She buried her hands in his hair and tightened her hold on him as she continued to sob as if the world was ending.

If that wasn’t uncomfortable enough, his body was well aware of the fact that he held an incredibly beautiful woman in a most intimate embrace. That her hair smelled as sweet as spring flowers and that her breath fell against his neck, raising chills all over him.

His breathing ragged, he felt a burning hunger the likes of which he’d never known before. Gods, it was excruciating.

You’re pledged.

Yeah, but that bitch didn’t want him. Even if Dariana stood by her promise to see their unification met – which he seriously doubted – she had no intention of ever sharing a bed with him. She’d told him as much. Don’t even look at me. You make my flesh crawl, you hideous freak!

And that had been one of his better encounters with Dariana. But Sumi didn’t look at him like he was disgusting. He saw nothing but warmth and kindness in her eyes. Acceptance.

The kind he’d dreamed of having his whole life.

This is not the time for this. The woman’s crying and upset.

But his body refused to listen. It was why Andarions didn’t touch each other. Why they didn’t dare. Because with that innocuous touch came a hunger so intense, it was hard to walk away from it.

Even when they knew they should.

Sumi looked up as she heard the change in Dancer’s breathing. As she felt him swelling against her hip. The fervent hunger in his eyes seared her and it ignited the part of her that was already falling in love with the last being she could be with.

But neither her body nor her heart paid attention to her brain. How could they? Yes, he could be aggravating and terrifying, yet he was always gentle and concerned. Caring. And he would die to protect what he loved. He wasn’t threatened by her abilities. He appreciated even her strange bossy quirks.

How could any woman not fall for such a male?

Wanting him with a desperation that bordered on madness, she lifted her lips to his and kissed him with all the emotions that were at war inside her.

He fisted his hands in her poncho as he pressed her tight to his chest and deepened their kiss. Heat poured through her. Unable to let him go, she slowly undid his shirt until she could touch that wealth of hard muscled flesh that was scarred by a past that made her own seem tepid.