No good could ever come of a relationship with her. Andarions and humans didn’t mix. They never had.

And sadly, no matter how much he might want otherwise, they never would. Humans weren’t welcome in his world and Andarions were voraciously hated everywhere they went outside of their own territories.

When this was over, he’d have to leave Sumi and do his due diligence. Tie his blood to a bitch who hated him. If he was half the Andarion Fain was, he’d say fuck it and be done with all of them.

But he was the last of his mother’s sons. If he walked away from his lineage, it would destroy her. She would be honor bound to kill herself. It was acceptable for one son to leave their lineage.

Not two.

While his mother no longer cared much for him, she cared about her lineage and honor. He couldn’t buy his happiness for such a cost. The one thing he’d learned in his life was that no one could build a better future over the corpses of others. Better he should suffer for eternity than save himself at the expense of his family.

It was the Andarion way.

And he was an Andarion War Hauk.

It was his duty to serve his family and people. To honor them no matter the personal sacrifice.

But in the back of his mind was an image of Sumi in his family paint. And a burning in his gut to have a female, just once, accept him as mate-worthy and not look at him as if he was a total piece of shit.

CHAPTER 12

Sumi came awake slowly to a deep warmth. When she reached to rub her eyes, her hand brushed against rock-hard skin. Startled, she jumped and slammed her head straight into Dancer’s face.

He muffled a curse as he moved his jaw to make sure it still worked. He frowned at her. “Morning, mia.”

Horrified at what she’d done, she cupped his jaw in her hand. “Oh, Dancer, I’m so sorry. I forgot where I was.”

“It’s fine. You’re not the first one to slap me awake. Doubt you’ll be the last.”

That didn’t make her feel a bit better. Before she could stop herself, she pushed up in his arms to place a chaste kiss on his lips then one on his cheek where she’d inadvertently struck him. “Better?”

He brushed the back of his finger over her face. “For that, mu tara, you can hold my head in a grinder.”

His offer amused her. “By Andarion standards, is that better or worse than a toilet?”

He arched a surprised brow. “You heard that yesterday?”

She nodded. “So how many times did your brother dunk your head, anyway?”

“Enough that Fain swears the oxygen dep gave me permanent brain damage.”

Laughing, she rolled her eyes at him. “You’re terrible.”