But like he’d told Sumi, he didn’t want to think about the future. He only wanted to live right here and now where it was just the two of them.

Two souls bound by something far deeper than just the physical.

She tensed ever so slightly. Smiling, he knew she was on the brink of coming for him. An instant later, she threw her head back and cried out.

Grateful he pleased her, Hauk ran his hands over her breasts as he watched the ecstasy play across her face. He loved the sight of her doing that. Of her finding pleasure in his touch and body. It made him insanely possessive of her. Protective. He never wanted her to look like this for any other male. Never wanted anyone to have this part of her.

She was his.

Grinding his teeth, he lifted his hips and buried himself deep inside her as he joined her release.

Like a seductive lorina, she draped herself over his chest and sighed contentedly while she ran her hand over the scars his mother had given him so long ago. Strange how they no longer mattered to him. Unlike an Andarion female, Sumi didn’t mind his scars.

Only his fresh wounds and bruises. She’d spent hours last night, kissing and bandaging them. And he’d done the same for hers.

He closed his eyes and savored the warmth of her flesh against his. “We should probably wash and head for the base.”

“Mmm.”

“Sumi?”

“I heard you. I just want a minute more alone with you, like this.”

He wanted a lot more than a mere minute. What he craved was a lifetime spent in her arms.

But that could never be and he knew it. So he held her for as long as he dared, then he picked her up and carried her to the small stream so that they could bathe.

When he went to dress, Sumi’s light laughter made him pause. “What?”

She pressed her lips together into an adorable expression. “Since the moment I woke up in your tent, I’ve wanted to climb up that long, hard body of yours and do a pole dance. I was just thinking how glad I am that I finally had the chance to do it.”

He blushed. “I don’t know about that. You looked pretty scared to me when you woke up in my tent.”

“Oh, I was a lot scared.” She left the water to approach him slowly.

His breath caught at the sight of her naked body glistening in the morning light as she neared him. She was lithe and well muscled. Sculpted and sweet. And his mouth watered to taste more of her. But the sight of her battle scars and injuries made him want to hunt Kyr down, and beat him until he was hoarse from begging for mercy.