carved from her wildest dreams.

Chiseled silver perfection. A broad, powerful chest. A rippling six-pack. Lean hips. Muscular arms that pressed down on either side of her like pillars. And down there… Holy hell. His proud, straining, impressive cock.

Nothing could disguise his magnificent form. His honed body was unmistakable even when he was clothed or wearing his sleek obsidian exo-armor, and Layla had seen him naked before, but that had been during a frantic, feverish time, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to appreciate him up close, to savor every inch of him as he studied her with equal intensity.

“What were you doing Layla?” With deft hands, he undid the belt at her waist, slipping it out with a gentle tug. As he lifted the edges of her robe to reveal bare skin underneath, he took a deep breath, his lips parting to reveal the gleaming points of his fangs.

“What do you mean?” Layla’s breath caught. A lethal creature was poised over her, and he was being impossibly gentle.

“Why were you traveling so far from Earth, in a such an ill-equipped vessel? Such a dangerous situation for a human. I could have lost you before we ever had a chance to find one another.”

“But if I hadn’t left Earth, you never would have found me at all.”

He leaned in and kissed her between her breasts, caressing her skin with his hot tongue. “Curlae,” was all he said as he looked up, a ghost of a smile tugging at his dark lips. She had no idea what that meant, and she had no time to ask, because the next thing Layla knew, her bra was undone. He deftly slipped it of her shoulders and tossed it into the shadows.

Warm lips closed around her nipple, which was already stiff with arousal. He sucked gently, and set her body on fire.

Layla groaned.

Enki looked up. “The Universe is connected in mysterious ways.” He kissed her lips and caressed the side of her face.

A feeling of wonder unfurled in her chest, even though Layla didn’t know what that word meant. “I was running,” she admitted, realizing she no longer felt any regret or sadness or even shame for the wreckage of her life that she’d left back on Earth. “This might sound strange to you, but on Earth, my job was to entertain the masses. The majority of the human race knows who I am. There was a time when everyone on Earth wanted to know me, to be seen with me, to be me.”

“That does not surprise me,” Enki rumbled, dipping his head and trailing hot kisses down to her navel. “You are very beautiful, and brave, and clever.” He looked up again, his brow furrowing, his snow-white eyebrows lifting. “But all was not well? You left Earth…”

“When you become as famous as I was, the sharks start to circle.”

“Sharks?”

“Predators.” She closed her eyes and sighed as Enki ran his hands down the insides of her thighs. “A bad person fucked me over in a very shameful, very public way, because I refused to give him what he wanted. The fallout was massive. I didn’t want to deal with all that bullshit, so I left. Thought I could start a new life somewhere else. I’m not as brave as you think I am.”

“Layla, you are brave. When we return to Earth, nobody is going to shame you or hurt you.” He kissed the soft skin below her navel, moving lower and lower until his lips touched the sensitive mound of her pussy. “I will not allow it.”

“It’s old history,” she said, her voice cracking slightly as he kissed her. “If I went back now, I wouldn’t even care about any of that. They can’t touch me.”

“No, they most definitely can’t.” His voice became a rumble, a growl, a tectonic shift. He hooked a finger under the edge of her lace panties and pulled, sliding them down her thighs. “Layla, if anyone makes you unhappy again, I will rip their fucking heart out. You just have to say the word.”

Layla looked down and saw an emotion on his face that was definitely not human. It was a look of ownership, of triumph, of determination, of total obsession and undivided loyalty. It was devastatingly sexy, and a little bit terrifying.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said gently, taking his hands into hers, marveling that this fierce creature would do such a thing for her. “Nobody on Earth can make me feel that bad about myself, and right now, it’s impossible for me to be unhappy.”

“Good.” He kissed her down there again, just above the entrance to her pussy. The sensation of his lips against her hot skin was incredible. He glanced up as he kissed her, carefully gauging her reaction. “The patch is still repairing your injuries. I am not going to give in to temptation just yet, even though it kills me.”

Layla exhaled slowly, and all of the tension drained out of her body as pleasure infused every fiber of her being. “You’re impossible,” she whispered.

Enki almost smiled, his lips curving dangerously. “I am concentrating, Layla. Let me understand this delectable part of your anatomy before you think of any more adjectives to describe me.”

“Delectable?”

“Indeed.” His devious tongue flicked out and slowly stroked the tender flesh of her sex, dipping into her velvet folds. Layla whimpered.

He curled his fingers around her thighs, holding her tightly as she slowly writhed, tangled up in divinely soft sheets. The warmth from the healing patch became indistinguishable from the heat that spread through her body, and she melted into the bed, allowing Enki to have his way with her.

Then he found it. Her aching clit. A single touch from his tongue was enough to thrust her into a world of pure, heady sensation, where nothing else existed but the man who had brought her here.

A supernova of bliss exploded in Layla’s mind. She closed her eyes, becoming lost in a haze of pleasure.

In him.